First flat bar commuter

[Tackleberry]

Thanks in advance for your interest.

I'm in the market for a bike to commute from the inner west to the city x2/3 a week ,

for weekend rides and also for fitness.

I'm leaning in the direction of something along these lines:


http://www.cycleworld.com.au/a/urban-bi ... /102297917" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/sydney-r ... 1054394377" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


I know if I buy from the bike shop I'll get a proper fitting and some good advice.

But I also know, if I buy a second hand bike I'll get a more expensive ride.


1.How come I cannot find any reviews of the Avanti Inc's? Anywhere, on the entire internet?

And, since quitting smoking earlier this year I've packed on some weight:(

Looking to go from 100kg back down to 85kg.


I had a ride on a friends flat bar with 700cx28, and I felt like I was skating on ice,

just way too thin! I didn't feel safe.


I'm wanting to put as bigger tyre as will fit on the rim and under the forks / frame

like some Schwalbe Big Apples, 700x50c, again, the widest that will fit

I don't care about speed or rolling resistance.

2.Is that reasonable man?


3.I'm not going to be going off cliffs and down mountains

but will these bikes be capable of some tame off road riding?

Any advice?

TKS

[rodneycc]

Hi Mate, Rather that Focus Planet urban than the Avanti. Nothing against the Avanti as their framesets are actually pretty good but that one inparticular hasn't got the greatest groupset on it.

Should be fine for tame offroading. Big Apples are good tyres but 50c are massive not sure you really need to go quite that big. They sure will be comfortable if anything though. I'd recommend 38c which is a nice compromise.

Anyway good luck. Cheers Rod.

[Jammy]

Hi Tackleberry

I bought an Avanti Inc 3 (carbon belt drive, disc brakes and 11 speed internal geared hub) earlier this year as my daily commuter that I ride to work each day here in Brisbane (about 16k each way). I did change the tyres to Schwalbe Marathon Plus' 28c as I just wanted something as bullet proof as possible. They seem to roll ok, I've not had a flat and the grip is pretty good in both wet and dry. I often see another commuter who has the same bike but with panniers. He seems really happy with his.

I had a couple of minor issues:
- gear cable came loose and I replaced with a Shimano version that I've had no issues with
- seat post kept slipping and I eventually replaced the quick release with standard seat clamp

Is it a fast bike? No. But it's quite comfortable and seems to be pretty robust.

Would I recommend for commuting? Yes. Tame off roading? I think it would handle that ok.

I also ride it on weekends but not in a group. I think I'd struggle to keep up with it.

Hope that helps.

[Zippy7]

When you mentioned Schwable Big Apple tyres, I remembered about the Giant Seek (2014 models).
I saw some one sale for $799 - they have these tyres in 50c, and I did read some reviews of people using that tyre for off roading (google).

That might be a good compromise for you in being able to commute, plus with the tyres you wanted.

[KGB]

50mm commuting tyres are massive indeed. I commute on 28's from cronulla to randwick and they feel "big" to me, coming from a road racing background. Then again, I don't weigh 100 kegs either. If you want 50's and can fit them on whatever bike you end up with, go for it. The best thing about trying to choose tyres is that they'll wear out so you can always try something different next time if you want.

The avanti doesn't look amazing to me. Apart from the groupset as already mentioned, small things like the cables running along the top tube would be better for poor weather commuting.
I can't see details on the focus, its showing "sold".

I like the bmc AC01. Might be a little out of budget though....

WRT shop vs second hand, are you confident inspecting a second hand bike? We can advise you a little about fit (not as well as actually going into a shop, obviously) but a big risk is buying some else's clapped out pile of problems.
Yes, you'll potentially buy a "better" bike 2nd hand but sometimes the shop bike will give better overall value.

[Tackleberry]

Thanks Rod and Zippy7.

True, the Inc 1 isn't very high spec but it's only for this year

If I really like cycling I'll upgrade next year.

I don't want to be a noob with a $2,000 bike.


But this years range of Giant Seeks are hideous. OMGosh!

Maybe it's just the white tyres? But the 1 & 2 are specced higher..

I'll take a second look.

[Tackleberry]

Thanks KGB.

BMC... lol. only about $2,000 above my price range.

Otherwise i'd buy the Inc 3.

Yeah, a warranty from the lbs is a big safety factor.

Maybe the Giant Seek 2 is the way to go..?

http://www.cycleworld.com.au/a/urban-bi ... /102266991" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Is it better to go with a big name?

Then there's the accessories on top of that... More like $1,000.

[rodneycc]

Good bikes the the Seek but yep always have been a bit on the fugly side for me.

That's why Ive actually always preferred the Roam and the newer Roam XR model thats been out a couple of seasons.

