Bargain British Bike

[Kieron McMahon]

Just in case this is of interest to anyone else.... Rutland Cycles are offering the recently-launched Halycon Chimaera for what seems like a bargain price of £499.99p as opposed to the £800-900 it is retailing for at most other places. I'm in the market for a relatively inexpensive winter bike and/or turbo slave so this may fit the bill. It comes with full Tiagra which isn't bad for this price. The finish looks pretty good with no nasty welding - also good for a bike in this price bracket.

[Kieron McMahon]

Well, I went and bought one. I got it just in time for today's 08.30am marathon ride so a good test at a decent speed. Firstly, it's a great looking bike - British Racing Green and White with nice smooth weld joints on the top tube - so good they make it look carbon. I was a little concerned how I would fare on the hills as it weighs considerably more than my carbon road bikes - and equipped with 53/39 Tiagra made the climb out of Ironbridge a little daunting. Consequently, I was pleased to be near the front at the top. During the ride however, I had a few gearbox issues but put this down to teething and bedding-in. The wheels aren't great - there's a poor join on the rims that produced a clicking noise when braking. I imagine that, by fitting full Tiagra, some money was shaved on other parts of the bike. I can cope with that but will probably change the wheels. The saddle was quite comfy and I felt no discomfort after nearly 90 miles - that's a pretty good acid test I think. Riding position was also decent and I felt pretty good all the way around - I did set it up like my other bikes and it was ideal. As you'd expect with Tiagra, braking was good and the bike pulled up well when going down the steep hill into Coalport. Riding on the flat was seemingly no different to a more expensive carbon bike and the machine romped along nicely. Overall then I would recommend this bike at this price of £499.99p. Perhaps they could have put some better rims on and charged an extra £100 but generally it was a pleasure to ride and coped well with the 08.30 pace.

[Kieron McMahon]

This bike has been great on the Turbo Trainer this winter. It has since been used on Sunday rides, the Saturday training route and, this weekend, the ride to Somerset and back. This journey threw just about anything at the bike and it came out with top marks. Ride comfort, response, hill-climbing ability, slick gear changes since tune-up.

As previously posted, the standard wheels weren't much cop so I dropped in some Mavics. I have since changed a few things but only for aesthetics. For example, I dumped the black seatpost and stem/bars for white Ritchey WCS. All were picked up for bargain prices on e-bay shops so the bike is still a cheap machine. All in all, I am very pleased with this purchase.