How Fragile are Racer Wheels?

Thargor

Hi, total n00b here, I use a Raleigh mountain bike to get back and forth to college in Galway every day, got it for a €90 ages ago and been hundreds of miles on it but recently Ive been wondering about something faster because I seem to expend a lot of energy on it and I do seem to get overtaken by people on better bikes a lot of the time who dont seem to be killing themselves, thing is a big part of my route is a shortcut through a large park and some pitches and its a fairly rough track, not a dirttrack but still fairly rough, about the width of a cycle lane but with loose chippings, is that a no-no on thin wheels? Do they go flat or buckle if you cycle on loose chippings or a footpath or drop down off a curb, that sort of thing? I dont want to switch to a racer if it means Im going to be changing tyres and fixing flats all the time.

Is weight the main criteria for how much effort you put in pedalling? Im not unfit or anything but Im getting a bit sick of arriving into college panting and sweaty and someone did tell me the bike is a bit heavy, it looks like this with the dual-suspension etc:



Budget-wise it'll probably be one of the cheapest bikes in the shop if I do switch to a racer so please dont bother recommending titanium spokes or something like that, also I wont be wearing cycling shorts or shoes or clipping my feet into the pedals or anything serious, I just wondered if anyone could reccomend a better way to commute basically, thanks.

Canis Lupus

Road bike wheels are tougher than you think in terms of strength and can take a fair enough bang and can go up and down curbs. That said you don't want to be doing that often, you run the risk of potential pinch flats EDIT: It's also trickier to hop a road bike up onto a curb.

In regards to road surface I wouldn't want to cycle on a path with alot of loose chippings. You'll fall on your arse sooner or later. Road bikes with skinny tires really don't excel once the road surface degrades.

So, long story short. If you intend to stick with your route through the pitch and the other way is massively longer then a road bike will hinder you. If you're willing to change your route so you stay on a decent surface then a road bike as you may have noticed pwns the **** outta mountain bikes.

Finally your weight does matter but really speed wise there is just no contest between mountain and road bike. You'd have to cycle on a road bike to understand. You can make an improvement to your speed if you change to slick tires assuming your trundling about on nobbly ones but it won't be a dramatic change.

LastGasp

As mentioned above the road wheels would be fine. The main thing would be not to get 23mm skinny racing tyres. For your kind of route you should probably be looking to get 27 or 28mm diameter, which would probably be what would come with a bike at the cheaper end of the scale. Would still feel a lot easier than your MTB.

Explosive_Cornflake

If you're only around Galway city, just get a solid MTB, no suspension. It what I used to run around on in Galway. Suspension only slows you down and isn't needed on the road.
Road bike wheels aren't too bad. I used to think there were very weak, but that was the stock wheels on my Trek 1000 from 2002. Now a days I've better wheels and it is absolutely no contest.
Standard road tyre in 23mm, but you could 28's which would add a big cushion.
Now, the questions;
How far do you cycle each day?
Would you think you'll do much cycling in the future?

You'll get a lot of suggestions from here telling you to get a new road bike, but in reality you need to drop 6 to 7 ton on one.

The cheap dual suspensions are the worst thing going. You'll notice everytime you put your foot down, the saddles bounces. The spring is compressing. There's energy being used to compress that, and that is energy not getting realised into forward momentum. A good bike is up to 95% efficent I've heard.

tldr;
If you are doing 2-3 miles to college/work and aren't thinking of doing much more, get a cheap bike with a solid fork and hard tail.

DirkVoodoo

I have told this story on a boards spin and I think it is justified here.

My brother, 17, had a few friends over the other week after dislocating his shoulder. One of the guys lives about 1km down the road and rides a Trek 1.5 around the place. He's not into cycling, it's just a bike for getting around. Anyway, he had it stowed in the hall and I noticed his back wheel was flat, with the front not far behind.

I went into the TV room and asked did he know it was flat, thinking maybe he got a slow puncture on the way over. Nope.

"Oh, it's been like that for ages, it's fine though".

My jaw fell to the floor. This young chap is a prop on the senior rugby panel at his school. He is big! The wheel was not big, and he had basically been riding (for I don't know how long) on the bontrager rim with the tyre clinging on for dear life.

I changed the tube for him and pumped up both tyres, thinking that his back wheel would be buckled beyond repair. Amazingly, the wheel was fine, with no lateral or vertical buckling.

This does not hold true for all wheels of course, but the idea that some people have about road bikes being pieces of tinfoil that faint at the idea of a rough road are nonsense. Just don't go hopping on and off kerbs and it will be fine.