[Tackleberry]

Thanks for the info about the '3' Jammy:)

You're not the first to describe it like that...

[tekapo]

50mm commuting tyres are massive indeed. I commute on 28's from cronulla to randwick and they feel "big" to me, coming from a road racing background. Then again, I don't weigh 100 kegs either.

I weigh 100 or so, 40C felt too wide, ran 32C for a while and feels good, probably can go down to 28C, although the rim might be a tad wide for it. But after buying 4x Marathon Pluses 35Cs on special, it will be a while before I get any new tires.

But it really depends on the road/path that you ride on. On good quality road with my single speed, 23C felt excellent. But there are roads/paths that makes 35Cs bumpy as hell. Not to mention pot holes, cracked path etc. Also if commuting, check out the route that you will take. Around Melbourne there are quite a few gravel/dirt bike path, and you wouldn't want to tackle that with 23C, and even the 32C was slipping at times.

[twowheels]

G'day I've commuted on a 700 x 28 flatbar. I built up my own flat bar from that bike and a steel frame bike, now have something that for me is great. If they were available in store in Perth I would have got one of these -
http://www.myjamis.com/SSP%20Applicatio ... grp=strt_2
the specs are pretty much identical to what I made up.

Wouldn't ride it as a mountain bike.

[Tackleberry]

Tekapo:)

When I ride a 28c I feel like I'm walking a tight rope... 23 is euthanasia. lol

I'm not a speedstar, and the extra resistance would do my weight loss well:)

[Tackleberry]

twowheels:)

That Jamis looks so clean I could eat off it!

But I'm a clumsy and overweight ape

I need big boy tyres.

[tekapo]

twowheels:)

That Jamis looks so clean I could eat off it!

But I'm a clumsy and overweight ape

I need big boy tyres.

May I suggest a

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatbike" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Back to topic. If you want something to fit a 50C, the easiest way is to find a 29er with a hard tail. MTBs will have clearance for these tires easy, but just make sure the fork has a lock out (although its probably not recommended to keep it permanently lock out). Most of the road bike with caliper brake will not fit. Hybrid bikes with rigid forks and V brakes usually comes with 40C maximum, so its a tad hard to tell from websites/specs on whether it will fit a 50C. Can't think of any from top of my head, but there are on road bikes that specifically comes with 50C on a rigid fork, think the one I saw was a Giant (and creme coloured tires)

[tekapo]

http://www.reidcycles.com.au/reid-x126- ... -bike.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheap as chips. Have seen a couple of these around in Melbourne. No idea if they are any good. But a rigid fork on a MTB is fairly rare, and you can fit some fat 26" slicks on them. (I actually remember them selling it with slicks as a default a while back)

[twowheels]

twowheels:)

That Jamis looks so clean I could eat off it!

But I'm a clumsy and overweight ape

I need big boy tyres.

the jamis codas have 32mm tyres, should be able to handle you see link
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kMvaleh0kdM/T ... at-man.jpg

[Tackleberry]

Haha twowheels!

I went to the lbs today to have a look...

The 2014/5 Giant's are the fugliest bikes I've ever seen Giant make. wth!

The inc 3 is the pick of the bunch.

But I don't want shimano gears, I was wanting Sram's.

[Duck!]

You're not going to fit 50mm tyres in a frame that's not designed for them - they're seriously massive!

[Zippy7]

If you are considering a bike that doesn't have 50c tyres, you may want to check out the Focus Lost Lagoon CS2

Note that the Aussie spec version has rigid forks up front, not suspension forks.

It suits me for commuting to work.
I wanted hydraulic disc brakes (I'm a big guy as well).

My first commuter bike was a Merida Crossway 100 - that was okay, but not ideal.
My second commuter bike was a Merida Speeder T3 - not bad, but it had a couple of issues.

The Focus is my current bike, and I am pretty happy with it.

I suppose, my satisfaction is also directly related to the customer service experience too

Of course, YMMV

[Tackleberry]

Thanks Zippy,

I'm going to check out the Focus bikes


And Rod I just checked out the Roam, also very nice.

[josammax]

Hi Tackleberry,

I have a merida speeder t5 that I brought about this time last year. I updated to a road bike in January and have not ridden it since then.

When I got it I was 110kg - Im now 73kg.

I am looking at selling it if you are interested (planned on putting it on ebay in a couple of weeks).

I am 176cm tall - I think the frame size is 54cm.

Upgrades to the bike include:

Bar ends
Skinny tyres 23mm (do have original 32mm tyres)
Lights - front and back
clipless pedals (have originals)

All up I spent about $1200 on this bike, looking for around $400

[Tackleberry]

Well done Max:)

The main reason for the Inc is because I'm a noob

and I don't want people knowing what i ride.

I'm leaning towards an Inc 2 now.