Any keen cyclists?

[expat]

don't forget you can purchase a cycle through your company and save the tax

http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/

The young Warren Buffett did, when he was doing a paper round. It worked for him.

[realityhack]

No, if you're wanting to avoid fragile, avoid anything with carbon in it. Those forks look like an accident waiting to happen. Most manufacturers put a disclaimer on saying that the forks are only guarenteed for one seasons road use, which basically means don't do what that guy in the picture is doing more than once.

Ah. Bummer. The 'man in the shop' said carbon had some flex in it and therefore less brittle & more vibration dampening. I'm not going to be throwing this down mountain paths - just a bit of road and Richmond Park, endurance & fitness cycling. Still too fragile?

a racing bikes gear set as the usual mountain bike set is way too low for me.

I have the same problem - was considering a cannondale bad boy with a higher chainset.

Too flipping fast for commuting as well - doing 3 to 4 times the average speed of other cycle path users can lead to problems.

Precisely the 'problem' I'd like to have.

I'm after speed - as much as possible & the ability to cover rougher ground than a pure road bike, with the rigidity in the frame for responsiveness that I'm used to in a racer, and as little of the sluggishness of a MTB as poss. Having tougher wheels and frame (as in cyclocross) appealed to me but you've made me think twice about the tricross.

The last thing I need is a fork shattering out from underneath me.

So it's drop handlebars and stay on the flat, or hybrid with more strength?

[MrsGoof]

RH if you are in London got to Evans Cycles shop, by waterloo station, great advice

I believe the bike in your original post is used by Richard Stannard (look him up) when doing cross country triathlons.

[freakydancer]

So it's drop handlebars and stay on the flat, or hybrid with more strength?

I'm not a huge cycling fan but can tell you this:

Racers are gay

[threaded]

RH if you are in London got to Evans Cycles shop, by waterloo station, great advice

I believe the bike in your original post is used by Richard Stannard (look him up) when doing cross country triathlons.

The big difference being that when something is knackered on his bike he has mechanics and/or the time to fix it, or can get a new part gratis, whereas chummy in this thread will be shelling out.

I'd love to ride a full-on racer for my daily commute, but I know I'd be rebuilding wheels every other evening, and frankly life is way too short for that.

[Churchill]

The big difference being that when something is knackered on his bike he has mechanics and/or the time to fix it, or can get a new part gratis, whereas chummy in this thread will be shelling out.

I'd love to ride a full-on racer for my daily commute, but I know I'd be rebuilding wheels every other evening, and frankly life is way too short for that.

Then lay of the ******* pies!

[threaded]

Then lay of the ******* pies!

Well, the pies is one thing, but the reality is that when you hit a bump at speed your wheel gets bent a little.

Machine built wheels, i.e. new ones, are real bad for the speed they go out of true, and getting them built by hand means they last a little longer, but cost a fortune.

One reason for prefering mountain bikes is that the brakes are on a disk and you can at least get home when a wheel has gone way out. On a racer, especially the top aero ones, even a little out of true means the wheel is hitting the brake blocks, or even the frame, so you end up with hobsons choice of releasing the brakes a little, and not being able to stop, or going slower and ruining your rims by binding.

[realityhack]

True, but one benefit of a cyclocross is you can fit wider, more rugged wheels/tyres as there's more clearance than a true racer. Looking at others but they all seem to have carbon forks and seatpost.

You've worried me slightly with the carbon issue - going to have to do a bit more research.

Cheers Mrs Goof - am off to Evans' now.

Oh and Freaky - racers are gay when they're ridden by lycra-wearing tarquins from meejaville - but quite nice when normal types take a spin, leaving fat wheezing heifers struggling to pop more than 30mph on their MTBs in the dust.

Except Threaded of course.

[threaded]

Carbon failure mode: sudden and catastrophic.

Aluminum failure mode: sudden and scarey.

Steel failure mode: gradual and "oh has something bent more than it should, ho hum."

threaded in "steel is real" mode

[threaded]

This from Marschall is about as good as you're going to get for an everyday high speed commuter, it's about €4k, unless you start spending silly money.

Me, like I was saying, have a set of bikes for varying conditions as the reality is no one bike fits all. Although this ultimate commuter from Ben Cooper is pretty close. Incidentally he's building a USE-SUB fork demo bike at the moment that is pretty similar to my usual commuter.