Weight Weenies

Hi,

I'm looking for a new commuter bike. My requirements are:
- drop bars
- fender and rear rack braze-on eyelets
- short reach
- not heavy
- durable
- road or disc brakes

I'm currently riding a 54cm 2009 Kona Jake cross bike. It's in reasonable condition for its age and KMs. My biggest problem with the bike is it's reach. It's too long for me. The LBS sold it to me by stand over height and I've got longer legs and a shorter torso than most males. My 54cm Cervelo R3 fits me very well with its 378mm reach when paired with a 90mm stem. A little shorter would be fine too.

On the topic of disc vs rim brakes; I prefer the idea of disc but then I lose wheel compatibility. Really I just don't want cantilever brakes. I also want full coverage fenders which sounds hard to do with road brakes. I'd be tempted to build a carbon set if I went to disc so there's that...

My commute home includes 180m of climbing so losing a little weight would be nice. However my pannier adds enough that bike weight may not really matter.

If the frame is a gravel grinder or cross type (what's the difference?) even better. Last year I entered a gravel race and almost got into cross so it would be nice to be dual purpose.

Thanks!
David

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Kinesis 4S or 4S disc?

Or a Kinesis GF Ti?

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MikeMoore wrote:Kinesis 4S or 4S disc?

Or a Kinesis GF Ti?

Two problems with Kinesis. They don't appear to be available in Canada and the reach is a little long at 390mm. Otherwise those models do look interesting.

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GF Ti (I happen to have one - with rim brakes).

Trek 520! I built mine up as a flat bar, front rack with Surly TV tray and rear rack for panniers. I fit a 2.8" 650b tire in there for year round and snow riding. Whip out the 700c for longer rides and for ice spikes.

So the reach is too long for you on your current bike, have you looked into a longer stem? Some out there reach 140mm out. It would be less expensive to buy a stem than a new bike.

If you go with a 140mm stem that will give you 50mm less reach vs your current 90mm stem, would that help? You could take the bike to the bike shop and have them determine how long of a stem you need vs me guessing.

Of course, if money is burning a hole in your pocket and you just need to spend some money on a bike, well then go do that, but if the better bit of wisdom is giving you second thoughts look into a longer stem.

The biggest design input in my opinion is if you plan to lock it up outside.

If yes then something sub 1k used thats pre beat on that you can find locally and fix up for another $500 max.

If inside only then you can invest quite a bit more.

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