Spending, say, a grand, on a bike to ride, in order to have less bikes.

[legrandefromage]

Yeah but I got 17 bikes

Ner...

 

[CassidyAce]

I've been going round and round in circles with this - probably because it's all about compromise, but also because I don't want to end up regretting blowing a pile of cash on a bike I don't ride.

In a more road-biased change of direction I got excited about the idea of a Spa Aubisque. A steel framed, disc braked audax/light tourer, well specced (especially with a few custom options) and brilliant value (if over a grand), on paper it looks like a bike for life...

View attachment 597213

Then I was looking at the Planet X London Road, almost half the price of the Spa, quite a bit lighter, it seems well liked (apparently works well for gravel/cyclocross) and looks great fun...not sure about 1x but would be fun to try it...but I generally started leaning towards the idea of an alloy/carbon bike - I do really like lightweight bikes and these days it's probably the best value way to get a decent, lightweight bike. I'm not totally anti the idea - after all I quite like my Trek 1200...

View attachment 597212

Which brought me to this:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/rc120-flat-bar-disc-road-bike-blue/_/R-p-311239?mc=8556195
View attachment 597215

Which (with the right tyres) potentially ticks pretty much all the boxes apart from "steel" and is only £500. With pretty old-school gearing I could upgrade it with drivetrain bits out of my retro MTB parts bin, too.

For an extra £250, I think you get a lot more bike with the Planet X. (It's on sale at a reduced price at the moment.) I reckon it would feel more stable on descents, as well. The Triban: I suspect that one's a false economy. And if you're thinking about replacing the drive train with parts from your retro stash, why not just look at secondhand hybrids from the get go?

 

[Captain Stupido]

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXLDNRDSR1/planet-x-london-road-gravel-edition-sram-hrd-rival-1-bike
The so called "gravel edition"... is more heavily discounted than the basic model, can't work out whether it's worth the extra dosh though. Sale ends tonight. I probably won't...

 

[brocklanders023]

Sram Rival over Apex and hydro disks over cable are well worth the extra mate.

The £500 hybrid will be a different bike altogether and not really something I'd consider in this conversation.

 

[Jamesbike]

What about the decathlon rc500 drop bars disc brakes affordable.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/rc500-cycle-touring-road-bike/_/R-p-308097?mc=8554410&c=GREY
Would do 90% of my riding tbh.

Cheers James

 

[brocklanders023]

That looks pretty decent tbf. Ultimately, just as it always has, you need to set your budget and accept what's available for that price bracket. Cheaper bikes will do a job but the more you spend, the better the parts get.

To put it in retro terms, the Decathlon bikes are Shimano 200gs/300lx standard, the cheaper London Road M550 LX, the hydro one DX with Magura's. All of them are like the Carrera Quattro or British Eagle Boss, a cheap way to get a decent groupset (works better for the Planet X bikes).

If you are happy with 300lx bike, go for it but don't expect DX quality.

 

[Captain Stupido]

To put it in retro terms, the Decathlon bikes are Shimano 200gs/300lx standard, the cheaper London Road M550 LX, the hydro one DX with Magura's. All of them are like the Carrera Quattro or British Eagle Boss, a cheap way to get a decent groupset (works better for the Planet X bikes).

That's a great way to put it, thanks!

 

[Captain Stupido]

Well, dangerously enough, it seems Planet X have extended the deal to the end of the month. I'm super-tempted and thinking that, after all, a gravel-ish sort of bike is probably the best compromise as (especially with a second wheelset & tyres) it could at the very least replace my (rarely ridden) Trek road bike and the (more regularly used) Giant.

I'm hoping that with modern geometry, flared drops, modern 1x shifting and hydraulic brakes off road control would be OK - I'd value the comfort of drops on the road, and realistically this bike will spend more time on tarmac than trails.

DX and Maguras sounds good, so I'm leaning towards the pricier London road at just over a grand. It ought to do something that none of the retros can, and it will take proper mudguards and a rack. I reckon that with a "proper" trail focussed MTB (either a hard tail or a full susser) and a token 26" rigid steel retro (for a bit of fun) that's pretty much all the bases covered.

I'm leaning towards black, surprisingly.

 

[Takingabreak]

This is certainly an interesting thread I'm keen to hear how it pans out, with gravel type bikes on the scene can one bike do it all? It must be 15 years ago I was given a Raleigh Montage and I tried to use it as a do it all bike. I quickly decided I needed two sets of tyres, one for off road and one for on road. That changed to needing two sets of wheels when it became apparent changing tyres was not quick. Then of course it changed to getting a dedicated road bike, quickly followed by n+1 bike for each day of the week

 

[Captain Stupido]

This is certainly an interesting thread I'm keen to hear how it pans out, with gravel type bikes on the scene can one bike do it all? It must be 15 years ago I was given a Raleigh Montage and I tried to use it as a do it all bike. I quickly decided I needed two sets of tyres, one for off road and one for on road. That changed to needing two sets of wheels when it became apparent changing tyres was not quick. Then of course it changed to getting a dedicated road bike, quickly followed by n+1 bike for each day of the week

Hehe, yep. A Raleigh Montage would be a perfect do-it-all bike too (I'd really like one as my "token rigid steel retro") but compared to a dedicated road bike it's always going to be a bit of a heavy lump (and slow).

The hope is that advances in bike technology are significant enough that a modern "do it all" (gravel) bike is less compromised. They've got to be a better bet for a casual road rider and you'd hope they're not much worse than a Montage off road.