Commuter bike for €1k

julio arca

Hi guys,

Apologies if this question has been asked a million times but i am looking to get a new bike for the 30k round commute after my previous one was stolen. Budget is €1,000.

Having had both a road bike (Specialized Allez) and commuter (Giant Rapid 0) I would like a bike with road bike bars, disc brakes (hydraulic if possible) and puncture resistance.

Currently looking at:

Cannondale Synapse
https://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=138521

Cube Attain
https://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=139798

Specialized Diverge
https://www.specialized.com/ie/en/diverge-e5/p/171310?color=264805-171310

Any opinions of which of these, or any other similar bike, had the best components for the money would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

PoulMM

I appreciate you are biking. That's great because it frees up space on congested roads and the CO2 emission is zero. More people should commute by cycling.

The appreciation was my reason for replying. Now, why would anyone aim for a 1,000 Euros bike considering your bike has just been stolen? No need to answer because I know that a 1,000 Euros bike is what you want, and that's ok and I am not critizing. Just pondering. How far have you to travel every day? 5 km? 8 km? If so, you need a second hand sturdy bike that doesn't puncture on pothole roads. One that doesn't get stolen and you don't freak out if a bypassing car scratched the paint. One that you can leave your hands off the bar and put them in your pockets on cold days and it gives you a chance to sit up right. 10 km to work and I wouldn't bike, rather move closer to work...

stryker mcqueen

PoulMM wrote: »

I appreciate you are biking. That's great because it frees up space on congested roads and the CO2 emission is zero. More people should commute by cycling.

The appreciation was my reason for replying. Now, why would anyone aim for a 1,000 Euros bike considering your bike has just been stolen? No need to answer because I know that a 1,000 Euros bike is what you want, and that's ok and I am not critizing. Just pondering. How far have you to travel every day? 5 km? 8 km? If so, you need a second hand sturdy bike that doesn't puncture on pothole roads. One that doesn't get stolen and you don't freak out if a bypassing car scratched the paint. One that you can leave your hands off the bar and put them in your pockets on cold days and it gives you a chance to sit up right. 10 km to work and I wouldn't bike, rather move closer to work...

Solid input friend :rolleyes:

magicbastarder

drivetrain is best on the cube, followed by the cannondale, with the specialized having the cheapest one.
that said, the spesh seems to have the biggest tyre clearance should that be useful for you.
none have hydraulic brakes though.

Fann Linn

Cube nuroad pro fe. Approx €1100+. 20 speed Tiagra, with 28'' wheels, disc brakes and comes fitted with dynamo and pannier.

byrnem31

I'm getting a 2nd hand cube nuroad tomorrow.
Very nice bike to cycle.
I was speaking to a bike mechanic and he told me to stay away from cannodale as they are dirt.
A guy in my gym bought one and the bottom bracket fell apart on it. He brought it back to the shop and they told him it was a common problem on them.
Google cannodale frame issues and customer service. I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole. Loads of customers with broken frames and cannodale refusing to repair them under warranty. 2 year frame warranty is not great either . Giant have a lifetime warranty on their frames.

Eamonnator

It's going to be tough to find a bike, within your budget, with hydraulic brakes for under a grand.
If you're going for the Cube, be careful with the size. Cube seem to measure their bikes peculiarly.
My wife has a bike with Shimano Tiagra groupset, great quality.

micar

I got a 2018 lapierre audacio 300 - full tiagra group set before Christmas for €850.

Was hoping for some thing with hydraulic brakes..... but way over my budget.

See if you can get a in stock 2019 model which your local bike shop would be glad to sell.

byrnem31

Getting this tomorrow.
€600, it's almost brand new hardly used. Lovely bike to cycle.
There is a white one on adverts with a 105 groupset for €500 he said hed take for it.

The pigeon man

If you go secondhand you can get some really low km bikes for half of their new price.

Just ask to see proof of purchase.

not yet

The pigeon man wrote: »

If you go secondhand you can get some really low km bikes for half of their new price.

Just ask to see proof of purchase.

Agreed, but if you're using the BTW scheme it's half price anyway.

