which bike

EASYbeingCHEESY

Sorry,i know this thread has been done to death,but ive been riding my MTB for a while now and wanted to get a road bike.ive been doing some reasearch etc but its still all very confusing.
Ive picked out they ones im interested.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/claud-butler/chinook-2010-road-bike-ec022485#BVRRWidgetID
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=35&idproduct=23596
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=23342&categoryID=1181
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=21453&categoryID=17
any adivce what the best bike is.

I must admit i do love the looks of a singlespeed/fixie
but they be uttterly useless for what I need.

if you know of a road bike that has looks of a fixie/singlespeed
that would be great.

I could strecth to 700,but idealy it would between 350-600

DirkVoodoo

EASYbeingCHEESY wrote: »

Sorry,i know this thread has been done to death,but ive been riding my MTB for a while now and wanted to get a road bike.ive been doing some reasearch etc but its still all very confusing.
Ive picked out they ones im interested.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/claud-butler/chinook-2010-road-bike-ec022485#BVRRWidgetID
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=35&idproduct=23596
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=23342&categoryID=1181
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=21453&categoryID=17
any adivce what the best bike is.

I must admit i do love the looks of a singlespeed/fixie
but they be uttterly useless for what I need.

if you know of a road bike that has looks of a fixie/singlespeed
that would be great.

I could strecth to 700,but idealy it would between 350-600

Ok, so that rules out the fixies then.

I'm not sure what you mean really, most singlespeeds use either road or track frames with some small modifications, so really they all look quite similar. Do you not like the look of the drivetrain?

I'm a little puzzled, if you say what type of rides you want to do it might help.

The charge mixer, looks like a fixie but has an 8-speed hub gear and disc brakes.

EDIT: Are you a guy or a girl?

abcdggs

EASYbeingCHEESY wrote: »

Sorry,i know this thread has been done to death,but ive been riding my MTB for a while now and wanted to get a road bike.ive been doing some reasearch etc but its still all very confusing.
Ive picked out they ones im interested.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/claud-butler/chinook-2010-road-bike-ec022485#BVRRWidgetID
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=35&idproduct=23596
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=23342&categoryID=1181
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=21453&categoryID=17
any adivce what the best bike is.

I must admit i do love the looks of a singlespeed/fixie
but they be uttterly useless for what I need.

if you know of a road bike that has looks of a fixie/singlespeed
that would be great.

I could strecth to 700,but idealy it would between 350-600

What do you mean the looks of fixie/single speed? ie frame (generally steel/alu, gross generalisation but it will have quite slim tubes)
or chain position:


as dirk says some more info would be helpful.

EASYbeingCHEESY

sorry for being so vauge,should of specified.
Id be using it for leisure spins,their be quite a few steep hills too

I think its the frames,although im not sure,steel does look nicer than aluminium
they just look nicer on the eye
the frames are thinner,and im also not really that keep on a drop haddlebar(but i suppose i could get used to it)

EASYbeingCHEESY

bump.

EASYbeingCHEESY

looking at adverts.ie today.
any good

http://www.adverts.ie/246144/bikes/1980s-steel-frame-atala-racer/

EASYbeingCHEESY

can anyboady help me out,PLEASE.
every bike iI like the look out seems to be a fixie

im looking for a steel frame,with thin tubes,any bike recomodations

07Lapierre

EASYbeingCHEESY wrote: »

can anyboady help me out,PLEASE.
every bike iI like the look out seems to be a fixie

im looking for a steel frame,with thin tubes,any bike recomodations

very few steel bikes nowadays...except for cheap rubbish bikes.

you'd be better spending your hard earned cash on this or equivalent.

Correction: very few steel bikes (within your quoted budget)...except for cheap rubbish bikes.

petethedrummer

This is the best I can do for you:
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/road/equilibrium/equilibrium/overview/
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/equilibrium-10-36088

but its 999 sterling.

petethedrummer

EASYbeingCHEESY wrote: »

can anyboady help me out,PLEASE.
every bike iI like the look out seems to be a fixie

im looking for a steel frame,with thin tubes,any bike recomodations

You are not going to get something new in that price range. Also with regards second hand, noone is going to be able to tell you for definite from a photo on adverts if its in good nick or not. Or if the gears/brakes are working. If you buy an 80's bike with 80's gears there may be problems with upgrading or finding spare parts. You could buy an old steel frame and build it up with a modern groupset, but that again would push you over your budget.

