Hi,
I’m looking to get back into cycling after about a ten year break. I used to cycle everywhere but travel, injury and moving to the suburbs basically stopped me.
The main rides I’ll be doing:
36km (22mi) between my place and my girlfriends - little bit of road, mostly bike path, a little bit of gravel.
8km (5mi) to JiuJitsu class - road/pavement/path.
With at least one loaded pannier, possibly two.
I’m 110kg (~242lb) with a fairly solid build, the steel frames are appealing.
I may do a little touring, I haven’t done it before but Australia has some great off road tour options. It might just be a nice idea that I never get around to. I like camping and being alone which is what appeals about touring.
Being in Australia, I’m pretty limited on what bikes are actually available.
I was recommended the Kona Sutra LTD ($4k) (by a sales guy) but I feel that the wide tires aren’t a great choice for the commuting and it’s a bit more than I was planning to spend. I don’t mind spending more on getting the right bike for me but I’m also pretty frugal so would prefer to spend less if I can find the right bike for less.
I’ve also been considering the Marin Nicasio plus ($1.3K), Nicasio 2 ($2.2k), Surly Preamble ($2.9k), Salsa Cutthroat ($4.9k) or maybe a Bombtrack Hook ($3.6K).
Plus about $1000 for fenders, racks and a big fat lock to lock it up.
Thanks for any input.
Unless you’re racing the wider tires (2.25 isn’t wide but to each their own) won’t be noticeably slower or have much higher rolling resistance. The wide tires will let you handle mud, sand , and snow much easier. 4k is a lot for a bike though.
I ride a trek roscoe with 2.8” downhill tires and keep up just fine with people on road bikes. But unlike them i can roll over any curb i want and ride through thick mud without falling.
I'm sorry but that is just blatantly not true, there is no way you are keeping up with a road bike on the road with 2.8 off road tyres.
My MTB with 2.8 front and 2.6 rear takes considerably more effort to ride on the road than my road bike with 700 x 28c tyres, not only that once you are up to speed those tyres are actively working against you maintaining that speed.
Sure you can "roll over curbs and mud" easier but that isn't really the point, if you are doing long distances on mostly roads or light gravel like OP suggests then you are going to want something more efficient to help you cover that distance and huge tyres are working against you every step of the way.
On top of that you are going to be spending a lot of extra money constantly replacing those massive tyres where they are wearing super quick being run on hard surfaces that they aren't designed for.
Factor in also the drastically increased weight of all that extra rubber you are dragging around if you were to run absurdly sized tyres like 2.8s for light gravel work and really this is just terrible, misinformed advice.
I switched to 2.6 Specialized butchers in my 2021 Trek Xcaliber 8 and, while I can keep up with people with road tires the first few kilometers, after that they will tax you. Don't know how big the thead size of the tires of that other person's tires can be, though, but with this tires I feel like I'm driving a tractor.
Sorry I can't give any advice for your bike, though. I'm just a colombian dude. With what you are saying in this post I can only think about a gravel or an hybrid bike but I don't know about most of the brands you mentioned nor if you are cyclyng to your gf's place that distance as in start-finish-start or start-finish