Cycle to work - which hybrid from Evans?

[272BHP]

My current hybrid is 7 years old now and while it is still fine for now it does need a lot of replacement parts very soon and as my work still has a cycle to work scheme, I am thinking now is the time to upgrade.

The scheme is through Evans so I have a choice of their Hybrids I am tempted by the following.

Pinnacle Neon 5
Cube Hyde Race Alfine 8
Specialized Sirrus X3.0 2020
Cannondale Bad Boy 2 2020

I want something comfortable that feels 'all of a piece' with quality components, a nice shift action and good brakes. I am fascinated with the Alfine system as I am forever adjusting gears and oiling them which is really annoying but i have never tried one so its a bit of an unknown at the moment. I don't need a huge amount of gears so 9, 10 or 11 would be fine for me.

Use is varied, commuting to the station occasionally but mainly for riding to the shops, the gym and along the Thames canal path. 2 hour rides max really.

Thoughts?

[dontlookdown]

My wife has recently bought a neon. For the price it is a nice bike - decent spec and quality of components, solidly made, not too heavy and a good riding position. Bit more forward than some hybrids.

Guys in our local Evans are v helpful too, although I guess that depends.

Main thing is that she loves it and is cycling a lot more since she got it.

[Ebo100]

I have the Cannondale bad boy and was bought sight unseen 8-10 years back. I used it for commuting circa 6 miles and was kept outside all day in all weathers and other than a very occasional chain lube I have had to do nothing to it. It has a quality feel to it and I love the riding position compared to the Scott full sus that it replaced.
Since march my mileage has increased with daily 10-15 mile fitness runs with a mixture of road and gravel tracks and I was nervous of the Schwalbe Kojak tyres (original) on gravel so put on a more gravel biased tread and it handles the tracks with ease.
Overall a great bike and I would only replace it with an ebike as I feel my knees will give up before the bike does.

[272BHP]

Thanks for the replies. It looks as though it comes down to the Bad Boy 2 or the Pinnacle Neon 5 anyway as these are the only ones in stock.

Love the look of the Bad Boy 2 I must admit but the Neon has my preferred 11 speed. It looks as though the Neon would be the faster bike though, not sure if that is really important to me though.

Decisions, decisions. But I need to move fast or stock will go or my company could take the benefit away as we are gravitating to working from home.

[anonymous-user]

272BHP said:

Thanks for the replies. It looks as though it comes down to the Bad Boy 2 or the Pinnacle Neon 5 anyway as these are the only ones in stock.

Love the look of the Bad Boy 2 I must admit but the Neon has my preferred 11 speed. It looks as though the Neon would be the faster bike though, not sure if that is really important to me though.

Decisions, decisions. But I need to move fast or stock will go or my company could take the benefit away as we are gravitating to working from home.

A good point regarding the benefit
I used to go into office a couple of times a week, 30 miles motorway all the way
Now Wfh permanently it seems
Better pull my finger out & get a new bike!

[louiebaby]

I have an Alfine 8 hub on my commuter Pinnacle Arkose. I chose it for all the reasons mentioned, and I've been very pleased with it.

If I was getting a touring bike, I'd certainly consider an Alfine 11 to fill in the gaps slightly, but it's really not a big issue.

I did a 47.5 mile ride over Dartmoor with 4,800ft of climbing with no issues on it. I think my average speed was 17.5mph, so it's not a lot more inefficient than normal derailleurs.

[towser44]

Jimboka said:

272BHP said:

Thanks for the replies. It looks as though it comes down to the Bad Boy 2 or the Pinnacle Neon 5 anyway as these are the only ones in stock.

Love the look of the Bad Boy 2 I must admit but the Neon has my preferred 11 speed. It looks as though the Neon would be the faster bike though, not sure if that is really important to me though.

Decisions, decisions. But I need to move fast or stock will go or my company could take the benefit away as we are gravitating to working from home.

A good point regarding the benefit
I used to go into office a couple of times a week, 30 miles motorway all the way
Now Wfh permanently it seems
Better pull my finger out & get a new bike!

My work has just launched Cyclescheme (I asked years ago and they wouldn't set it up). Anyway, I asked HR if I could use it even though I already WFH full-time (and have done for 6 years now) and they said yes, as Cyclescheme also applies if you WFH and use the bike to go and post stuff at Post Office for work or to get printer paper for example. I was quite surprised with the response :-)