Competition bikes for commuter use

Travis said:

I've ridden a Repco Superlight for many years for non-competitive joy
rides and occasional commutes to work. I've always wanted to upgrade
to something a bit better, but am not sure if its worthwhile.

I usually commute on my racebike. I've currently got my old racebike
out on loan, but it's my wet-weather commuter now.

Quoted message said:

On ebay there are often second hand competition bikes (e.g. right now
I'm tempted by a 2002 Norco CRD-1 for $900 being sold by someone not
far from where I live.)

Make sure it fits. Bargains aren't always what they seem, and you can
get a new roady for not much more than that that will fit and be set up
for you, have a warranty etc.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

From casual lurking in a couple of bike forums, I've seen a number of

comments made about how "silly" it is that casual riders (e.g. people
who aren't racing) buying, or being sold, multi-thousand dollar top of
the line alloy/carbon bikes.

Apart from the obvious difference of purchase cost, what issues are
there with using a competition bike as a daily rider? Do competition
bikes happen to have bearings and gears which wear out easily or are
they usually just as robust as something like a Repco...

A "repco" could be almost anything, but generally, racebikes are
designed to ride serious distances comfortably. I've 55,000km on one
of mine, and while the usual wear & tear (new rims, BB, chain etc every
now & then) happens, generally the frame etc should last effectively
"forever", esp if it has a lifetime warranty 🙂

Quoted message said:

Realistically, for the purposes I'm putting the bike to, would I just
be wasting my money on a "good" bike, or can a commuter/weekend
joyrider with no intention of racing actually notice the difference
sufficiently to justify the higher price?

Yes.

And one day, you might decide to race, or get into AUDAX etc .... and
then you have one less excuse 🙂

Travis said:

From casual lurking in a couple of bike forums, I've seen a number of comments made about how "silly" it is that casual riders (e.g. people who aren't racing) buying, or being sold, multi-thousand dollar top of the line alloy/carbon bikes.

Maybe it is because said racers struggle to afford same bikes. If it suits your style of riding, get whatever bike you want.

My boss drives a Ferrari, does that make him a [censored]? No, he is one anyway (ah, that feels better). He can afford it and he enjoys driving it.

Same thing with my bike. I aint no pro, but I enjoy the lightness and responsiveness of a nice bike. And even the best bike costs a damn sight less than my car, so, to me, its no big deal financially. I'm not going to settle for the commuter/hybrid that some people would have me ride.

sinus said:

My boss drives a Ferrari, does that make him a [censored]? No, he is one anyway (ah, that feels better). He can afford it and he enjoys driving it.

Same thing with my bike. I aint no pro, but I enjoy the lightness and responsiveness of a nice bike. And even the best bike costs a damn sight less than my car, so, to me, its no big deal financially. I'm not going to settle for the commuter/hybrid that some people would have me ride.

I fully agree with sinus... and also about his boss.. (not that I know him)... 🙂

I rode about 10,000km last year.. and raced < 200km.. I'm no racer, but I ride bikes that are..

cheers,
GPL

gplama said:

sinus said:

My boss drives a Ferrari, does that make him a [censored]? No, he is one
anyway (ah, that feels better). He can afford it and he enjoys driving
it.

Same thing with my bike. I aint no pro, but I enjoy the lightness and
responsiveness of a nice bike. And even the best bike costs a damn
sight less than my car, so, to me, its no big deal financially. I'm not
going to settle for the commuter/hybrid that some people would have me
ride.

I fully agree with sinus... and also about his boss.. (not that I know
him)... 🙂

I rode about 10,000km last year.. and raced < 200km.. I'm no racer, but
I ride bikes that are..

But this year? 🙂

Bleve said:

Quoted message said:

I rode about 10,000km last year.. and raced < 200km.. I'm no racer, but
I ride bikes that are..

But this year? 🙂

As of yesterday... 1719kms...raced 25kms(?)... bring on le tours!

cheers,
GPL

Bleve said:

Quoted message said:

On ebay there are often second hand competition bikes (e.g. right now
I'm tempted by a 2002 Norco CRD-1 for $900 being sold by someone not
far from where I live.)

