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Might have to start spending more time at a different office with work. I could get the train, but I've been toying with the idea of cycling it. The ride is a combination of bridleway, canal towpath and unfortunately a bit of A road. Around seven miles each way. Like the looks of the Genesis Vagabond or Fugio and they seem to pop up in sales every now and then. They also have mudguard and rack mounts which may come I'm useful for carrying a laptop, change of clothes etc.
I'm not a big fan of normal road bike riding position and I'm definitely a mountain biker at heart. Figured one of those two could also double up as a bike for pootling with the kids and for quick blasts of an evening / cycling to the gym. All theoretical at the moment, but what's the STW opinion or suggested alternatives?
Vagabond is great. Very comfy ride, and I'd imagine the perfect mixed-surface commuting machine.
Currently got 42c semi slick tyres on and I've done 80+ mile road rides and mixed/gravel rides. It handles it all with aplomb 🙂
I’m not a big fan of normal road bike riding position
Sounds like you might be better with a rigid 29er, flat bars and big apple 2 inch tyres.
It's more the arse up, head down, cramped top tube of a road bike I'm not keen on. Owned a few dropbar bikes (escapade, NS Rag, Day One) that aren't like that. The two Genesis bikes seem to be a step further away. Drops themselves can be great, they're just not normally attached to the right type of bike for me.
Mudguard fitting on the rear of a vagabond is not straightforward - there are only mounts on the stays and not on the bridges.
I had the same internal conflict last year for my commute which sounds the same as yours.
I went for the longitude instead. Maxxis ardent tyres with 45 psi and you zoom along.
For comparison it is just as quick as when I test rode my mates croix de fer for 2 weeks.
The longitude is a jack of all trades and master of none but planning on bike packing this summer so it'll be handy for that.
If head up, arse down is your goal, the Marin 4 corners wins, hands down. Its got more stack at every size than any other bike in the same 'class'. It is a bit longer, though. The Breezer Radar and vagabond sit in the middle of stack but have a shorter reach. The fuji jari has shorter reach but less stack. At the other end the CdF and the like aren't too long but don't have the stack, either. Try some of those and see where your preference sits.
Some pretty good deals on vagabond framesets around if you have spare bits to stick on them.
I've a 16 km commute, with road, some steepish hills, and flowing (and often muddy) off-road. Been doing it for years, all weathers, with panniers and mudguards etc. My best solution (so far) is a rigid Al frame, with Gates belt drive and an Alfine hub. Zero transmision maintenance, except every 12 months for a hub relube. Before that, it was (in Winter), a chain clean, relube every couple of days. The belt drive is a tad slower, but if you want a commute bike to be utility, low maintenance thing, i can't fault it - i won't be going back to a chain for the commute. Best of luck !
PS i'm using a Cube Hyde. Mudguards,rack mounts,disk brakes..
I've had a Fugio for about 6 months now. I love it. It's a nice upright position, but not too upright that you can't tuck down on the drops for a bit of speed. It's genuinely one of the best handling bikes I've ever riden, and is bags of fun.
Now for the downsides.
In just 6 months I have had a siezed headset, snapped chain, the saddle is tearing apart, and every part of the bike is showing scratches or chips to the paintwork which is some of the softest paint ever.
The wheel/tyre combo works great off-road but are very, very heavy. You could loose alot of weight by swapping the tyres and going tubeless, only problem os the lack of tyre choice in 650b format.
Would I buy one again? Absolutely, it's the most used bike in the shed.
Thanks everyone. I’ll take a look at the Marin and mull it all over. Definitely don’t want a pure commuter as I’ll be looking to use of an evening and weekend too.
My Vagabond.
20k commute. Most days by road.
But unlike the road bike, it gives me the option to blast down the canal or through the forest if I want to detour.
As above...master of none. But sure is a capable bike!
double post
I have a lovely Croix De Fer 30, the one from a couple of years ago with the carbon fork, setup with good 35c tyres. Use it for light backpacking, touring, winter road. Also have a nice light summer carbon road bike, a couple of hardtails and a FS.
I really really want a Vagabond too now having read this thread .... 😂
Darn you STW, Vagabond just been ordered from LBS. They are currently 20% off the 2019 model at Winstanleys 😀
Vagabond is comfy and gives a fairly upright posture, with a tall head-tube, sloping top-tube and compact (short) wheelbase. On the bar-tops (as per stock-build with spacers) I may as well be riding an MTB*
(Ramble warning) I jumped at the Vagabond from an initial demo as it was so comfortable, versatile and deceptively nimble for the strong (12kg) build. It came with the stem flipped for the lowest bar option and I kept it that way as it was high enough for my use but seemed too upright flipped with the rise upwards.
Recently I've been experienced issues with an old recurring lower-ab/groin-injury (rowing machine injury) and while climbing on the Vagabond I re-injured this twice now since last summer. Both times on the Vagabond, both times on a seated climb. The recovery time being a number of months, I have had to be very careful with biking this last year.
Curiously I found that riding (including climbing) on my Orange P7 singlespeed mtb doesn't seem to replicate the same problem with the injury. This caused me to put the Vagabond up for sale, with some regret. However - I just tried a last-ditch attempt to configure/ride the Vagabond in a way that might not re-injure. So I slammed the seat down and flipped the stem. This gave a very upright riding position, roughly equivalent to the P7, Then two nights back I criss-crossed the Wyre Forest, even climbing from Dowles Brook up the fire road to Button Oak, a fair old climb. Mostly out of the saddle as per the singlespeed. This happily did the trick as next day I felt no ill-effects and hadn't re-torn the injury. Needless to say, the Vagabond is no longer for sale. Again! Happy days.
Happier still, I nailed a short section with some verts and muddy rock gardens that saw my mate hop off his Marin AXC and walk it down 😂. No worries.
(Ramble off)
In short, a stock Vagabond is nothing like a traditional road bike, more a 29er mtb/ATB with shallow drops. and is supremely comfortable IME, with plenty of options to customise however best suits a rider
*Obviously minus the leverage that wide flat bars give. But they are also an option if you want to switch, just add thumbies and regular brake levers.
Mudguard fitting on the rear of a vagabond is not straightforward – there are only mounts on the stays and not on the bridges.
I solved this with 1x thick, black zip-tie on seat-stay bridge and 2x thick, black zip-ties in criss-cross fashion on chainstay bridge. Ideal in that it works and no rattles. I keep a few spare ties in Camelbak just in case*
*thinks - must be a way to store emergency zip-ties in a seatpost.
Couple of longish rides in on my new Vagabond. It is very different from my Croix De Fer, and as said above, is really a rigid 29er with drops. The tops are the same height off the ground as my Bird Zero - initially felt too high but off road they are perfect. Stock build seems good enough, my only minor gripe being the brake levers which cant be reach adjusted quite enough. It will fill a gap between my good road bike and Croix De Fer and my HT and FS, a gap I didn’t really know was there 😀
You mention that you had an escapade. Why not try another? Mine is great, a really useful bike for gravel tracks and country lanes, shop runs with rack and panniers, towing the kids chariot around or pootlin* to the shops if we’re off in the camper van and general exploring on holiday.
Mines set up with 700c wheels (heavy from alpkit) with some tubeless 40c nanos and they’re great for gravel tracks, bridleways and reasonably quick on the road. I’ve got some wide flared drops which give more control off Rd.
Mine came with a sora 9 spd groupset so I swapped out the cassette with an old st 9 speed to get a lower bottom gear which worked great. I’d love to replace the groupset but the sora refuses to die.
Paint seems to be good and hasn’t scratched or chipped (duck egg blue - prob 5 yrs old)