Road bike suggestion please?

[maxr]

Hi folks - I'm a temporarily lapsed and unfit long term mountain biker, thinking about buying a bike for road use. I'd welcome some suggestions as to what bikes might fit the following:

Riding area: mostly Surrey Hills and West Sussex/Hampshire minor lanes - poor road surfaces with potholes, mud, gravel, ice, leaves, and horse poop.
Style of Riding: fitness and fun with maximum comfort and safety - maybe day long rides, but I won't be racing.
When: All year, rain or shine.
Bars: possibly straight - slightly dodgy lower back may preclude lower riding angles.
Gearing: I want to be able to sit down and winch my way up any hill that isn't so steep the front wheel comes off the road.
Brakes: disks, no question.
Shifters: trigger or twist.
Saddle: - maximum comfort for eventual all day rides with my large frame (not obese) 6 feet and near enough 15 stone.
Frame and forks: - forgiving. Soaking up road chatter would be good, and no handling surprises.
Mudguards: for sure
Wheels and tyres: tough - I dislike punctures and spoke keys.
Racks etc.: - not necessary initially, but fittings for them might eventually be handy.
Maintenance required: low.
Weight: not excessive for the type of bike?
Maximum Budget: £1500-ish if possible.
Road fashionability/cool quotient: nil - I'll be riding it in baggies and a peaked helmet...

Thanks, Max

[BSRU]

Get a CX bike(cyclocross), basically a road bike that takes bigger tyres, mudguards and sometime a rear pannier rack.
For your budget something like the Ultegra CAADX.

[Mark1978]

Get a CX bike(cyclocross), basically a road bike that takes bigger tyres, mudguards and sometime a rear pannier rack.
For your budget something like the Ultegra CAADX.

They will have drop bars tho. Whereas the OP is looking for straight bars. I guess probably a road oriented hybrid such as the Trek FX 7.7. I think Spesh do something similar.

Disc brakes might be an issue, why do you need them?

[andrewjoseph]

Re: dodgy lower back.

Drop bars may not be a problem, whereas too upright a position can be, especially on a road bike.

I have a back problem and have fused vertebrae in lower back. Quite comfy on drops, sitting upright causes more problems.

Try a ride on drops before you discount them.

As to what bike, depends on your budget. I have a dropped barred, disk braked, sturdy road/Tourer custom Ti from Burls.

[Valbrona]

Triple crankset. Able to take full length mudguards. Back problems or not, I would probably go for drops. Like a Raleigh Clubman http://www.raleigh.co.uk/PRODUCTTYPE/Pr ... 14&pg=8074 but with a triple chainset.

[maxr]

Thanks for the advice, guys, I'll have a look at those bikes.

mark 1978 said:

[url]Disc brakes might be an issue, why do you need them?[/url]

Much of these hills are composed of Greensand, and that grit washes all over the roads in winter and eats components. I wore through a pair of MTB rims with rim brakes (eventually a rim thinned so much it cracked) in a year.

Max

[Vantage]

No need to spend thousands and the rack can be removed if you don't want it. Steel framed to soak up the shocks and as most tourers, a nice relaxed position.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/daw ... e-ec050875

[Vorpal]

Go ride some bikes at different shops.

[Brucey]

if you want strong wheels and low maintenance I'd suggest a hub gear is worth considering; little or no dish on the rear wheel means plenty of strength.

All your other requirements would be easily met by taking an MTB (possibly an old rigid MTB) and fitting different tyres to it, along with mudguards, if you want an inexpensive experiment.

There are quite a few hybrids and commuters out there which could do what you want; some with the Alfine 11 hub which probably has a wide enough gear range if you gear down and sacrifice top gear a little.

If you can find one used there are a couple of different Thorn models which come with a Rohloff hub; that would tick the gear range and low maintenance boxes for sure.

Finally don't forget hub brakes, if you want low maintenance.

cheers

[mgronow]

if you've a dodgy back I'd consider buying a frame/fork having it built up (or doing it yourself if you've the inclination) so the fork steerer isn't cut too low for fashion reasons. I went this root with a Surly Crosscheck building it up myself wasn't very hard (especially this all the great advice available here on the forum). With this ability to have the bars as high as you'd like and a set of compact drops (ie short drop and short reach) I have the first bike I actually use the drops on. Ride fast in comfort...light touring...fat tyres for a bit of rough stuff...racks...mudguards....hubgears....derailleur...so many possibilities.
All for under £1000 (if you build it yourself).

good luck in the hunt.

regards
martin

PS if you want disc brakes you'll have to wait for the "straggler"

[AndyBSG]

Are you sure itr's a road bike that you want because quite a few of your criteria seem to suggest otherwise?

- You mention pot holes and poor road surfaces which will cause you issues with road bikes... Hitting pot holes at speed on thin road bike wheels will see you calling in the wheel builders regularly!

- Also, road bikes generally require a bit of modification for winter riding because needle thin slicks really don't like rain and ice

- With disk brakes, these are VERY hard to find on road bikes, although they are making an appearance on some 2014 bikes(The Synapse Ultegra for example and Bianchi and Specialiazed also have disk brake models out this year)

It does seem like it's not a road bike you want but a cyclocross or sport hybrid(though even a sport hybrid may be a bit too delicate for your requirements)

[markfh]

A few thoughts

1. Drop handle bars give you the ability to change riding position during a ride which can help avoid back pain problems by not being the the same position all the time particularly if you are going for longer rides. You have the choice of three/four positions a) on the straights when want to admire the scenery b) on the initial curve - gives a slightly lower position c) on the hoods of the brake levers/shifters and d) fully on the drops when you are plugging into the wind or trying to go hell for leather down a hill, positions b) & c) being rather similar. Position a) means that you are further from the brake levers unless you have cyclo -cross brake levers fitted.

2. Taking your request as being a bike to be used on roads rather than a "road" bike which some people take to mean a racing style bike with narrow wheels and skinny tyres and a narrow range of gears particularly on the cassette. It is worth your looking at bikes labelled as either cyclo-cross or touring and possible audax although they tend to have thinner wheels and tyres and a narrower range of gears.

3. Depending on what your current mountain bike is like and also whether you find it comfortable when riding longer distances have you considered getting an alternative set of wheels with possibly narrower rims to take a narrower more road friendly tyre, something in the 1.25" - 1.75" range. Assuming that you already have disc brakes on your mountain bike then it would probably be worth matching your existing hubs and discs to make the swap as easy as possible with perhaps a slightly less wide range on the cassette depending on what you current chainset is like. The lower rolling resistance of the narrower tyres run at a higher pressure than you would use off-road with a less aggressive tread pattern (if not slicks) should mean that you are still able to winch your way up the hills. There are a wide range of tyres available with a range of puncture protection, particularly if you include those marketed as "city" tyres.

[maxr]

Thanks again guys, all this advice is very useful.

Do they make compact drops (that will take cyclocross brake levers) in reasonable widths?

Also, CT mag his month has a review of cable disks - can they can be combined with cyclocross levers on drop bars?

Thanks, Max

[andrewjoseph]

You can get compact drops in 44cm widths, it's what I use. I don't like the 'cross' levers though, they don't provide enough power for me, and they get in the way of a comfortable position on the tops. I find braking on the hoods good enough for around busy places and get in the drops for downhill where I have better control of the brake levers.

The cross levers don't pull any cable, they work by moving the outer.