Make sure it fits. Bargains aren't always what they seem, and you can
get a new roady for not much more than that that will fit and be set up
for you, have a warranty etc.

Fair enough. I hadn't realised there was much to it which couldn't be
fixed by adjusting the seat and handlebars....

I'm 190cm tall and weigh just over 100kg. Am I just going to crush a
competition roadbike? The spokes on my repco got a bit brittle over
time and I eventually replaced the wheels, only to hit a rock and break
a number of spokes on my very next ride, so I had to walk the damn
thing home about 15km. I think I'm just too heavy. 😉

Are there any brands of good bike which are considered particularly
brittle which shouldn't be used on the road? Is that even an issue?
(I'm referring to forks and frames of course, broken spokes are just a
fact of life with cycling...)

Quoted message said:

And one day, you might decide to race, or get into AUDAX etc .... and
then you have one less excuse 🙂

I'm a fast cruiser, but haven't ridden as much in recent years and have
never considered competing. I used to commute each day to university
(about 20km each way) and one of my favourite riding moments occurred
one morning on the Kwinana Freeway bike path next to the river when,
heavily laden with my backpack and riding my affordably priced Repco
Superlight, I rang my bell and overtook a train of lycra wearing
"serious" riders on fancy Italian bikes like they weren't even moving -
and continued to pull away from them until they were out of view. I
distinctly recall hearing someone exclaim "f&#k, he's going allright!"
as I went by. That was my regular cruising speed, I wasn't showing
off. I do sometimes wonder what I could do with a good bike and no
backpack... *grin*

Travis

Travis said:

I've ridden a Repco Superlight for many years for non-competitive joy
rides and occasional commutes to work. I've always wanted to upgrade
to something a bit better, but am not sure if its worthwhile.

On ebay there are often second hand competition bikes (e.g. right now
I'm tempted by a 2002 Norco CRD-1 for $900 being sold by someone not
far from where I live.)

Quoted message said:

From casual lurking in a couple of bike forums, I've seen a number of

comments made about how "silly" it is that casual riders (e.g. people
who aren't racing) buying, or being sold, multi-thousand dollar top of
the line alloy/carbon bikes.

Sure. And your point is?
Seriously can you afford a ferrari? Nope? Well you can have the
equivelent in a pushy. And if you want too. Good on you 🙂 They are
just jealous.

And if you wind up with a C50 I will hang [censored] on you with the best of
em. And I will just be jealous too.

Quoted message said:

Apart from the obvious difference of purchase cost, what issues are
there with using a competition bike as a daily rider? Do competition
bikes happen to have bearings and gears which wear out easily or are
they usually just as robust as something like a Repco...

Ummmm Track bikes on the road are a very expert thing.. for very experts
only.

Roadys are fine. A good road racing bike is as tough as a truck. (Well
in its intended enviroment) It does of course require maintenance.
But not heaps.

Quoted message said:

Realistically, for the purposes I'm putting the bike to, would I just
be wasting my money on a "good" bike, or can a commuter/weekend
joyrider with no intention of racing actually notice the difference
sufficiently to justify the higher price?

Ohhh yes. 🙂

Dave

Travis said:

Bleve said:

Quoted message said:

On ebay there are often second hand competition bikes (e.g. right now
I'm tempted by a 2002 Norco CRD-1 for $900 being sold by someone not
far from where I live.)

Make sure it fits. Bargains aren't always what they seem, and you can
get a new roady for not much more than that that will fit and be set up
for you, have a warranty etc.

Fair enough. I hadn't realised there was much to it which couldn't be
fixed by adjusting the seat and handlebars....

There can be. It's worth getting a bike fit, IMO.

Quoted message said:

I'm 190cm tall and weigh just over 100kg. Am I just going to crush a
competition roadbike?

No.

Quoted message said:

The spokes on my repco got a bit brittle over
time and I eventually replaced the wheels, only to hit a rock and break
a number of spokes on my very next ride, so I had to walk the damn
thing home about 15km. I think I'm just too heavy. 😉

You'll get lighter, but you're not too heavy to ride a racebike.

Quoted message said:

Are there any brands of good bike which are considered particularly
brittle which shouldn't be used on the road? Is that even an issue?

