[Closed] Recommend me a short commute bike please

Genesis Skyline 10

Voodoo Marasa or one of the three rigid formed Boardman Hybrids with British Cycling discount, depending on what budget you have in mind.

how short is short, and is there any requirement to carry luggage?

Raleigh courier from sometime in the 1970s*

Look classy go fast carry stuff for peanuts.

BMX!

Raleigh Twenty fixie of course:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raleigh-Twenty-Shopper-Fixie-Bike/183010170867?hash=item2a9c4197f3:g:r7EAAOSw6HJZyYbM

(Not mine btw)

Genesis Smithfield.

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Skinwalls, obviously.

Only improvements would be if they made a belt drive version (expensive!) and a dynamo hub (relatively cheap in comparison.)

Please forgive the thread resurrection. I decided to keep the bike in the end, but it's now died so I'm looking again. This time more urgently.

Voodoo Marassa still looks like being a reasonable option, although 3x8 is unnecessary and the frame size a bit small.

Also tempted by a Hyde Pro, but it's a lot of money for a bike that will have a high probability of being stolen / damaged and I've no idea how to maintain the hub and belt. The "too nice to leave at the station" argument also applies to the Genesises.

Seems peculiar that in a world full of cheap 3x8 "mountain" bikes with 80mm forks nobody makes a bike with a rigid fork and without the front shifter.

I’d be going for single speed for simplicity, given you said it’s a short/flat ride.

You don't say how short, short is? I do 25 miles on a Charge Cooker single speed (32-14 as it's not steep), equally I've done a 14 mile commute on a racing/road bike.

I'd go with anything secondhand and single speed then alfine it if you have to.

Unless it's so dead the frame is in several pieces I'd just replace whatever's broken on the old one again (unless it's a 56/large in which case sell me the frame).

No disc brakes, but single ring up front & relatively inconspicuous looking how about the Pinnacle Lithium 1 from Evans?

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-lithium-1-2019-hybrid-bike-EV339936

Seems peculiar that in a world full of cheap 3×8 “mountain” bikes with 80mm forks nobody makes a bike with a rigid fork and without the front shifter.

not really, those 3x front setups will be produced in huge numbers so likely cheaper than a cheap 1x would be, ditto the forks peoplewant suspension forks on their mtbso, rigid have less demand so at that price point would be made of old socks and weigh as much if not more than the (likely more study too) mass produced crap suspension forks.

Halfords had a few things in sale last week which might fit the bill for you though but there are plenty of reasonable hybrids at sensible prices with disk brakes out there lots of suppliers, the world is your lobster.

Re the suggestions on single speeds, it's a great idea but, if you want a beater it's almost undoubtedly going to have gears as the bottom end of the market sees 24 speed as an upgrade over 21 so that end specs gears.

The new Marasa since a year ago is now 3x9, it's currently £350 in a promo (it was £320 around Black Friday) and if you're lucky you might be able to get 10% discount with a British Cycling membership card and the 2D scan on your BC membership website page.

A new one on the block since last year is https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/calibre-stitch-urban-bike-p433473 , it was £320 in Black friday promo, claimed weight is ~2.2Kg lighter than the Marasa and they do an XL size... Albeit I cannot see a geo table anywhere!
Oh, here we go...
http://calibrebicycles.com/bike/stitch/

I have a 2.5 mile each way commute. Currently running an old skool Roadrat, singlespeed, carbon fork, disc brakes and flat bars. Might 1x9 it at some point to make it a bit quicker but for the type of commute which sounds like yours (ie, totally flat), its perfect.

Can be picked up cheap now. Paid 250 for mine a few years ago with an Alfine which I gave away and singlespeeded it.

I use my 25 year old MTB. Converted to singlespeed, with a dynamo hub and mudguards and a rack. Works a treat and if you’ve got a spares pile kicking about it costs next to nothing.

Re the suggestions on single speeds, it’s a great idea but, if you want a beater it’s almost undoubtedly going to have gears

But then a conversion kit is less than £20. And you could sell the shifters, derailleurs, cassette and surplus chainrings for more than that.

If you are buying from Halfords, it is worth asking friends that work for large companies if they have company discount schemes that include Halfords/Cycle Republic. I work for a large insurers, we get 10% of at Halfords by topping up a gift card, so if something is £100, we pay £90.00 onto the card, then as the card counts as cash in the shop, they still allow the 10% British Cycling discount too, so 20% off!

