Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

lindsaybo
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Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby lindsaybo » Sun May 13, 2018 12:12 am

Advice on good long distance endurance bike. I'm on the slow burning look for a second bike. I've got a Vivente World Randonneur and have done some hills work with the racks and gaurds taken off and 28mm continental tyres fitted. Works fine (great actually), however I use this bike as a commuter and the 35c schwalbe tyres and touring gear is back on so its now about 17kg. I want something for the weekends and longer rides. Am keen to steer away from carbon frame (forks ok), so steel or alloy for me and some flexibility with tyre sizes. Looked at a couple of Kona options, Soma and the Surly Midnight Special. The Surly looks a little heavy. These prices are at the top end of what I want to pay. I'm thinking 11-32/34 cassette and 50/34 crank will do me ok.

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10speedsemiracer
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Sun May 13, 2018 5:31 am

lindsaybo wrote:Advice on good long distance endurance bike. I'm on the slow burning look for a second bike. I've got a Vivente World Randonneur and have done some hills work with the racks and gaurds taken off and 28mm continental tyres fitted. Works fine (great actually), however I use this bike as a commuter and the 35c schwalbe tyres and touring gear is back on so its now about 17kg. I want something for the weekends and longer rides. Am keen to steer away from carbon frame (forks ok), so steel or alloy for me and some flexibility with tyre sizes. Looked at a couple of Kona options, Soma and the Surly Midnight Special. The Surly looks a little heavy. These prices are at the top end of what I want to pay. I'm thinking 11-32/34 cassette and 50/34 crank will do me ok.
Malvern Star Oppy S2 ?
Has Shimano 105 (5800) 50/34 > 11-32t with hyd discs, 35mm tyres and Reynolds frame.
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Tim
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby Tim » Sun May 13, 2018 9:18 am

If you like the VWR, as I do, I own one, how about another?
You could try contacting the boss, Noel McFarlane, and ask him if he still stocks bare frames and forks.
Replacement frames were available a few years ago.
Build one up to your own requirements.

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Thoglette
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby Thoglette » Sun May 13, 2018 10:15 am

How much are you looking to carry?

The VWR is a intended to drag heavy loads massive distances.

The Surly Midnight Special is an "all road" or randonneur, more suited to carrying a couple of kilos, quickly.

They're quite different designs.
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lindsaybo
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby lindsaybo » Sun May 13, 2018 11:12 pm

10speedsemiracer wrote:
lindsaybo wrote:Advice on good long distance endurance bike. I'm on the slow burning look for a second bike. I've got a Vivente World Randonneur and have done some hills work with the racks and gaurds taken off and 28mm continental tyres fitted. Works fine (great actually), however I use this bike as a commuter and the 35c schwalbe tyres and touring gear is back on so its now about 17kg. I want something for the weekends and longer rides. Am keen to steer away from carbon frame (forks ok), so steel or alloy for me and some flexibility with tyre sizes. Looked at a couple of Kona options, Soma and the Surly Midnight Special. The Surly looks a little heavy. These prices are at the top end of what I want to pay. I'm thinking 11-32/34 cassette and 50/34 crank will do me ok.
Malvern Star Oppy S2 ?
Has Shimano 105 (5800) 50/34 > 11-32t with hyd discs, 35mm tyres and Reynolds frame.
I checked out the Malvern Star Oppy online, however the reviews were average, mostly on the finish of the frame. Local bike shop sells Malvern star and Kona. Kona comes with lifetime warranty. Would love to support Aust bikes, but not sure the Malvern Star is the build quality anymore.

lindsaybo
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby lindsaybo » Sun May 13, 2018 11:17 pm

Tim wrote:If you like the VWR, as I do, I own one, how about another?
You could try contacting the boss, Noel McFarlane, and ask him if he still stocks bare frames and forks.
Replacement frames were available a few years ago.
Build one up to your own requirements.
Love the VWR and would recommend them and would considered another. Noel has provided great product support and has sent emails back to me within 24-hrs, even when he is on some epic cycling tour. Even put some Smart Sams on the bike and took it for a trundle on the Munda Biddi track, so its a hell of a versatile bike, but am getting sick of taking gear on/off. The frame is an overkill for an endurance bike as it is too heavy. Have considered buying other frames also, however I think a complete bike is going to work out cheaper.

lindsaybo
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby lindsaybo » Sun May 13, 2018 11:24 pm

Thoglette wrote:How much are you looking to carry?

