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…it’ll be fun, they said.
…you’ll save money, they said.
…be more reliable than the trains, they said.
Bollocks to the lot of them.
1st day commuting, rear puncture half way home.
2nd day, rear mech exploded.
3rd day, slow front puncture, made it home and topped up sealant.
4th day, despite tyre holding air over the weekend, it only managed 80% of the way to work.
Currently averaging £20 a day in bike maintenance, and only once have I made it to and from my destination without having to walk some of the way.
Anyone else had a run of bad luck?
Does your commute involve a section of Fort William? Maybe avoid that bit 😉
But yes but very occasionally... Your got it out the way quickly.
The Tom Howard Value Paradox:
the unacceptable cost of cycle commuting, vs the acceptable cost of everything else.
😂
I think in 10+ years of commuting in London, I've had about 6 punctures. I do remember a run of bad luck involving a worn out rear tyre and a particular bridge with new broken glass in different spots every day. That was 3 of them!
Not commuting no - but I’ve just stuck to inner tubes on my road bike and had no real dramas with that. Not convinced on road tubeless from what I read / hear.
The rear mech exploding is a bit unlucky - what mech was it and how did it destroy itself??
Commuting by bike always gives me a bit of head space and gets the endorphins going I find. The only time I find myself hating it is mid winter, in the dark, in the pouring rain on the grind home from work when I just want to be at home. Other than that I enjoy it. Sadly I mostly work from home now so I’m missing out on it.
The 1st rule of commute club is....
Schwalbe Marathon Plus, with smart guard anti puncture protection
@stwhannah it’s proof that cheap(er) bikes are a false economy. Not had these issues with ‘less value focused’ bikes!
Don't think of it as having mechanicals, think of it as your bike telling you that there were things that you forgot to change out or improve before you started using it more.
You know, that.
Besides, you have not factored in the additional cost of the extra food you will want with all that exercise.
I commuted in London for years. Generated a lot of content for my blog, a few injuries and a a long list of 'temporary fixes' that lasted for months. I still remember this (probably my worst) accident
https://www.pickled-hedgehog.com/commuting-rants/crossing-the-rubicon/
2005! Blimey. I never used the tube tho. Regardless of the weather. Was very proud of that back in the day. Two years ago I tried a rental bike in London. Jeez - scared myself poo-less, so busy, so many bikes. No way I could do it now...
‘Less value focussed’ I’m flipping having that.
Anyone else had a run of bad luck?
Yep. Had 6 punctures in 6 bike rides. The roads and paths of North Tyneside are paved in broken glass.
Schwalbe Marathon Plus, with smart guard anti puncture protection
100% this ^ plus you get the added benefit of increasing fitness by forcing an extra 1.5kg to rotate 😰 😂
105 rear mech, I suspect the explosion may have been assisted by the spokes. Or the fearsome power in my legs.
I commuted for 30 years until I retired.
I had a dedicated commuter bike. Single speed, mudguards, rack, puncture resistant tyres with the foam layer. Once I gave up on shimano disks I had few problems.
I ran schwalbe marathon plus tyres when I commuted into Sheffield. They weigh a ton and make the ride dead, but I'll take that for the ability to not care about broken glass and the lack of punctures.
Cracking my London Road frame at the TT/ST weld was probably the biggest mechanical. That was caused by a pothole, which was ironic given the marketing blurb about the London Road bike being able to handle the potholes of Sheffield's London Road.
Don't commute on a bike that is less than 20 years old. Components should be at least 10 years old (demoted components from main bikes that refuse to die even though there's something new and shiny you really want to buy are the best bet).
Exceptions: Brake pads, chain, cassette, chainrings, tyres, grips, rims(if using rim brakes).
I had the same when I first started commuting, so many punctures and mechanicals.
Leeds is littered with broken glass, nails, screws, and other stuff. I even managed to puncture a marathon plus casing tyre!
I've sacked off road oriented tyres now and have been running fast rolling MTB tyres tubeless. WTB rangers were good, and now running Mezcals after they wore out.
Also sacked off the gravel bike and now ride a rigid MTB.
Flipping heck - never had a road mech do that. Maybe what you need is 12 speed AXS on there and some Berd spokes 🤔😝
3x8 on my commuter (mash up of 1998 Cannondale hybrid and many different parts), and v brakes... cheap as chips to replace consumables.
Saves me £10 every day I ride in.. 12 miles each way.
After a couple of years of no punctures on G-one All Roads, switched to Continental Plus City Touring tyres after 3 in a week end of last year. I can kid myself they are faster rolling than Marathon Plus.. seem to work.
