Commuter bike choice

[Adventurer]

At the moment I have a Specialized Langster fixed gear bike that I have used for over 10 years commuting a total of 16miles a day, mainly country roads. Use my old bikepacking/MTB for bad winter commute.

I think it is time for a change to a more versatile bike for commuting and I’m thinking of an adventure/gravel bike. Bigger tyres and a x1 gear set up or hub gear.

Im looking at 2 choices.

Sonder Aluminium Camino with hydraulic brakes x 1 gear set. I do like the idea that I could swap wheel sets between my titanium Camino and the aluminium version if needed. Can’t do that with the Arkos.

https://www.alpkit.com/sonder/bikes/son ... draulic-V2

Or, Evans Cycles Pinnacle Arkose Alfine 8 hub geared with hydraulic brakes.

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-ar ... e-EV275630

However I’m put off the Arkose because it does not have the option of 650b wheels and they are also not tubeless.



I already have a Titanium Camino, but there is no way I will be taking that to work. Much to risky considering the places I work. So I’m used to 1x gears and do like the Sonder bikes. However would the hub gear be better suited for the daily grind of a commute?


If I do get a new commute bike it will have to last me another 10 years.


What would you buy?

[Oli.vert]

I'm put off the bike from Evans because it's a bike from Evans.

Buy the Sonder - if only as it's the bike you want.
You're looking for someone to tell you to buy the bike you want, right? Buy the bike you want.

[johnnystorm]

OTOH I'd get the bike from Evans because my Arkose is great and a hub gear for a commuter makes more sense than Sram kit which I've found to have a short lifespan.

I'm pretty sure that the alfine one has the same Alex rims as mine and they work fine tubeless with Panaracer gravelkings that also aren't marked tubeless.

[Blair512]

I've been fancying an Arkose myself and I've just found out Mrs512 gets cycle to work so may have one winging its way to me shortly. Think I'll go for the Arkose 4 though, seems to have all of the things I'm after in a reasonably priced package and it's well regarded as far as I can see. Interested if anyone's had a bad experience with one?

[Jurassic]

I'm Arkose curious as well, I'd like an Arkose 3 to replace my CX bike. I bought a (Pinnacle) Ramin 1 for bikepacking and it's massively exceeded my expectations bearing in mind how cheap it was. The wheels on that came with tubes but set up tubeless very easily using the stock tyres. The Evans shop that I dealt with were very poor though unfortunately. I ordered the bike for store delivery and they had it for ages before building it up for me, I had to make multiple phone calls chasing them up and I didn't get the bike anywhere close to the promised pick up date. The build itself was fine though, nothing's fallen off or failed due to poor assembly.

[Bearbonesnorm]

There's something about the Arkose that just 'works'. I built mine from a NOS frame and once I realised that I wanted a lightweight off-road bike rather than a heavyweight road bike and altered a couple of bits to suit, it's being superb ... even my continual tinkering doesn't upset it. The Arkose LTD is probably the most capable bike of the ilk, that I've ever had the pleasure of. I feel a gravel / adventure / whatever bike is supposed to broaden horizons and not limit them, this I feel, is the strong point of the Arkose.

[Mike]

to the arkose, another big fan here! Love riding my mk3 however I'm now thinking if I could replace this with a ti version that would be brill but there isn't such a thing so I will continue to be happy with my matt black beast... As stu says the ltd is sweet and if it had been about when I got mine I'd of paided the extra for sure! Happy riding

[PaulB2]

At the risk of turning this thread into being all about the arkose, just how off-road capable is the Arkose with 45mm tyres? Considering getting one to replace my road bike since it covers 90% of the riding I do

[Mike]

Paul ask stu I've only ever run 40 nanos and they are good... May try and see if a wtb rid will fit next time
But I can speak from my experience and say this bike ( there r other brands available ) is very happy off road, even over rocky stuff... I guess it also depends on what kind of rider you are and how comfortable you r at hitting trails on skinny wheels.

[TheBrownDog]

just how off-road capable is the Arkose with 45mm tyres

Not very. Im very happy with mine, but it's a drop bar bike. I'm sure there are people who could put it down Megavalanche, but they could also probably put do the same on an ironing board. For mere mortals, it will handle smooth bridlepaths and a bit of smooth singletrack but it's got its limitations.

[PaulB2]

I get that it won’t cope with drops and rock gardens but if it can cope with Cannock blue trails, towpaths, country roads and the odd bridleway then it’ll cover most of my riding

[TheBrownDog]

Oh, it'll handle all that no drama. Im on mine mostly on canal paths and back lanes and its lovely for that job. It'd make a great road tourer as well, as I intend to prove over the summer

[benp1]

Commuterised arkose here, the 2 with hydros and 1x10. Great bike

[Bearbonesnorm]

I found the 45c Riddlers to be great off-road. It's hard to quantify but if it's any use, I did all the recon for last years BB200 Hafren forest section on the LTD ... I wasn't much slower than I would have being on a rigid 29er or maybe even B+ but I do have a reasonably high disregard for personal well-being.

[PaulB2]

Ta all, that helps solidify my plan.

[benp1]

I've done over 10,000 miles on my arkose. With surprisingly little maintenance, mostly on the road though. Doesn't get cleaned, gets ridden in all conditions, has carried my kids, baskets of shopping, panniers and pulled a trailer. Many happy memories on it

Price has gone up since I bought it, but it's still good value. I convinced my mate to get the 4 with full hydro 105, although he's barely ridden it!

[middleagedmadness]

I get that it won’t cope with drops and rock gardens but if it can cope with Cannock blue trails, towpaths, country roads and the odd bridleway then it’ll cover most of my riding

I took my old Boardman cx over Cannock blue trails and some of the natural stuff ,commuted 10 mile along the mainline tow path which wasn't paved at the time with no problems ( I am far from a riding god) so I'm pretty sure a arkrose will easily cope with those been looking at one myself but can't decide between that and the genesis vagabond ,got plenty of time though gonna wait till October see what's been discounted