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Have been considering my winter bike to work options but realistically having to reduce my budget from the £1750 Kinesis 4S dream build I had planned 🙁
Tempted by either a Genesis Day One
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But also can't stop looking at the Charge Plug which I'm kind of assuming will be lighter by dint of it's aluminium frame and fork...
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Not sold on the Pinnacle Arkose Singlespeed (too expensive and I don't want discs).
Can't think of any other brands that do this style of bike, anyone have any suggestions?
Ta
There was a website listing pretty much all options for SS CX, but I can't find it now. I'll have a search later and post back.
For that price I think you've probably found all the options though. There's a Verenti on Wiggle, but it has disks. FWIW I'm on my second Day One and I looked at alternatives, but couldn't find anything to match it on price/quality/avaiilablity about 12 months ago. I would, (and do) recommend them to anyone.
I've got a slightly damaged Vaya frame that would be perfect! 😛
haha, do you do BTW Al? 8)
tthew - I know what you mean, I had a Day One years ago, pimped it up a bit (better cranks, White freewheel etc.) but eventually sold it as I scunnered my knees trying to ride too far or in too big a gear or something. Still tempted by another, I just keep telling myself my knees are stronger now or that I'll just avoid the big hilly routes 🙄
Get the Day One. You've had one, you loved it, you have long regretted selling it. You know what you need to do. 😉
Out of curiosity- why no love for the disc brakes?
I love my Surly CrossCheck. I think they are about £750 though which is a lot. Could probably get a frame and do a self build for £500~ tho.
Day One - everyone regrets selling it.
Just got a new day one with disc in July ..... Love it and regretted selling my previous one.
My insurance with pru vitality are paying for half of it too 🙂
New bike for £275 very very happy
You're mad to buy new bike without discs imo.
Wouldn't ignore the Arkose SS. Really nice frame, not harsh at all. Carbon forks. Really light bike. Fantastic hylex brakes and only £640 at the moment.
I'm getting rid of my Nature Boy. Drop me an email if you're interested.
On One Pompino £499 for complete build, or get the frame, forks, bars, stem, headset, seatpost and saddle for £199. Love mine
I had a yellow day one. Regretted selling it from the moment I pulled away from the guys house that bought it.
Ha, seeing a common trend here 😀
Had forgotten the All City Nature Boy, I've seen a couple of All City bikes in the flesh and they've looked lovely, think a complete build would be expensive and it needs to be BTW, sorry Supersaiyan!
Shermer75, it's a stupid compulsion of mine, I hate squeely brakes and the benefits of disc brakes don't make up for the squeeliness for me (don't get me wrong, I'd never get an MTB without discs, just don't want a road/commuter, specifically one that I want to use in wet conditions, with brakes that will inevitably start howling at some point...) If I did get cable discs on a road bike they would have to be Shimano (least squeely IME) and I don't want to buy one of the above and then immediately start chopping and changing.
The waiting game begins, just need the letter from HR now...
Wow, actually that Verenti looks pretty nice, I'm assuming Reynolds 725 is 'better' than 520?
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I know it's a week ago now, but I promised to find the SSCX website. Googlefoo didn't work, but I had it saved as a favorite.
[url= http://www.singlespeedcyclocross.com/single-speed-cyclocross-bikes/ ]http://www.singlespeedcyclocross.com/single-speed-cyclocross-bikes/[/url]
it's a stupid compulsion of mine, I hate squeely brakes and the benefits of disc brakes don't make up for the squeeliness for me
I've been using disc brakes since 2001 and none of them have ever squealed. Is I doin it rong?
No problems here either Ian (used them on road bikes for 10 years)
I've been using disc brakes since 2001 and none of them have ever squealed. Is I doin it rong?
Who knows? It's hardly an uncommon problem, and it only really bothers me in the wet, in the dry none of my disc brakes have every squealed. I'd bite yours or any manufacturer's hand off if they promised me a squeal free (in the wet) disc brake set up. I'm just not fast or important enough that I have to put up with noisy brakes for the sake of 1 second off my stopping times 8)
And then of course there are the problems with sticky pistons/warped rotors leading to pads rubbing the disc. Worth putting up with on an MTB but not on a bike I'll just be using on the road thanks, my 105 calliper brakes don't suffer from any of the above and I haven't had to touch them in months.
Again, not problems I've had 😉
(Actually, I did have one Avid fixed piston seize after I left it in a damp garage for a few years. But no problems on the bike.)
I've had plenty of squealing with rim brakes, though. Extensively so with cantis on road/CX forks. (But never with road calipers.)
10% off at the moment brings it nearly to budget. I like the charge though, I have a geared filter which is the predecessor to this version of the plug which has been great.
OK, now I'm genuinely interested.
So you're saying in 14 years you've never had a piston drag on the disc because it won't return fully? Do you only use cable discs, or are you the meticulous sort who actually cleans and lubricates the pistons and seals on your hydraulics?
Likewise in that time you've never had a disc warp (however slightly) enough to rub the pads or drag slightly?
Also, in those 14 years, you've never had a disc which when wet and cold (i.e. after a long spell riding on the tarmac in the rain with no braking) doesn't squeal horribly for the length of time it takes to heat up and dry off?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying these are the worst problems on a bike, I'm just saying they're enough to put me off discs unless I really really need them (i.e. on an MTB...).
*Slightly annoying postscript* Since I originally posted this thread I've had a rethink due to a day spent hiking some of my local singletrack. I think I'm more inclined towards getting a light fast 29er now rather than a CX bike, thanks to tthew for digging up the s/s CX link though!
So you're saying in 14 years you've never had a piston drag on the disc because it won't return fully?
Yup.
Do you only use cable discs, or are you the meticulous sort who actually cleans and lubricates the pistons and seals on your hydraulics?
Always cables (original Avid BBs and BB7s on the MTBs; BB7s and Spyres on road/CXish bikes).
Likewise in that time you've never had a disc warp (however slightly) enough to rub the pads or drag slightly?
Well, I bent one properly on a rock in the Alps once 😉 But other than that, I've had rotors that have been verrrrrrrry slightly untrue, of course, but never enough to be a problem. (Even with brake levers adjusted for reduced cable pull.)
Also, in those 14 years, you've never had a disc which when wet and cold (i.e. after a long spell riding on the tarmac in the rain with no braking) doesn't squeal horribly for the length of time it takes to heat up and dry off?
Nope. The only time I recall having a squealing disc was in about 2004 when I borrowed a bike for a sort of test/review. It had some Hopes of some sort which squealed like pigs and dragged all the way round the ride. But I don't count it because it was someone else's bike and they weren't brakes I'd have ever bought 😉
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying these are the worst problems on a bike, I'm just saying they're enough to put me off discs unless I really really need them (i.e. on an MTB...).
Aye, they'd bug me too, if I had them. The squealing was probably the main reason I resolved never to use cantis again. I guess either I've been lucky or you've been unlucky 🙂