Thargor

Thanks for the tips everyone, I cycle about 2 miles each way everyday, uphill into college and then practically freewheel home but I do want to start cycling more, I dont have a car and would love to switch to a good roadbike if it meant easy shooting into town and further afield, I dont do any offroad or rough stuff, are there no good cheap ones? I mean if Im on a €90 MB now then surely if I switch to a €150 - €200 RB Ill notice a difference wont I? Do bikeshops do test drives? I suppose thats probably the best way to see.

DirkVoodoo

Thargor wrote: »

if I switch to a €150 - €200 RB

Brand new, in Dublin? Best of luck.

Have a look through some of the adverts here, you might find something, but I really don't think it will be for less than 200.

Entry level road bikes start around the 450-500 mark here.

Thargor

No not brand new, there are a few good secondhand shops here in Galway, secondhand doesnt matter to me with things like bikes as long as they're in full working order.

Beasty

You may want to consider a hybrid. They have wider tyres than a road bike, and the handlebars are flat, similar to a MTB. In terms of efficiency (and weight) they sit between road bikes and MTBs.

They are a bit cheaper than racers. You could probably pick one up mail order from the UK for less than €350 at current exchange rates

Thargor

Half considering this now:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=37907

Anyone seen any real bargains lately? Please post if you did.

DirkVoodoo

How tall are you?

Thargor

Perfectly average 5'9 / 175cm, does that matter when Im choosing?

DirkVoodoo

Well, the Vitus is a 48cm frame, waaaaay too small for you.

Ideally you would be looking at a 54cm road frame, but this may vary up/down one size.

Thargor

Ah right, thanks for that, will tour the shops tommorow, cheers Dirk.

Thargor

Can I get peoples opinions on this bike please:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ventura-City-Gents-Hybrid-Mountain/dp/B002ID26JA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=sports&qid=1255624943&sr=8-5

I think its free postage on items over £25 on Amazon these days aswell, Im seriously tempted to go for it after seeing the rip-off prices on secondhand hybrids around Galway today.

EDIT: I did test-drive a hybrid today and I was seriously impressed, the ease of cruising around when I had it in top gear was unbelievable, my MB felt like I was cycling through wet tar after I got back on it so I think Im just going to go for one of them and maybe get a roadbike later when Im finished college and have more cash.

Does anyone know what kind of gear change mechanism will be on the handlebars of that bike? I cant find a review of it anywhere besides the one on Amazon. I want the one where its like flicking a switch, dont know the terminology, its not that important anyway.

EDIT 2: Oh crap those are mountain bike tyres aren't they? Or are they the thin hybrid ones?

cdaly_

The "rapid fire" shifters quoted on the page are the type you mean. They have a click button to change to a higher gear and a thumb-press button to change to lower (opposite way around for the front shifter).

The tyres shown are road tread rather than knobbly MTB thread. They'll be fine on the road thought they are a little fat at 35mm. Make sure you keep them pumped as hard as possible.

Lumen

Thargor wrote: »

Can I get peoples opinions on this bike please?

There is a commonly held belief that a <£200 bike will prove more trouble than it's worth (Google "bicycle shaped object").

If you do buy this, please post your experiences, positive or negative.

ednwireland

you might not get free shipping as its coming from dj cycles - not amazon

oh and at that price try and avoid suspension (it wont work properly and adds weight)

i might get flamed for this but have you tried halfords their cheapest carrera subway is 270 at the moment - avoid the apollo bikes

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCmd?catalogId=15551&storeId=11101&categoryId=212377&langId=-1&action=listrefine&constraints=teq%7C%7CGender%7C%7CMens%7C%7Cfra%7C%7CPrice%7C%7C200.0%7C%7C400.0%7C%7Csor%7C%7CPrice%7C%7C1

DirkVoodoo

ednwireland wrote: »

i might get flamed for this but have you tried halfords their cheapest carrera subway is 270 at the moment - avoid the apollo bikes

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCmd?catalogId=15551&storeId=11101&categoryId=212377&langId=-1&action=listrefine&constraints=teq%7C%7CGender%7C%7CMens%7C%7Cfra%7C%7CPrice%7C%7C200.0%7C%7C400.0%7C%7Csor%7C%7CPrice%7C%7C1

My first bike, still going strong (sold it to a friend). It is solid and that is it, there is nothing really to make it stand out other than being very good value and not much trouble. It's not fast, it's heavy and it won't come with fancy components, but it will do a short commute happily.