Eamonnator

In the best tradition of this forum, here's a bike that, including delivery, is about 200 euro over your limit and I don't know, if you can use Planet X for BTW.
But this bike is full carbon and has Sram Rival groupset, which quality wise is, allegedly, superior to Shimano Tiagra.
It has hydraulic disc brakes.
The bike will need a small amount of assembly, installation of handlebars and front wheel.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXPCEDRIV22/planet-x-pro-carbon-evo-disc-sram-rival-22-road-bike

dinneenp

Hi,
Did you buy 9me in the end?
Cheers,
Pa

Rezident

The pigeon man wrote: »

If you go secondhand you can get some really low km bikes for half of their new price.

Just ask to see proof of purchase.

Where is good to look for legit second hand bikes?

Rezident

Got my first bike 5 years ago so I can get an upgrade on BTW scheme next month but I still don't know much about bikes. My bike is c. 12kg so definitely something lighter but there are so many variables on bikes now I don't know what's what.

I cycle 30km (round trip) to work in Dublin City centre every day, my old bike is a "hybrid", would I be better off with a road bike? Or a commuter bike? Or a racer? Any info greatly appreciated, cheers.

Budget 1k - 1.5k.

magicbastarder

Rezident wrote: »

Got my first bike 5 years ago so I can get an upgrade on BTW scheme next month but I still don't know much about bikes. My bike is c. 12kg so definitely something lighter but there are so many variables on bikes now I don't know what's what.

I cycle 30km (round trip) to work in Dublin City centre every day, my old bike is a "hybrid", would I be better off with a road bike? Or a commuter bike? Or a racer? Any info greatly appreciated, cheers.

Budget 1k - 1.5k.

i moved this because it was in the maintenance thread, it's better suited here.

do you want a bike that will be used for more than just commuting? what is it about your current bike - other than weight - which you would like to change or find limiting?

adrian522

By the way you don't have to wait until the anniversary of when you bought the bike, you are eligible as soon as the year starts, so if you bought a BTW bike in 2015 you can get another in 2020 (from Jan 1st).

Invincible

Rezident wrote: »

Where is good to look for legit second hand bikes?

https://usedbikes.ie/?page=1

Rezident

magicbastarder wrote: »

i moved this because it was in the maintenance thread, it's better suited here.

do you want a bike that will be used for more than just commuting? what is it about your current bike - other than weight - which you would like to change or find limiting?

No mainly just commuting and also getting stuff, going to the shops etc.

Current bike, Cannondale badboy has been breaking down a lot, a lot of parts needed to be replaced, so I've been looking forward to a better bike, and a lighter one.

I'm happy enough with the disc brakes, don't think I need hydraulic although I don't really know enough about bikes to know.

Gidea

Rezident wrote: »

No mainly just commuting and also getting stuff, going to the shops etc.

Current bike, Cannondale badboy has been breaking down a lot, a lot of parts needed to be replaced, so I've been looking forward to a better bike, and a lighter one.

I'm happy enough with the disc brakes, don't think I need hydraulic although I don't really know enough about bikes to know.

Would it be fair to say you dont do much maintenance yourself on the bike? or get the bike serviced every now and then?

Only asking as a bike in the 1000-1500 range will be fairly costly on repairs if left untouched for a few years!

As for bike recommendations i currently have an older model of this

Amazing bike for commuting(use it everyday for work) and use it on longer spins on the weekend (50-100km). very fast bike!

Rezident

Gidea wrote: »

Would it be fair to say you dont do much maintenance yourself on the bike? or get the bike serviced every now and then?

Only asking as a bike in the 1000-1500 range will be fairly costly on repairs if left untouched for a few years!

As for bike recommendations i currently have an older model of this

Amazing bike for commuting(use it everyday for work) and use it on longer spins on the weekend (50-100km). very fast bike!

Yes I don't really do any maintenance on the bike myself (I oil the chain!) and just get it serviced every 3 months or so (and get given out to by the mechanic who is very good).

I've started cleaning the bike, I didn't even know you had to do that, I thought the rain was doing that.

I just want something that will make life easier on my 40-something year old legs so I can do around 200km per week and still be able to play football so I was hoping a lighter or faster bike would help.

Thanks for the suggestion I will check it out. Cheers.

Rezident

That Canyon bike looks pretty great actually. Cheers for that.

dinneenp

https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/best-road-bike-under-1000/

Also, drop handlebars or flat is a big question. I don't know the answer but thinking of casual then flat, if want to push cycles then drop.