That said about to head in on my new bike as the sun is shining 🙂
The 1st rule of commute club is….
Schwalbe Marathon Plus, with smart guard anti puncture protection
Or Continental Contact Plus. 😁
Tom - what crappy and unmaintained bike are you riding? 😜
Thinking back to the two years of Stockholm commuting, my biggest issue was a chain exploding coming off the lights one time. I was clipped in, but _JUST_ managed to get my feet out before I fell over in the middle of the four way junction.
No punctures, no other major mechanicals in two years, but I was doing a chain every six months and got through two cassettes because of the salt and the winter freeze/wet cycle. Oh, and a rear hub. But, I was running 26" wheels with the thinnest tyres I could fit on the rims.
Maybe what you need is 12 speed AXS on there
I know you’re joking, but had the window for getting c2w at work not shut the literal day before that happened, that’s what I’d be running now.
Doesn’t open for another year 😭
Alfine. putoline, dynamo lights, Conti travel contact tyres. hope discs
Years of trouble free commuting
I've done ~15,000 miles on marathon plus (2 pairs) without a single puncture. Everything lighter just isn't worth the faff
Maybe it's time for us to play "Let's spec a commuter for Tom" - I'm not sure I know enough obscure artisan component suppliers to spec a whole bike but suggest we start with something simple and reliable, maybe a frame from Moots.
I rate the puncture liner tapes, bit fiddly to install but have massively reduced my commuting deflation incidence. Seems to stop the tiny razor sharp bits of stone and glass that find their way through even tough tyres.
Two years ago I tried a rental bike in London. Jeez – scared myself poo-less, so busy, so many bikes. No way I could do it now…
London commuting now is brilliant.
Normal clothes. Hire bike. Zero wear and tear cost to you!
You do have to ride in a different manner though. You go from being a head down roadie to just sort of floating along without a care in the world. If you try and hurry a Santander Cycle along, it's like riding a recalcitrant barge. Just relax and go with the flow.
My first week of commuting ended up with me rolling over the bonnet of a c class.
Bright side: it can only get better, and you'll probably get fitter.
I would try the Schwalbe Marathon's but I refuse to use tyres with a stupid cosmetic tread pattern cut into it.
I recommend Continental Contact Speed instead: https://www.continental-tires.com/bicycle/tires/urban-tour/contact-speed
Schwalbe or Conti tyres fo'shure, but if your commute is a back route for every roadman, scallywag, pickpocket and ner-do-well then every Monday it'll be strewn with broken glass. know your area and swap routes appropriately.
Plus; punctures always come in threes.
I'm a massive fan of the Conti Contact tyres too. Some have been replaced on the original tube with no patches, all the others have only had one. I tried Marathons once. too slow!
I went for years on a Giant Gavia tyre - slow and heavy but no punctures. Then switched to a gp5000, which is *much* faster until you add in the time spent fixing punctures. Going to try tubeless now but mainly because the potholes are so insane.
Normal clothes.
I've never commuted in anything else TBF, pair of over-trousers and a decent waterproof are about my only concessions to weather.
Bike issues are like buses, several come along all at once. Plus we tend to only remember the bad days, and not the hundreds of days where we had no issues.
There's a reason that 'commuter' bikes exist. If you're going to have to rely on a bike for your work then go and fit some Schwalbe Marathons. They will ride like crap and weigh the same as a small planet but you'll never have punctures again (not guaranteed but they're tough, very tough). Or fit Halo Twin Rail Courier tyres, they're cheaper and pretty much as good.
I used to commute on a singlespeed cross bike until one day the freehub froze and I was ejected over the bars. After that it was fixie all the way (unless I was going for a ride on the way home then I'd take my road bike or mountain bike or even train in with a ride home). There's a reason couriers use them, they're cheap and very reliable. You'll also develop cool skills like fixie skids and track standing and fixe bunny hops.
@tomhoward that’s sad times if you only have 1 annual window to do C2W - ours is anytime.
My caad12 disc commuter was 105 to start with and I found I just don’t like Shimano mechanical road shifters. Prefer sram double tap - but when I looked at retro fitting that it was quite expensive aftermarket so I just went Shimano di2 instead. Can thoroughly recommend it - in particular it makes front shifting much nicer.
Just done C2W for a new commuter frame / cranks to fit it and moved all my build kit across.
I’ve done ~15,000 miles on marathon plus (2 pairs) without a single puncture. Everything lighter just isn’t worth the faff
I tried them for a while, and something lighter was definitely worth the faff.
Riding with Marathon Plus tyres added between 10-15 minutes to each direction of my commute. So up to 30 minutes extra per day.
