Whyte launches Cornwall with carbon frame, mudguards and disc brakes

I'm not sure rack mounts are needed for this type of bike. For most people commuting means taking a change of clothes and a towel, so around 10l of space needed. This is easily manageable with a ruck sack, seat mounted bag or a beam rack. They have an alu bike that takes a rack. The point of this bike is that it can work as a commuter and then be a decently fast carbon race bike on the weekend.

Having ridden a Alfine hub gear bike I can't see them ever catching on for fast riding, you just can't put the power down like you can with a normal bike, at least it doesn't ever feel as responsive.

I don't find cleaning the chain difficult, it's cleaning the brake blocks and rims that annoys me as you have to do it more regularly. Having to have new rims every 18 months is also annoying. A disc braked road bike would make this much less of a problem.

My own experience of hub gears wasn't that great. Yes the gears are encased but there is a significant weight penalty and its a right pain in the backside when you puncture. I could fix a puncture three times over in the it took me to re-align the rear wheel. I went for very puncture proof tyres in the end, which only made the bike even more sluggish.
I went for cross bike in the end with disc brakes and standard gears. I find it much better although it suffers a little from road buzz on longer rides (it's fine for the commute). A carbon frame would solve this problem and I can see the value of this bike.

I ride a Genesis Day One Alfine (11) to and from work, 140 odd miles a week if I cycle in every day. The bike has mountings for front and rear racks but I use a 16 litre Carradice seatpost mounted bag, it works really well, the same might be feasible to use on this bike? As for belt drives, they still are not as efficient as a chain, so I'll stick to wiping mine with a rag and oiling/replacing every few thousand miles.

Nobody seems to have mentioned the 'Dolan Dual' here, highly regarded, carbon, with rack and guard mounts, although it's rim brakes and conventional derailleur.

Hub and belt works well and is largely noiseless (rohloff).
Still needs to be winterised however as in my first winter the cables seized in the external gear box (50 quid and a lot of cursing later).
Also mechanical discs need treating or they seize too!
You can't win!

Hub definitely less maintenance all round, though.

I was almost interested until I got to "no rack mounts". Really, it goes up directly against the likes of the Ribble Sportive 365, though that can only take 25mm tyres and has rim brakes.

I'd rather have the Whyte Suffolk for a commuter. I really want a Suffolk, in fact. Could someone buy me one?

Kudos for at least making it possible to fit a dyno light to the crown. Front mudguard seems rather short and devoid of flap, though.

A hub gear and perhaps belt drive would have some merit, but as someone who mostly commutes part-bike-part-train and uses an audax type bike for a long commute roughly once a week, I think a derailleur drivetrain is fine - quieter, more familiar, more customisable. I don't really find it a maintenance issue at all. I'd take the hub and belt for my urban commuter, but I don't think I'd want either for an audaxy bike (which is really what this thing is).

I don't understand complaining about bikes by saying "it's not for me".

A lot of people will buy and be happy with this bike, because it's for them. If it's not for you, just ignore it, there are other options, like the ones you already own.

Or, maybe it's simply post-purchase justification of what you already own?

No rack so a commuting & touring fail for me straight off.

Carbon or alu don't cut it for me as commuting/touring frame materials. Too stiff, and prone to fatigue and cracking.

For that money I would buy what I use now - A Moulton TSR (well I ride an older late APB). Fast, practical with racks, comfortable with the full suspension. Ultra stiff with the spaceframe but the steel is fatigue free

I would have to agree that silver is more hi viz, easier to keep clean, and that (if you need gears) a hub gear would be better for winter to minimise daily maintenance on dérailleurs

In saying that, my commuter is all black and has dérailleurs .....but in winter, it's swapped for fixed.

If this is a commuter bike, why is it camouflaged tarmac colour ?

The executive commuter this is aimed at must be able to park their bike in a considerably less hostile environment than the tangled scrum of metal that forms our works bike shed.

"""In essence the Cornwall is aimed at the person who wants to ride through the winter, and do so with all the speed and performance of their summer race bike but wrapped up with the practicality of mudguards, fatter tyres and disc brakes. So for commuting, club runs and solo winter training, the Cornwall sounds like a very appealing proposition.""""

Not likely. If they offered it as a hub gear such as Rohloff or Alfine with full chain guard or belt drive then maybe it would qualify, but riding this bike through winter would be just the same as riding any other open deraillieur transmission bike - a real pain the arse to keep the drive train clean and lubed through all the rain, crud, grit, salt, mud and dirt. Manufacturers think that just by chucking some disc brakes on a bike, fitting fatter tyres and some mudguards it is some how magically transformed into a winter commuter, well dream on. This is still a high maintenance bike. Whyte will have to do a lot better than this.

I really am quite sold on this range of bikes by Whyte, to the extent that I'm pretty much decided on getting one as a year-round commuter. With hindsight, I probably should've just bought one a year ago, proper "only bike you'll ever need" stuff.

Sadly, my budget doesn't extend to this carbon version, for me it'll be between the Dorset or Suffolk, just a case of whether the 11-speed 105 justifies the extra £200, as the two bikes otherwise seem identical?