Buying advice hybrid flatbar + carbon + disc

[ChiasseEnSpray]

Hello everyone

Im planning to get a bike for commuting and get back in shape and attempt to avoid the heart attack.
Doing roughly 10 miles a day.
Never seriously biked before, currently somewhat overweight, don't know much about bike, although I did research the subject lately.

My criteria are :
Carbon frame for the weight, I will need to carry the bike a bit to take it to its parking spot at home and at work
Disc brakes
Flat bar with ergonomic handles
Frame able to fit mudguard
Ideally something like a sram force 1 (simplified groupset)

I have already tried a classic carbon frame road cycle with drop bar, I just did not like the position, way too aggressive.
So far, all I know is the boris bike, that I actually very much like, but it's too heavy and for 10 miles I might be a bit too slow/relax.

I haven't found a belt driven one bike with carbon frame (which is understandable, who is going to design a carbon frame to accommodate that).
So far I have spotted the canyon roadlite CF, initially I was thinking of getting the top of the line but the bike is not a lot lighter,the only thing I like the force one groupset, I like simple. Frame/fork/handle bar are the same. And I believe I'm too heavy for the carbon wheel



So I am set on the CF 7.0, looks like that but with cheaper component (shimano 105 etc)

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/fitness/roadlite/



What are your thoughts, given I'm a beginner.

Thank for your consideration !

[Gattonero]

If you want to get fit, you may actually want a bike that's a bit heavy.
The correct fit of the bike for you body measurements is paramount, weight reduction comes after.
And don't want to sound rude, but losing body weight is far cheaper and more effective

[hamster]

Neither of those frames appear to have mudguard eyes.

[pwa]

Firstly, cycle commuting can be a good way to get fit, so good choice.

Secondly, I'd suggest you make a list of good bike shops near to you and visit them. Look for one that takes an interest in your specific needs. You need to make sure you come away with something that fits.

Carbon is bling, and I can understand that being on your list, but if you weigh a ton you won't feel faster because you save a few hundred grams on the bike frame. And you have to look after carbon. You mustn't scrape it on anything.

A hybrid is probably a good direction to go. Unless you are planning real off-road stuff avoid suspension forks. They add weight and require maintenance, and if you don't need them they are a dead weight.

Mudguards make life a lot nicer if you are commuting on a wet road. But the best guards are the full guards that are bolted on, not the clip-on sort. So you need a bike with the fixing points to take them. Fixing points for a rear rack are also worth having. It is more comfortable to carry stuff on the rack than on your back.

[Gattonero]

Neither of those frames appear to have mudguard eyes.

So true!

Carbon fiber looks bling, but a bike that's used all-year round in this country, it really needs proper mudguards

[Brucey]

it is easy to persuade yourself that 'you need' this that and the other. The reality is that

- if the bike weighs 10lbs more it won't make you appreciably slower when riding (and it probably won't be that much more awkward to carry either)
- commuting bikes need things like racks, mudguards, lights, locks, puncture proof tyre and all sorts of dull kit like that
- commuting miles are very hard miles indeed and this beats the living daylights out of all kinds of kit that might be OK for an occasional weekend blast
- commuting bikes routinely get knocked about and in many cases are vulnerable to theft too

For an average rider, aerodynamic drag becomes the dominant factor at relatively low speeds. The tipping point is about 12-15mph in most cases. Flat bars put the controls conveniently to hand, but the reason for having dropped bars is so that you can become more aerodynamic if necessary, whilst allowing a wide choice of hand/body positions. You don't have to have the bars set up level or well below the saddle to derive some of these advantages from dropped bars, but if you buy the wrong bike it won't have the steerer left long enough to get comfortable with any handlebar. The bikes you are looking at may fall into that category in many cases. [BTW The effects of weight and aerodynamics are so disparate that you could be faster on a bike with dropped bars (even if it weighs 20lbs more) than a bike with flat bars that gives you one riding position that is not very aerodynamic.]

So depending on your choice of bike you could end up with a maintenance hungry, needy, vulnerable, uncomfortable toy of a bike or something that will take a bit of treatment. In particular if you are carrying the bike, do bear in mind that the chances of knocking it are pretty high; lightweight CF framesets are very vulnerable to severe damage arising from knocks of this kind (eg you can't use many of them with some roof racks or hold the frame tubes in some workstands) so one slip and the frame could be so much scrap. By contrast, steel frames tend to suffer such knocks fairly well; if they do get a bit dented, they usually carry on working just fine.

