Bike for a returnee?

Richard53

OK, long story short, I was a serious cyclist up to the age of 30 (always with drop-handlebar road bikes) and for the last 3 decades I have done nothing more than casual knocking about with a cheap MTB. A change of circumstances meant it was too far to commute, and the beautiful Dawes Galaxy I bought myself just rusted away in the shed. I had lost all my fitness and found cycling hard work. However, last year I bought an electric bike and I have rediscovered the passion. I have started commuting again (26-mile round trip, hilly), just half-time until I build up some fitness, but I can see a time when I will want to have a proper, non-assisted bike again. I'm possibly going to be in the market for a new bike later in the summer if everything goes well, but I have looked online and in my LBS, and the choice is bewildering. Where to start?


Looking for ideas and suggestions based on experience. I'm losing weight, but I will never be a racing snake, so the bike would need to cope with a hefty rider (say around 90 kg). The route is minor rural roads in poor repair, so wheels need to be tough. And there are several big hills each way, so I am thinking in terms of a triple chainset and gears between say 27 and 90 inches. Mudguards and a rack are essential, or at least brazings for such built-in, as I have work stuff to carry and I will be cycling in all weathers. It sounds like I am specifying an old-fashioned tourer, but I am sure the market has moved on a long way since I was last buying bikes.


At 61, I am a bit stiff these days, and don't have much mobility in my lower back. I thought I was finished with drop bars for good, but I am finding that the lower I set the ebike bars, the better I go, so perhaps I don't need high/flat bars at all. I am beginning to think that shallow drops might be the way to go, but open to ideas. I love my thumb shifters, and never want to see a downtube gear change again


Budget would be around the £600 mark, although I could find a bit more in the pot for the right bike, as I may well end up selling the ebike if I get a push-bike I have confidence in. My LBS carries Giant and Cube (I think) but I'm fairly sure he could get me anything I wanted with a bit of notice. I'd prefer not to go down the Halfords route if I can help it.


Ideas, either brands/models or general observations, welcome.

Nasqueron

90kg is not a hefty rider lol, the "clydesdale" cyclist is well north of that - I weigh around 95kg and I'm by no means "hefty", just need to be careful at wheel choices!

Does your work do a cycle scheme?

Modern compacts offer almost the same ratios as a triple (maybe 1 gear difference) - an 11 speed cassette + compact would be almost indistinguishable except on 25% hills!

Are you after a road bike (thin tyres, less stable in winter) or something more rugged like a hybrid/cyclocross/adventure road or full on MTB?

Marco_Panettone

Brilliant!


My advice would be to look at (and ride) as many different bikes as possible. What's right for me might be awful for you and vice-versa. All road bikes will be able to accommodate 90kg without anything special being needed, so don't worry on that front. For bar adjustment you could add an adjustable stem to allow you plenty of personalisation of position. Most road wheels will be able to take tyres between 19mm and 28mm too.


Personally I'd be looking for a road bike with rack mounts for your situation. The Specialized Allez comes to mind, but there are plenty of similar "entry level" (horrible term, sorry!) bikes out there.


There's nothing wrong with an 'old-fashioned' tourer. Nothing fundamental has changed in bicycle technology since derailleur gears!

Richard53

Thanks chaps, very helpful. I am actually a bit North of 100 kg at the moment, but should be in the 90s before too long . Having sold the Galaxy last year in a fit of negativity, I am now thinking I should have kept it. With flat bars, it could have been ideal. Huge gear range, lovely handling, comfy frame, responsive. Oh well.

I am thinking along the lines of either a fast hybrid or a road bike with flat bars. I have seen some bikes with drops which are much flatter than the traditional ones, but no riding experience of those. Even with full drops, I have never ridden on the hooks for more than a few yards, as my back won't stretch that far. Not fussed about suspension forks, but parts of the route are seriously steep and good climbing ability is vital. The road surface is very poor in parts, so decent wheels (not necessarily heavy ones) and robust tyres would be good.

Thanks for the mention of Specialized. Will follow that up. My workplace does have a cycle scheme, but I am not keen. I don't get paid much, but I do have some savings, so I would rather buy it outright than have a reduction in my pay packet.

When I said a triple chain set, what I was talking about was a wide range of gears, really. I have quite a good cadence (90+) so I can cope with a lower top gear, but something well under 30" will be necessary for the hills. I haven't come across this 'compact' thing before, but I will investigate.

Thanks again, both.

Johnmcl7

Richard53 wrote: »

When I said a triple chain set, what I was talking about was a wide range of gears, really. I have quite a good cadence (90+) so I can cope with a lower top gear, but something well under 30" will be necessary for the hills. I haven't come across this 'compact' thing before, but I will investigate.

Thanks again, both.

You can still get a wide range of gears with a double chain ring as you get more gears at the back instead hence most of the mainstream road groupsets are either 10 or 11 speed with a double at the front.

The MTB groupsets are generally geared lower both the cassettes at the back and the chainrings at the front (triples are still more widely available as well) although I don't know what current hybrids use MTB groupsets or parts. I have a 50/34 compact and a 12-30 cassette (all Tiagra) and will admit even though I'm a reasonable hill climber, it's not that easy on super steep hills. My main mountain bike on the other hand has a 36/22 double and 11-36 cassette (mish-mash of SLX, XT and Sram X0) which is obviously a good bit lower and will climb pretty much anything without issue.

