GATERoder?
I'm thinking of getting a road bike for commuting about London on and maybe more.. don't know anything about road bikes though. I am getting it through the cycle to work scheme so does anyone know what is good for around £500? Fairly strong wheels would be appreciated.
Boardman Comp road bike at £599 well worth a look. The new ones are coming out in a month or so which is what I'm after - had a 2008 one this year and was awesome (and survived being taken round the 4X track).
boardmanbikes.co.uk
Works out at £380 through bikes to work (or less if you get paid shit loads)
Planet X might be worth a look too if you live with the fuglyness. And Decathlon bikes always look good value (but likely to be Campag at that price)
FILTH.
;o)
Yes, I disgust myself.. Cheers Andy, will check it out. Don't want anyhting too flashy though or it will get nicked.
Do like on mine...remove all stickers, and throw gunk on all the still-sticky bits.
Fresian cow print grip tape helps too.
What's wrong with a slicked up mtb? You can't ride down many flights of stairs on a road bike. Plus road brakes and skinny tyres are pretty useless for avoiding cars in the rain!
you make a convincing point, might just get a new frame for my commuter saw a cheap one on merlin..
it's fun* commuting on a road bike when its icy.
*painful
since when have you had a road bike anyway? kept that one quite..
around xmas i think, can't really remember...
only been on a couple of road rides though, mostly for getting from a to b. might try some rides, if they let me wear baggies.
What about a singlespeed roadbike? :o
i'm using one for commuting duties, with full mudguards.
"What's wrong with a slicked up mtb?"
Whats right about it?
Langster?
I manage to knock out shed loads of miles on my slicked up Merlin MTB with full guards and a rack. I wouldn't say it's much slower than a road bike and the control of flat bars is handy when you've got pavement mounting car driving psychos chasing you down... Not many MTB frames have all the mounts you need for a rack and guards now though. So you might have to get all scrap heap challenge on it and bodge something.
I've been doing it for about 6 years now and slicks, rack and full mudguards are all essential if you're putting the miles in. They make life so much easier and your bike less attractive to thieves. I do dream of a nice light road bike to fly along on, but the reality is I'm carrying all my stuff and I want to stay dry. The rack and 'guards would ruin a nice slick road bike.
I've found Conti ultra gator skins nice and light and feel fast and they're reasonably puncture proof. Only had two punctures so far in about 3000 miles of country lanes. Not sure how they'd go in a city. If you need bombproof the Specialized nimbus managed over 12,000 miles before I wore them out. Only punture was a snakebite from kerbing it with a rack on! Can't argue with that.
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