I have a Sherpa; would an Audax better suit my needs?

[jags]

[Admin note: I split this topic off from where it began on the Cycle Tours board so it can grow legs on its own with minimal editing. -- Best, Dan]

i'm kinda thinking of selling my sherpa and going for an audax might suit me better.
but  ya i do like te sherpa question is how much better if at all the audax would be.

anyway photos if you have any please post them.

[Andybg]

Sounds like a great tour Kumben and the bike seems to be ticking all the right boxes.

Jags - If you dont need the carrying capacity of the sherpa or its ability to handle poor/offroad then I think you would find the audax to be noticably quicker and more exciting to ride without unduly affecting comfort.

From all the reviews I have read it truly is a wonderful bike and is certainly on my future wish list.

Andy

[jags]

Cheers Andy ya reckon it would be a better choice for me i'll never be doing a Dan tour thats for certain

[rualexander]

Jags,

I have a Sherpa and an AudaxMk3.
The Mk3 feels like a flying machine after being on the Sherpa, and is actually more comfortable on most roads, the Sherpa is very stiff (well mine is anyway as its a 610s and has the extra oversize tubing).
With a full camping load, the Sherpa is much better of course, but still has a fairly stiff ride even with 2" Supremes.
But the Mk3 is still capable of touring with a fair amount of stuff, I did LEJOG on mine three years ago with front and rear panniers, carrying lightweight camping gear and most of the luggage for two of us, photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/rualexander/sets/72157624996622225/ , it was a bit overloaded for that trip but still coped well.
It might be a tough choice to change from your Sherpa to a Mk3 unless you could afford to have them both for a while before deciding which one to keep.

[jags]

Rual photos are stunning thanks for that.
yeah i will have to do a lot of thinking on this one i love the sherpa but if the audax is gonna suit me better then maybe i should think seriously about buying one.but i would need to sell my sherpa to finance the new frame and new groupset and wheels.
would the xt groupset i have on the sherpa suit the audex (shimano m770 xt)
i was looking at the frames on the sjs site i could use a carbon front fork which i think i would go for.

meant to ask whats the difference in mk2 and mk3 and which is better.

Kumben sorry to hijack your thread but you just got me thinking so its all your fault 

[rualexander]

I don't see why you couldn't use the xt groupset on a Mk3.
I got the carbon fork for my Mk3, as well as the steel fork, but if buying again I'm not sure I'd bother with the carbon.
It saves a bit of weight but I don't really notice any difference in ride quality or comfort, having said that, I keep the carbon fork on the bike all the time and have only used the steel fork occasionally, and for that lejog trip where I needed it to carry the front panniers, which I know you don't use.

[Danneaux]

Jags,

I agree with Rual; I don't see why you couldn't simply do a frame transplant, selling-on the Sherpa's frame and steel fork either here on the Forum or on eBay to recover much of your cost and perhaps relatively little out of pocket. Your Sherpa is in fantastic condition, and likely would go pretty quickly. The drivetrain is in equally good shape and would work nicely, I'd think, on an Audax frame.

A thought to consider, perhaps!

All the best,

Dan.

[Andybg]

The problem I can see is that as well as the frame you would also need a new wheel set. Unfortunately these are the two most expensive parts and together probably account for about 60-70 percent of the cost of a full bike build.

I think it would be a shame to see your sherpa split up as it is such a lovely looking bike.

Andy

[Danneaux]

Yeah, you're right, Andy. I was thinking they could simply be re-rimmed and respoked on the same hubs, but there's labor to consider as well if one doesn't do their own. And, there's tires as well.

And, too, there is that issue of breaking up a complete bike. I find myself facing that sometimes when I eBay one of mine. Unfortunately, I can often realize more from the individual sales than I can the complete bike -- and find more ready buyers as well. Do I feel good about it? No, I don't. It always seems better to sell it on whole, as something essential in the personality of the machine is lost when it is parted out.

Best,

Dan.

[Andybg]

It can become very expensive, very quickly looking at changing from one frame to another. By the time you have done all the jobs "you may aswell do" as you have it stripped like new bottom bracket, new gear and brake cables you will find you have got up to 80% of the cost of a new bike.

I looked at it with the 587L Tour I am, considering changing to a shorter frame and drop bars. Once I had bought new frame, new bars, new brake levers, new cables, new bar wrap etc, the financial gain between that and selling on the running bike and starting with a new bike just did not make sense.

If you like the sherpa (which you really seem to do jags) I would be very loathe to move it on. If you fancy something lighter and quicker it may be worth looking at something second hand. Many of the "vintage" touring/ road bikes can be had at good prices and back then they were more of an all round bike. Thinking of offerings by both Dawes and Raleigh. I had a nice raleigh touristique which I bought and sold for around 150ukp It was a very nice 531 frame running mountain bike shimano exage gearset.

Andy

[jags]

Thanks lads will get back later i'm off out just now

[jags]

Thanks for the input lads much appreciated.
i will have to think hard on this change like how much better is the audax going to be my days of riding fast are long gone.
Still having said that i like the idea of a lightweigh touring bike with 700c wheels ,
the sherpa is a great bike thats for sure but to be honest it's wasted on me i'm most definitly a fair weather tourer so going as light as possible would be my goal,the sherpa is built for adventure touring  sorry to say it wont be going on any adventures with this kid 
anyway folks what kind of money should i be looking to sell my perfect condition sherpa frame /fork .seatpost .Also hand built wheels and one dynamo wheel 

cheers for now.
jags.

[jags]

BTW to guys that ride the audax mk3 is there an issue with heal clearence being that the frame must have tighter angles
anyone got photos of the audax mk3 please like to hear a few more thoughts on the bike before i committ

[Danneaux]

Jags...a question:

Would the Audax be enough different from your present Raleigh to be worth the effort?

I'm guessing you *could*, if pressed, tour on the Raleigh with a generous saddle bag and HB bag?

Given the frequency of camping, would it still pay to keep the Sherpa for those occasions when the Raleigh just couldn't haul "enough"?

All the best,

Dan. (...who has concluded all his own bicycles end up becoming touring bikes anyway -- regardless of origin)

[Danneaux]

Jags, here's a link to a profile photo of a rider on a smallish Audax Mk3: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/AudaxMK3/MK3_web.jpg

And, of course, the brochure linked here: http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/Thorn_Audax_Mk3.pdf A nice profile shot of Thorn/SJSC's own Lisa Parsons on her Audax is on the cover page. She's really pedaling hard, but the way -- check out the upward arc inn her lower chain run, even with the derailleur's cage nicely tensioned on the big 'ring.

Both profile photos give some idea of heel clearance. These are much tighter frames than your Sherpa, jags. Still, if you fit your Tubus Logo -- with the lower rails that allow the bags to sit farther rearward -- you should be okay. Rual could tell you for sure, having toured so much on his (fantastic photos, as always from Rual).

Best,

Dan.