The VWR is a intended to drag heavy loads massive distances.

The Surly Midnight Special is an "all road" or randonneur, more suited to carrying a couple of kilos, quickly.

They're quite different designs.
Just going to carry myself and a couple of bottles of water. I considered the 700c option, rather than the 650 Midnight special as I don't need the 40mm tyres for the road. Have had a long interest in owning a Surly. The Midnight Special looks like more of an adventure/gravel bike. Maye the Pacer or Straggler would be ok. Others???

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10speedsemiracer
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Mon May 14, 2018 12:16 am

lindsaybo wrote: I checked out the Malvern Star Oppy online, however the reviews were average, mostly on the finish of the frame. Local bike shop sells Malvern star and Kona. Kona comes with lifetime warranty. Would love to support Aust bikes, but not sure the Malvern Star is the build quality anymore.
Hmm, hadn't seen much review-wise, but there is a bit of positive chatter on this forum re the Oppy bikes. Re the Kona, I'll confess to being a Kona fan, but have only played around with the urban-type things, being the Dew series of bikes (Dew/Dew Deluxe etc). Nice and sturdy, clean up really well, ride nicely for what they are. Mucking around with another one at the moment, just as a base for improving my disc brake knowledge and skillset and also a case of N+1 (actually N+2).
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lindsaybo
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby lindsaybo » Mon May 14, 2018 10:31 am

10speedsemiracer wrote:
lindsaybo wrote: I checked out the Malvern Star Oppy online, however the reviews were average, mostly on the finish of the frame. Local bike shop sells Malvern star and Kona. Kona comes with lifetime warranty. Would love to support Aust bikes, but not sure the Malvern Star is the build quality anymore.
Hmm, hadn't seen much review-wise, but there is a bit of positive chatter on this forum re the Oppy bikes. Re the Kona, I'll confess to being a Kona fan, but have only played around with the urban-type things, being the Dew series of bikes (Dew/Dew Deluxe etc). Nice and sturdy, clean up really well, ride nicely for what they are. Mucking around with another one at the moment, just as a base for improving my disc brake knowledge and skillset and also a case of N+1 (actually N+2).
Review here: https://cyclingtips.com/2016/05/malvern ... s2-review/
The Oppy 2 checks all the boxes for me as I prefer an old-school look, steel frame and a good drivetrain and the price looks good. The review claims that the bike is nearly 13 kg, which is not much lighter than my VWR (without rack, guards and with the 28mm tyres). I'm happy to be convinced if others have had a good experience. The bike shop had not seen one and only had the base model Oppy on the floor. The Kona Tonk (9-speed) looks pretty good to me at an entry level. The price creeps up pretty quick once you look at 10 and 11 speed drivetrain models.

Velt
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby Velt » Mon May 14, 2018 11:09 am

There's also an oppy s3 now, with 1x drivetrain and carbon fork. Should be lighter than the s2

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Thoglette
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby Thoglette » Mon May 14, 2018 12:21 pm

In addition to the Malvern Star Oppy S* a couple of other bikes have been mentioned.

Like yourself I'm a little underwhelmed at the weight of most of them: you shouldn't need to pay JP Weigle prices to get down to 10kg (excluding racks and lights - JP did 9.7 including racks, lights and luggage). I know most of them come with disks but the weight penalty should be under a kilo by now.

