Hi
I am looking for a bike with which I can do some commuting as well as some touring but I also want it to be a little fast. [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif[/IMG]
I had a look on some bikes and I found a cx bike from specialized that is aluminium with a carbon fork that has mudguard and rack fittings. Price is around 900euro.
I also had a look on some touring bikes which are cro-mo frames and forks which are available equiped with mudguards etc for about the same price.
What do you think would be a better choice?
Things that I am interested in are:
-Ease of maintenance. (I have a shimano nexus bike at the moment which apparently is not very easy to repair since its very difficult to remove the wheel in case of flats and the hub is not very easy to repair.)
-To be a little fast, I know this can be easily assesed with narrow tyres and good hubs but brakes are a major problem I think as both of the above bikes are equiped with cantilever brakes. I would prefer a disc brake bike but I didnt find a disc brake cx bike around and the ones that I checked from cannondale are now discontinued. Cube makes some but they are also aluminium.
-Long lasting frame. The steel ones that I checked dont have a removable deraileur hanger but apparently with these frames there is little to worry about fatigue damage. I will be keeping the bike in a closed space so corrosion is not much of a problem I guess.
-I also want it to look good too [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif[/IMG]
What do you think? Should I have a look on the steel touring bikes or maybe go for a more modern aluminium option? What about the cyclocross bikes? Do you you think that they would make a good commuter and touring bike?
Thanks [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif[/IMG]