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I hardly post here but when I do I'm amazed by the great advice and knowledge I'm given so here we go..
I'm looking to buy a new bike/frame, criteria as follows;
Alu/Steel (preferable) Frame but with a carbon fork,
Disc Mounts,
Mounts for full mudguards and minimum of rear rack,
Non touring geometry; I want to use it for quick group rides autumn/spring
Not as heavy as the moon,
Room enough for knobbly CX tyres.
I'd like a do it all bike for some off roading (gravel (Ridgeway) and tame single track, not CX racing but a little techy), quicker road group rides in autumn and winter, plus a couple of week/2 week tours I have planned in europe and the alps along with quick weekend bike packing trips.
I've been looking at the;
CAADX
Singular Kite
Genesis Equilibrium
Niner RLT Steel
Keen to hear other suggestions or advice regarding the above mentioned. I've not got a clue re geometry so any pointers on that would be good, I think I've listed the frames above in order of more racy to least?
Thanks in advance.
Planet X London Road?
Cotic Escapade?
APF
I've never seen one, never mind ridden, but there seem to be bargains around on the Orange RX9. Bikescene have bikes and framesets, others have full bikes.
In the true STW fashion of recommending what you already own, I'd go for the Kite.
Mines been plenty fast enough for road rides and goes well on the Surrey Hills trails I've tried it on. It's comfortable enough for long rides and with the right tyres is happy to be taken on mixed on and off road rides. I'm currently running some WTB Nano's and they aren't as slow as you'd imagine on the road and are perfect for bridleways etc.
I found my road bike, a Domane, to be really comfortable so I've got the Kite set up almost identical to that so not exactly racy.
Pinnacle Arkrose?
Orro Via Gravel Road.
Www.c6bikes.Co.uk have them.
Mason and Donhou spring to mind, but spendy. Kinesis are worth a look too.
Great suggestions, the London Road frames is appealing but I'd rather Steel.
Not so much a fan of the Orange, really interested to hear more about the Kite...
Would it be super pricy to build a reasonably light full build, and how do you get around the top pull only mech?
What's APF?
Also, somebody more qualified than me..
What are the differences in geometry between the Kite (top) and RLT (bottom) in words rather than number and how would the feel differ?
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