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City commuting advice needed

Old 02-20-07, 12:37 AM
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City commuting advice needed

Hi cyclists

I need to buy a new bike for commuting around Sydney, Australia and to do the 2007 Great Victorian Bike Ride .

The bikes I like are
Avanti Blade
Scott Speedster s10
Trek 7.3FX

All the above bikes can be bought from a bike shop close to where I live.

What experience good or bad have you had with the above bike?

Thanks
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Old 02-20-07, 12:34 PM
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My specs for a sporty commuter, capable of light touring look include the following:
Clearance for 28mm tyres + fenders.
Threaded eyelets for luggage rack (R) and fenders (F&R) .
Med gears (about 28-38-48)
Drop bars give you additional handholds but you can emulate this with bar ends or clip-on aerobars.
I would avoid seatpost suspension and fit a pedal retension system (clipless or toe clips)

Make sure you get the correct size, nothing else matters if this is wrong.

You may have different local conditions regarding hills, wind, rain etc so this style of bike is highly customised.
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Old 08-01-07, 03:30 AM
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Hey mate,

I'm in a similar position. I commute from Erskineville to North Ryde '20k's' every day on a GT MTB which I stuck slick tyres and bar ends on. It's not bad but i need to move to either a road bike or a flat bar. I considered a touring bike, then a cross bike (has to be tough to commute every day) and I'm still undecided. A flat bar could be the winner - what shop did you go to to see that range?

Digler.
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Old 08-01-07, 05:54 AM
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I recently got the Trek 7.3 FX for my urban commute, which is about 20 miles round trip. The stock saddle starts to -kill- my groin after a small while, but I'm otherwise completely satisfied with it.
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Old 08-01-07, 06:32 AM
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The Scott & Trek are well-known, popular, and have lots of great feedback here.
I have heard of the Avanti much less often...
Comes down to preference. Which one feels the best to you?
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Old 08-01-07, 06:35 AM
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Contact Machka - she toured Australia a few years ago.
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Old 08-01-07, 07:13 AM
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The tour is not a race. Since you plan on using this bike in the city, depending on the road quality and smoothness there I would eliminate the scott as it is a lot more race oriented than the other two.

For every day riding in a city I'd go with the trek. Although the avanti will be a little faster. If you can fit fenders and a rack to it go for it.

happy riding.
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