New bike, need help.

[fossala]

OK, I got hit by a car 18 months ago and was put in hospital with a broken clavicle, wrist, middle finger and some ribs. My bike was also written off. Downside was lot's of pain and just over 4 months off work. Upside is large insurance payout as it was the drivers fault (I was on a main road and she pulled out in front of me).

I'm getting the insurance money in around 3 months and the misses has given me the go ahead to buy myself a new bike with some off it.

I have 2 bikes at the moment a mountain bike (Vintage dawes ranger) and my main bike (708 Raleigh randonneur) that I ride to work everyday (27 mile Cornish miles)

I'm not sure what bike I should buy. Should I get a "fast" bike like a custom made mercian with campagnolo groupset or should I get myself a sensible bike like a Thorn Mercury with rohloff gearing to do my commute to work and audaxes?

The fast bike I would ride once a week at most, the other I would ride all the time and I have a place at work to store it indoors so I don't have to worry about theft. If I got the Thorn I would probably get rid of the Raleigh and buy something cheapish like a specialized allez to have a bit of fun on anyway as the raleigh is a little bit too big for me (but manageable).

[eileithyia]

Ohhh N +1 springs to mind... I guess the money is sufficient to indulge yourself, I would keep your current bike as a commuter and indulge yourself in that sparkling bike you have always wanted..... but then I come from the 'got knocked a few weeks after drooling over a lovely bike that I could not dream of owning... until the insurance money paid out'

[Brucey]

....I'm not sure what bike I should buy. Should I get a "fast" bike like a custom made mercian with campagnolo groupset or should I get myself a sensible bike like a Thorn Mercury with rohloff gearing to do my commute to work and audaxes?

The fast bike I would ride once a week at most.....

I think if you like it enough you will surely find excuses to ride it to and from work when then mood and the weather are right....

But sensibly if the Raleigh is getting long in the tooth and doesn't really fit you then you should look to swap that out really.

Just be realistic about its 'replacement'.

BTW if you are set on a Thorn, but you don't really need the full Rohloff gear range for commuting then maybe an Alfine 8 would do the trick instead? This'd save you a mighty wadge of cash. Maybe enough to think about having a nice lightweight as well....

cheers

[fossala]

Good thought about the alfine 8 that I had also considered. Here is my problem though, I live in Cornwall and it's a bit hilly.

At the moment I have a 8 speed 12-28 cassette using triple chainset 48-38-28 and have a range between 27.2 and 108.7 gear inches.
The alfine would give me 34.4 to 105.3 gear inches, this isn't going to be enough.
The rohloff would give me 20.2 to 106.3 I would loose a tiny bit from the top end but I would gain quite a bit at the bottom.

I tend to use 28-28 everyday and would actually like something a bit smaller as my work is at the top of a very very steep hill and at 6:30am I'm not in the mood to put too much effort into my cycling. I also use the harder side of my gears going down steep hills if I'm in a rush too/from work. I wouldn't want to find myself running out of gears, I guess that luxury will end up costing me quite a bit.

[karlt]

Is that 27 miles each way or total?

[fossala]

Is that 27 miles each way or total?

Total, but I go the back roads and go by the sea if it's good weather and that takes it to 34.

[Grumbleweed]

If it's help with hills you need is say Titanium all the way, I've got mine down to 15.5lbs and believe me that six pounds makes all the difference when you're ascending!

[fossala]

I've looked at titanium but all I can find that fits the bill is the yukon. Every picture I can find of it has it's steerer tube cut way to short. I like having by drops level with my saddle. It's not that I can't have it any lower, it's just that I like to be able to look what's around me when I ride without straining my neck.

[Malaconotus]

I've looked at titanium but all I can find that fits the bill is the yukon. Every picture I can find of it has it's steerer tube cut way to short. I like having by drops level with my saddle. It's not that I can't have it any lower, it's just that I like to be able to look what's around me when I ride without straining my neck.

A lot of Van Nichs are built to order; there's a custom builder on the website. I've never tried, but it might be possible to specify that the steerer is cut with more than the standard 25mm of spacers. Alternatively, you could just fit another fork with an uncut steerer and sell the stock one?

The headtube isn't especially short for an audax-style bike. It's quite close to the length of Spa's audax bike, but they supply a lot more steerer. The problem tends to be greater in the larger sizes, especially for folk with longer legs.

[Edwards]

How out taking your time and working out what you really want. That way you can take time until you get the money out of them.
Then I would say get the shiny bike that you really want as opposed to something practical. Just to remind you of what you when through to get it.

My wife was told to expect something in about 3 months, that was 4 months ago and she has just received yet more permission forms for medical stuff.
I think that it is her solicitor that is holding stuff up but I do not know.

[eileithyia]

I would agree with Edwards on that, plan what you want, wait until you have the money a couple of my claims have taken up to 2 years to settle. Then get your dream bike ..... hopefully you will not get such an opportunity again and you deserve it...

[Brucey]

Good thought about the alfine 8 that I had also considered. Here is my problem though, I live in Cornwall and it's a bit hilly......

The alfine 8 would give me 34.4 to 105.3 gear inches, this isn't going to be enough.....

I also use the harder side of my gears going down steep hills if I'm in a rush too/from work.

I'd probably try and live with the limited range of gears by sacrificing top gear, taking it down to about 90" or so (you can get 28.5" to 87.2" for example). I can pedal that top gear for a mile or two at ~30mph and that is 'enough' more or less. Fun though it is to let rip on a downhill, the time you 'lose' on the downhills by not doing this actually isn't that much; it feels terrible but it isn't that much. If you want to optimise your speed vs effort overall, you are better off having a rest on the downhills and saving your efforts for the climbs.

If you look at the difference between spinning out on a 107" gear and an 87" gear it is about the same as the difference between 30mph and 35mph going downhill. This will 'cost' about 17 seconds on a mile long downhill, if you are really spun out on the 107" gear, and somewhat less if you are not.

I wouldn't want to find myself running out of gears, I guess that luxury will end up costing me quite a bit.

well that is it really. I guess the only way to find out if you can live with it is to try it. If you get the right bike, worst case is that you shell out later on for a wider range IGH (or convert to a double chainring + tensioner or something) later on.

It might be worth a punt that way and seeing how you get on.

cheers

[JohnW]

...........Should I get a "fast" bike like a custom made Mercian with Campagnolo groupset ...............

......yeah - based on my experience so far, that's what I'd do..........but I won't get paranoid about Campag any more - I've found decent Shimano to be more workmanlike and accessible........the question is, what colour for your Mercian................?

[RickH]

A relatively inexpensive way to stretch the range of an Alfine 8 is to use a double chainset, front mech & a chain tensioner

That's the set up on my Circe tandem & gives me 25.4"-103.6" gears (39/52F, 16R, 20" wheels) - 25.4"-77.7" on the inner & 33.9"-103.6" on the outer by my calculation. I've contemplated fitting a wider spread chainset (34 or 32 inner) to give less overlap and a lower bottom gear as I live on a hill that tops 20% in places.

Rick.

[Grumbleweed]

Shimano is okay, but IME it's substantially more flimsy than Campag, and it'll last half as long for virtually the same money.
You could have a full Veloce group for 400.. Halfords were doing 25% discount on Campag last month too.