The ultimate all weather/do it all bike

[oli collett]

I've been suffering from N+1 for a long time and with the latest trend in bigger tyres, disc brakes and so on i've been looking at changing my regular commuter into a full on do it all bike.

Requirements
1) Hydraulic disc brakes are a must - looking at 28mm tubeless tyres as a minimum
2) Mudguard mounts. If you don't use proper, well fitted mudguards on a bike you ride through winter you're missing out. It makes a massive difference to component wear
3) Decent ride quality & durability. Needs to be capable of tackling cobbles in case I ever sign up for something like ronde van vlaaderen. CX bikes appear to be rubbish on such terrain from all accounts due to their geometry
4) Frameset available on it's own - I've got lots of bits lying around as it is including hunt 4 season disc wheels so a full bike seems like overkill

Candidates
1) Genesis Datum
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/adventure/adventure/datum/
Had an amazing writeup in road.cc. Ticks all the boxes. Carbon, room for 32mm guards and tyres
cons: fairly new - only came out last year. For some reason, the frameset weighs 1.88kg, which is as much as most titanium frames and at £1500 it's not exactly cheap either, so i'm not sure it offers much over Ti. Annoyingly the frame was available for around £1k last season
2) Kinesis gran fondo disc
http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Models/Racelight/GF_Ti-DISC
https://roadcyclinguk.com/gear/kinesis-gf_ti-disc.html
Popular choice and gets good reviews, looks pretty nice too. Weight seems pretty low for a bike like this
cons: £1800 for the frameset
3) Laverack J.ack
http://www.jlaverack.co.uk/jack-frameset-build/
Looks amazing, gets good reviews
cons: over £2K just for the frame and seems a bit heavier than the Kinesis
4) Cervelo C3
https://www.cervelo.com/en/road/c-series/c3
It's a cervelo.
cons: £2300 for the frameset. Can you really fit mudguards to a cervelo? seems so wrong.


Anyone have any other potential candidates that I might have missed? I've not mentioned steel options as I didn't really consider it. I'm not that worried about weight but I want something that's going to feel pretty nimble

 

[oli collett]

I'd seriously consider titanium. My 'winter' bike is an Enigma Etape Disc. I bought it as a complete build, and the only negative about it is the cheap wheels, but if I upgraded those, I'd have a very competent all year bike.

Titanium doesn't rust, it's comfortable, and the frame will last a lifetime.

Enigma do sell frame sets so I'd definitely check them out.

I have looked at Enigma - a guy on a ride i did last year had one and it looked beautiful. Only thing is I'm not sure they have guard mounts on their frames from the ones I've looked at

 

[oli collett]

Mine does, I think most of them do......don't quote me though.

Some of their models are a bit more 'race' geometry, but the etape is definitely more relaxed......don't get me wrong though, it can still shift when it wants.

They also offer lots of paint options, and funky rainbow titanium colour options too, which weren't available when I bought mine. But yes, they do look very nice!

Ah yes you're right that does seem to be the case! Not cheap though, hmm

 

[oli collett]

Why no Specialized Diverge/Roubix (zertz) and Trek Domane (isospeed)? More race bikes aimed towards the rough stuff so you really don't lose any of the speed/sharpness if you want it. 25mm slicks for speed and then some 28/30mm for rougher stuff. A carbon frame works out loads cheaper than Ti at the moment (if you're concerned about £2k+ on a frame!).

Love my Diverge!

Slate is a good shout but hear they can be a really brutal ride on cobbles as the rear is far too stiff so the whole front feels woolly in comparison. Also heard some crazy costs of maintaining the front shock as Cannondale used loads of different sized seals to the usual MTB ones.

Don't like the look of the diverge (sorry!) and the roubaix and domane don't have guard mounts - not interested in clip-ons. I wouldn't want to go near the slate either, that front fork!!!