About that next bike ...

As I do so often, I'm contemplating my next bike! (N=H+1 being a very real thing!) Currently I have a On-One Pompino which works fine for commuting and also shorter day rides, and a Genesis Croix de Fer which makes a decent enough touring bike but is a little on the heavy side for some of the things I'd like to do. So the plan is to make the Croix de Fer into a even better touring bike, either by fitting a Tiagra triple crankset (& associated derailleur and shifter) or Absolute Black 46/30 oval chainrings. The triple option is much cheaper because I already have all the bits I need, the oval chainrings would however be much simpler to install!

The goals/aspirations for which the Croix de Fer would be less than wholly suitable for are :-

1. La Marmotte
2. 7x 200km LEJOG - Land's End to John O'Groats in 7 days, each a 200km audax
3. Super Randonneur Series and/or Randonneur Round The Year
4. Paris-Brest-Paris and/or London-Edinburgh-London

Which leads to the consideration of which bike might suit bast?

Specialised Roubaix Sport

Currently the leading contender as it seems to hit most of the boxes without having any obvious drawbacks.

Whyte Wessex One

Not wild about the colour, but could live with it! However at £1999 it does seem overpriced compared to the competition, especially as it comes with Apex 1 whilst they seem to be about the Shimano 105 level. If it was more like ≤£1600 and/or came with Rival 1 then might be a serious contender.

Trek Domane SL5 Disc

It was actually a discussion on this bike over on YACF that attracted my interest in this particular market segment, did rather like the description that it was so comfortable that it almost felt like cheating! :-o However the press-fit bottom bracket doesn't seem to have been trouble free for at least of the purchasers, so I'm a bit wary of it in that regard.

Giant Defy Advanced 2

Perhaps less comfortable than either the Roubaix or the Domane, but also much cheaper! And the money saved could be used, say, for some more aero wheels so it might end up faster except on the roughest roads? Alas the press-fit bottom bracket marks this one down too.

Ribble CGR Ti

To be honest I'm not 100% certain this is a real contender, other than for the fact it's made out of titanium!

Ribble Endurance SL Disc

Certainly has the advantage of a good price, to the point where I could be tempted to spend £ more and get the Ultegra equipped one! The custom colours option could be a little tempting too, however actually how good a bike is it? Not really willing to splurge that much on a bike that I can't ride beforehand.

What could well have been an option as well would've been the Thorn Audax Mk4, in "compact hydro disc" form. However let's just say my experience of SJS Cycles' post-sales customer service leaves a little to be desired (YMMV of course) and hence I'm less than willing to throw ~£2k in their direction. A pity really, because I suspect the bike would suit me quite well. :-/

I don't have enough money realistically for any of the above options at the moment, however projections say I should be able to make a purchase of whichever one I settle on towards the end of the current financial year.

The alternative to all of the above would probably be to get something like a Planet X Pro Carbon for £899, and then use the money left over plus extra saving along the way to purchase something like a Bacchetta Corsa A70 in a few years time. The Pro Carbon would be fine for anything up to 200km I'd hope, and then I could use the recumbent for anything longer that I was planning on doing later for which it would likely be better overall than any of the bikes listed above.

Switching to English from here on in ...

It seems increasingly likely that I won't be going back to Austria. :-( Well not to live there anyway, holidays remain entirely possible. Partially it's due to having settled down somewhat in Scotland, partially it's due to the hold "Brexit" thing and I suspect at least some of it is not wanting to take the risk again.

Last time the risk didn't seem so very high. My then girlfriend owned a flat in Austria so the accommodation was easily available and cheap, and since I was in my mid-30s there was plenty of time to recover if it all went wrong. If I go again I need to somehow arrange some accommodation before I go and if the whole idea is less than successful, again, then I'd "up a creek without a paddle" when it came to things like my eventual retirement.

I've been on a pair of cycling holidays in Austria since I left, and I strongly suspect there will be more in future. And who knows, if my some miracle someone was to offer me a job whilst I was out there then ... :-/

On the plus side, if I'm writing in English then I might actually update this blog on a more frequent basis?