I'd usually advise someone starting out to buy a bike (almost any bike) to start with and to see what they like, what fits them and what works for them before getting something that is very 'niche'.

cheers

[markfh]

Just a few thoughts that you may want to include in your consideration.

1. There are a very wide choice of bikes available and what suits you may be different to what suits a lot of other people. It may take some trial and error to find a bike that suits you and your requirements may change as you get fitter and gain experience. Also it may help if you try and separate out your requirements into what you are trying to achieve from the bike design and technology to achieve those requirements.
2. There are a lot of other options to achieve most of the weight saving when compared with a "boris bike", i.e. to get a bike in the 10 - 12 kg range, which should still be carryable.
3. It is not clear from the pictures you posted that either of the Canyon bikes actually include provision for mounting full mudguards. Normally this means a bridge between the rear seat stays, a hole through the front fork above the wheel as well as the mounting points near the drop outs. For commuting full mudguards will not only keep you cleaner and dryer but also keep the bike cleaner and easier to maintain.
4. Even the "non-carbon" wheels shown in the pictures included in your post have a relatively low spoke count (24) whereas wheels with a higher spoke count, e.g. 32 or 36, may be stronger and more suitable for your weight and use for commuting.
5. Have you tried any of the Canyon bikes you are considering as the ride position still looks quite "aggressive" particularly when compared with a "boris bike"?
6. Given the distance you are commuting, which I take to be about 5 miles each way, the weight of the bike is likely to only have a small effect on the overall time taken for your commute.
7. You do not say where abouts you are likely to be commuting, what sort of roads/tracks/paths you will be riding on and what sort of hills you are likely to be encountering and hence what sort of gearing range you may need. If you are new to cycling and not fit you are likely to need a wider range of gears than someone who is a regular cyclist and fitter. In choosing gearing I would also make allowance for riding into the wind going up hill at the end of a long and tiring day at work.
8. The bike you start with may be considerably different from what you want to ride once you become fitter, loose some weight and have some experience to base your buying decisions on..

[ChiasseEnSpray]

Are you guys calling me a fat dump ????

I bought a normal road bike which was nice too carbon frame and disk brakes but absolutely hated it, i was impressed by how light and responsible it was but the position and stance with the drop bar was just unbearable making it a punishment to ride. The bike went straight to the bin was a proper waste of money.

Believed it not but when carrying a bike even on a short distance there is a difference between something that weight 7kg and 10kg

My communte will be roughly normal British road and pavement no off road.
And my ride will be 10miles on the way back since I come by car with a colleague in the morning.

You cannot try canyon since it's direct sale only. By the way do you think the brand is overpriced on the model I'm after ?

The few bike shops I have around me are quite small, only carrying few brands and hence always trying to sell me what they have in stock. With prices that obviously cannot match online ones.

[pwa]

I'm afraid you labelled yourself as a bit heavy, so we are just advising based on that. I carry a few extra Kg myself, so sympathise.

Carbon is nice but needs looking after. My commuter has taken a few knocks over the years, some of which might have damaged tubes not designed to take a side impact. Also, if you want to fit proper, non-rattling mudguards you will find it much easier on a frame that has the eyelets (screw holes) in the right places for that.

It is risky to buy a bike you haven't sat on. Even more so if you are not very experienced at bike buying. You are better off buying from a shop where you can visit and try. The brand on the bike doesn't matter all that much. It is a bit like buying leather shoes. You need a good fit.

[Brucey]

... With prices that obviously cannot match online ones.

if price is a consideration, I wonder why you are looking at very expensive bikes?

A good part of the reason why the LBS changes more is because you get more. A bike from a good LBS will be fitted to you, will be set up properly, and they will usually offer a free first service too. By the time you have taken a mail order bike to them twice, to get it set up and then serviced, any 'cost saving' may be moot.

Unfortunately novices tend to be most aware of price and 'features' (having had their heads filled with various forms of glossy magazine nonsense) and are least well set to be aware of the importance of 'everything else'. Well, 'everything else' is quite a lot and is more important than anything else.