John

Richard53

Right, this makes sense to me. I am from an era when 5 sprockets at the back was the norm. The Galaxy and the cheapie Halfords MTB both have 21 gears and I recall that was fairly radical at the time (early 90s). I'm impressed with your 22/36. With 26" wheels I make that a 16" gear, enough to climb the side of a house

That's cleared up the gearing issue. Now I know what I am looking for. Thank you. Back in the day, it was easy enough to add bigger cogs at the back as long as you didn't exceed the capacity of the rear mech. I doubt if it's as simple as that today. The guy who supplied the ebike said that to get a bigger 'granny' cog on the rear would involve replacing most of the drivetrain. And no chance of swapping for a smaller chainset as there is a lot of electronics in there. Probably best not to mess with it.

Mr_Singleton

I'd second the Specialized recommendation but instead of the Allez I'd go for a Roubaix. The clue is in the name. All day comfort even in the most arduous conditions... think of all those cobbles.

Am waiting to see if one of the Roubaix's towards the upper end of the range comes in to the sales at a reasonable discount as I'm seriously thinking of getting one.

Worth noting that Specialised has a very well earned reputation for being 'over priced' for what you get so definitely worth haggling or waiting for the sales.

WRT Gearing just get/specifiy/say yes to a..... compact.

Johnmcl7

Richard53 wrote: »

Right, this makes sense to me. I am from an era when 5 sprockets at the back was the norm. The Galaxy and the cheapie Halfords MTB both have 21 gears and I recall that was fairly radical at the time (early 90s). I'm impressed with your 22/36. With 26" wheels I make that a 16" gear, enough to climb the side of a house

Way, way bigger than a 26in (well 26in rim, bigger than a 29er for the total circumference):

http://johnmcl7.smugmug.com/Events/Velocity-Cafe-Bike-Runs/i-HwSRmHJ/0/L/DSC_9595-L.jpg

That's cleared up the gearing issue. Now I know what I am looking for. Thank you. Back in the day, it was easy enough to add bigger cogs at the back as long as you didn't exceed the capacity of the rear mech. I doubt if it's as simple as that today. The guy who supplied the ebike said that to get a bigger 'granny' cog on the rear would involve replacing most of the drivetrain. And no chance of swapping for a smaller chainset as there is a lot of electronics in there. Probably best not to mess with it.

You do get range expanders for MTB groupsets with 10 speed cassettes where you remove one of the smaller rings and add a large 42 tooth ring to widen the range but these are for bikes with no front derailleur - the extra large rear chainring gives the lower range that is lost from removing the smaller chainring at the front.

Have you had a look into hiring a bike? When I've been unsure about spec I've hired one for the day or gone to a demo day and it's been very useful to help me decide. I had a quick look at the hybrids for hire locally and I didn't realise the Acera groupset is still available with a small triple, a small 26 chain ring at the front a 32 tooth chain ring at the back would give you a pretty low set of gears.

John

Richard53

Hmm, just had a look at the Roubaix online, and the cheapest in the range is more than double my budget. Even with haggling, I doubt I could go that far, sadly.


Thanks for the info, though - still mulling it over. I won't make any decision until later in the year, when I see what my fitness is like.

brat

My wife had a Trek FX7.5 woman specific road hybrid, which got nicked in France last year. Despite it being less than a year old, Trek had stopped making the WS model, so she got the male equivalent FX7.5, which is a lovely bike. The 2015 model is a very tidy minimalist looking bike with frame routed cables and Tiagra groupset with gearing from 27" to 118" on two rings. It's got alloy frame and a carbon fork and I think it's about 10 - 11kgs which is decent for the bike type. Downside is it's £750.

The FX7.4 retails at £675, but it's got alloy forks and the groupset is down a level. It has a triple ring that'd give you all the gear inches you need (22" to 118") but it's a bit heavier too. It runs on 32mm tyres rather than the 28mm fitted to the 7.5, which may offer a little more comfort if the road is in poor condition.

Johnmcl7

brat wrote: »

My wife had a Trek FX7.5 woman specific road hybrid, which got nicked in France last year. Despite it being less than a year old, Trek had stopped making the WS model, so she got the male equivalent FX7.5, which is a lovely bike. The 2015 model is a very tidy minimalist looking bike with frame routed cables and Tiagra groupset with gearing from 27" to 118" on two rings. It's got alloy frame and a carbon fork and I think it's about 10 - 11kgs which is decent for the bike type. Downside is it's £750.

The FX7.4 retails at £675, but it's got alloy forks and the groupset is down a level. It has a triple ring that'd give you all the gear inches you need (22" to 118") but it's a bit heavier too. It runs on 32mm tyres rather than the 28mm fitted to the 7.5, which may offer a little more comfort if the road is in poor condition.

Another point in the Trek's favour is the FX series are a popular choice for hire bikes (as are Treks in general I find) at least around here but would assume other places as well so a good chance of being able to hire one and try it out.

John