iPierrod

Hi there,

I'm new to the forum.
I ride a Trek FX 7.3 (2010 model) daily to commute (home - work, 20 Km in total).

I'm fairly happy with it but I tend to dislike the maintenance and thus do not really put the required effort.

I'm looking for what would appear to me as the perfect commuter workhorse:

- similar to the FX (geometry, weight, etc.)
- disk brakes (mechanical or else)
- drop handlebars
- nexus rear hub (not that much to climb here in Brussels, although ...)
- hub generators (dynamo in the hub)
- belt drive instead of a chain

Would anyone know whether such a bike exists?

I am presently considering the Trek Soho or the CrossRip.
I'm fairly sure other brands would offer alternatives.

Feedback on possible models / brands or on the items above would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Cheers

iPierrod

ThermionicScott 

I'm with you on switching to drop bars, but disc brakes, IGH rear hub, and dyno front hub are gonna add some weight.

fietsbob

Tout Terrain offers a split rear dropout for belt drive , and has disc mounts .

German rather than Taiwan made frame so initial expenditure is there.

then build it up as you wish .. theres a drop bar brifter for Alfine 8 & 11 speed .


There is the bar end shifter option for Sturmey 5 speeds too..


if every thing is not on a bike frame out of the box , you change some parts..

Brussels Belgium .. maybe a Koga Signature build off their menu will be a practicality.

DiabloScott

For low maintenance I'd suggest battery operated lights instead of the dynamo, fixed gear instead of the belt drive, and plain old rim brakes.



What's it like commuting in Brussels?

no1mad 

I'd suggest you take your requirements and consult your local LBS.

Dwayne

Just curious what your reasoning is for the suggestions. Batteries are one more thing to keep an eye on and maintain/charge, a dynamo light is just there and works, no maintenance needed. Disc brakes vs rim brakes can be argued all day long, so I'll say that's a personal preference, but I'll switch to disc on my next commuter (no brake dust on the reflective tire sidewalls, better performance in rain and snow). I wouldn't want a fixed gear on a 20km commute, that's a whole other style of riding I don't think the OP is interested in based on the requirements in his post. Belt drive doesn't have a chain that needs lube, and a decent internally-geared hub can go a while before a rebuild.

A Civia Bryant came to mind as being close to the requirement's, unfortunately they stopped building them not long ago, but the idea is there.

acidfast7

Summer:



Winter:


fully configurable including braze-ons and custom colour schemes

basics:
drops
brifters
hydraulic disc
belt drive
up to an Alfine 11
dynamo choices
lighting choices
fender choices
the plug ii if you want to charge something

Dwayne

What's the brand? Those are drool-worthy, to me at least. Wish the US had the bike selection Europe has, something I also say a lot about cars (give me a freaking small minivan like a Mazda5 with an efficient diesel ferchristsakes!)

EDIT: Nevermind, found it
https://www.en.tout-terrain.de/

chas58

That is what I did, and it works out great for me. Just needs a little lube on the chain after a ride in the rain (like yesterday). My bike basically looks like the silver Bryant above, but has the specs of the Kona below. The only Fixed Gear drawback is the need to carry two wrenches (to prevent axle spin) to change a tire.

Having an inexpensive 8.5kg bike to commute on is nice too (30-35km/hr crusing speed), along with the real silence of a Fixed Gear drive train.

For lights, I have little blinky lights that basically last all season with a dime sized battery, and then USB recharbable LEDs for the times when I need to be extra bright.

acidfast7

Wherever I move some things are great and some not so great.

Stockholm: Salmon and köttbullar were great.
Bayern: Autobahn and hefeweizen were great.
UK: Ale is great and people are friendly.

As far as cars go, I see where you're going, but the one thing that sticks out to me is the low cost of older high-performance cars:

first-gen Audi RS6s seem to be the prominent example (at least compared to German prices):

450PS + paddle shifting for traffic



edit: bikes in the germanic countries are top value per € with the exception of some of the dutch "bikes" like a mango

fietsbob

adding . if you want disc brakes but hate maintenance, hydraulics are the way to go.

you are the pad wear adjuster on fully mechanical brakes ,
hydraulics they figured out how to do that for cars ,

for bicycles they miniaturized, the design. automatic pad wear adjustment.

acidfast7

gotta agree. they're set-and-forget. plus cables can't freeze in winter conditions with hydraulics

Dwayne

The downside to hydraulics is a lack of options with drop bars. There's the adapter on the X-Over, but that's just a complicated piece of business on a commuter in my opinion, and there's SRAM's new offering, but yeesh, that's expensive.

