Best Bike For My Needs - Advice
 

Hello all, I started road riding at the start of this year so I am a newbie at 45 years old. I bought a B-Twin Sport 1 as my first bike and now (as I have found out is usually the case) I want something better/more appropriate.

I live in Portugal in a very hilly region and the road surface is unpredictable. I ride 4-5 times per week for around 2 hours or more for personal enjoyment and fitness, and I want to get fitter/faster but still keep the enjoyment part. My budget is £1000.

Secondary to this, I like to tour, so is there a bike out there that would fit the above criteria, but also take a rack for panniers?

Looking forward to reading what you folks have to say as advertisements can be misleading.

Andy

I would suggest an older, rigid-framed mountain bike, which you can generally find second-hand for a low price. Fit slick tyres for road use and it will be much easier to ride and more than capable of handling a few uneven roads. They have a sturdy frame and come with versatile gearing, good brakes and usually with eyelets for fitting a rack and fenders. This sort of thing won't be the fastest bike, but should be comfortable to ride with a semi-upright position. If you're riding for enjoyment, you can sit back and watch the scenery go by.

Hi there Smallers!

Given the fact that you have hills and your road surface is unpredictable, allow me to suggest the following:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=225720
The Surly Ogre - It's a 29'er


- Slim :)

PS.

Here's the Surly Website:

www.surlybikes.com

There are Surly dealers in England too! :thumb:
PS.

Of course you can always add fenders, rack, or convert to front fork 80mm suspension, whenever you like... It's already prepared for that!

Jamis Aurora

Thanks for the advice folks.

There are major build differences between a road bike and touring bike. Make sure you understand those differences before you invest in your next bike.

http://www.cyclepathkelowna.com/prod...vs-road-bikes/

I don't think you can go wrong with one of the higher spec Decathlon (B'twin) bikes. Based on what I've seen of them while shopping at Decathlon, they are reasonably priced and well equipped.

You have to chose your bike for the toughest riding you expect to be doing as well as your everyday use. The toughest will probably be riding along tracks and trails with loaded panniers. You can do this on hybrid style bikes as well as MTBs as long as your tyres are wide enough.
I would suggest one of the lighter, sportier styles of hybrid such as Specialized Sirrus Elite. You can get similar models from Trek, Giant or any other major brand. They usually come with medium 28mm tyres but have room for fatter trail tyres. They ride nicely unladen but can handle a typical Euro touring load.

You might want to look into a cyclocross bike. They are similar to a road bike, but a bit tougher and can take larger tires. Something like the Surly Crosscheck or the Salsa Cassaroll. Both are available in Europe.

Here is a link to a German webshop that carries the frames so you can get some idea of pricing.

http://www.bike-components.de/produc...ell-2011-.html
http://www.bike-components.de/produc...l-Rahmen-.html

For £1000 you can score a Giant TCR2 and several other bikes aswell. If you want a tourer though you will need eyelets for the rack and mudgaurds- so may have to go down to a Giant Defy.

Plenty of bikes out there but take it you want a road bike. But Hilly Area?-How hilly- how long are they and how steep? Cyclocross May be the answer if the roads are a bit broken and the Giant TCX2 at around £800 may suit.

I know I have mentioned Giant but all manufacturers will have similar- Including ORBEA that is in your part of Europe and one of my dream bikes.

Thanks again to all who have offered their advice. I now have more food for thought about my choice of next bike. I already have a Dawes Discovery hybrid that I'm now thinking of adapting for any tours - it already has a rear rack and eyelets for a front rack.

From the advice given here, I'm now considering using my current B-Twin Sport 1 for winter training and spending my £1000 on a better pure road bike for the spring and summer. Any further thoughts?

Cheers,
Andy

All bikes mentioned above are great for your needs. I would suggest taking a look here, maybe you can find some of them on sale:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/

I ordered a clearance bike and had it shipped to Greece for €30 (DHL road, approximately 1 week shipping time), a minor problem came up and I was extremely satisfied with CRCs customer support, which make me a happy camper!


BTW, I have no affiliations with CRC, or any company for the matter... just passing on some helpful info to a fellow member.

surprised noone mentioned surlys long haul trucker or lht disc.

Dawes Discovery is fine for touring. You could fit some trekking/butterfly style bars for more handholds and retain the MTB style controls. Although dedicated touring bikes are good/best for touring, most people touring around Europe with a tent and panniers are using hybrid bikes.
This will free up your everyday bike for fast, sporty, fun use. If the roads are rough you may want a sportiff/endurance style roadbike with more generous tyre clearance (using long-drop caliper brakes), lower gears (using a compact chainset) a higher bar position than competition racers