What bikes should I be test riding?

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 20:27:41 +0100, Ivan wrote
in message :

My priorities are long distance comfort and speed. I plan to do all of
my riding on roads or well maintained canal paths. My maximum trip
mileage this year will be about 200 miles in two days which I will be
training up to. As I will keep the mtb commuter practicality isn't a
major concern but I would like it to take mudguards. My budget is about
£500.

A second hand Dawes Galaxy and £250 left over for some really good
beer ;-)

--
Guy
===
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Ivan wrote:

Hi,

Having convinced myself I can afford a second bike and cycled enough
miles to have a general opinion on what I want I'm hoping you can
recommend a few bikes to try out.

I received some good advice here last year and turned my old mountain
bike into a commuter machine with slicks, mudguards etc and it's still
serving that purpose well. What I'd like now is something I can stretch
my legs on a bit more. Something fast that will make longer rides more
fun.

My priorities are long distance comfort and speed. I plan to do all of
my riding on roads or well maintained canal paths. My maximum trip
mileage this year will be about 200 miles in two days which I will be
training up to. As I will keep the mtb commuter practicality isn't a
major concern but I would like it to take mudguards. My budget is about
£500. I don't care much about brand names but I'd like to buy local so
that means main stream. I'm prepared to try drops or flat bars but I'm
guessing drops fit my requirements better.

Having looked around the web the sort of bike that I think would fit the
bill would be a fast hybrid, e.g. a discovery or sirrus, but with drop
bars instead of flats. If Audax bikes were a bit cheaper they'd probably
be perfect, it seems that consumer demand means you get more bang for
your buck with a hybrid.

Any ideas ?

Thanks,
Ivan

I know this is a bit out of your budget, but maybe not all that much,
and if you can find someone doing a 2/3year old model you may get a good
enough discount on it...

I really like my Audax bike, it's a Dawes, with the 531c (lighter than
normal 531 steel tubing) frame. They're making them with aluminium
frames now I think.

I know I saw ads for the model from the year I got a few months back in
one of the cycling magazines (possibly an ad in the CTC mag?) - which
would be 2 or 3 years back - new, just stock that's not sold cos people
insist on having the coming year's colour or something ;-)

Lovely bike, light, fast (would be even faster if it didn't have all the
junk I've added to it). Comes with mudguards but you can whip them off
if you fancy, and I think takes slightly bigger tyres than the shipped
25's, maybe bigger again without mudguards. Shimano Tiagra 3x9 gear and
gubbins, rx100? brakes. Will take front and rear pannier racks.

Velvet

"Ivan" wrote in message
...
Where is local for you? If it includes Edinburgh, Aberdeen or Newcastle,
then I'd recommend taking one of their own-brand machines out for a spin.
Their city bike (The "Courier") has had some pretty good reviews over the
years and ISTR that their higher class racer (Sora / Tiagra equipped) was
within your budget.

They can be found at www.edinburgh-bicycle.co.uk

Jon

Ivan wrote:

Hi Jon, local for me is Northern Ireland, preferrably Belfast. I am
thinking about a weekend break to Edinburgh on the ferry some time soon
so I'll have a look at their stuff but given the choice I'd still rather
buy local.

But it is possible to test abroad and order locally when you are sure of the
specifics. I'm about to do just that in the UK, where there is a much wider
range of bikes available than here in France.

EFR
Ile de France

"Ivan" wrote in message
...

Second hand would be good, I've been keeping an eye on the small ads but
haven't seen much. Maybe it's the wrong time of year.

If you are not a member of the CTC, I ruge you to join. There are a Several
of touring bikes advertised in the back pages of every copy of the magazine.
In addition to all the other benefits.

Also, locally I found FreeAds had lots of bikes, but mostly mountain bikes
of course.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Ivan wrote:

It looks exactly like the kind of bike I'm thinking about but as you
say, new ones are out of my budget. There are a some local shops doing
Dawes, I'll ask what they have in store.


Spa Cycles in Harrogate often have discounts on last years Dawes. I know you
said local and Harrogate is local to me ! Is it to you ? You didn't say
where you are !

If you are not a member of the CTC, I ruge you to join.

Is "ruge" and urge inna recumbent stylee???

Cheers, helen s

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dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers wrote:

Is "ruge" and urge inna recumbent stylee???

As it's the CTC, more likely inna trundlee stylee... ;-)

My CTC sticker is on the back of the Streetmachine, a more benign piece
of trundling machinery you'd be hard pushed to find anywhere.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"Elisa Francesca Roselli"
wrote in message ...
But it is possible to test abroad and order locally when you are sure of
the
specifics. I'm about to do just that in the UK, where there is a much
wider
range of bikes available than here in France.

Interesting. My experience of France was that there was a better selection.
I guess it depends what you're looking for. The places I've seen in France
appeared to be dominated by road bikes (My thing!), while they often come a
poor second in general bike shops here. Will be in Britanny in 2 days,
cycling and looking for a replacement crankset for the fixer, so I'll put
the theory to the test.

Jon


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Ivan wrote:
In article ,
"MSeries" wrote:


Ivan wrote:

It looks exactly like the kind of bike I'm thinking about but as you
say, new ones are out of my budget. There are a some local shops doing
Dawes, I'll ask what they have in store.


Spa Cycles in Harrogate often have discounts on last years Dawes. I know you
said local and Harrogate is local to me ! Is it to you ? You didn't say
where you are !





I should have said, local to me means Belfast.

If you can't find one locally, there used to be a couple of places
online that did dawes at quite a discount (and other ones too) - though
that doesn't help with the test riding, of course - and you'd be relying
on it fitting when it turns up, which can be a bit hit and miss to get
exactly right I think, they all seem to be slightly different sizes even
if they're called the same thing, cos of the difference in the way they
measure them and stuff.

Velvet