Here be dragons! IMO, yes. I'm heavy, I ride Trek bikes. That's as
far as I'll go here 🙂

Quoted message said:

(I'm referring to forks and frames of course, broken spokes are just a
fact of life with cycling...)

No, they don't have to be. Spoke breaks are a factor of a poor wheel
build.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

And one day, you might decide to race, or get into AUDAX etc .... and
then you have one less excuse 🙂

I'm a fast cruiser, but haven't ridden as much in recent years and have
never considered competing. I used to commute each day to university
(about 20km each way) and one of my favourite riding moments occurred
one morning on the Kwinana Freeway bike path next to the river when,
heavily laden with my backpack and riding my affordably priced Repco
Superlight, I rang my bell and overtook a train of lycra wearing
"serious" riders on fancy Italian bikes like they weren't even moving -
and continued to pull away from them until they were out of view. I
distinctly recall hearing someone exclaim "f&#k, he's going allright!"
as I went by. That was my regular cruising speed, I wasn't showing
off. I do sometimes wonder what I could do with a good bike and no
backpack... *grin*

I smell a convert 🙂

Byron, he's in Perth ... you know what to do 🙂

Travis said:

Are there any brands of good bike which are considered particularly
brittle which shouldn't be used on the road? Is that even an issue?
(I'm referring to forks and frames of course, broken spokes are just a
fact of life with cycling...)

How's that saying go? Quality, Weight, Price, pick two.

Low weight, low price is going to give you poor quality, particularly wheels. That said, reasonably priced traditionally spoked wheels can be a brilliant compromise. Many people here regularly dis low spoke count radially laced in favour of 32 spoke 3 cross. A well built wheel will be reasonably light, not superlight, and will last forever (or until the rim wears out). A well built fixie wheel should last forever, or at least longer than your knees.

Travis said:

I've never heard of a C50 but you make it sound very appealing....
What does a C50 cost and where can I get one? 🙂

Colnago C50. Probably the Ferrari of road bikes. 🙂

http://www.cbike.com/c-50_hp.htm

--
..dt

dtmeister said:

Travis said:

I've never heard of a C50 but you make it sound very appealing....
What does a C50 cost and where can I get one? 🙂

Colnago C50. Probably the Ferrari of road bikes. 🙂

http://www.cbike.com/c-50_hp.htm

Forgive my ignorance, but I thought the Colnago CF4 was the Ferrari of
road bikes... :-)

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=PRODUCT&PRODUCT.ID=1852

Travis

Travis said:

dtmeister said:

Travis said:

I've never heard of a C50 but you make it sound very appealing....
What does a C50 cost and where can I get one? 🙂

Colnago C50. Probably the Ferrari of road bikes. 🙂

http://www.cbike.com/c-50_hp.htm

Forgive my ignorance, but I thought the Colnago CF4 was the Ferrari of
road bikes... :-)

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=PRODUCT&PRODUCT.ID=1852

Guess I'm the ignorant one. Who'd have thunk it.. 😉

--
..dt

dtmeister said:

Travis said:

dtmeister said:

Travis <[email hidden]> wrote:

>I've never heard of a C50 but you make it sound very appealing....
>What does a C50 cost and where can I get one? 🙂

Colnago C50. Probably the Ferrari of road bikes. 🙂

http://www.cbike.com/c-50_hp.htm

Forgive my ignorance, but I thought the Colnago CF4 was the Ferrari of
road bikes... :-)

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=PRODUCT&PRODUCT.ID=1852

Guess I'm the ignorant one. Who'd have thunk it.. 😉

More than one model of Ferrari guys

Dave

On 2006-02-13, dave (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Travis said:

My point wasn't so much about the [censored] factor of some fatso buying a
$20,000 Tour de France bike which he'll ride once for a short distance,
I was more concerned about the robustness of a competition bike.

They can be 'very' robust.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

That aside, to stick with your example...

A Ferrari is a fuel guzzling and onften mechanically unreliable beast
with expensive spare parts that aren't stocked locally and needs to be
serviced at ridiculously short intervals by high priced specialists.
As a result, most Ferraris spend almost their entire lives in the
garage looking pretty and are only driven on special occasions, they
are rarely used as a daily driver vehicle.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

My TCR has been commuted, thrashed, ridden down rutted dirt tracks that
had some mountain bikers walking, belted over curbs.. raced, crashed,
crashed again, crashed again, done many thousand kilometers and never
once not got me home.

