I'm starting to get really unsure now!Straight bars/drop bars

GT_TDI_150

Ok,

I have my bike('Eurotrek Bullet' a 54cm straight bar 'racer') picked, the docket ready to to be put through as a order ...

but now I'm starting to doubt whether I should go for a normal 'racer'.

Is there 'good racers' available for below €500? Is the butterfly gear system as good as the system incorporated in the brakes?

I've submitted my paperwork in work for the cyclescheme for €650, but I want to get the Helmet/Shorts/Lock/Speedo(not the bugdgie-smuggling type:D)/footpump/bottle holder/punc. repair gear and the bike all for that price.

Thanks

Beasty

Bike and safety equipment only under the BTW scheme - can't get shorts and speedo (although the other items you mention should qualify based on the Revenue Guidance)

You will not get a (new) "good racer" for under €500. You need to be nearer the €1k limit to get anything decent, although most around here would recommend drops over straight bars

murph226

Drop bars all the way!

I used the whole ctw budget on the bike and picked up the rest of the gear later bit by bit.

Looking back now I'm sorry I didn't do more research and put money towards the bike with the ctw money and get a canyon online.

Remember you can only use the ctw scheme once every 5 years, might aswell make the most of it.

coolbeans

I think I responded to one of your threads regarding new bike and as then I said drops for various good reasons I can't be bothered typing up on a phone. Get drops. I was right then as I and others will be now.

Dord

I started with a straight bar "racer" last year (Giant Rapid 3) but recently had it converted to dropbar. It was such a difference. I found the drops more comfortable and just generally looked better.

I'd say go for a dropbar bike.

Tonyandthewhale

No, butterfly shifters are not as good as integrated shifters. I haven't heard anything good about them.

GT_TDI_150

Ok,

I was in 2 minds on whether to get a flat bar or drop bar racer.
Then I decided to get a straight bar racer but was told by the shop hand to come back and finalise the deal with the shop owner. When I went back yesterday, the price had gone up by €50 to cover the cut the cycleschem crowd take from the bikeshop for the sale?!?!

I was furious that they are going about it this way, so went aroud to some other shops today to start my search all over again.

In the end I decided on .... a Scott Speedster S55 (example)

what ya think?

Lemag

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GT_TDI_150

Lemag wrote: »

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

why not

CheGuedara

Yes. Over a straight barred anything - Definitely.

Lemag

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

why not

You were seeking reassurance so I thought 'why not?'. It looks nice, btw. Enjoy!

GT_TDI_150

Lemag wrote: »

You were seeking reassurance so I thought 'why not?'. It looks nice, btw. Enjoy!

you b@st@rd , my heart dropped!

Lemag

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

you b@st@rd , my heart dropped!

You're damn right I am;) That's the exact reaction I was hoping for - score!

Black Bloc

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

Ok,

I was in 2 minds on whether to get a flat bar or drop bar racer.
Then I decided to get a straight bar racer but was told by the shop hand to come back and finalise the deal with the shop owner. When I went back yesterday, the price had gone up by €50 to cover the cut the cycleschem crowd take from the bikeshop for the sale?!?!

I was furious that they are going about it this way, so went aroud to some other shops today to start my search all over again.

In the end I decided on .... a Scott Speedster S55 (example)

what ya think?

If you want a Scott hybrid why not the Sportster? If you want a Scott road bike the Speedster 55 is too low an entry point IMHO if you plan on cycling with it for a few years. Some of the other Speedsters with Tiagra or Ultegra would be a better bet for long term use - the lower the 'S' number the better the equipment as far as I recall - my two cents as a Scoot Sportster owner.

Lumen

Black Bloc wrote: »

If you want a Scott hybrid why not the Sportster? If you want a Scott road bike the Speedster 55 is too low an entry point IMHO if you plan on cycling with it for a few years. Some of the other Speedsters with Tiagra or Ultegra would be a better bet for long term use - the lower the 'S' number the better the equipment as far as I recall - my two cents as a Scoot Sportster owner.

Ah, come on. Sora is surely fine for an entry-level bike. Recommending Ultegra on a first road bike is a bit nuts.

If the bugs catches the Scott can get demoted to winter trainer or commuter.

Black Bloc

Lumen wrote: »

Ah, come on. Sora is surely fine for an entry-level bike. Recommending Ultegra on a first road bike is a bit nuts.

If the bugs catches the Scott can get demoted to winter trainer or commuter.

I did mention 'long term'.

Side Show Bob

Dord wrote: »

I started with a straight bar "racer" last year (Giant Rapid 3) but recently had it converted to dropbar. It was such a difference. I found the drops more comfortable and just generally looked better.

