What bikes should I be test riding?

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 20:27:41 +0100, Ivan <[email hidden]> wrote
in message <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

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
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

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

In article <[email hidden]>,

Just zis Guy said:

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 20:27:41 +0100, Ivan
<[email hidden]> wrote in message <ivan-BB18A9.20274031032004@newsfe2-
gui.server.ntli.net>:

Quoted message said:

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 ;-)

I'm a Guinness man so I guess that makes my bike diesel
powered :-).

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.

Ivan

Ivan said:

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

In article <[email hidden]>,

Velvet said:

Ivan wrote:

[snip ..]

Quoted message said:

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

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.

Ivan

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jon Senior' jon@restless_REMOVE_lemon.co.uk said:

"Ivan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ivan-BB18A9.20274031032004@newsfe2-
gui.server.ntli.net... 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

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.

Ivan

Ivan said:

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" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

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

Ivan said:

Quoted message said:

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 !

In article <[email hidden]>,

Just zis Guy said:

"Ivan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ivan-95B31F.22252231032004@newsfe2-
gui.server.ntli.net...

Quoted message said:

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.

That's handy, I joined the CTC a few days ago so hopefully
my first mag will arrive in the post soon.

In article <[email hidden]>,

MSeries said:

Ivan said:

Quoted message said:

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.

Ivan said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

MSeries said:

Ivan said:

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

In article <[email hidden]>,

Velvet said:

Ivan said:

In article <[email hidden]-
berlin.de>,

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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

This brings up a question I've occasionally wondered about.
How much assembly do bikes ordered over the internet
usually require ?

I'm confident enough with most minor jobs and adjustments
that don't require special tools but I don't see the point
in losing the lion's share of an online discount by paying
my LBS 50 quid to put it together.

Ivan

Ivan said:

In article <7LZac.247$cR3.5749884@news-
text.cableinet.net>, Velvet

Quoted message said:

Ivan said:

In article <[email hidden]-
berlin.de>,

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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

This brings up a question I've occasionally wondered
about. How much assembly do bikes ordered over the
internet usually require ?

I'm confident enough with most minor jobs and adjustments
that don't require special tools but I don't see the point
in losing the lion's share of an online discount by paying
my LBS 50 quid to put it together.

Ivan

No idea, I wanted mine sooner rather than later and was
still not 100% about the sizing so I ordered through a shop
in the end, so they put it together for me.

Velvet

Quoted message said:

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.

Quoted message said:

Any ideas ?

Have a look at ebay - sjscycles have got a few bikes listed
that could well be exactly what you're after, eg: Thorn
Brevet tinyurl.com3ckl9Open ↗ Cannondale T800
tinyurl.com2xv7pOpen ↗

d.

Quoted message said:

Interesting. My experience of France was that there was
a better

selection.

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

poor second in general bike shops here.

What are prices like in France?

d.

Quoted message said:

Thorn Brevet
tinyurl.com3ckl9Open ↗
Cannondale T800
tinyurl.com2xv7pOpen ↗

Dawes Super Galaxy tinyurl.com2hbs7Open ↗

Quoted message said:

in message <[email hidden]>,
Ivan ([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

My maximum trip

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

mileage this year will be about 200 miles in two days
which I will be training up to.

Hi Ivan,

Sounds like you may be a BorderTrekker. As far as local
places to try road bikes is concerned there's a couple of
places with websites that have received good comments for
their mailorder service on this group that are local to you.
chainreactioncycles.comchainreactioncycles.comOpen ↗ is somewhere out
Ballyclare way I think. I don't know if they have an actual
shop though. bikedock.co.ukbikedock.co.ukOpen ↗ is out along the
Shore Road (Newtownabbey?). I was once in Madigans in
Carrickfergus and it seemed to have some very nice higher
end road stuff alongside more usual LBS fare. Don't know if
they'd have cheaper road bikes though. I have never actually
bought anything from any of these places (local to me is
Dublin) so I don't know if they're any good. If it is the
BorderTrek you're building up to I'll see you there. It's a
great ride - really well organised, scenic, long enough to
be a real challenge (for me anyway), in a good cause, and of
course it never, ever rains.......

tony R.

In article <[email hidden]>,

tony R said:

Quoted message said:

in message <ivan-BB18A9.20274031032004@newsfe2-
gui.server.ntli.net>, Ivan ([email hidden]'😉
wrote:

My maximum trip

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

mileage this year will be about 200 miles in two days
which I will be training up to.

Hi Ivan,

Sounds like you may be a BorderTrekker. As far as local
places to try road bikes is concerned there's a couple of
places with websites that have received good comments for
their mailorder service on this group that are local to
you. chainreactioncycles.comchainreactioncycles.comOpen ↗ is somewhere out
Ballyclare way I think. I don't know if they have an
actual shop though. bikedock.co.ukbikedock.co.ukOpen ↗ is out along
the Shore Road (Newtownabbey?). I was once in Madigans in
Carrickfergus and it seemed to have some very nice higher
end road stuff alongside more usual LBS fare. Don't know
if they'd have cheaper road bikes though. I have never
actually bought anything from any of these places (local
to me is Dublin) so I don't know if they're any good. If
it is the BorderTrek you're building up to I'll see you
there. It's a great ride - really well organised, scenic,
long enough to be a real challenge (for me anyway), in a
good cause, and of course it never, ever rains.......

tony R.

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the references, I'll check them out.

You're right about it being the BorderTrek. A friend pulled
a sly move on me a while back by waiting until I had a few
pints before asking me if I'd be up for it. At that stage of
the night I would have probably gave it a go there and then.
I haven't tried it before but it sounds good fun and well
worth it. I'll see you there.

Ivan

"Ivan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In artic

Quoted message said:

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the references, I'll check them out.

You're right about it being the BorderTrek. A friend
pulled a sly move on me a while back by waiting until I
had a few pints before asking me if I'd be up for it. At
that stage of the night I would have probably gave it a go
there and then. I haven't tried it before but it sounds
good fun and well worth it. I'll see you there.

Ivan

I'll be the one on an oldish black Evans tourer. Sligo's a
great wee town if you're in need of a few pints to fortify
you for the return leg!

tony R.