DiabloScott

I inferred it was 10km each way - not much longer than my FG commute.

I don't consider charging batteries to be maintenance... I like the redundancy of having multiple lights vs one. I have this sense that dynamo lights are dorky and fragile and complicate wheel changes.




I don't know much about belt drives or IGH but they can't be less maintenance or more reliable than a FG. Also can't be as much fun.

fietsbob

Anyhow, .. TRP just released the HyRd, a cable operated integrated hydraulic disc caliper.

still have the cable running all the way to the wheel , but the lever in the caliper operates the Master cylinder
piston, which is in the same piece as the 2 Slave cylinders that squeeze the disc.


they also released a master in the drop bar lever set, too.

but you need to put the shifter elsewhere. so the drop bar single speed will work ..



Only in string, theoretical physics , are there multiple universes,

where things can occupy the same space and time as other things..

can the brake and the shifter both be in the same space.

iPierrod

All,

thanks a bunch for the feedback and advice.

I did not know 'tout-terrain' although I do spend a fair share of my time looking out for interesting bike brands.
Their catalogue was quite impressive and the x-over is close to be the ideal bike I am looking for.

2190 Euros will definitively be too steep for me though.

Still looks amazing.

Surprisingly enough Kona was already on my radar screen (Jake The Snake). I was looking for a good second-hand deal but to no avail...

Thanks again.

I'll keep following the thread in case new ideas would pop up.

Safe ride ....

P.

fietsbob

You wanted perfect, and we are happy to help you spend your theoretical money.

now you can dial back your expectations to just be happy with what you have.


Lots of US brands are with out EU distributors , and Visa-Versa.


want to pay less ? what will you sacrifice off your list to lower the up front cost?


Drum brake 3 speed would be adequate..

acidfast7

Yeah, they're not cheap. I think they're worth it as many components as possible are EU sourced with EU materials and they employ Germans to assemble them in southern Germany.

I'm not saying it's the best bike out there, just pointing out the economics of the bike.

Same with SON dynamos and Rohloff Speedhubs put they're in different parts of Germany

NoTrail

The Specialized Source Eleven is everything you want except the drop bars. I don't think the 2014 is out yet, but the 2013 model will give you the idea.

Or you can just get something custom built like my brother did with his Firefly. If then can build a custom rack into the frame, they can build one with drop bars for you.



Link to more pictures.

chaadster

NoTrail, you just about blew my mind, there...I read Specialized and saw the pic and thought, "Holy ****! It's a whole new world if Specialized is comin' with that!" but of course, it was the Firefly. Utterly gorgeous. Super. Killer. Oh, where is my money!!

chaadster

Dunno if Spot cycles are available in EU, but their Ajax may be of interest at roughly €1.3k list price. Doesn't have the drop bars or levers, but maybe you could mod that right away, or later down the road:



The Spot Rallye hits all the spec points, but jumps up in price to that €2k range. Cool looking, though:



Neither sport hub generators, though...I forgot about that.

chaadster

Going the 'build it yourself' route, you may look at the Shand Stoater, about GBP1.3k:

chaadster

It ain't what I'd call attractive, but the Van Dessel WTF, at $700USD for frame/fork, could be setup as you like:

mconlonx

If you like Treks, look around for a closeout '13 Soho Dlx at a local or not so local dealer. You will need to upgrade to a dyno front wheel and drop bars, but rack and fenders come with. Only downside is the rear brake is Shimano roller brake, not disc.

I work at a shop that is a Spot dealer and we built a drop bar Ajax for a customer. Once we got done swapping out parts, it wasn't too much less than $2k.

OP is really asking for a lot--belt drive, disc brakes, dyno hub, drop bar/IGH setup. Once you add in fenders, rack, kickstand?, lighting, etc. I don't think you'd be under US$2k.

Personally, I'd stick with rim brakes, and ditch the belt drive from my requirements. That would get the price a whole lot more reasonable for not many drawbacks.

Andy_K 

I've been using these for a couple of months now, and I highly recommend them. No more of the fiddling and scraping you get with BB7's and the stopping power is outstanding.