Asking for advice on a new bike

Don't mind me, just another voice adding praise to the Hy/Rd brakes - swapped out the stock BB-5 ones on my commuter for them, and I'm glad I did.

My mate just now bought a Whyte Suffolk too, partly because it came with those brakes.

nice bike, let me know how you get on with the HyRd brakes, im thinking of getting some

How did you get on with the shop did they be nice with the C2W?

I can't fully agree with you on that Gizmo... At the OP's price point he's going to be getting fairly ropey wheels with the bike anyway.

Where town centre potholes and kerbs are involved, narrow ropey wheels with narrow tyres will go out of shape more easily than wider ropey ones with fatter tyres.

That however is as far as it goes with my disagreement... Even super skinny rims are generally fairly robust. One caveat though - It always a good idea to know how to use a spoke key properly.

I would go for a CX. I commuted half a year with a road bike. But since I can doo 80% of the trip through forest if I want, and I missed that bit. So then I started using my MTB. But that was really slow again when I just went on the roads (to get to a meeting in time or so).
So in the end I bought a CX. And that is the best thing I ever did. Just love it to have that flexibility. The only downside is that it eats CX-tires.... They last about 1 year max. But oh so worth it !!!!

Seriously - don't worry about the wheels on a road bike. They're not made of glass - if you keep the tyre pressures up you will be absolutely fine.

After a break of about 6 years from riding (road bike) I started commuting on a canondale hybrid. After a few months a realised my mistake and longed for a road bike. On my purchase of a spec allez, The difference was immediate, much more speed for energy output. No problems with durability at all commuting 30 miles daily my cassete ect lasted for 2 years until I upgraded to a Ribble bianco.

Not sure about a single speed though, I used to ride track and so have experience of fixed wheel and though very trendy your riding terrain wil be very limited.

I must say cross bikes look good and I am considering one as a new winter bike

I commute on a hybrid at the moment, but would like to get a Whyte Suffolk. The model below, the Dorset, was reviewed on this site recently and would be in budget. I like the idea of discs for all weathers, reasonably robust tyres and it would be good for a winter trainer as well as the commute.

I have a pretty trusty old Cannondale Hybrid commuter but if I was starting from scratch again I'd go for the Trek Crossrip (best seller according to my LBS). I particularly like the fact that it's got disc brakes with additional levers on top of the bars, which means you can stop quickly if you haven't got your hands in the drops. I had an 'altercation' with a car the other day which jammed it's brakes on right in front of me (on purpose). With flat bars and hydraulic brakes I stopped just in time. Not sure I'd have managed it on my road bike (travelling faster with my hands on the hoods).

I have a pretty trusty old Cannondale Hybrid commuter but if I was starting from scratch again I'd go for the Trek Crossrip (best seller according to my LBS). I particularly like the fact that it's got disc brakes with additional levers on top of the bars, which means you can stop quickly if you haven't got your hands in the drops. I had an 'altercation' with a car the other day which jammed it's brakes on right in front of me (on purpose). With flat bars and hydraulic brakes I stopped just in time. Not sure I'd have managed it on my road bike (travelling faster with my hands on the hoods).

Why would you damage the wheels, and what's a chicken brake?

Hi mate I always commuted on my specialized allez road bike,however I was constantly fixing/replacing cassettes,chains,derailleurs etc.then I bought a single speed/fixie bike,its the best ever thing for commuting.unless you live in the hills its THE only thing you need.i do my 10mile journey to work in 27mins