Thinking of upgrading

Canacourse · 13-06-2008 11:47am #1

I have been cycling for about two years now after a long absence.

My bike is a cheap EuroTrek Road bike but as I am now spending more time on the bike then in the car I am thinking of upgrading.

Am not sure what to go for my budet would be around €400 to €900. I use the bike for commuting with a few laps of the Phoenix park most weekends. I also accompany my son to school (mostly on the paths) as he is only learing to cycle.

I really fancy a racing bike but I am concerned about the rims getting wrecked and puntures from potholes. What do you think?

Thanks...

TinyExplosions · 13-06-2008 11:54am

Canacourse wrote: »

I have been cycling for about two years now after a long absence.

My bike is a cheap EuroTrek Road bike but as I am now spending more time on the bike then in the car I am thinking of upgrading.

Am not sure what to go for my budet would be around €400 to €900. I use the bike for commuting with a few laps of the Phoenix park most weekends. I also accompany my son to school (mostly on the paths) as he is only learing to cycle.

I really fancy a racing bike but I am concerned about the rims getting wrecked and puntures from potholes. What do you think?

Thanks...

I's go to the 900, and you'll have a lot more choice. Options are broadly a flat barred road bike (hybrid), or a standard roadbike. I'd have a look on wiggle.co.uk, particularly at the Focus range (of road or city bikes). They have great spec for the price (I'd reccommend a Focus Variado for a road bike, or the Variado Expert if you can stretch an extra 100)

Canacourse · 13-06-2008 11:56am

Thats a nice bike but those prices are in sterling so outside my budget.

dub_skav · 13-06-2008 12:01pm

There are some very good hybrids these days that are more on the road side of things, e.g. Lapierre RCR and Giant FCR range. Also, the specialised Sirrus range.

I went for a hybrid (lapierre RCR 500) as I've never owned a bike with drop bars and didn't want to take that leap just yet (probably will sooner rather than later though). I found the flat bars fine for long cycles (did the Wicklow 200 last week) and also good for commuting.

I use 700x25 tyres on my bike, these are thin tyres - not the thinnest road tyre but much thinner than MTB and a lot of hybrid tyres. I find them fine for commuting, not many punctures and no major buckling, so don't worry about the thin wheels.

Go into a shop like cyclesuperstore and have a go on some road bikes and some of the road end hybrids as per above link and see what you like.

blorg · 13-06-2008 12:07pm

A racing bike is no more likely to suffer wrecked rims or punctures from potholes, as long as the rims/tyres are of good quality and you inflate the tyres to their recommended pressure. You will get a decent good quality entry level road bike towards the upper end of that price range- something like a Trek 1.2 at €749, or a Giant SCR. If you are happy buying online you could get a very nice Focus from Wiggle - something like the Variado (£695/€880) would be a very good choice and get you more for your money than the aforementioned Trek 1.2

If you are not 100% sure of the road bike idea something like this Focus Cross bike (£630/€800) might be a possibility- it will give you the flexibility to run big tyres for increased comfort while being almost as fast if you put on skinny 23s.

Or even something like the Focus Merluza (£770/€975) which seems to be an eminently practical all round city/utility bike but with drops and racy wheels (note while light for this cateogry of bike this is a fair bit heavier than the other options, and it is a bit above your budget.)

blorg · 13-06-2008 12:12pm

Dub_skav's suggestion is also a good one worth considering- as the swap to a road bike will be felt more in the position on the bike than any worry over rims/tyres. 700x25 tyres should give substantially better comfort over 700x23 while not really holding you back much unless you are relatively serious.

dub_skav · 13-06-2008 12:24pm

Just re-read your post and you say that you already have a road bike, so you don't have the issue I did of changing.

I still suggest goiing into a shop and trying a few out, you can then shop around online for better prices.

As Blorg says anything above a 700x23 tyre will give the best of both worlds for comfort and speed

TinyExplosions · 13-06-2008 12:41pm

Canacourse wrote: »

Thats a nice bike but those prices are in sterling so outside my budget.

The Variado works out at 880 -just inside the budget

cunnins4 · 13-06-2008 12:50pm

+1 for the variado from wiggle. I've got the variado expert and i've been using it for commuting more and more lately because it's just so much nicer to ride than my mountain bike. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get a lower spec road bike for commuting at the end of the summer and get rid of the mtb altogether. Initially I thought I'd prefer a flat bar as I found the drops a bit fidly in traffic, but now i'm absolutely fine and the wheels have taken quite a bit of abuse. Don't forget to take a look at www.chainreactioncycles.com -my brother bought the BeOne storm 1.0 off them-similar spec and price as the variado from wiggle. He had no problems with them at all, but others have had a bit of trouble buying bikes off them.

If you're not happy to buy off the web, then definitely do as dub_skav says and pay a visit to cyclesuperstore or somewhere similar, then you've someone to go back to in person if you've any trouble.

blorg · 13-06-2008 12:51pm

I think a EuroTrek road bike means a hybrid- I don't think they do racers. Had one myself a few years ago as a hack, it was a decent, solid reliable (but heavy!) steel hybrid. Green.

Canacourse · 13-06-2008 1:22pm

blorg wrote: »

I think a EuroTrek road bike means a hybrid- I don't think they do racers. Had one myself a few years ago as a hack, it was a decent, solid reliable (but heavy!) steel hybrid. Green.

Thats the one I have.

Thinking of upgrading

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