I would far sooner ride a cheap, heavy bike that had been set up correctly and that fitted me properly than a more expensive bike that was neither of these things. Too many novices "know the price of everything and the value of nothing", and end up with the latter.

cheers

[SimonCelsa]

My honest opinion is that the Canyon CF7 is a bit bling, fairly aggressive, does not easily lend itself to racks/guards and yes, probably is fairly overpriced.

It would be a boring World if we all liked the same things but for that kind of money you have huge choice. I know this bike ticks absolutely none of your boxes but at least you'd have a fighting chance of adjusting it to suit & it's all pretty basic gear which is easy to fettle;

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b0s21p286 ... -Triple%29

For a few quid more you could even savour the Titanium version;

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b0s21p286 ... -Triple%29

You say you are a beginner so it's best to keep an open mind and have a good searching look at what is available. I don't actually own one of the bikes listed above, my 'do it all' bike is a 15kg quasi - tourer, heavy as hell when loaded but it makes the transition to my 9.5kg road bike that little bit more special. It's all relative and 10kg is only a couple of tins of emulsion paint, I'm sure you could carry them up a flight of stairs.

Anyhow, you have to buy what you want but don't just go purely on looks.....a thing of great beauty will ultimately only bring pain....an expression which springs to mind but I can't remember where from!

Enjoy whatever you buy and try as hard as you can to maintain your cycling habit, it's good for everyone,

all the best, Simon

[hamster]

I did a commute for two years that ended with carrying the bike up two flights of stairs. I used a 10 year old steel 13kg tourer with 26" wheels. Why:
1 The bike was tough and reliable. I came off it twice and it was undamaged.
2 The bar end shifters and 7-speed drivetrain was robust, cheap to replace with heavy wear and required minimal adjustment.
3 It had drop bars, handy for headwinds and one hill which would regularly see me at 40+mph
4 26" wheels gave wider tyres, which avoided problems with drain covers in traffic.

The bikes you show look nice, but they are light and relatively fragile. Most people commute on tough machines, able to survive muck and road salt (or are you going to clean it every evening?) Above all, in my view the marginal gains you get from spending the last £1500 are minimal on a commute. The top-end bike will be no more durable, cost more to run and likely be more fragile.

But it's your money, have fun.

[ChiasseEnSpray]

thank for the advice
But can you guys post links of bikes you think would be appropriate for my usage ?

I know that some of you are probably serious bikers. But me I'm really just biking to go from A to B.
So the aerodynamic, perfect fit, perfect that does not really matter I believe.
Like I said im happy on a mountain bile, a boris bike.
The road bike with drop bar are just the limit for me, the position is too aggressive and I just cant deal with the ergonomics of the drop bar itself.

The canyon has holes to fit a mudguard by the way. Just have to buy them separately.

I also saw the focus planet, cannondale badboy and canyon commuter, but they look very expansive for the features and tech these bikes have to offer.

[Brucey]

if you have a good LBS, what do they stock? Most manufacturers offer something that is intended to suit certain applications, maybe there is something that would do the trick?

cheers

[ChiasseEnSpray]

Money wise, well I believe we are all after the best value, with the current sale, I can get a bike half price.
That is something that has to be considered when your LBS has no discount on the same bike.
And regarding shops, I heard some many stories, of course it's better to try before buying. I found out the hard way with the bike I bought previously.
I also heard you can pay 150 quids to get fitted, and end up with a frame that is still not your size...

I don't understand why you say that carbon is fragile, I have many colleague at work who use carbon frame for commuting as well, but since they are more into biking, they have proper tour the France looking bikes and even changed into onesies before riding them

Some of them have suffered proper abuse, they haven't told me anything about carbon frame being fragile.
I have carbon stuff at home for other sports, and I have been beating the absolute crap out of them with no problem. I cant see a big bike frame able to withstand an avg 80kg biker in motion to be fragile, unless I'm missing something.
And even so, those frames come with a manufacturer warranty

And mine will be use purely for going to work, not gonna use it for anything else. so basically going from garage to the bike box at work and vice versa. Nothing else.

A 13kg bike for me is a no-no. I'm sure some of you are strong and buff but i'm really not into carrying a heavy bike.
And the carbon seem to render the ride a bit more comfortable somehow.

SimonCelsa> thank for the suggestion, is the bike supposed to be very comfy to ride ?
Unfortunately I cant do with the drop bar