What commuter bike: canal towpath and painful hill

[ukaskew]

Apologies for the what bike thread, but I've been struggling to figure out which direction to go in for a fairly unique commute...

- 9 miles
- 8 miles on canal towpath, completely flat, mostly compact gravel (sometimes muddy) etc but some less pleasant bumpy sections
- a real stinger at the end, 12.9% gradient climb over 1.5km or so, smooth-ish tarmac.

I have £1k via Cyclescheme and zero wiggle room (not even a penny over) as my employer is keeping the old £1k limit. Any ideas?

Outright speed isn't a major concern as the towpath can be tourist heavy between March-October, but I'm after a balance between stability on the towpath and something that will give me a fighting chance on the hill.

[milu]

Planet X have sub £1k 'gravel' bikes with 1x11 gearing. Fast enough but with some big sprockets for climbing.

I've just bought one slightly above your budget and really like it. Seems like easy cycling. Kind of a Golf Gti. Does the all rounder thing very well.

[ukaskew]

Ah ok, I've been looking at hybrids, gravel bikes and cyclocross and wondered what was actually likely to be best suited to the towpath.

[sugerbear]

Pinnacle neon 5 and rule no.5

[Herr Schnell]

I do a very similar commute and had a Cannondale Synapse with Tiagra from the C2W scheme.

Fitted full guards and a Topeak rack, it's been great over the last 12 months and I used it as a winter bike too.