You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I am looking for 'life bike' options after coming to the painful conclusion I and my area is not particular suited to my current Genesis flyer singlespeed.
My other bikes are a Boardman team carbon (winter trainer), Condor Acciaio, an old Klein Attitude V MTB.
I need a replacement for the flyer and like the concept of a 'life' bike which was pushed by Cotic such as their escapade and road rat. i also like singular and surly. I need an all-rounder which not a true off road machine but can do the odd rough track, commute and odd trip to the shops, pub etc...
any other options than the above (or comments on the above)?
On ditching the single speed - I like the concept but the short sharp hills of north Kent do not particularly suit it especially as i am a little overweight and not really fit enough!
If by "life bike" you mean hybrid/tourer/cross bike, most manufacturers make something like that.
If its going to be a "life" bike, spend more ££ and get a Shand Stoater?
What's a life bike?
It's easy,all you have to do is :-
Make a plan.
Make a list.
Then narrow it down.
Order up,or start saving. 🙂
Shand
[s]Kinesis[/s]
[s]Salsa[/s]
[s]Niner[/s]
Custom build
My life bike is a Surly Troll. It's a heavy frame but it is absurdly versatile. It is also comfy and will probably outlast me. With slick tyres on it also feels plenty fast enough for my commute (24 miles a day through London). I also use it for shopping, plan to go touring on it and if I change the tyres it'll make a very competent mountain bike.
They also do a 29er version, called the Ogre (the Troll has 26" wheels).
"cp - Member
What's a life bike?"
A bit of an annoying marketing term I know but I take this to mean a bike you use for getting on with your life, like doing the shopping and haut general getting around.
Ah right.
In that case I'd go for low value as there's increased risk of nickage. Mine's made from old bits passed down from other bikes...
Specialised AWOL comp takes big tyres (or small) and has adjustable dropouts if you want to run single speed/hub gears. Had mine a few months now and it's great!
Something nice, practical and inexpensive: the town bike!
[img][URL= http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a177/midlifecrashes/IMG_20130217_130019_199_zps6fcffb34.jp g" target="_blank">
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a177/midlifecrashes/IMG_20130217_130019_199_zps6fcffb34.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL][/img]
To make it perfect it would have dynamo lights and one of those dutch horseshoe locks. Occasionally think of putting a basket on the front and then have a word with myself.
aw - Member
I am looking for 'life bike' options after coming to the painful conclusion I and my area is not particular suited to my current Genesis flyer singlespeed...
Not a total answer to your problem, but have you considered that you are over geared for general road work on a single speed. Your current gearing is about 68" with a 46/18.
The old timers used to gear their single speed bikes around 60" - 62" which is what I use in the Highlands.
If you put a 20 tooth freewheel on the rear, you get 62" which is about perfect.
Alternatively a 3 speed (or 5) Sturmey-Archer hub fits a 120mm OLD rear like the Flyer has and the 3 speed adds only a little weight.
With the 3 speed hub, if you used a 20T rear your gearing would be 46", 62", 82"
The middle gear is the direct one and at 62" it's efficient. The low gear is about where you would have a SS mtb which means you could climb just about any road climb, and the top gear is a faster bonus.
The price of a 3 spd S-A hub is not much more than a White Industries 20 T freewheel (£85), but you'd be up for a wheel build unless you bought one already built. They are dead reliable too.
Bencooper of this parish could probably sort you out. 🙂
This way you could keep your beautiful Flyer which you'd regret selling.
Odd concept. I go and ride my bike in order to waste time and avoid getting on with 'life'.
The options for the kind of thing you're after are pretty much limitless, so perhaps it's better to narrow the field a little bit. What sort of distance will you be using it to commute? Are you a fan of drops, or do you want something with flat/alt bars? What's your budget? And so on, so forth...
The sensible thing would be to go to your lbs and pick up a cheap hybrid, but I'm guessing because you've posted on here, that you're after something a bit different, and don't mind dropping a few £ on it.
Can't go wrong with Surly, as pretty much any of their bikes will do what you're after, then it's just a case of deciding of which end of the spectrum you want to go for. They're not hideously expensive either.
CrossCheck - Only had mine a few weeks but I'm loving it! Really versatile, have run it with 23mm gatorskins, 37mm travel contacts and about to put on some 40mm WTB nanos. Commuted home 25miles in the week, 50/50 road and off road, it was great.
Singular Gryphon; do you want discs or happy with V brakes.
[Edit ] that was bit too terse. Depends if you're looking for an MTB that'll do longer road duties; or a more drop barred option (like the Gryphon) that is happy with rough stuff. Brakes (and wheel sizes) may be a factor too...
To be honest, what sir needs is a Giant Defy. Carbon have disks. Next year's alloy will also have disks.
