Thoughts and advice please!

expatsfromNZ

Hi guys,

New to this forum and as per username - have just emigrated from NZ!
Stumbled upon the B2W scheme by accident so managed to get a few quotes.

My commute would be from Ashtown Gate (Phoenix Park) to St James's Hospital, rain or shine.

So far; the choices have been staggering and somehow, everyone manages to squeak in under the 1000 Euro bracket.

The curent shortlist is
1) CycleBike - Claud Butler Urban 600 - Alu Frame, Carbon fork and Hydraulic Disc Brakes
2) CycleZone - Giant Rapid 3 - Alu Frame, Carbon fork and rim brakes
3) CityCycle - Scott Sportster 20 - Alu Frame, ?alloy fork and hydraulic discs

The weather over the past 2 weeks has been appalling aside from the really awesome weather over Easter. Is this normal? If it is, then I will definitely have to consider hydraulic disc brakes.

The Rapid is very nice and light - much closer to a road bike; which is not for an old fella like me (knackered back); I suppose the Rapid would be the fastest.

Never heard of Claud Butler before but open to suggestions.

So my questions are really;

Is it worth it to get hydraulic brakes - for a Dublin commuter?
Should I blow the entire 1000 Euro on the bike and get the deals on Wiggle and Chain Reaction for the ancillaries?

Anyone who has done this before? What would you have done differently?

I'm not a long distance guy. Just to get to work on time and back home again

Cheers

Wishbone Ash

If you're not going to be doing any distance and only that short flat commute I'd go for the simplicity of a single speed.

(PS - you posted in Cycling Adverts rather that the main Cycling Forum - a Mod will move it).

expatsfromNZ

D'Uh!
Sorry!

Darkglasses

Moved

Brian?

If I was doing that commute I'd seriously look at this.

http://www.cyclebike.ie/bikes/foffa-urban-7/

Hub gears intrigue me. Weight isn't really an issue for you.

smacl

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

If you're not going to be doing any distance and only that short flat commute I'd go for the simplicity of a single speed.

Or possibly a bike with hub gears if you'll be carrying a pannier or encountering hills you'd like to make a bit easier. Something like a Cube Hyde might be a good fit. If you're looking for comfort I'd tend towards wider tyres with decent puncture protection. I find marathon supremes to be a fantastic tyre on the hybrid for these reasons.

The Giant rapid is closer to a road bike with flat bars than a typical hybrid. My sister has one which she uses on long spins and finds it great, but uses her Dawes as the commute workhorse.

smacl

Brian? wrote: »

If I was doing that commute I'd seriously look at this.

http://www.cyclebike.ie/bikes/foffa-urban-7/

Hub gears intrigue me. Weight isn't really an issue for you.

Beat me to it!!

funnights74

And regarding the weather, anything. We're in a good spell but next week this could be a distant memory. ☺

Lumen

That is a really short commute.

I'd get something simple with indestructible tyres (Schwalbe Marathon of some sort).

Full length mudguards will mean you don't have to change clothes.

Don't bother with hydraulics unless they come with whatever bike you're getting. They're not worth it for flat bar levers - V brakes or mechanical discs are perfectly fine and easier to maintain.

Single speed or hub gear means you can run a chaincase which significantly cuts down maintenance and keeps your clothes cleaner.

unichall

Brian? wrote: »

If I was doing that commute I'd seriously look at this.

http://www.cyclebike.ie/bikes/foffa-urban-7/

Hub gears intrigue me. Weight isn't really an issue for you.

My thoughts are the foffa looks like a really nice bike, perfectly suited to your needs and therefore my advice would be to buy one, ha ha. Seriously though I'd give this bike proper consideration

expatsfromNZ

Ok. I'll forget about the discs.

Hub gearing has got me intrigued. Will definitely consider.

It is a short commute. But short of running, public transport means a change of buses or the LUAS and waiting. Maybe just buy a cheapo MTB and charge across the fields. Are the deer tame?

fat bloke

12.9 kg is too heavy imo, I done care how cool the gearing is.

Yes. Spend all the money on the bike.

And you can do better than those Claude butlers!

Ryder

expatsfromNZ wrote: »

Ok. I'll forget about the discs.

Hub gearing has got me intrigued. Will definitely consider.

It is a short commute. But short of running, public transport means a change of buses or the LUAS and waiting. Maybe just buy a cheapo MTB and charge across the fields. Are the deer tame?

Cheapo mtb bay not be the worst choice. If the bike is your only transport and you plan on going into the city centre etc etc it might be best to get something cheap non flashy and have it fitted with full mudguards. Ie not super attractive to bike tbieves. The commute is short so anything will do really.

GTDolanator

Stay away from the foffa,its heavy and has cheap components.its just a good looking bike

And its only a nexus 7 IMO a bit agricultural compared to the 8