A.R.S.E.

I'm thinking about a new bike. I have two already but one I don't ride. I have an Apollo Vitesse and an Avanti Hurricane MTB. I've had both since 2000. I don't ride the Vitesse as I got sick of walking it home due to punctures or broken bit's like spokes, wheels ect... The old Hurricane has never let me down but it's getting a bit old and it's not the faster thing around. I really should get it's front end springs serviced as it's never been done. I like the toughness and riding position of the MTB but I like the speed and ease of the road bike.

So I'm thinking about an Avanti Inc 1. Looks the best of both worlds and I'll be just on roads and walking tracks. I want something I can cruise around on but also something I can go do 20/30 k's on. What do you bike guru's think?

Dr. Pain wrote:I'm thinking about a new bike.

first question.. what's your budget?

there's probably a few options that you could look at. The Hybrid style that you've identified would probably fit the bill fairly well. a few other options might be the Whyte range of fast Urban bikes. ( http://www.whytebikes.com/2014/section. ... 01&xPage=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) . they look pretty good, though maybe a little more expensive than the avanti that you've posted.

If you're not completely tied to the more upright position of a commuter style bike, you could also have a look at a Cyclocross bike. CX bikes are becoming more common in bike shops now with both disc and cantilever brake options. This would get you a fairly rugged machine, with some of the speed of a road bike. You could also sign up for a local CX race too

I own the INC 2, same frame but belt drive and internal gears.

its a commuter 100%, its fine on the road/footpaths but without any suspension and the type of tires (running 80psi as well) its not really suited towards walking tracks.

Dont get me wrong, I love my Inc, without a doubt its what got me into cycling and I will keep it as my commuter forever, but it has limited use outside of riding to/from work.

I'm only looking to spend $800 or $900 on this.

I was looking to be upright as I feel I have more control but I like the idea of the wider tyres on cyclo-cross. That would feel much better, less twitchy than my road bike and I'd get less punctures. Our roads here have no shoulders and lots of little stones and I was forever getting punctures.

Cheers for your post CLP. Either hybrid or cyclo-cross is for me I think. Some of places I go have gravel paths around the lake here but I can avoid them if needed.

Dr. Pain wrote:I'm only looking to spend $800 or $900 on this.

how about this one:
http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/bicycles ... /102318025" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dr. Pain wrote:I was looking to be upright as I feel I have more control but I like the idea of the wider tyres on cyclo-cross. That would feel much better, less twitchy than my road bike and I'd get less punctures. Our roads here have no shoulders and lots of little stones and I was forever getting punctures.

bear in mind also that a CX bike will tend to have a slightly more upright position than a road bike due to the nature of the CX racing, so you may find that it meets your more upright criteria too

I like the look of that Norco Thershold A3 or the Trek Ripcross Elite, which is a bit more expensive. I'll decide in time when I have the money.

Well I'm getting closer to picking a bike and I'm adding the following to my list. It's more in my budget than cyclocross bikes. I think with the lightly gravelled walking tracks that I'll go on around the lake here, the Indie will handle it. It's like 2% of the total ride I'll do will be a light gravel walking track, most of it is asphalt. I'll need some bar ends and I'm mainly planning to stick on roads and just ride for fitness, not distance or speed. It might be a good fit.

Dr. Pain wrote:Well I'm getting closer to picking a bike and I'm adding the following to my list. It's more in my budget than cyclocross bikes. I think with the lightly gravelled walking tracks that I'll go on around the lake here, the Indie will handle it. It's like 2% of the total ride I'll do will be a light gravel walking track, most of it is asphalt. I'll need some bar ends and I'm mainly planning to stick on roads and just ride for fitness, not distance or speed. It might be a good fit.

Is that the indie 3? hydro brakes is a nice touch at that price point!

Bike frenzy is on now (see bikeexchange.com.au) .. never know, you might be able to get it cheap!

I went and got a Trek 8.3ds and I absolutely love it. If I had to purchase again I would've gone for the hydraulic brakes. It's a great bike and good for road and a bit of gravel etc.

Sent from my Nexus 5

Any reason as to why you wouldn't go hydraulic brakes again?

