Thin wheels no longer recommended?

Phil.x

Ive cycled to work (32km round-trip) on a giant rapid with 23mm tyres, very quick bike.

cdaly_

Shefwedfan wrote: »

The dynamo still kill you when trying to cycle?

Bottle dynamo is noisy and a bit of drag. Works fine for the shopper bike though.

For the commuter/audax bike I use a hub dynamo and you're pretty much unaware of it whether lit or not.

cdaly_

Phil.x wrote: »

Ive cycled to work (32km round-trip) on a giant rapid with 23mm tyres, very quick bike.

So have I (25mm tyres). I'm now on a Thorn on 35mm tyres and it's just as quick but much comfier. The Giant feels much harsher now...

Shefwedfan

Ok, a little bit further but a little bit more confused...went to shop this morning and the options now are:
Cube SL Road Race (https://www.cube.eu/en/2017/road-triathlon/sl-road/cube-sl-road-race-blacknflashgreen-2017/)
Merida Speeder 200
Giant Rapid 2

I took the Giant for a spin and lovely bike, exactly as I had expected

The Merida was actually very very similar, you really couldn't tell them apart and it is a small bit cheaper, if I wanted to sell in a few years would the Giant sell quicker?

The unknown was the Cube, I had discounted them due to riding position but they had a special on the SL Road Race, he said it was a higher spec that the rest of the bikes and a great price. What do people think? It has 200 off it

Type 17

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Ok, a little bit further but a little bit more confused...went to shop this morning and the options now are:
Cube SL Road Race (https://www.cube.eu/en/2017/road-triathlon/sl-road/cube-sl-road-race-blacknflashgreen-2017/)
Merida Speeder 200
Giant Rapid 2

I took the Giant for a spin and lovely bike, exactly as I had expected

The Merida was actually very very similar, you really couldn't tell them apart and it is a small bit cheaper, if I wanted to sell in a few years would the Giant sell quicker?

The unknown was the Cube, I had discounted them due to riding position but they had a special on the SL Road Race, he said it was a higher spec that the rest of the bikes and a great price. What do people think? It has 200 off it

Merida is a lesser-known brand, and the Giant would be easier to sell, but the Merida's aren't too bad in general.

The Cube may be reduced because no one likes the riding position, and it's not selling as a result(?) A bike which has a riding position that you don't like will drive you mad - if you like the position, fine, but don't be tempted unless you're sure...

Shefwedfan

Type 17 wrote: »

Merida is a lesser-known brand, and the Giant would be easier to sell, but the Merida's aren't too bad in general.

The Cube may be reduced because no one likes the riding position, and it's not selling as a result(?) A bike which has a riding position that you don't like will drive you mad - if you like the position, fine, but don't be tempted unless you're sure...

The guy was pushing the Merida hard and said they sell the most bikes in the World after Giant? It was 100 quid cheaper to the Giant

It was fairly similar to the Giant in terms of ride and similar weight

Really only interested in Cube due to reduction in price....

Type 17

Shefwedfan wrote: »

The guy was pushing the Merida hard and said they sell the most bikes in the World after Giant? It was 100 quid cheaper to the Giant

It was fairly similar to the Giant in terms of ride and similar weight

Really only interested in Cube due to reduction in price....

He might have said that because Merida have a big share in Specialized, who would have big market share after Giant and Trek, but to say that Merida are no.2 after Giant is a bit of a stretch...

Cubes are fine bikes, but never buy anything, at any price, if you don't feel the riding position is for you.

saccades

Merida are huge, they make all of specialized bikes and are the OEM for hundreds of other brands in their state of the art facilities in taiwan & China plus have r&d in Germany.

Started to push their brand back in the 90s (used to make the Carrera bikes for Halfords) but they have never really been pushed in UK/IRE as they were very xc/marathon orientated which was mainland Europe (first full suss to win a round of the xc world championship).

Think they tread the fine line of wanting to sell direct/own brand for a better profit margin but don't want to annoy their massive range of clients by taking too many of their sales.

Shefwedfan

Thank you everyone for the advice. I am waiting for voucher and probably a bad thing as I keep looking around.

I found the following article http://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-tests/hybrid-bikes-buyers-guide-206065

It recommends the Giant Escape 1 Disc as one of the best hybrid.

The Giant Rapid 2 is coming in just under the 1k so when I put mudguard/bottle in I will be over it...

Just wondering is the Escape a decent bike? Or should I look at the Merida instead of the Giant which is coming in at 850 and leave me a few quid to buy extras....

I dont mind going over the 1k but not sure if worth it because the guy in shop says the Merida is just as good as the Giant

Thanks again

saccades

Those are hard to answer questions... Is a Giant own brand handlebar better than a Merida own brand handlebar?

Who really knows...

At this price point and if it's made by a mainstream manufacturer you are not going to get a bad bike.

I'd be more concerned with fit, purpose and colour.

Get the right size.
Get the right bike, the two you have mentioned (escape and rapid) are designed for different purposes, what do you want to do on the bike?
Get the red one, red ones are faster

Shefwedfan

saccades wrote: »

Those are hard to answer questions... Is a Giant own brand handlebar better than a Merida own brand handlebar?

Who really knows...

At this price point and if it's made by a mainstream manufacturer you are not going to get a bad bike.

I'd be more concerned with fit, purpose and colour.

Get the right size.
Get the right bike, the two you have mentioned (escape and rapid) are designed for different purposes, what do you want to do on the bike?
Get the red one, red ones are faster

I wasn't asking about the handle bar:P

More the Shimano shifter etc as I have no idea....

All the options come in the right size

Both the Escape and Rapid are hybrid. According to Giant website both are aimed towards casual cyclist....

I included already what I wanted to do.....

Borderfox

I got my partner a giant dash 3 on the b2w in an xs its 8.9kg, lovely bike and flies along really easily so the rapid should be in for the win

saccades

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I wasn't asking about the handle bar:P

More the Shimano shifter etc as I have no idea....

All the options come in the right size

Both the Escape and Rapid are hybrid. According to Giant website both are aimed towards casual cyclist....

I included already what I wanted to do.....

Rapid is a fast commuter hybrid, escape is a potter around machine. Both an Impreza and a landcruiser are 4x4s but completely different.

Anywhos, I'd suggest the bike that you like the looks of and you can still afford a helmet and a lock after purchasing.

The differences are incremental and not really something to get too stressed over.

Shefwedfan

saccades wrote: »

Rapid is a fast commuter hybrid, escape is a potter around machine. Both an Impreza and a landcruiser are 4x4s but completely different.

Anywhos, I'd suggest the bike that you like the looks of and you can still afford a helmet and a lock after purchasing.

The differences are incremental and not really something to get too stressed over.

Thanks, I didn't notice the difference

No stress
As mentioned I am waiting for the B2W money to show up so just looking around.....

Have helmet etc....really just wanted mud guards, over trousers and water bottle

AndrewJRenko

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Thanks, I didn't notice the difference

No stress
As mentioned I am waiting for the B2W money to show up so just looking around.....

Have helmet etc....really just wanted mud guards, over trousers and water bottle

The usual advice is that you should spend about 10% of the cost of the bike on your lock.

Shefwedfan

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

The usual advice is that you should spend about 10% of the cost of the bike on your lock.

This is second bike to work. On first I got Abus Plus lock which was recommendd by the shop, think it was around 100 quid