if you were building a commuter bike...

njburke

hi,
@slideshow, I went with the 550,medium which has a virtual top tube of 565mm C-C. I'm 5'10 1/2, 14.5 stone with a shortish inside leg, I used to sprint, was a full back, box and row, fair bit of muscle mass, ape like, not classic cyclist build.

My trek hybrid is 20" medium, and fitted well and I also prefer the more upright position on the bike so I figured if the frame was 56 or so it will be OK.
I'll go down to the bicycle design centre in Kildare and have the frame builder fit it for me. Its showing a fair bit of seat tube, I could be off a size, but it feels really good, no toe over lap. Given my weight and the fact that the tubes are half a mm thick in places, I though it might be best to err on the small side.

Dimensions here:http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/Thorn_Audax_Mk3.pdf


@lennymc.
yep have SKS full lenght mudguards to go on, they will fit with reasonable clearance when used with those panaracer Rimbos and A319s. I didn't put them on yet as I did not want to jinx the weather.

Went out again this morning, to chance a few hills, I've got the gearing right, need that granny ring, hit 55 KMH on the down hill and still felt in control, the breaking is not as sharp as it is with the V brakes on the hybrid.
Topped out at 43 KMH on the flat with 1 cog left to go, climbed at steady 10KMH in the lowest gearing.

We'll see tomorrow what its like with a bit of weight on the back.

labour on the build was €100.
Niall

njburke

Had the bike fitted last week, again something I probably should have done before I ordered the frame, apparently I'm not actually as tall as I thought I was.

ROK yesterday.

Lumen

Cannondale CAAD 10 Disc 2015. SRAM Rival 22 and hydraulic discs for about €2k.

Want.

http://road.cc/content/news/123745-cannondale-caad10-disc-launched-and-synapse-disc-range-expanded-2015

lennymc

does it take mudguards and a rack?

Lumen

lennymc wrote: »

does it take mudguards and a rack?

No. The Synapse version does though, but the HT is too tall and the TT is too slopey </clarkson>

colm_gti

Solid commuter bike right there, man after my own heart Lumen!

njburke

Lumen wrote: »

Cannondale CAAD 10 Disc 2015. SRAM Rival 22 and hydraulic discs for about €2k.

Want.....

Nice commuter,but do they have to build them with so many spokes in the wheels?
Low volume slick tyres would also be nice instead of those fancy pantsy luganos, they're all of 15 euro a piece.

Lumen

njburke wrote: »

Nice commuter,but do they have to build them with so many spokes in the wheels?

Yes. Disc brakes require lots of spokes.

The spoke count is actually quite low.

njburke

mmmh, I suppose rims will last longer too, but does the disc not take up space along the wheel axle, so the triangle of the spokes, axle and rim is not as wide.

Incidentally, spoke to this guy during the week who had this 1990s american steel mountain bike. It had asymmetric rear chain-stays which look way cool. It had cantis and loads of clearance with 32 mm tyres.

del_boy13

Just took delivery of one of these Rose DX 3000. Fitted Marathon Supremes 35c to it and SKS mudguards.

Managed to wangle it through the BTW scheme where I work.

Disc brakes are great for these summer showers less stress for that sudden taxi stop. Might upgrade to hydraulic now that Shimano have the new levers out that combine the 2.

Have to say super comfy bike with the big tyres great for the quiet lanes with grass growing on them in ND.

Plan on putting some skinnier tyres for use as a winter bike and maybe actually using it for CX if I can make a local race.

PS comes in at 10.1kg with pedals, saddlebag and mudguards

Lumen

Genesis have joined the Disc-o party for 2015.

http://road.cc/content/news/123804-genesis-bikes-launch-2015-range-more-equilbrium-disc-croix-de-fer-models
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/blog/15/07/14/2015-bike-launch-equilibrium-disc
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/blog/03/07/14/2015-bike-launch-croix-de-fer-20

At the posh commuter end...

The top of the range model is the Equilibrium Disc Titanium, available as a complete bike for £2,899. This is the only titanium Equilibrium available this year. It’s a new double butted 3AL/2.5V titanium tubeset too with all the internal drillings for an electronic groupset, rubber plugs filling the empty holes when a mechanical groupset is fitted....The bike is equipped with a Shimano 105 11-speed groupset and FSA Gossamer chainset with Shimano BR-RS685 hydraulic disc brakes with 160mm rotors.

The cable routing looks gammy in the pictures on the Genesis blog.

Fairly conventional otherwise: Aksium Disc wheels, QR dropouts, 11sp 105 mechanical.

Hard to justify at €3600 given that Rose do Di2 and hydraulics on the Xeon DX-3100 Di2 for €2340 with a claimed weight of 8.5kg, but Ti is rarely cheap.

The Equilibrium Disc Limited Edition looks better at about €2300 with hydraulics and 105 (10sp? 11sp?), but it's steel so is going to be heavy.

I've read reviews of the Equilibrium Sportive Disc which suggest it's a bit of a boat anchor, but I suppose the Genesises have the advantage of mudguard/rack mounts and clearances.

You pays your money...

lennymc

so after getting the ribble and using it for a while, I sold it on. Not really sure why. It was a bit heavier than I had hoped, maybe that was it. B2W is up in January, and after thinking of this bike and that bike and looking at what I actually need, I think I have to revisit this thread and actually get some sort of commuter. LOL.

petethedrummer

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRHOCYC/holdsworth-cyclone-frame
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRHOMIS/holdsworth-mistral-frame

Plenty of rack mounts and good tyre clearance. And most importantly...... a horizontal top tube.

Lumen

lennymc wrote: »

I just wonder how long it will be before I think of an excuse to buy another bike.

Four and a half months.

Lumen

Canyon Inflite AL 9.0 and 9.0S with hydro discs for €1699, 8.6kg and 9.0kg claimed respectively (don't believe those weights, do Germans lie?).

http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=3620
http://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=3618

The 9.0 has CX tyres and gearing, the 9.0 S has road tyres and gearing (and mudguards).

Chainstays are nice and short for this sort of bike @ 420mm.

Don't like the outboard rear caliper and gimpy mudguard mounting though.

The seatpost on the 9.0 is a bit mental.

montac

Planet X have launched the London Road commuter bike. Good value at £1000?
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXLDNRIV/planet-x-london-road-sram-rival-22-road-bike