Also those vintage bikes have fewer gears and come with a standard/racing chainrings, which make them much harder to push up hill. The Atala you linked to only has 1 front chain ring, so your gearing options would be very limited. It looks in good nick and from what the seller is saying he probably keeps it in decent order. So you could try and lowball him as noone else has bid on it. Though the fact that noone has bid on it, may mean its over priced. I don't know.

The genesis bike I linked to is the cheapest modern steel bike that I have seen. There is the Bianchi Dolomiti but its over €2,000. Condor make steel bikes but are also quite expensive.

07Lapierre

EASYbeingCHEESY wrote: »

looking at adverts.ie today.
any good

http://www.adverts.ie/246144/bikes/1980s-steel-frame-atala-racer/

Just had a closer look at this advert.

IMO NO! Stay away!...seller says the chain is slipping. If your lucky its simply a badly adjusted rear mech ( do you feel lucky?). If not, then your looking at a new chain and cassette and possibly a new chainset. its 7speed, so unless your going to upgrade to "modern"components, best of luck find these parts.

No stay away, that my advise.

uberpixie

Specialized Allez Double Steel?
http://www.specialized.com/zz/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45678&menuItemId=0


As to where you might buy one is another story. Don't see it listed on cycleways and they would be a specialized dealer. (they might be worht asking in store though and see if they can order it in....)

In specialized single speed: (yeah I know you don't want a single speed but bear with me...)

Langster
http://www.specialized.com/zz/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45780&menuItemId=0


Langster Steel
http://www.specialized.com/zz/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45784&menuItemId=0

I ride a standard Langster for commuting, run it single speed. I have had no issues getting it up steep enough climbs, e.g. out of underground car parks with very steep exits.

Gearing on a langanster is pretty well balanced, for climbing you stand up and mash for a bit, but it will climb like a goat like any light racer should and on the flat you get a nice bit of speed.
I think you should take a single speed you like the look for a test ride and see if will it suit you... nothing wrong taking a quick test ride and at the very least it will convice you one way or the other .

I took a risk buying a single speed, my head said get a bike with gears, my heart said get a single speed which would make me work harder when cycling on my commute.
I save 10 mins on the way home on the single speed, a lot of which is going up hill. This is vs my old specialized hardrock mtb which of course has plenty of gears...

My stamina is improving little by little and you can get up a good speed on a single speed. You don't have gears to hide behind so you do work a lot harder at times and any hill you see you have to attack. Plus every stop at a set of traffic lights is an excuse for a quick break followed by a short hard sprint to get back up to speed :-)

If you intend doing very long spins, then a geared bike is prob the trick. But if you are commuting in the city or not doing very long distance, a single speed is very doable.
Must drag out the langster for a spin one of these weekends and see how it fairs over long distance.

petethedrummer

I was unaware of that allez. Its not on the UK & Ireland website. A fella on this forum bought one for €630 in Greece. Maybe they could order you in one. Would probably be a bit more expensive here.

Vélo

EASYbeingCHEESY wrote: »

sorry for being so vauge,should of specified.
Id be using it for leisure spins,their be quite a few steep hills too

I think its the frames,although im not sure,steel does look nicer than aluminium
they just look nicer on the eye
the frames are thinner,and im also not really that keep on a drop haddlebar(but i suppose i could get used to it)

If it's steel you're looking for.

Vélo

If it's a retro look you're looking for, there's always this, it even has down shifters.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kona/honky-tonk-2009-road-bike-ec017276#BVRRWidgetID


I'm not sure what size you're looking for though.

petethedrummer

The Konas don't really look retro, which I think is what the OP wants.

SamB64

Depends on your budget, but I bought a road bike as a change from my stumpy.

I ended up buying a Giant Defy 2.5 and I can't believe how much bike you get for your money.

It's awesome.

Sam.

EASYbeingCHEESY

thanks for all the help.
that specilized looks ideal,ill try out a single spped but honestly it would be terrible,most of the spins id do would be around the wicklow mountains.

uberpixie

EASYbeingCHEESY wrote: »

thanks for all the help.
that specilized looks ideal,ill try out a single spped but honestly it would be terrible,most of the spins id do would be around the wicklow mountains.

you are going gears so......

Tbh have a look at the kona range as Velo suggested if you want steel....

