delilo

Finally beat my low end Trek mountain bike to death. Would like to upgrade to something I could do 5,000 miles on a year and not die.

My needs - Steel Frame, Front and Rear rack mounts, and ability to put wide tires on if needed with fenders.

Any suggestions?

I live in the Seattle area and it may rain some....

HardyWeinberg

LHT complete!

Cyclon

-Cyclocross-
Surly Crosscheck
Bianchi Volpe

-Touring-
Trek 520

delilo

Thanks...been looking at all those.
Any opinions on a Jamis cross bike?

Also, any structural or strength difference in a cross and a touring frame?

bkriete

Cross and touring will probably be similar in strength. Touring will likely have a lower bottom bracket and slightly more relaxed geometry, making it more stable and smooth-riding but less "sporty."

Mr. Jim

Giant Transport, mostly because I want someone to buy one and report back

rohmen

Before I had to hold off on buying a new bike, I test rode a Jamis Nova & Aurora, a Surly Cross-Check & LHT, and a Bianchi Volpe. For what its worth, the Nova (Jamis' steel cross bike) was my favorite ride. It just seemed a heck of a lot more comfortable over rough pavement. The 105 shifters were nice as well. I just couldn't get use to the bar end shifters on the Surly, but maybe that's just me. If you can swallow the extra cost, I think you would be happy with the Nova (now called the Aurora Elite in '08).

delilo

Going with a used Jamis Nova. Thanks.

CliftonGK1

The Nova is a sweet bike. I've seen a couple commuters deck them out up here on my route.

Where is your commute in Seattle? I'm on the eastside, Redmond to Woodinville.

Chuck G

Kona Sutra (steel frame touring bike with disc brakes). I have no experience with this bike but it looks good on paper.

delilo

Mine is Bellevue (Factoria area) to downtown Seattle

Cowtown Cumuter

That is one seriously heavy-duty looking bike...I like it. I wonder if it is heavy?

paulrad9

How do you kill a bike? Unless the frame's destroyed, can't you fix/repair the broken bits and keep it going?

delilo

Frame is broke. Would like to pick up a cheap frame and put it back together someday.

gbcb

Good choice! Looking forward to pictures

delilo

gonna throw some fenders and rack on her...

Junkdad

beauty, I imagine a little hard to find used...

tarwheel 

The Salsa Casseroll is one sweet commuter frame with eyelets for racks and fenders. It's supposed to take tires up to 700x32 if that is large enough. That would be my choice, although the Kona Sutra someone else mentioned would be better if you want something more suitable for loaded touring and large tires.

gbcb

As pics go, a bit small... but thanks

Mr. Underbridge

Just to throw out a contrarian alternative to all these newfangled bikes people are mentioning....

If what you mentioned is all you need you could easily score an old hybrid bike/frame from the mid 90s for less than $100 and upgrade the thing with some goodies. Just did that myself with a Giant I've had since forever. Steel frame, rack mounts on front and rear, and takes 700Cx37s with Freddy Fenders from PlanetBike. Clearance with rack+fenders+37mm tires is close, but it works. Just took my first trip on it today after dressing it up.

Edit: nevermind, missed the part where you already got the Jamis. Probably a sign I need coffee.

delilo

Mr. U - sounds like a great ride. I was going back and forth on the seemlingly endless options out there, but decided to go with something completely newer as most of the goodies on my old beater weren't going to take many more miles. And, I think I got a great deal on the Jamis for 500 bucks.

delilo

First ride in today on the bike-
A couple of things (I need to search through the threads more on some of this stuff)
1. Tire size - I am a road bike novice and 23cc tires seems way too small and too high pressure for a somewhat rough road riding. Any recommendations on size. I'd like to ride a 32, I put on some PB Cascadia fenders (hybrid size) and they should take a 32.
2. Toe overlap - I have never been crazy about the clipless, so I rode in with my old school clip pedals (I like to wear normal shoes). There is a bit of toe overlap, a little pronounced with the fenders, and also maybe a function of the cross bike frame, I understand the BB are higher on these frames. I might have to run clipless to reduce the overlap. Any cross frame riders have this issue?

Very pleased with the ride, a quick and almost effortless 10 mile commute. I can't believe how hard I had to push that old beater MTB.... gonna have to find a longer route!