I plan to commute year round (ann arbor, mi) as well as do extended rides (~20) in nicer weather. I use to commute year round but due to a near fatal illness 2 yrs ago I had to stop riding, completely, and learn how to multi-task again.

I've ridden for most of my 43 years - in clubs and alone, wanted to road race in my 20's, averaged ~40 miles a day and did century rides on the weekends for years, in California & New Jersey!

After my cherished Lemond road bike was stolen in the mid 90's I haven't really cared about what I ride but I want to change my ways

So, I like the Globe Centrum Comp but I'm not sure ... is there is a better option for a 43 yo female who wants to commute year round in Michigan, do extended rides after work & on the weekends and who only wants one bike?

I like the idea of the rotor brakes & the Shimano Alfine SG-S500, IG-8 speed ... but haven't heard any testimonials to their use.

Opinions I want and opinions I'll have ... please????

Thanks,
t2mama

Hadn't seen that model before, looks nice. The only comment I would make is that there doesn't seem to be any easy way to mount full fenders, a must for riding year round in my neck of the woods. I may be wrong, I can see what appears to be rack mounts, the fender mounts may be not visible in the photographs.

Edit: The Alfine and Discs are are a good choice for all weather riding, If you want to protect the chain (and your clothes) look into a Hebie Chaingider.

(I should make this part of my sig: full disclosure: I work for a company that sells specialized bikes)

The Globe Centrum Comp is a damn nice bike. I think it would suit your needs very well. Yes, you can install fenders and a rack on it. But, like most Specialized bikes with compact geometry it'll be a little difficult to completely accomplish. This is mostly because companies who make fenders are still designing them around traditional geometry bikes.

The 8 speed hub is an excellent choice on the part of specialized. But, if you wanted to up the ante and still appear to have a "single speed" bike, I would see if you can get a Schlumf Innovations planetary Bottom Bracket unit. That will give you the equivalent of a double up front paired w/ the 8 speed in back.

info on the schlumf internal planetary bb found here: https://www.schlumpf.ch/sd_engl.htm

enjoy!

oh... and I forgot to mention:

the Centrum runs on 26 in wheels. So, you'll be getting basically a mountain bike w/ road slicks and no suspension. Not a bad combination. But, personally I wish that the Centrum followed the rest of the Globe lineup and used 700s.

The bike looks great but it's definetly a sit up sort of high grade "cruiser". As someone that did a lot of longer club rides where I'm sure there was some just for fun racing that took place I'm sure you remember how nice it is to tuck a little to cut through the headwinds or get more speed. It doesn't seem like this bike would allow you to do much of that.

My own current favourite style of frame for an all'rounder commuter and play bike is to use a cyclocross frame and be sure to get one that has rack mounts. And if this was to be my only bike then I'd go for disc brakes as well. Since I can't "bend that way" anymore the bars will be mounted a hair on the higher side and I'm experimenting with moustache bars on one of my present bikes as a way to get lots of hand placement options without the need to fold up to get into the drops. I just ordered a Soma Double Cross frame to base this on. Having had a lot of bikes over the past 15 years I've come to the conclusion that I like steel frames.

Anyhow, the point is that if you loved your Lemond there's options in between the full on racing bike and this nice but still very much a cruiser sort of bike that may suit you better. It just seems like such a huge jump to go from a road racing bike to this Centrum. But of course I can't read your mind and I have not seen one in person. Just did a quick search. So it may indeed be all that a perfect commuter needs to be.

thank you all for your input and support - I think I'm going for it!

Please clarify:

How could fender design be changed to work with compact frames better?

Spacing on a compact frame @ the seat stays and wheel area. Also, a good number of fenders have a sliding bridge mount, but on a compact frame I've found that when you slide it in place the fender stays are too far away from the bridge bolt.