To me life bike is a bike thats for life. Ive had a lot of bikes but my new shand is ordered as my last ever bike i want to buy. I want to use it for everything forever. Shame its taking so long to arrive but thats out of their hands its down to a component i want. Gutted tho as i sold up to buy this so havent had a bike since early march 🙁
My mate has and really rates the Spec AWOL and I love my 1x1 or Karate Monkey, both mega versatile......and make me smile like a loon....
Thanks guys...
some answers to questions...
i dont like the 'life' tag but it does sort of sum up what I want. I do not commute at the moment but work from home as a consultant but was commuting up to very recently and may do in the future.
Thanks for the suggestions. I like Surly and singular and was looking at their bikes at the bike show 2 years ago.
I could modify the flyer but I think maybe sell it on ebay for around £200 and use that for my new one. My budget is around £1000 I guess but could stretch for a very special bike.
I love steel...
I have a MTB so maybe more a road bike that can do rough trails than the other way around.
Ive had surlys and a singular. Both very good
A rigid 29er can roll along at road bike speeds with ease and do trails.
You could havevthevrear wheel on the flyer rebuild with an interal gear hub like sa 5 speed.
Just buy a hybrid.
This is what they are for.
I thing this is the easiest type of bike to build. Decide what bar tpye you want, what gear type and buy a mid quality frame add guards and rack to suit. The beauty of this type of bike is virtually anything will do and ride nice.
Internal geared hub all the way, whether you keep the bike or buy another. Alfine 8 here and love it, no faff, no chainsuck, no worries about chain wear.
The Brick +1
My 'life bike' AKA 'getting around and getting stuff done' bike is a 2000-ish hardrock frame, on which everything bar the sti's and brakes has been replaced for reasons of fit or worn out-ness with fairly bargain parts and 1.75" town tyres. Having a proper set of eyelets and crazily overbuilt box section seatstays, it also has proper sks mudgards and a proper chunky rack. What matters for me is its comfy, it fits properly (have done 100 very hilly loaded-up miles in a day on it and lived) it works, has cheap to replace drivetrain and handles well even with a great deal of weight on the rack. It has normal and not-cowled dropouts so you can fit any type of trailer hitch to it. 3x8 gears means a crawler gear for big hills and loads but I 'spin out' on the flat at about 34mph. And also I can lock it up anywhere as it looks most unimpressive, and i wouldn't be too distraught if it was stolen as it has a very uncool name in rather large writing on the downtube, and looks like i built it in the dark! Also somewhat embarrasingly, when unloaded, strava tells me my average speed on it on my ride to and from work (8 miles, 200m or so of climbing) is only 1 to 1.5 secs slower than same commute on my proper road bike!
Been looking for the same. If i had the money a stoater would be my choice or the tripster. I dont though wanted an escapade but the largest was too small for me. Ended up with a Pinnacle Arkose frameset from Evans. As it was from evans i was sceptical as I'm not they're biggest fan but having looked at it and had a go i really liked it and as a frame only version i was happy. Picking it Tuesday and can't wait.
Thanks guys...thinking about options with the Genesis flyer singlespeed.
So easy to fall into new bike mode...
Could change the gearing for a more easy gear or I could get fitter!
or put a hub gear on it
Just buy a hybrid.This is what they are for.
This ^.
Sounds like a "life bike" is basically an excuse to say you're too weird even for a CX bike.
CX bike with knobbly tyres might be the answer. The flyer is not really a CX or hybrid it a road bike!
I have recently got a Genesis Croix de Fer and am quite fond of it. Heavier and more sturdy that a road bike but quite adaptable for different uses. The frame is much lighter than my Surly Ogre frame and I prefer it for general pottering about.
Something like this then?
Surly disk trucker here. I have no intention of being a road racer, or riding with weirdos on plastic bikes. Will take Phat tyres. Corking bike for when a MTB is too much, too draggy, or too shiny to leave locked up outside the pub.
If i was looking for a "life bike" specifically, i would go with the Ogre, for the capability to chuck a sus fork on it, disks or cantis, hub gears, single speed, dérailleur, all the racks in the world. It wont be pretty, but it could well be the last frame you need to buy!
[edit, actually i would have the ECR, so i can put silly tyres on it too.]
http://surlybikes.com/bikes/ecr
What does 'ECR' stand for?
tomhoward - Member
Heard these are pretty popular.
One of the few Swahili words I use these days describes those.
Shenzi
Best said with a curling lip. 🙂
Edit:
That's a bit negative. 🙁
It would be a fun way into the type of bikes our grandparents used, but the quality of bearings and plating etc is pretty dodgy.
But if you like that style of bike, you'd be better off buying an old British roadster if you want a 'life bike', or one of the newer Pashleys. You certainly get a pleasant day in the saddle out of them.