New commuter £1k ish

[Matt_N]

After discovering this yesterday on my old faithful Faggin commuter, I’m in the market for s new bike (thought it was a split in the powder coat then unpeeled part of the frame!).



Been having a look around over night for something new and have so far considered Dolan RDX, which seems to make more sense at £1299 for the full Ultegra version rather than the £999 for 105 but lesser shifters (£150 extra for 105).

Specialized Allez Elite at £1049 but despite having mudguard fittings they are apparently not very useful and still a faff to get full guards on which is a must for me as I ride 4-5 times a week (obv not at present!).

Whyte Dorset looks alright but Sora for £999 seems a bit stingy too me but the rest of the package seems ok.

Cannondale Synapse but BB30 puts me off.

Disc or rim brake don’t really bother me but I use a Powertap wheel so rim would be better otherwise I’d have to factor in a crank meter for a disc.

I prefer a bike with a 56cm top tube so needs to be around that.

What else am I missing?

Edited by Matt_N on Saturday 2nd May 10:58

[Macron]

Whyte Stirling has 105.

[gazza285]

Just buy a new frame?

[Zigster]

That’s what I thought. Buy a new frame and transfer the bits over.

Of course, if all the bits are knackered from commuting it might be more cost effective just to buy a whole new bike.

[Matt_N]

Macron said:

Whyte Stirling has 105.

Want drop bar.

[Matt_N]

New frame has obviously been considered but there isn’t much about either, would’ve been quite happy to switch to a Ribble 7005 or Dolan Prefiso for eg.

Plus the groupset is aging and was going to be replaced before winter along with a fresh powder coat

Looked around a bit more at the Allez and the Cycling weekly review shows it fitted with SKS guards so probably going down this route.

[Jimbo.]

The Allen is a ball ache re mudguards. A friend has one as a winter bike (purchased before the fork recall) and whilst a great bike, the difficulties fitting guards spoil it somewhat. There’s not enough clearance under the brakes (normal callipers rather than long drop) and IIRC there are no longer eyelets on the forks .

[Matt_N]

Jimbo. said:

The Allen is a ball ache re mudguards. A friend has one as a winter bike (purchased before the fork recall) and whilst a great bike, the difficulties fitting guards spoil it somewhat. There’s not enough clearance under the brakes (normal callipers rather than long drop) and IIRC there are no longer eyelets on the forks .

Yeh this is what I think will be the issue.

The 2020 one I’m looking at def has fittings on the fork for guards though.

[Harpoon]

I've got a Dolan RDX. I bought it frame-only from Dolan's clearance section as it had a couple of paint chips and then slowly built it up with stuff from my spares box, eBay and sales (CRC/Merlin etc). I got it finished over the winter ready from hacking (early season reliability rides etc) and to do some commuting. Having previously used a rucksack which wasn't very comfortable when loaded to the brim with clothes and a laptop, I wanted a rack plus full mudguards. Ironically since finishing it and meaning to restart the gym membership at the hotel near the office (we don't have showers - boo!), CV19 came along and I've been working from home

Rides pretty well, though you notice the difference in compliance between it and my best bike (carbon Synapse) - big difference in price there though!

Just about to head out for a morning ride and it's been raining, so will probably take the RDX and will weigh it when I'm back.

[Matt_N]

That’s great thanks!

This morning I’ve looked at the Tifosi CK7 rim as I could swap parts over but by the time I add on the bits I need and a build cost it’s over £600.

Gonna sit on it and hope to get to the Specialized Concept store to get clearance on the Allez if that is no good I’m gonna go for the Dolan as it seems a good price at £1350 (once you add guards).

[Harpoon]

I hung the RDX on the scales yesterday and it was 12.99kg

However, that's kitted up rides as the picture below (minus water bottle), so Exposure Strada front light, Garmin, full saddle bag, full guards, Axiom Journey rack etc. Goes well for the weight IMO (also makes swapping to the Synapse at circa 8kg even more fun!)



You can buy the frame & fork (including headset & seat clamp) with £119 at the moment!

https://www.dolan-bikes.com/dolan-rdx-aluminium-di...

Worth signing up to the Dolan newsletter as they sometimes mail out codes for an extra 5 to 10% off orders.

[Matt_N]

Harpoon said:

I hung the RDX on the scales yesterday and it was 12.99kg

However, that's kitted up rides as the picture below (minus water bottle), so Exposure Strada front light, Garmin, full saddle bag, full guards, Axiom Journey rack etc. Goes well for the weight IMO (also makes swapping to the Synapse at circa 8kg even more fun!)



You can buy the frame & fork (including headset & seat clamp) with £119 at the moment!

https://www.dolan-bikes.com/dolan-rdx-aluminium-di...

Worth signing up to the Dolan newsletter as they sometimes mail out codes for an extra 5 to 10% off orders.

Cheers for the additional detail.

I snagged a Preffiso from a chance search on eBay last night so am going to replace a few components with the ‘saving’ against the RDX.

[ecs]

I picked up a Genesis Day One 20 recently, I've got an Equilibrium and wanted something similar to fit a rack and child seat to. The Day One is a nice comfortable commuting bike, the downside is the Nexus rear hub is extremely heavy. You can get it as a single speed too, if you like, which would save a lot of weight.



(Apologies for the crap photo)