New Bike for Commute

techdiver

Hi,

Up until recently I had a Trek Kaitai for my commute (which I loved and thought was a great bike), but alas, it was stolen recently so I'm in the market for a new bike.

I'm not a big expert on bikes but I'd like something reasonably fast and reliable for around the €500 - €700 mark. It will be mainly used for a short commute (3km) and occasionally for longer leisure cycles at the weekends of anywhere between 10-50km. I will be getting it on the bike to work scheme. Any suggestions of something good around that price range?

Cee-Jay-Cee

The best thing to do is go and visit a few bike shops near you and see what they have within your budget. Tell them what you want it for and let them advise you accordingly. Ultimately it'll come down to budget and what you like the look of as bikes within your price range will all be fairly similarly spec'd.

irishrover99

This looks a great deal for 600 Euro. Carbon fork, decent Shimano wheels wheels and full New Tiagra 4700 groupset(brakes and gears).
And i think its a lovely looking bike. If you could go into a shop and ask what size bike you would need, then you could make your choice on this. Medium/large and large sizes left so they would be near enough to the most popular sizings.
And even better is this,5 year frame warranty, 12 month parts warranty, maybe i'm wrong but i've never seen a parts warranty from a shop here.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-technique-tiagra-2016/

techdiver

Hi,

I have done some research and have come up with the following bike for consideration.#

1. Trek Zektor 2 - €1,000
2. Cannondale Quick Disk 5 - €660
3. Cannondale Quick Disk 3 - €840 (More expensive than the quick 5 but cheaper than the Trek)
4. Trek CrossRip 1 - €1,289 (Bit out of budget, but would consider it, if there was a compelling reason).

Anyone here have any knowledge of these bikes? Also, if there are any suggestions in these ranges, please let me know.

Cheers.

Faith+1

Just be sure whatever bike you get that you buy a good lock! Too many toe rags nicking bikes atm

techdiver

Faith+1 wrote: »

Just be sure whatever bike you get that you buy a good lock! Too many toe rags nicking bikes atm

Too true.

The reason I'm buying one is because mine was robbed just before Christmas.

AndrewJRenko

Scott do nice commuter bikes, with mudguards, rack, dynamo lights all built in. Something like this would be just over your budget, if you can stretch.

http://www.wheelworx.ie/2016%20Scott%20Sub%20Sport%2030%20Men

I'm often surprised at the number of commuters on non-commuting bikes - no mudguards, no lights, gear in sweaty backpacks etc.

Subcomandante Marcos

My only major piece of advice would be don't bother getting anything with suspension. It's extra weight and lost energy for no real benefit. Hybrid bikes with suspension forks are a gimmick. A decent hybrid without the suspension form will be cheaper.

Also worth considering getting a commuter orientated drop bar bike with bar top brakes like on some CX bikes, they have a very upright riding position and the bar top breaks mean you can sit right up in traffic but also gives you the options of the hoods and drops when going on your longer spins and will be far more comfortable.

Somewith with 28mm or wider tyres designed for city use would be ideal as the best of both worlds and would mean you could tease those weekend spins out to an hour or two and sitll be very comfortable.

Subcomandante Marcos

techdiver wrote: »

Hi,

I have done some research and have come up with the following bike for consideration.#

1. Trek Zektor 2 - €1,000
2. Cannondale Quick Disk 5 - €660
3. Cannondale Quick Disk 3 - €840 (More expensive than the quick 5 but cheaper than the Trek)
4. Trek CrossRip 1 - €1,289 (Bit out of budget, but would consider it, if there was a compelling reason).

Anyone here have any knowledge of these bikes? Also, if there are any suggestions in these ranges, please let me know.

Cheers.

The cross rip or similar would be perfect if you throw on full mudguards and a pannier rack. You can get very similar bikes for sub 1000 as well.

techdiver

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

The cross rip or similar would be perfect if you throw on full mudguards and a pannier rack. You can get very similar bikes for sub 1000 as well.

Hi, could you suggest some bikes similar to crossrip?

iwillhtfu

A nice inconspicuous yet very good bike and I'd have thought would be an ideal commuter.

https://www.evanscycles.com/en-ie/genesis-croix-de-fer-20-2016-cyclocross-bike-EV258263



Also the charge bikes are nice. Plenty of BMC bikes on there at reasonable money but the fancier you go the more they'll sparkle to undesirables. I'd be working out how secure you can lock it up at work/home first and if the answer is not very securely pick up an old beater on adverts for the commute and a nice bike for the weekends.

Might be another alternative. Loads of 2016 models on sale at the minute so there are plenty to choose from.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-ie/bikes/model/defy.2.disc/25076/90690/#features

techdiver

Has anyone noticed before that Trek in particular seem to take the complete piss when it comes to pricing in Ireland?

An example is one of the bikes I'm looking at, the Trek Zektor 2.

In the UK the standard price seems to be £650 (€748), but in Ireland the same bike retails for €1,000! :eek:

Also, with online stores like evans cycles, they cannot deliver Trek to Ireland. This seems to hold true for other online bike shops outside of Ireland.

Other examples are the Trek CrossRip 1 retailing for £900 (€1,035) in the UK, but €1,290 in Ireland.

Other manufacturers are not that bad. Cannondale for instance seem on par or even cheaper in Ireland.

iwillhtfu

Use parcel motel or similar to get it delivered here. You'll pay a fee for oversize package but it won't be that much.

park500

Think there is a Trek agent here that the shops have to go through.

Try cyclesurgery dundrum,they are a branch of the UK chain so you will get the UK price converted.

AndrewJRenko

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Use parcel motel or similar to get it delivered here. You'll pay a fee for oversize package but it won't be that much.

Make sure you've tried that particular model out for size before you order from UK.

techdiver

Hi,

Still haven't taken the plunge yet. Was fully set on getting one of the Cannondale Quick Disk models, but am now thinking of getting a cyclecross model. I have been looking at the Caadx range from Cannondale like these two:

http://www.cannondale.com/en/Great%20Britain/Bike/ProductDetail?Id=cae125cc-906d-4c85-a1ba-03d6a0c7db1e&parentid=undefined

and

http://www.cannondale.com/en/Great%20Britain/Bike/ProductDetail?Id=a29e3bd4-0c42-449a-8d8a-faf65832dc30&parentid=undefined

Now one thing that stick out for me on the minus side is that the cyclecross range doesn't have hydraulic disk breaks, indtead they have mechanical disk breaks. Would this be a big deal?

Also, would a cyclecross model be worth getting over a standard hybrid fitness bike like the Cannondale Quick Disk miodels?