Kona Haole (steel, geared with carbon fork)
http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=haole

Kona Honkyinc (steel, geared with disk brakes)
http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=honkyinc

Kona Honkytonk (steel, geared)
http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=honkytonk

EASYbeingCHEESY

the konas look okay,but after seing that specialized I think im sold on it
looked trough a few websites today and none seem to have them.

anyone know were to get one.

EASYbeingCHEESY

sorry if this seems a daft question.but ive found wuite a lot of singlespped bikes I think look wise are gorgous.wer as alot of the geared ones in my budget are awful to look at.

can you buy a singlespped and just get the guy in the shop to put gears on it?

petethedrummer

You would have to buy a groupset. Sora is the budget end of shimano and costs 239 here: http://www.bikez.ie/product417_Sora-Groupset.html

There are probably other complications.

blorg

EASYbeingCHEESY wrote: »

sorry if this seems a daft question.but ive found wuite a lot of singlespped bikes I think look wise are gorgous.wer as alot of the geared ones in my budget are awful to look at.

can you buy a singlespped and just get the guy in the shop to put gears on it?

No, almost all singlespeeds made as such have track ends, different rear spacing (too narrow for a cassette) and no mounts for the derailleur or cabling. Even if you found one that did not have these issues adding gears would be very expensive; you would need not only the groupset but also a new rear wheel as they are different.

The exception would be a vintage conversion but in that case probably just as well looking for a vintage road bike with the gears left on it.

EASYbeingCHEESY

fair enough that cant be done either so.really finfing it hard to find a bike a like the "Look "of.
Iam being way to fusy :
ais thier anywere were thiers a large selection of vintage frames.
and how much would it cost to build the bike up to a decent standard

blorg

I would suggest www.rothar.ie might be a good bet for that sort of thing. Keep an eye out on Adverts. You can get vintage bikes in good condition and ride them as they are although there will also be a lot with issues so difficult to do if you don't know what to look for. Rothar wouldn't screw you over at least.

petethedrummer

You have 4 options:

1) Buy an aluminium bike.

2) UP your budget
The nearest to your budget are;
Genesis Equilibrium at stg£999
Surly Pacer stg£1100
Kona Honky Tonk €1000 ish ..its a cyclocross bike, but very similar to a road bike.

You can avail of the bike to work scheme and depending on your salary get a 30% to 50% discount on the first €1000 to bring it under budget.


c) Second hand (with all its pitfalls):
Ring the guy who has put up this ad: http://www.gumtree.ie/dublin/41/62045941.html ... he often has 80s racers for sale. I don't know him so can't verify if they are any good or legit.

This guy has many bikes for sale and may have something you're interested in. http://www.gumtree.ie/dublin/14/61865214.html ...I don't know this person either.


IV) Start Donating blood
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bianchi/dolomiti-veloce-10-speed-compact-2009-road-bike-ec016938

EASYbeingCHEESY

ill start donating blood.
I wouldnt fit into the bike to work scheme im self employed.

Rothar looks like it could be the place to go,ill try and pop in on saturday

petethedrummer

Its a great place Rothar but don't expect to find a fully built up working steel road bike when you walk in the door. There are alot of frames, parts and semi-builds lying around. Its mostly donated mountain bikes and hybrids. Which reminds me, I have a few parts I must drop down.

Good on you if you do find something though.

How tall are you by the way?

blorg

http://dublinbikeman.blogs.ie/

Came up in this thread

petethedrummer

blorg wrote: »

http://dublinbikeman.blogs.ie/

Came up in this thread

Yeah he's the fella in the first gumtree ad I listed.

EASYbeingCHEESY

5'11.

yeag hes got alot bikes,a few id be interested in.

But strikes me as abit odd,id be worried thier stolen

petethedrummer

At 5'11, you're probably looking for a 56cm frame.

Vélo

How about this?

blorg

EASYbeingCHEESY wrote: »

5'11.

yeag hes got alot bikes,a few id be interested in.

But strikes me as abit odd,id be worried thier stolen

Just a personal feeling but I don't get that vibe from him. He is very specialist in the old steel frames; if he were selling stolen bikes I would imagine a bit more of a range. Again I don't know him but I see plenty of ads I would be suspicious of.

EASYbeingCHEESY

Vélo wrote: »

How about this?

nice bike,but 55cm would be a bit small.id imagine id need a 58cm or atleast 56cm