Rezident

Flat handlebars I think, so many near misses in Dublin I want to stay sitting up and watching out.

Rezident

dinneenp wrote: »

https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/best-road-bike-under-1000/

Also, drop handlebars or flat is a big question. I don't know the answer but thinking of casual then flat, if want to push cycles then drop.

Drop handlebars sound good for the extra speed and the smaller width sounds like a big plus for squeezing though all the many, many poorly positioned and parked cars in Dublin traffic and the bottlenecks as you get closer to town. Interesting.

Are drop handlebars hard to get used to?

Roger the cabin boy

Rezident wrote: »

No mainly just commuting and also getting stuff, going to the shops etc.

Current bike, Cannondale badboy has been breaking down a lot, a lot of parts needed to be replaced, so I've been looking forward to a better bike, and a lighter one.

I'm happy enough with the disc brakes, don't think I need hydraulic although I don't really know enough about bikes to know.

You are in that cycling dead zone of doing high daily distance, but not for sport.
It irks me that Cycle manufacturers all seem to just want to make show-ponies for reasonable distance cycling.

A touring bike comes to mind for your situation. Relaxed but efficient, tough and able to carry much with many attachments points, etc.
Your inabillity to do maintance coupled with such high mileage use is also an issue as personally, i would be servicing the bike weekly and you would be going through drive chain stuff fairly regular. So even though a touring bike might be the best option, it still needs the drivetrain servicing and looking after like any other bike, so will just be as expensive to run and maintain.

If you can stretch (lol) your servicing abiity to adjusting a belt (not difficult in fairness) then a belt drive/hub bike such as the Cube (editor?) would be a great choice. Not cheap, but well built and designed for hard service. The belt drive and hub is as maintance free as you will get and excluding the odd belt adjustment you do yourself, should only really need the odd tune up and brake pad swap which will really suit you. Belt/hub drives are great for city cycling as you can change gear when stopped. Downsides? perhaps the 3% loss of efficiency from a well oiled chain, but i doubt that would bother you. You are not doing speed runs.

If you were competant enough to service and maintain a bike yourself, or at least so that you only need major services, i would suggest either the Giant Anyroad if you don't carry much, or the Giant Toughroad if you do.

Best of luck choosing a bike, but just look at the big picture when you do!

AndrewJRenko

Rezident wrote: »

Flat handlebars I think, so many near misses in Dublin I want to stay sitting up and watching out.

If you're getting a bike mainly for commuting, get one that it set up for community - look for a rack (carrier), mudguards, dynamo lights front and rear, kick stand.

Scott Sub Sport or Bergamont Horizon would be good options.

Rezident

Roger the cabin boy wrote: »

You are in that cycling dead zone of doing high daily distance, but not for sport.
It irks me that Cycle manufacturers all seem to just want to make show-ponies for reasonable distance cycling.

A touring bike comes to mind for your situation. Relaxed but efficient, tough and able to carry much with many attachments points, etc.
Your inabillity to do maintance coupled with such high mileage use is also an issue as personally, i would be servicing the bike weekly and you would be going through drive chain stuff fairly regular. So even though a touring bike might be the best option, it still needs the drivetrain servicing and looking after like any other bike, so will just be as expensive to run and maintain.

If you can stretch (lol) your servicing abiity to adjusting a belt (not difficult in fairness) then a belt drive/hub bike such as the Cube (editor?) would be a great choice. Not cheap, but well built and designed for hard service. The belt drive and hub is as maintance free as you will get and excluding the odd belt adjustment you do yourself, should only really need the odd tune up and brake pad swap which will really suit you. Belt/hub drives are great for city cycling as you can change gear when stopped. Downsides? perhaps the 3% loss of efficiency from a well oiled chain, but i doubt that would bother you. You are not doing speed runs.

If you were competant enough to service and maintain a bike yourself, or at least so that you only need major services, i would suggest either the Giant Anyroad if you don't carry much, or the Giant Toughroad if you do.

Best of luck choosing a bike, but just look at the big picture when you do!

Thanks for that. Yes I could learn to do maintenance, I just did not know that it was required, I thought the service did that.

Realistically I'm probably not going to work on a bike every week but I could do it once a month or so.

Thanks for all the info.