picking a replacement bike

lando_w

so, just looking for some advice (or convincing otherwise) please about a replacement bicycle for my stolen machine.

i have never been a fan of race style bikes (drop bars, compact seating position, etc, all dont suit me for city cycling) also, the words quality race bike and inconspicous dont seem to go hand in hand , from reading through a lot of recommendation threads, i rarely see bikes locked up around town that would be the bikes of choice for many on here.

so, my believed requirements, for a bike are as follows:
~28c slick tyres
straight bars
good visibility
good quality but not be too obvious a target if locking up for a few hours
regualr derailleur gears
no suspension
and my personal preference, hydraulic disc brakes

these are the same requirements i had for my previous bike, which was my first bike in years, and it was the only one i found that met all the requirements (was probably slightly lower spec groupset than i would have preferred but did the job)

the only bike i can find on the market now that ticks all the boxes is the cube hybrid sl http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/46110/Cube_Hyde_SL_2012_Bike

so, my ask from your experienced opinions is:

your thoughts specifically on the bike - is it good value for money, etc
your thoughts on my requirements - am i missing something, or valuing something too highly - should i consider rim brakes or hub gears etc
alternative hybrid style bikes - is there another one out there that meets the spec
drop bars - should i use them? it gives more range of bikes, but will it be too much at the expense of my other requirements?

what kind of cycling do i do?
commute to college in dublin city centre ~30km round trip 3 times a week.
20k fitness/recreation suburban cycle 1 or 2 times per week.
general, getting about, suburban/urban
i dont plan to increase that greatly, i mainly run and am training for increased distance running so the bike is for a change of scenery and a rest when i do use it, rather than a sprint or long distance spin.

thanks for reading

Bigus

If you had a bit of time i'd be thinking of second hand from donedeal or gumtree for a bike to lock up on the streets.

lando_w

hi bigus, thanks for replying.
not exactly sure what you are recommending here.
do you mean i should just give up on the idea of owning a decent bike in dublin or that i should buy a decent bike second hand so that when it gets stolen again i can afford another one?

i'm eligible for the c2w scheme so planned to purchase through that in order to get a larger discount

monkeypants

The Cube Cross SL models are comparable, but with rim brakes instead. If you're not going off road, why bother with the extra weight and potential maintenance of disc brakes? Rim brakes should be more than okay for city use.

Tonyandthewhale

The cube is a nice bike, decent groupset, good brakes and cube in general are pretty nice. As regards value for money, I'm not really familiar with the high-end hybrid market so I don't know how it compares to other models or other shops but 900£ for a hybrid from a well respected manufacturer with a decent groupset and hydraullic brakes seems about right. Still wouldn't hurt to shop around though I'd say.

As regards whether or not it's the right bike for you, that's a different story. First of all you said you didn't want a road bike because (among other reasons) they're too flash for locking up around town. That's true enough I suppose but this is pretty flashy too so I hope you have a good u-lock (a kryptonite or similar).

You might also get more value for money if you considered something with rim brakes. Hydraullic discs are great for mountain biking but properly set up rim brakes are more than adequate for road conditions as well as being lighter and cheaper.
I'm not saying the discs are bad of course, just that they're a bit heavier and you might be paying for more stopping power than you will ever be able to use on the road which is a bit of a waste.

Finally, you asked should you be using drop bars. First of all if you do choose a bike with drop bars you won't be able to run hydraullic disc brakes so you'd have to choose between the two.
Other than that, yes I'd generally reccommend drop bars for road use as they're more comfortable and more aerodynamic. However, if you have tried drop bars already and didn't like them and if you're sure you're not going to be greatly extending the lenght of your spins then maybe you're better off sticking to what you're comfortable with.

Bigus

The lads that have real good bike here also have a workhorse for parking/rain/leaving outside the pub overnight etc,and a good bike that never goes out in bad weather or gets left anywhere.

With patience you'll get something nice secondhand for small money ,
and if it gets stolen again you just go out and buy another one. It ill need more work than a shiny new one but that's reality. A bit extreme but you get my gist ?