Non-specific What Bike

[boyse7en]

OK, I know there are loads of What Bike threads on here discussing the virtues of De Rosa against Cannondale or whatever, but they all seem to focus on the OP knowing fairly specifically what bikes he/she is after in the first place.

I commute once a week to work (Barnstaple to Bideford). It's 13.1 miles each way. With a very steep hill at one end. The rest of the ride is flat, along a disused railway line that is tarmac-covered, but pretty lumpy and potholed.
For this journey I currently ride a 2008 Specialized TriCross Sport - a Cross-country bike with 3 x 9 Shimano Tiagra gears and mini V brakes. It is alloy framed, and is fairly weighty.

My aim is to up this to twice a week, plus a weekend ride of around 30-40 miles during the summer. The weekend ride will be around the North Devon area, and it is hilly. Very hilly. regular 1 in 4 type hills (Google Countisbury Hill for an idea)

So a couple of fundamental questions:

Carbon or alloy frame? Which is more comfortable? Budget will be about £800-1000 so either a mid-range alloy or low-end (Planet X/Ribble) carbon frame

Gears? Got a triple set up at the moment, and have to use the granny ring on some of the long steep climbs. Most of the time on the commute I'm in the big ring. But not many "racer" bikes come with triple cranks. Will a double suffice, or will I have to get a low-geared one that will leave me stuffed on the descents?

Brakes? Do road type brakes work as well as V-brakes?

[Gruffy]

I think at that price point the general consensus is you'll get a better alloy frame than a carbon one.

[anonymous-user]

Geometry will be more important too, carbon, alu and steel can all be manipulated to make whatever you want. A reasonable alu frame like a specilaised allez with 25mm tyres will be quite comfy and should have a compact (50/34t) front chainset and suitable gearing at the back so you will be able to climb up hills with ease.

[boyse7en]

pablo said:

Geometry will be more important too, carbon, alu and steel can all be manipulated to make whatever you want. A reasonable alu frame like a specilaised allez with 25mm tyres will be quite comfy and should have a compact (50/34t) front chainset and suitable gearing at the back so you will be able to climb up hills with ease.

Current gearing seems to be 11-34 at the back, 50x39x30 at the front. Giving a lowest gearing of 30/34. That seems a lot lower than a current Shimano 105 setup which seems to be 50x34 with 11-28, giving a lowest ratio of 34/28

[Daveyraveygravey]

boyse7en said:

Current gearing seems to be 11-34 at the back, 50x39x30 at the front. Giving a lowest gearing of 30/34. That seems a lot lower than a current Shimano 105 setup which seems to be 50x34 with 11-28, giving a lowest ratio of 34/28

You'll struggle to get a double with anything like the range of gears as your triple; an 11-32 on a road bike is normally considered pretty wide. You should find as you up the riding both frequency and duration you won't need that 34, but you are in a hilly area.
I'm hoping there are plenty of carbon framed bikes around 1000 that are as good or better than alu as I've not had a carbon bike before. Have a look at Rose Canyon and Radon, I think our German friends are less carbon obsessed than us so they make some good alu bikes as well as their carbon frames.
Not got experience of v-brakes but believe they are more effective than rim brakes. If you maintain rim brakes properly and don't take stupid risks I think your rim brakes will be ok.

Edited by Daveyraveygravey on Wednesday 25th February 21:23

[anonymous-user]

Pretty sure you could buy a long cage mtb rear mech and run a huge climbing ring on the cassette if you needed to which would still be compatible with the road shifters. SLX 10 speed cassette will give you a 36t sprocket

[Barchettaman]

Sounds to me like your current bike is pretty much ideal, and that it´s just the motor that needs upgrading.

If you want to go faster stick a pair of 622/28 tyres on. Conti Sport Contact would be my choice.

If you haven´t repacked the wheel hubs since 2008 do that now, too. In fact if it´s on its original cables/outers/chain/cassette a service could be in order.

[Dammit]

^Got to agree with this - give the current bike a damn good service, re-cable, new chain, cassette, pads, service the hubs etc etc, then maybe buy yourself a Garmin to keep an eye on how you are improving.

[boyse7en]

Barchettaman said:

Sounds to me like your current bike is pretty much ideal, and that it´s just the motor that needs upgrading.

You're probably right about me needing an upgrade, but where's the fun in that?

Everyone know a new bike is worth at least 5mph!