Multiply that by around 2 return trips per week, every week. Well over 24hrs extra per year pushing around on horrible tyres. That is a lot of time I would need to spend fixing punctures to benefit from any time saving.
I've been on Conti GP4000, Schwalbe Durano, and now Conti GP5000 since the Marathon experiment, and my commutes have remained mostly puncture free
it’s proof that cheap(er) bikes are a false economy. Not had these issues with ‘less value focused’ bikes!
Bollocks to that.
Bought a second hand 2010 Kona Dew Deluxe for £150 a few years back and barring a chain plate popping off (just one side and it still ran!) it's never had any issues. Mile for mile it's probably the cheapest bike I've ever owned.
Alfine. putoline, dynamo lights, Conti travel contact tyres. hope discs
Years of trouble free commuting
Having replaced the Dew with a P7 running an Alfine I'd disagree. Utterly energy sapping, feels heavy and just not fun to ride any distance on. My Tektro's have been never been touched and work great and beyond convenience a Bikehut 1600 will do the job just as well. The only thing you have right out that lot are the Conti's.
I'm tempted to buy this myself....
And I don't even cycle to work anymore (too far, too dangerous route..... I'm sure I could find some other excuses 😜)
Would pay itself back in a week of commuting.
Fixie, 23mm Gatorskins with tubes, rim brake, full guards.
Next to nothing to go wrong and the tyres are skinny enough you can ride between the bits of glass and potholes 😉
Marathon Plus
Sluggish is the best description, but aye, no punctures are possible.
My commutes are gravel singletrack and rural roads. Had a few punctures over the last few years. Getting stuck with a mechanical and no lights in the forestry isn’t brilliant so I always carry a spare battery now, and finding another rider laid across a track in the dark paralysed with spinal damage after a crash was memorable (he’s recovered).
Thunder Burts were the worst tyres, whole knobs would come off when braking.
My own rubbish Haiku of commuting bike components
Schwalbe Marathon Plus
Fixed gear, Putoline and full mudguards with flaps,
Dynamo lights
My other bikes the same but with a nexus 3-speed and drum brakes. Yes it drags and sucks the fun out of riding, but it's functional and I'll replace the chain when it's so stretched it reaches the end of the track ends. It's a bike that get's me to work in 15 minutes regardless of weather, traffic, nuclear Armageddon or broken glass on the cycle path. It doesn't need any maintenance, nothing needs charging, it just lives outside the front of the house by the gate ready to go.
And I don’t even cycle to work anymore (too far, too dangerous route….. I’m sure I could find some other excuses 😜)
That's pretty much how mine began, a £100 Charge Plug 1 (aluminum SSCX versions) that was languishing on someone's turbo. It's now my do-it-all commuter, winter road bike, and summer SSCX. The roadie versions probably equally good on road, just less versatile.
I've had 2 punctures in 6 years using Schwalbe marathons so can heartily recommend them. Ok my commute is only 5 miles and if it's raining I'll take the car so it's probably not the mileage that some of you have seen but it all adds up.
My commuter is a bit different to any of yours in that it's a 1960 something Sun steel frame sit up and beg 3 speed gentleman's bike that cost me £60. I've fitted a few modern bits to it to reduce the weight slightly but it's still the thick end of 40lbs. Chrome plated steel rims and Sturmey archer don't often make a light build. It's not fast but it's a very good tool and is very unlikely to ever get nicked. I can't conceive of spending any actual bike money on something to commute on.
peekay
Riding with Marathon Plus tyres added between 10-15 minutes to each direction of my commute. So up to 30 minutes extra per day.
How ****ing long is your commute??
I commuted for about 5 years on a 1*8 Edinburgh Bicycle Courier. After I stopped commuting I gave it to my son who is still using it daily 14 years on in Cambridge.
It has gone though load of tyres and a few drivetrains but at 8 speed (upgraded to 9 now) who cares? And it is so scruffy that even getting kicked in the street in Cambridge it hasn't been stolen.
Apart from one cracked frame , a Ridgeback, who replaced the whole bike under warranty as they couldn't get a frame, no mechanicals apart from punctures over my commuting years.
Apart from the benefits of riding and hour or two a day it allowed us to be a 1 car family. Win win.
Fixing a puncture on a nice summers evening isn't a pain. Dark, cold and rain it is. Never noticed the extra weight of marathon pluses, not sure what this 'dead' feeling is. No punctures in the years since I swapped tyres.
if it’s raining I’ll take the car
And
Chrome plated steel rims
Your're right to avoid riding chrome plated rims in the wet, bloody lethal things! Are they rod brakes to, to complete the triumvirate of ineffective stoppers?