That is the Indie 3 and I found it at $798 @ 99bikes.com.au

Dr. Pain wrote:Any reason as to why you wouldn't go hydraulic brakes again?

That is the Indie 3 and I found it at $798 @ 99bikes.com.au

not sure where you are located, but check out the prices in here:
http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/s/urban- ... 203%202014" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I found that site not long after my post earlier and found one much cheaper. Need to do my tax.

Well I went with none of the above I've mentioned here. I was Hunting down a Norco Indi 3 for $629 but none left and new stock wouldn't be at that price. So went looking for alternatives and found an Apollo Trace 30. Local shop can do one for $749 which is cheaper than some sites where I found them. I'll have one next week.

http://www.apollobikes.com/bikes15/urba ... 9m62_mSzl8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks great mate :-)

Sent from my Nexus 5

Wow, how do you pump up the tyres?

Nice one.

norbs wrote:Wow, how do you pump up the tyres?

Witchcraft

Dr. Pain wrote:Well I went with none of the above I've mentioned here. I was Hunting down a Norco Indi 3 for $629 but none left and new stock wouldn't be at that price. So went looking for alternatives and found an Apollo Trace 30. Local shop can do one for $749 which is cheaper than some sites where I found them. I'll have one next week.

excellent work! Look forward to hearing about you getting out on the trails with it

I've been thinking "did I get the right type of bike?" as I've been looking at flat bar bikes even though I had ordered the Trace 30. I didn't see one or ride one before I ordered it.

So today I went and got it and it's a nice looking bike. In natural light it looks more gunmetal grey than charcoal. It's well built and looks tough enough for riding around here on some ordinary roads. My ride home for 2 k's was great. It felt effortless and so damn comfortable in the riding position. It's got a good turn of speed too. It's perfect for what I want right now and can lug my current fat arse around nicely. I do have to get some shorts though as I'll need the chamois. I'm going to get a lot of use from this bike and even if I do get a road bike in the future, this will be my all weather bike/commuter. I found even on my short ride home that I could get into a comfortable rhythm very fast and had no feeling like I was busting my arse off for no distance. I am very happy I got it.

Did a few km's on the new bike today, the ride I intend to do a lot and the bike was great. I'm just going around the outskirts of Benalla, going down some residential streets and some asphalt walking tracks/bridges to cross the river. The 37 tyres did the surface changes well. Some of the asphalt is very ordinary around here. 10 years ago I was getting punctures and breaking spokes with 700 by 25 and now the surface is worse but the 37's did it no problem. Gearing is good. Got one climb that's short but steep up a walking track and it was effortless. I really enjoyed it and the bike is great for short rides with really good control for stopping and starting. I think any ride longer than 20 kilometres would need a road bike but for what I do right now, it's great. I'm really chuffed. I'll have a trip computer next week to see how far I am going.

Dr. Pain wrote:Did a few km's on the new bike today, the ride I intend to do a lot and the bike was great. I'm just going around the outskirts of Benalla, going down some residential streets and some asphalt walking tracks/bridges to cross the river. The 37 tyres did the surface changes well. Some of the asphalt is very ordinary around here. 10 years ago I was getting punctures and breaking spokes with 700 by 25 and now the surface is worse but the 37's did it no problem. Gearing is good. Got one climb that's short but steep up a walking track and it was effortless. I really enjoyed it and the bike is great for short rides with really good control for stopping and starting. I think any ride longer than 20 kilometres would need a road bike but for what I do right now, it's great. I'm really chuffed. I'll have a trip computer next week to see how far I am going.

If you have a smart phone, grab Strava and join the ARSE club CLP set up.

I don't have a phone. Make's me kind of strange in this day and age but I will either get one in time or get GPS device like a watch or something.

Dr. Pain wrote:I don't have a phone. Make's me kind of strange in this day and age but I will either get one in time or get GPS device like a watch or something.

I might be selling my Garmin 800 soon if you are interested.

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk

I think I will go a cheap phone. Seeing I don't have one it might be handy to have.

I ended up with a Nokia 630 and I also got Sigma BC 8.12 computer. Nothing fancy but just enough to tell me time and distance. I've been using the phone to log my walking. $250 for the lot so cheap and cheerful.