Thoughts on modern mass produced 650B randonneurs
MASI randonneur
Crust Lightning Bolt 2
plus frames
Velo Orange Polyvalent
Soma Grand Randonneur
Crust Lightning-bolt (some in .au)
Rawland Stag
Box Dog Pelican
Boulder All road 650
plus others. The challenge is finding any of them in .au

Help for Inexpensive Light Touring Bike Option.
Reid Granites (1.0 to 3.0)
Gios Spazio Tourer
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owly
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby owly » Tue May 15, 2018 9:58 pm

You mentioned Munda Biddi. If you're in Perth, have you dropped into Cycles Bespoke to see what steel bikes they have there?

Even so, I think a steel bike in your price range would still be a little too heavy.

How about an alu frame bike like a Specialized Diverge DSW ?
MUFC :twisted:

lindsaybo
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby lindsaybo » Wed May 16, 2018 10:05 am

owly wrote:You mentioned Munda Biddi. If you're in Perth, have you dropped into Cycles Bespoke to see what steel bikes they have there?

Even so, I think a steel bike in your price range would still be a little too heavy.

How about an alu frame bike like a Specialized Diverge DSW ?
Gday Owly. Yes I'm in Perth. Am heading into Cycles Bespoke in a few weeks to take another look around. They're agents for Surly and Soma. However have got my eyes on an older model Koma Honky Tonk (Guildford Cycles are the agent). Only a 2x9-speed, but apparently weighs about 10.8kg, which I can live with. If it gets too hard up the hills then I'll throw a triple up-front. However I did take a look at the Specialized Diverge models and they look promising. Thanks for the "heads up".

lindsaybo
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby lindsaybo » Wed May 16, 2018 10:18 pm

lindsaybo wrote:
owly wrote:You mentioned Munda Biddi. If you're in Perth, have you dropped into Cycles Bespoke to see what steel bikes they have there?

Even so, I think a steel bike in your price range would still be a little too heavy.

How about an alu frame bike like a Specialized Diverge DSW ?
Gday Owly. Yes I'm in Perth. Am heading into Cycles Bespoke in a few weeks to take another look around. They're agents for Surly and Soma. However have got my eyes on an older model Koma Honky Tonk (Guildford Cycles are the agent). Only a 2x9-speed, but apparently weighs about 10.8kg, which I can live with. If it gets too hard up the hills then I'll throw a triple up-front. However I did take a look at the Specialized Diverge models and they look promising. Thanks for the "heads up".
I had another look at the Specialized Diverg DSW (2017 model). Nice and light (<10kg) and really interesting gearing (48/32 crank with 11-32 cassette) along with 30mm tyres. With a 10-speed it also gives an option of fitting a 11-34. As much as I wanted a heritage looking bike, the Specialized Diverge DSW is in now my top 2, the second being a Kona (probably a Honky Tonk). The next few on my list are probably also Kona bikes (Essato, Wheelhouse etc). Too many options!!!

lindsaybo
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby lindsaybo » Wed May 16, 2018 10:28 pm

Velt wrote:There's also an oppy s3 now, with 1x drivetrain and carbon fork. Should be lighter than the s2
The gearing on the Oppy 3 is more of a gravel setup, being 1 x 11 with 44 on the crank and 11-36 on the cassette. Pitty the bike doesn't have the 2 x 11. I live and ride in the Perth Hills and have no horsepower in these chicken legs, so more low range gears required.

owly
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby owly » Thu May 17, 2018 10:16 am

lindsaybo wrote:
lindsaybo wrote:
owly wrote:You mentioned Munda Biddi. If you're in Perth, have you dropped into Cycles Bespoke to see what steel bikes they have there?

Even so, I think a steel bike in your price range would still be a little too heavy.