I'd say go for a dropbar bike.

Did you also change the crankset or what shifters did you use to make it an 8 speed triple,

cdaly_

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

Then I decided to get a straight bar racer but was told by the shop hand to come back and finalise the deal with the shop owner. When I went back yesterday, the price had gone up by €50 to cover the cut the cycleschem crowd take from the bikeshop for the sale?!?!

See if your employer will pay direct rather than using one of the brokers. The scheme is so easy to administer and it's little more than a scam the 'service' being offered by the bike to work 'brokers'.

ktz84

What's the major difference between a drop bar bike and flat bar bike? It's the shape of the bars and the levers. The bars are nothing to do with the groupset so that leaves the levers. Sora levers - crud. Hated them from the moment I first used them until I got shot. I have small hands and they were so hard to use (near impossible actually). I'm sure they are great if you get on with them but I didn't and for that reason I would say that anyone thinking of using them needs to test ride with them to ensure that they can use them. Just my experience.

blorg

Sora is absolutely fine and very reliable. It actually has adjustable reach for the small-handed, there is a small screw that moves the levers closer to the bars.

petethedrummer

blorg wrote: »

Sora is absolutely fine and very reliable.

One thing I've always been curious about; this thumb button feature of Sora right...... this is a feature of the top of the range Campagnolo stuff isn't it? Or am I missing something vital here?

ktz84

blorg wrote: »

Sora is absolutely fine and very reliable. It actually has adjustable reach for the small-handed, there is a small screw that moves the levers closer to the bars.

Let's be clear I'm talking about reach to the button shift. I just really struggled to reach it. I don't see how you could adjust for it however you know more about bikes than I ever will so I will defer to your better knowledge. If it existed I completely missed it and no one online could offer me a solution. Now this was 3-4 years ago so perhaps things have changed.

I can see I was unclear because I mentioned levers in my original post. What I was meaning by that was the whole brake and shift procedure which included the gear shifting and not just the brake levers.

GT_TDI_150

Another question.

I'm obviously getting pedals with the bike and cant afford the 'fancy ones' with the fitting shoes, but was wondering would people recommend I get a set with 'straps' to get use to having my feet 'tied in' or would a plain 'open' pedal be just as good?

petethedrummer

petethedrummer wrote: »

One thing I've always been curious about; this thumb button feature of Sora right...... this is a feature of the top of the range Campagnolo stuff isn't it? Or am I missing something vital here?

Ah yes but when Campagnolo do it it is crafted on top of an alpine pass by a team of beautiful naked Italian virgins using Mario Cippolini's hair grease as a long lasting and weather resistant lubricant.

Whereas Shimano is made by Japanese people, and as we all know, Japanese people have no souls.

ThisRegard

Deleted User wrote: »

Whereas Shimano is made by Japanese people, and as we all know, Japanese people have no souls.

Not completely, don't they licence stuff to be made in even more soul less asian countries.

Lumen

ThisRegard wrote: »

Not completely, don't they licence stuff to be made in even more soul less asian countries.

Taiwan? Can't be Korea, cos they have a really big seoul.

ThisRegard

Actually, give me that thanks back, that was bloody awful.

Dord

Lumen wrote: »

Taiwan? Can't be Korea, cos they have a really big seoul.

Don't give up your day job!

dave.obrien

petethedrummer wrote: »

One thing I've always been curious about; this thumb button feature of Sora right...... this is a feature of the top of the range Campagnolo stuff isn't it? Or am I missing something vital here?

Yep, Shimano have there lever placed in a different location to Campagnolo, meaning that the thumb shifter is impossible to get to from the drops and rubs on your thumb when on the hoods. Whereas Campagnolo's is positioned for easy drop access and causes no rubbing.

Plus, as mentioned, Campagnolo was made by Goddesses, while Shimano has no soul... Who doesn't love a mountain topped, virgin made piece of Italian engineering?!

Also, Sora is a good enough to start on. The pedals with shoes would make more of a difference to a beginner, but you have your budget, so toe straps is an understandable way to start. When/if the time comes to get clipless shoes and pedals (and it is a HUGE improvement), it's probably a good idea to start out with Shimano SPD mountain bike pedals, as they are easier to use because of dual sided entry, and the shoes can be walked in more comfortably than road shoes, making them more convenient for commuting and the like, while still securing your foot well and offering you the pedal advantage of being attached. The bike looks nice, congratulations!

