Viewing 9 posts - 41 through 49 (of 49 total)
  • Cycling to work question….
  • wurzel
    Free Member

    You start off by coughing up bits of lung and throwing up but slowly get fitter 😆

    theflatboy
    Free Member

    i can ride up a reasonable hill on the pomp with a crate of stella strapped to the rack and a bag full of shopping over my shoulder.

    and last night bettered this by riding a couple of miles from the pub to angel tube up a couple of moderate hills with my chum riding pillion on the rack! no probs even with only one gear. 🙂

    Bedds
    Free Member

    I ride 8.5 miles each way.. used to do it on my full sus complete with knobblies.. now use an old MTB frame that I build up out of spares.. I’ve got a big old crud catcher mudguard on the back and I’ve got some commuter type tyres on. I’ve cut my journey down to just under 30 minutes from the about 35. I prefer riding the MTB frame.. it’s a bit more resilient to the rubbish roads that we have round here and I’ve still got the option of putting on knobblies and going off road if I want to during the longer evenings.

    I don’t think I’d justify spending money on a new bike just to ride to work on, I actually enjoy riding a beat up old thing that would otherwise sit in the loft.

    I’m lucky though in that we’ve got showers and also a drying room here so if my kit does get wet, it’s dry by the time I come to go home 🙂

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    MrAgreeable
    Full Member

    Depending on your preference I’d build a hack bike or get a cheap-ish road or CX bike with rack mounts and mudguard eyelets.

    An MTB hack with slick tyres should be very reliable (7 speed drive train and Schwalbe Marathon tyres aren’t light or bling, but they work so reliably comapred to many modern MTB components). If it looks appropriately shoddy you’ll be able to lock it up anywhere, flat bars feel safer in traffic than drops/hoods and when you jump back on your MTB you’ll appreciate how nice it is.

    A road/touring bike will be faster and you might find yourself doing proper road riding in time, but it’ll require more maintenance, brakes and drops mean it could be less confidence-inspiring to ride in traffic, and it will probably be more enticing to thieves, thanks to bikes becoming fashionable again.

    I’d go with gears just for the versatility. It’s an everyday mode of transport, not some test of manhood. 😉

    Whatever you do get a decent D-lock, not a poxy cable, and enjoy the fitness and the freedom you get from after-work detours and lunchtime jaunts.

    joemarshall
    Free Member

    The singlespeed thing – I can see if you’re somewhere pretty flat, but 42×17 might be slightly too high for me, and 32×16 would be dead low, roughly equivalent to the lowest gear I use on my bike ever.

    I find I need my 42×21 gear, and I spin out down the hills in 54×12 (at a bit over 40 mph). I can’t see singlespeed being any use on my commute across Derbyshire?

    Does anyone actually do a proper hilly commute on a singlespeed? Mine has 395m of climbing and roughly the same amount of descending, with some decent length hills and some jolly steep ones. Do you just use a silly low gear and freewheel on the downhills? Or can you pedal at 200 rpm?

    Joe

    john_l
    Free Member

    My commute’s 16 miles with 311m of ascent & 268m of descent(just measured it on Tracklogs). All done in 40×16 fixed.

    JasonDS
    Full Member

    18 miles each way on me full-susser with Continental roady tires. Use a Garmin Edge as it allows me to “race” against my fastest journey time – makes it a bit more interesting.

    john_l
    Free Member

    my post was in response to joemarshall’s question btw

    NotoriousP.I.D
    Free Member

    It will be more fun on a road bike, but you don’t need one.

Viewing 9 posts - 41 through 49 (of 49 total)

The topic ‘Cycling to work question….’ is closed to new replies.