How about an alu frame bike like a Specialized Diverge DSW ?
Gday Owly. Yes I'm in Perth. Am heading into Cycles Bespoke in a few weeks to take another look around. They're agents for Surly and Soma. However have got my eyes on an older model Koma Honky Tonk (Guildford Cycles are the agent). Only a 2x9-speed, but apparently weighs about 10.8kg, which I can live with. If it gets too hard up the hills then I'll throw a triple up-front. However I did take a look at the Specialized Diverge models and they look promising. Thanks for the "heads up".
I had another look at the Specialized Diverg DSW (2017 model). Nice and light (<10kg) and really interesting gearing (48/32 crank with 11-32 cassette) along with 30mm tyres. With a 10-speed it also gives an option of fitting a 11-34. As much as I wanted a heritage looking bike, the Specialized Diverge DSW is in now my top 2, the second being a Kona (probably a Honky Tonk). The next few on my list are probably also Kona bikes (Essato, Wheelhouse etc). Too many options!!!
I think I remember seeing that old Kona hanging up in the shop at least a couple of years back.

R&D Speedshop in Claremont had a real nice looking red DSW in the window recently.
MUFC :twisted:

lindsaybo
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby lindsaybo » Mon Aug 13, 2018 10:24 pm

I bought a Cannondale Alloy Synapse Tiagra. A rather unsightly acid red (fluro orange), and ~11kg, however at $1,200, and an ideal gear ratio (48/34 and 11-34) the bike seems to work well. Only 1 hills ride so far but for the price I'm ok with that. 11-speed 105 groupset would have been preferred, however 10-speed will do and the extra $500 (for Synapse 105, or Specialized Diverge E5) didn't seem worth it.You can also buy a 11-36 10 speed cassette for really tough hills. I could have a got a 2015 Kona Honky tonk for $1,100, however it only had a 9-speed. Considered throwing a triple up-front, or changing out the crank for a different ratio on the Honky Tonk, however the bucks just didn't add up.

Bennoz
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby Bennoz » Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:16 pm

you should be able to get a 2nd had Giant Defy with 105's, carbon forks, alloy frame for about 800-1k
would be perfect

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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:47 pm

Bennoz wrote:you should be able to get a 2nd had Giant Defy with 105's, carbon forks, alloy frame for about 800-1k
would be perfect
Actually, I agree completely with this, a 2014-2015 Defy 1 would be a nice option, although from memory they were OE with !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! Tektro calipers. Would drop these in the bin and replace with more recent 105 calipers (5700). Good option for multi-purpose use, alloy frame + carbon-composite fork/steerer. Not going to get massive tyres in there tho'
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biker jk
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby biker jk » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:08 pm

I should also make a recommendation even though you have already purchased a bike. :roll:

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10speedsemiracer
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Wed Aug 15, 2018 4:37 pm

biker jk wrote:I should also make a recommendation even though you have already purchased a bike. :roll:

:oops:
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Bennoz
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby Bennoz » Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:46 am

10speedsemiracer wrote:
Bennoz wrote:you should be able to get a 2nd had Giant Defy with 105's, carbon forks, alloy frame for about 800-1k
would be perfect
Actually, I agree completely with this, a 2014-2015 Defy 1 would be a nice option, although from memory they were OE with !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! Tektro calipers. Would drop these in the bin and replace with more recent 105 calipers (5700). Good option for multi-purpose use, alloy frame + carbon-composite fork/steerer. Not going to get massive tyres in there tho'
Thx
and i'll go you one better...

depending on size and where the OP is - you might be able to pick one up with Disc's and compact gearing. with a bit of negotiating on the price:

exhibit A:
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/winthro ... 1190313753

exhibit B:
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/surfers ... 1191504698

lindsaybo
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Re: Buying an endurance bike - Hills and long distance

Postby lindsaybo » Thu Aug 16, 2018 10:54 pm

All good and well if you're in Surfers Paradice (Exhibit B). Yep, the Defy in Winthrop (Exhibit A) would have been ok, with a 50/34 crank, 11-32 cassette, however I searched Gumtree for ages and the bikes are nearly always overpriced. 2019 model bike for $1,200 isn't a bad buy as a second hand bike would no doubt require some repairs.

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