GT_TDI_150

It's nice of ye all to answer q's on my thread, any chance of an answer on my q aswell?!:rolleyes:

Sound like:D

GT_TDI_150

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

It's nice of ye all to answer q's on my thread, any chance of an answer on my q aswell?!:rolleyes:

Sound like:D

Drop bars all the way. More hand positions (important for comfort on longer rides), and you can get into a more aero position (good when there's a headwind).

500 would be about the lowest you could pay. Might have to stretch the budget a little bit.

GT_TDI_150

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

Another question.

I'm obviously getting pedals with the bike and cant afford the 'fancy ones' with the fitting shoes, but was wondering would people recommend I get a set with 'straps' to get use to having my feet 'tied in' or would a plain 'open' pedal be just as good?

Clips and strap can work ok to begin with. Depends on what you're using the bike for. For city riding with lots of stopping/starting flat pedals might be better. For longer rides nothing beats shoes, cleats and clipless pedals though.

DrJakoby

I had a similiar decision a while back about going for flats or drops. Take a look at peoples comments here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71910739

After borrowing a friends road bike I decided to go for drops. I'm still waiting to get the paperwork sorted before picking up my new bike.

dubmess

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

When I went back yesterday, the price had gone up by €50 to cover the cut the cycleschem crowd take from the bikeshop for the sale?!?!

I was furious that they are going about it this way, so went aroud to some other shops today to start my search all over again.

Just a note on this, as Caroline said this is nothing to do with the bike shop, so don't be mad at them.

Unfortunately, opportunists have set up companies offering to be an intermediary for the bike to work scheme.

They have tied many large companies into contracts, like Google, Tesco etc. meaning that employees have to go through them in order to avail of the scheme.

They charge the bike shop 8% plus VAT of every sale as their commission for their 'service'.

This 'service' amounts to muddling the issue and drawing out what should be a painless procedure.

We've done bike to work for companies where we've just issued an invoice to the company and they've given us a cheque. The accountants in any company are savvy enough to figure out the system.

When using a company like biketowork.ie the system works thusly: We give the customer a quote, the customer brings this to their employer who sends it to the intermediary. They then apparently sit on their hands for up to a month then issue the company a voucher. The employee brings this voucher in to the bike shop, the shop then submits the voucher to the intermediary, hands the bike over and awaits payment.

We are still waiting on 2 vouchers to come in, about a months wait so far. In the meantime the customer is waiting for a bike and the shop is left twiddling their thumbs. We don't even know how long we'll have to wait for payment (minus their 8% plus vat) after we submit the voucher.

We've started taking a 50% deposit in cash from the employee which will be refunded when the voucher comes in, and giving them the bike, as it's completely unfair that people have to wait so long to get their bike.

It's a complete and utter pain in the ass and bike shops would much rather not have to use this system.

helimachoptor

Dord wrote: »

I started with a straight bar "racer" last year (Giant Rapid 3) but recently had it converted to dropbar. It was such a difference. I found the drops more comfortable and just generally looked better.

I'd say go for a dropbar bike.

Same here, I started with a flat bar hybrid but I will be getting a drop bar bike in the next week or so. Borrowed a friends and its much more comfortable.

BostonB

Deleted User wrote: »

Clips and strap can work ok to begin with. Depends on what you're using the bike for. For city riding with lots of stopping/starting flat pedals might be better. For longer rides nothing beats shoes, cleats and clipless pedals though.

I use a MTB for commuting. I put open pedals with sharp grips/pin on them as I found I was slipping on really wet days.

munsterleinster

One unexpected thing I noticed when changing from straight to drop bars was my wrists were more comfortable. Not noticable on commuting distance but certatly noticable on longer distances..

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

Another question...
I'm obviously getting pedals with the bike and cant afford the 'fancy ones' with the fitting shoes

Get a pair of http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=3759 these for 20 quid... Absolute bargain and include the cleats.
Shoes can be picked up fairly cheap too (especially if you don't mind second hand).

BostonB

I'm mainly in the end bars on my MTB. I was wondering about the drops and brakes. How is access in traffic, if going through the city center commuting.

dave.obrien

I spend very little time on the drops, most riding time by most people is on the hoods (the brake hoods, with easy access to brakes and gears). Drops are great in the wind, descents or at high speeds, and the flat parts of the bar are handy for when struggling through a climb while seated.

The convenience of drops is comfort and choice on longer cycles, though there is NO draw back on shorter spins. Flat bar road bikes are designed with a slightly longer top tube so that holding the bars roughly equates to the reach one would expect on a drop bar road bike when holding the hoods, which are often referred to as the "neutral" riding position. In other words, a drop bar bike is the same as a flat bar road bike for short distances, but better for long distances.