battaglin v dawes

[henrik]

hi
i've a chance of getting a steel battaglin….complete bike £250. but have to get rid of my heavy tourer a dawes sardar. i started touring last year but discovered the dawes to be too heavy as i did a credit card type tour. i thought the battaglin would be a better choice for commute and lightweight touring.
ant opinions on this………..probably just need pushed over the edge

[cycleruk]

Have you done a comparison of the weights of the bikes?
Which model of Battaglin is it? Chances are the gearing may be too high and will need changing.

[henrik]

don't know which model yet until i view although it seems well pantographed,
ye probably will have to do some changes as you say as it also has down tube shifters its going for £250

[borisface]

Well its OK if you want a vintage racing bike. I guess its around 20 years old and would have been a very nice bike then. It maybe difficult to get a rack on unless you use p clips. The gearing will be high and you won't have much of an option to put smaller ones on due to the age of the bike and equipment available unless you spend a heap of cash. I'd be concerned at the wheels as they are quite old (but were probably decent when new), spokes can have a nasty habit of suffering from metal fatigue and snapping under stress, which you will put it under due to the high gearing. It looks like its been resprayed and older steel frames tend to get flexy at the bottom bracket. It will be around 22lbs in weight which is pretty light for a tourer but very heavy for a modern audax/road bike. It looks like it has vintage campag stuff on it. If it was me I'd ditch the wheels and drive chain and convert it to a retro fixie but then it'd cost you nearer £500. Although you maybe able to flog the old stuff.

For the type of riding you intend commuting/light touring I'd recommend something more recent like a Giant SCR or Defy, a Specialized Allez or a Boardman which will give you a wide range of gears and will be lighter than the dawes or the battaglin. You maybe able to get one on ebay or gumtree for the cash you have.

[Tonyf33]

That'll be completely fine for 'credit card' touring, pull off the chainset & derailleur's, sell them for a wedge and buy a Stronglight compact double or triple or even one of the £25 cheapo chainsets from SJS http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/alloy-compac ... prod13441/ depending on your legs you might not even to replace the freewheel.. Nowt else to it and you might even have some change in your pocket from the shiny things that came with it

[Brucey]

hmm, it might be the photo making it look like that, but isn't that actually a TT frame, with a downwards sloping top tube? If so, I think it would make for a pretty weird touring frame, even with the gearing sorted out.

cheers

[mercalia]

I wonder if u will live to regret getting rid of the Sardar? What would the difference in weight be between the 2 bikes in comparison to the combined weight with the rider. Very little. Unless the geometry of the frames makes a real big difference in this case? if the Sardar is simlar to the 1-Down predecessor I have it isnt the weight thats the issue but the 26" wheels and low gearing that makes it a slow bike ( not heavy ) Only thing that wouild make a big differnce is the wheel size 26" v 700c? Maybe u need to think about stripping down the Sardar and think about differnt tyres.

[henrik]

superb…..all great advice and very sharp eyes!
cheers

[Tonyf33]

it doesn't look anything like a lo-pro frame to me, head tube is much too long (for a TT bike) even for a frame of that size. It's the angle the photo has been taken at that confuses things, the 650C front wheels are appreciably smaller..that one isn't because it is the same size.

[CREPELLO]

Do you know that the frame dimensions are going to fit you well. And do you know how the Battaglin handles. Is it a racing bike, which means quick handling, or is the handling something slower, which is nicer to use in a leisurely sense? Of course, you may know exactly what you want.

[Brucey]

there are more photos of the bike here;

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/battaglin-road-bike/1038930854

and the top tube does look flat in the other pics.

The handlebars are irredeemably horrible of course but the rest of the bike looks quite nice, even if it is a bit of a mixture of Campag parts in there.

I can think of worse places to start if you aim is to have a bike with skinny tyres.

cheers

[samsbike]

I wonder if u will live to regret getting rid of the Sardar? What would the difference in weight be between the 2 bikes in comparison to the combined weight with the rider. Very little. Unless the geometry of the frames makes a real big difference in this case? if the Sardar is simlar to the 1-Down predecessor I have it isnt the weight thats the issue but the 26" wheels and low gearing that makes it a slow bike ( not heavy ) Only thing that wouild make a big differnce is the wheel size 26" v 700c? Maybe u need to think about stripping down the Sardar and think about differnt tyres.

why would the wheel size make a difference - due to the width or something else?

[mercalia]

I wonder if u will live to regret getting rid of the Sardar? What would the difference in weight be between the 2 bikes in comparison to the combined weight with the rider. Very little. Unless the geometry of the frames makes a real big difference in this case? if the Sardar is simlar to the 1-Down predecessor I have it isnt the weight thats the issue but the 26" wheels and low gearing that makes it a slow bike ( not heavy ) Only thing that wouild make a big differnce is the wheel size 26" v 700c? Maybe u need to think about stripping down the Sardar and think about differnt tyres.

why would the wheel size make a difference - due to the width or something else?

to gearing and speed. wheels have to go round more times with 26" compared to 700c for given speed? Most people have a comfortable peddle spin rate? Everything else being equal ( gears ) this would have to be higher for the smaller wheel for a given speed? That was the thing I noticed mostly compared to my Galaxy ( when I had one ) - the 1-Down seemed slow( and the Galaxy was heavier with its full size frame! - 65cm frame). I was wondering if the lower speed the real issue not the weight - the frames on the 1-Down and Sardar are compact frames made of quite advanced high quality Reynolds steel?