I'm looking for advice of what sort of road bike to buy. It
shouldn't
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be too delicate <snip>
Most road bikes are not delicate, and they'll hold up fine.
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I've got maybe £1500 ($2750, Eur 2180) to spend on it
That means you have many options. If I were looking for such a bike, I'd think about the Rivendell Rambouillet, Comotion Nor'Wester, Giant OCR Composite 1, and Cannondale T2000. If you don't know what frame geometry you need, get fitted (at a good bike shop) and buy the bike that fits you. If several bikes fit you, buy the one that's prettiest. It's always worked for me. Despite all the tire-talk on this thread, they don't matter so long as you have two with air in them. A tire is a tire.
That means you have many options. If I were looking for such a bike, I'd think about the Rivendell Rambouillet, Comotion Nor'Wester, Giant OCR Composite 1, and Cannondale T2000. If you don't know what frame geometry you need, get fitted (at a good bike shop) and buy the bike that fits you. If several bikes fit you, buy the one that's prettiest. It's always worked for me. Despite all the tire-talk on this thread, they don't matter so long as you have two with air in them. A tire is a tire.
-Vee
Hi, could you explain to us, what you mean when you say that a tire is a tire? And that they don't matter?
Are you saying that size, type of materials, etc just don't matter?
I'm looking forward to your reasoning and practical experience, that went into your conclusions.
Hi, could you explain to us, what you mean when you say that a tire
is
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a tire? And that they don't matter?
Okay, so not all tires are created equal, but you have to be at an extreme fringe of cycling to benefit from the the differences between most tires (for example, pro time trialists). Most road riders do fine on something between 700x20 and 700x42, kevlar, glue, latex, tread, etc. notwithstanding. There are hundreds of tires that are "right" for most people. If your bike fits you, you'll have to go out of your way to find a "wrong" tire. I've sold lots of tires to people, gotten lots of feedback, and I have a bunch of bikes and tires myself. I think tires are boring because most are so much alike in practice. I think people who obsess over them are tweakers. By "tweaker", I mean eccentric fuss-budget. Which describes most cyclists/mechanics/frequent r.b.t posters. Which includes me. I think too hard about tires myself sometimes. But a tire is a tire. Try and see.