My GF bought an OCR0 Giant the other month. Its supposedly a cheaper
and nastier bike than the TCR but its lighter.. has more carbon and the
same component mix. Giant are trying pretty hard

My OCR3 (the absolute cheapest Giant roady) is about 9 months old. It
has been hit by three cars (clumsy sod, aren't I?), and I came off far
worse than the bike (superficial damage in the second hit, slightly
bent rims in the third). It has been slid along the ground once due
to my inexperience with 25mm tires in the wet on tarmac. I'm sure
I've done other clumsy stuff, too.

It is my daily commuter (but probably has only seen about 7 days worth
of rain so far -- damn this drought) and shopping bike. It has had
racks since December. The top tube is quite scratched (it now looks
quite ugly), because of being parked up against poles and sliding down
poles when I lean it up against the train seats, and because I used to
not have enough flexibility to lift my cleated shoes high enough above
the top-tube.

It has even toured on gravel roads (7km of the grand ridge road before
I finally woosed out) with 15+kg (I didn't weigh it, but I imagine it
was close to that) of touring junk.

And surprisingly, it is still going strong.

--
TimC
Jun 26 14:08:17 kernel: troll-o-meter (pid 15134) killed: memory exhausted

Travis said:

Anyway, what are some of the better value brands that you guys could
recommend, and good bike shops in Perth?

What's your budget BTW? Or even a budget "range"? You can pretty easliy
get up to $5k but then again get a pretty reasonable bike for $1500
also, depending on your expectations.

As for roadie shops, Glen Parker Cycles (Nedlands), Bicycle
Entrepreneur (Nedlands), Elite Racing Cycles (Northbridge), Ideal
Cycles (Hilton), Bike Force (Subi)...Fleet Cycles (Fremantle), even
Balmoral Cycles (Vic Park) probably a couple of others that I've
missed...

As for brands, do the rounds of all the shops, and ask them the
questions...see what they recommend. Do your research, post back here,
repeat until satisfied :-)

Cheers
David M

David M said:

Travis said:

Anyway, what are some of the better value brands that you guys could
recommend, and good bike shops in Perth?

What's your budget BTW? Or even a budget "range"? You can pretty easliy
get up to $5k but then again get a pretty reasonable bike for $1500
also, depending on your expectations.

I was thinking under $2K, but wondering if my money would be better
spent on a second hand bike which retails for more when new...

$2K for a brand new alloy, or $2K for a three year old carbon uberbike
that a bike geek is trading in because he needs the very latest model.
People here say that a good racing bike should last a lifetime so
second hand shouldn't be too bad should it?

I've looked up the Norco bike being sold on Ebay and noted that this
model has a compact frame, which makes me wonder if it would be a good
fit given the advice given earlier in this thread about needing to have
the bike fitted...

Quoted message said:

As for roadie shops, Glen Parker Cycles (Nedlands), Bicycle
Entrepreneur (Nedlands), Elite Racing Cycles (Northbridge), Ideal
Cycles (Hilton), Bike Force (Subi)...Fleet Cycles (Fremantle), even
Balmoral Cycles (Vic Park) probably a couple of others that I've
missed...

How about Guildford Cycles? I know the owner, but last time I was in
there (long time ago) it was almost entirely stocked with mountain
bikes and BMXs. He could probably get one in for me if I asked nicely
though.

Travis

On 2006-02-13, Travis (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

David M said:

What's your budget BTW? Or even a budget "range"? You can pretty easliy
get up to $5k but then again get a pretty reasonable bike for $1500
also, depending on your expectations.

I was thinking under $2K, but wondering if my money would be better
spent on a second hand bike which retails for more when new...

$2K for a brand new alloy, or $2K for a three year old carbon uberbike
that a bike geek is trading in because he needs the very latest model.
People here say that a good racing bike should last a lifetime so
second hand shouldn't be too bad should it?