Thargor

Hmmm, well I want to get a light bike, not much point in switching if Im skipping one of the major advantages of hybrids, can anyone reccomend something up to €300 then, looking for a nice light hybrid to get around on, want it to last for years with as little maintenance as possible, good gears, rapid fire shifters etc, not really worried about brand names/secondhand, dont want it to look like something my grandmother would have cycled and preferably in black/grey.

Lumen

Thargor wrote: »

Hmmm, well I want to get a light bike, not much point in switching if Im skipping one of the major advantages of hybrids, can anyone reccomend something up to €300 then, looking for a nice light hybrid to get around on, want it to last for years with as little maintenance as possible, good gears, rapid fire shifters etc, not really worried about brand names/secondhand, dont want it to look like something my grandmother would have cycled and preferably in black/grey.

As edwinireland suggested, a Carrera Subway is on budget.

It will be lighter and faster than a similarly priced "mountain bike".

Thargor

Yeah that looks ideal tbh, pity they're only available in Coolock in dublin and Halfords dont seem to deliver, cant really afford to take a day off to go up from Galway and get one, might as well spend the extra hundered Euro that would cost on amazon and have it delivered to my door, will keep an eye on it though, maybe they'll get it back in in Castlebar, sucks that theres no Halfords in Galway.

Whats the best site for buying bike?

Thanks for all the help btw, much appreciated.

Thargor

Deleted.

km991148

Have bought off of these lads before, and I beleive they now deliver to ROI
http://www.mcconveycycles.com/store/category/2/6/HYBRID-GENTS/

Also, I think the subway has 26inch wheels, if pos I would go for the hybrid size (with 700cc diameter wheels) and put some 25 or 28mm width tyres on. If buying new, maybe see if the shop will do it as part of the deal, rahter than buying say 700X35s and scrapping them for skinnier tyres.

If buying 700cc wheels, get a good sturdy tyre for the terrain ou are talking about (search/goofle boards, plenty of opinion). I go with the Conti gatorskins which are sound enough. A cheaper good alternative are the conti city contacts (I think thats what they are called) look exactly like gator skins, but with a small bit less protection, but 14£ a tyre rather than 20£+ for gatorskins

Thargor

Alright, the best looking bike Ive seen that I can get to (snowed under with work/exams so I cant get up to Dublin from Galway) is this Jupiter Tuscan for €230 new, it seems like a great bike in the shop but I can only find one site that even seems to mention them which is probably not a good sign, does anyone know anything about them or the parts mentioned on tis page? Im tempted to just go down and offer €200 for it tommorow:

http://www.centro.ie/?data=Product&item=517&CategoryID=0

Does anyone know what that frame is and if it'll be heavy? Steel, aluminium etc?

cdaly_

I'll be travelling from Dublin down to Ballygar at mid-term. I could throw a rack on the back of the car and bring something that far for you. You would have to set up the purchase so I could just pick up from the shop. PM if interested...

Thargor

cdaly_ wrote: »

I'll be travelling from Dublin down to Ballygar at mid-term. I could throw a rack on the back of the car and bring something that far for you. You would have to set up the purchase so I could just pick up from the shop. PM if interested...

Thats great man thanks for that, Ill keep it in mind and let you know, cheers.

Anyone got an opinion about the link I posted up there though?^^^

Explosive_Cornflake

Thargor wrote: »

Alright, the best looking bike Ive seen that I can get to (snowed under with work/exams so I cant get up to Dublin from Galway) is this Jupiter Tuscan for €230 new, it seems like a great bike in the shop but I can only find one site that even seems to mention them which is probably not a good sign, does anyone know anything about them or the parts mentioned on tis page? Im tempted to just go down and offer €200 for it tommorow:

http://www.centro.ie/?data=Product&item=517&CategoryID=0

Does anyone know what that frame is and if it'll be heavy? Steel, aluminium etc?

Seems fine, solid fork, 700c wheels. See if you could get a non suspension seat post, they might swap it from another bike, as it might be deemed to be more desirable. Suspension is useless to you for the cycling you'll be doing.

Thargor

Was down there yesterday and the price was actually €280 not €230, so that makes it the exact same price as the Carrera Im getting from Halfords:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055713427

Better to go with a bike that has hundreds of good reviews online rather than one that I can only find mentioned on a single Irish website with Google I think, although the guy in the shop did say that that the Jupiter brand was an offshoot from Raleigh, still cant find any mention of it anywhere though.