Recommend me a bike for commuting and long leisure cycles

billyhead

Folks,

I have a budget of about €900 and was going to get a fast reliable hybrid bike for commuting to work 20km each way and for leisure cycles of about 40-50 miles the odd day. I was thinking of getting one of these Specilaised bikes

http://www.cycleways.com/store/product/41664/Specialized-Sirrus-Expert/ or the
http://www.cycleways.com/store/product/41659/Specialized-Sirrus-Comp/ which is cheaper is there much of a difference in the spec and would it be worth splashing the extra money on the expert. Also I was looking at this bike online aswell
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=32&idproduct=12393 and was thinking this might be as good as the expert. Also can you haggle a few quid of purchasing a bike these days? Anybody with any experince of riding these bikes or opinions on which one you would recommend or alternative bikes please let me know. I might even use the Hybrid on the Wicklow 200 and Ring of Kerry cycle. I am 6 ft in height so what size should I be looking at? I am in the civil service but this bike to work scheme probaly won't come in until another 6 months when the Summer and fine sunny days when cyling is ideal is finished so I think i may just buy now.

CheGuedara

Well, given what you'd aim to use the bike for esp considering the use on the ROK, WW200 and spins of 40km+ I would recommend you buy a true road bike rather than a hybrid.

This forum has had a lot of threads recently from folk who have hybrids/mtbs looking to convert from flat bars to drops and it is expensive and will likely happen to you in the future should you buy a hybrid.

Looking just at the shops you've linked to here's a sample of whats falling in your price range

Giant Defy 2
Lapierre RL 300

The Giant is a superior bike, with every component trumping the Lapierre for e44 more. Many of my club use/have used this type of bike (and its predecessors) and it is reliable to the Nth degree and should give you thousands of kms of hassle free pedalling.

As you're 6ft you'll in all probably take a ML (53.5) (I'm 6'1 and take a L (55.5) in Giant but might get in at the limit of fitting for a L so it would be worth calling in to CSS to get sized on the bike.

niceonetom

CheGuedara wrote: »

Well, given what you'd aim to use the bike for esp considering the use on the ROK, WW200 and spins of 40km+ I would recommend you buy a true road bike rather than a hybrid.

+1

As far as I can work out, there are three type of people who buy hybrids for long distance stuff. Those who buy one, use it, and end up buying a real road bike; those who buy one, use it and end up doing the expensive conversion to road bars; and those who don't use it.

billyhead

Just curious would you think a 55cm frame on a road bike would be a suitable size?

dub_skav

niceonetom wrote: »

+1

As far as I can work out, there are three type of people who buy hybrids for long distance stuff. Those who buy one, use it, and end up buying a real road bike; those who buy one, use it and end up doing the expensive conversion to road bars; and those who don't use it.

+ 2
I bought a Lapierre RCR 500 in late 2007 for commuting and leisure spins. I ended up going on a few Saturday spins with the folks on here then did the Wicklow 200.
I have now sold my lapierre and last Friday collected a Boardman Road Team Carbon, which I can't wait to get out on, first spin tomorrow i reckon.

CheGuedara

billyhead wrote: »

Just curious would you think a 55cm frame on a road bike would be a suitable size?

Yup - they're a compact frame (top tube slopes down to the rear of the bike rather than being flat) which means it's a slighly different means of measuring the frame. A 55.5 in a Giant is closer to a 59 in traditional frame sizing.