As long as it hasn't been in any accidents. So I wouldn't buy off me,
for example 🙂

--
TimC
Some people claim that the UNIX learning curve is steep, but at least you
only have to climb it once. -- unknown

Travis said:

From casual lurking in a couple of bike forums, I've seen a number of
comments made about how "silly" it is that casual riders (e.g. people
who aren't racing) buying, or being sold, multi-thousand dollar top of
the line alloy/carbon bikes.

Well that's just so much stuff and nonsense.

Does your bike do what you want it to? Think you'll get more fun out of
a finely tuned race machine? Go for it!

Quoted message said:

Apart from the obvious difference of purchase cost, what issues are
there with using a competition bike as a daily rider? Do competition
bikes happen to have bearings and gears which wear out easily or are
they usually just as robust as something like a Repco...

All bikes have parts that wear out. If a bike's got derailleur gear's
then you're going to have to replace bits and pieces down the road.

The difference with the more expensive bikes is that replacement
cassettes, chains, rings etc can be a non-trivial expense. If like me
it's a car replacement then that's not really much of an issue,
everyone's different.

Then there are hub gears like Shimano's Nexus and the Rholloff speed
hub. The maintenance of these babies is a lot less but perhaps not as
flexible as a derailleur system. When TdF riders start running hub
gears I might put one on my Trek ;-)

Quoted message said:

Realistically, for the purposes I'm putting the bike to, would I just
be wasting my money on a "good" bike, or can a commuter/weekend
joyrider with no intention of racing actually notice the difference
sufficiently to justify the higher price?

I've a Trek 1200 which I use as a commuter. I take the rack off and
it's an OK road bike. Not brilliant but OK. N+1 dictates that I need a
dedicated tourer/commuter and a dedicated road bike ;-)

That's the beauty of bikes, you can afford not to stop at just one!
--
Cheers | ~~ __@
Euan | ~~ _-\<,
Melbourne, Australia | ~ (*)/ (*)

Travis said:

David M said:

Travis said:

Anyway, what are some of the better value brands that you guys could
recommend, and good bike shops in Perth?

What's your budget BTW? Or even a budget "range"? You can pretty easliy
get up to $5k but then again get a pretty reasonable bike for $1500
also, depending on your expectations.

I was thinking under $2K, but wondering if my money would be better
spent on a second hand bike which retails for more when new...

Kathys OCR with ultegra cost well under that with pedals (1600) THanks
for the pedals Kath 🙂

Yeah there are lots of good deals 2nd hand but a) Dont buy from Tim and
b) make sure you get the right size. Its the single most important variable

Quoted message said:

$2K for a brand new alloy, or $2K for a three year old carbon uberbike
that a bike geek is trading in because he needs the very latest model.
People here say that a good racing bike should last a lifetime so
second hand shouldn't be too bad should it?

I have a question mark about crashed carbon. It should be fine.. I have
never broken carbon forks for example. But if it were not fine it would
be very not fine.

Quoted message said:

I've looked up the Norco bike being sold on Ebay and noted that this
model has a compact frame, which makes me wonder if it would be a good
fit given the advice given earlier in this thread about needing to have
the bike fitted...

Ahuh. Compacts. Well I have owned both traditional bikes and compacts
and the compact I currently own is well one of the more compact. 🙂

FIrstly size aint so critical on compacts cos you set em up with
seatpost and seat and bars.

But they tend to be twitchier. They tend to be better climbers.. to be
not so good in crosswinds and to be scarey downhill. Of course your
milage may vary on any and or all the above. Just make damm sure you
test ride a compact. And of course it might still not fit you.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

As for roadie shops, Glen Parker Cycles (Nedlands), Bicycle
Entrepreneur (Nedlands), Elite Racing Cycles (Northbridge), Ideal
Cycles (Hilton), Bike Force (Subi)...Fleet Cycles (Fremantle), even
Balmoral Cycles (Vic Park) probably a couple of others that I've
missed...

How about Guildford Cycles? I know the owner, but last time I was in
there (long time ago) it was almost entirely stocked with mountain
bikes and BMXs. He could probably get one in for me if I asked nicely
though.

Travis

Sorry. Its a foreign country to me 🙂

Dave