Also, if you really have a short commute, i would consider Tannus Solid tyres, never puncture again and actually ride better than they sound

I skim read the thread, and picked out these requirements:-

• Short commute
• Not so nice that it gets nicked from the station
• Flat bars (like to ride sat upright)
• Disc brakes

My recommendation is a cheap, ugly hardtail mtb, maybe even covered in stickers and some additional paint to make it less desirable with decent schwalbe puncture-resistant tyres. Not sure what roads are like on your commute, but I don't feel safe riding some of the roads round here without wide-ish tyres to take the shock out of some of those unexpected potholes....

But then a conversion kit...

Very true, i was more aiming at looking at buying one off the shelf though, but yes assuming it came with a standard free hub not an old freewheel conversion makes sense (I'd just run the altus-if-you're-lucky stuff to death then convert mind)

(Looking at the suggestions of £50 an end tyres etc above though i maybe have a very different idea of a short commute bike that doesn't look enticing from some, I'm thinking of one step up from death trap and keep my nice toys for other stuff.)

Orbea Katu.
The top end of the range has disks and Alfine, others don't.

The closest thing I ever found similar to the EBC Couriers are the Vitus commuter bikes. The Dee 29 VR is cheap, 1x, flat bar and has disks.

Katus are cool. I just bought the electric version. Front basket is handy

Cheers for the suggestions.

It's only a mile but runs down an alley, past a school, along shared use path, through the market and then past the bus station; and is the first stage of a two hour journey. Ability to stop for push chairs/mummy taxi/bus is important. Whilst not essential a heavy bike that doesn't shift properly and soaks my legs and shoes would spoil the ride. Maybe I'm being too fussy, but it doesn't seem that unreasonable to want, after a decade of progress, what I could get ten years ago.

If only the current frame had calliper mounts it'd be worth new wheels and drivetrain.

My Mrs has a Vitus Dee. It's an agricultural build that is unbelievably heavy with the world's most uncomfortable saddle, and you'd have to replace the tyres to fit mudguards (something that would apply to other mountain bike options). Plus I still wonder what other curious design decisions went into a bike where fixing a puncture involves dismantling the rear triangle.

For a mile, I'd be tempted by one of these, which you could fold & take with you:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/town-7xl-scooter-grey-id_8377411.html?iv_=__iv_p_1_g_62249986959_c_316432661956_w_pla-329016726863_n_g_d_c_v__l__t__r_1o1x_pla_y_15177021_f_online_o_2160941_z_GB_i_en_j_329016726863_s__e__h_9050381_ii__vi__&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjszhBRDgARIsAH8KgvdF6mC8Yzz8B-dGMnAB7rIKk_BoMBb4daf8Hrc_MIaLDAnF3nWyQmYaArLoEALw_wcB

for a mile, i'd just walk rather than have the hassle of getting a bike out of a shed, locking it up etc.

or a BMX.

Walking is what I'm doing today, but when you already spend 4 and a half hours a day commuting the extra 30 minutes are precious.

As above scooter or walk, you can do a mile in 15 minutes walking and anything you save on the bike you'll lose faffing around

It takes 12 minutes by bike and 25 minutes to walk. I know this because I've cycled it for 8 years and waked today.

I refuse to become one of those antisocial people using a scooter on the pavement and they aren't really a suitable vehicle for the roads. Or to carry on a rush hour tube.

...By complete coincidence just got smashed in the shin by someone attempting to fit his scooter onto the train.

Think this thread may be going off topic. Thanks for the pointers.

Walk. By the time you've got the bike out and locked it up at the other end you'll be a third of the way there. 5 minute ride & 2.5 minutes at each end means you're saving 15-20 minutes a day.

If you really want to ride the 1 mile then a 100 quid bike off gumtree, as chances are it'll get stolen at some point. It's not as if it's going to be doing anything strenuous, if it's got brakes that stop it, tyres with air in them, a seat and a saddle it'll do.

For £199:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/vitus-vee-29-city-bike-2018/rp-prod159731?mx=a

Or pay £160 more for discs.

I have the V brake version, set the brakes up with new pads, add muguards & some Schwalbe protection tyres.

Cheapest retro MTB you can find. Late '80s for upright commuter geometry. Something like an old Saracen or Muddy Fox for £30-40, then singlespeed it for £20. Job done.

I've got one of these Kona paddy wagon 3 in a dark green I'd be prepared to part with, based near Cambridge.

http://2017.konaworld.com/paddy_wagon_3.cfm

I have had a whyte stirling as a commuter for the last six years. Seems to suit most your needs; disc brakes, flat bars, takes standard mud guards and isn't to bling looking. Carbon forks really make a difference. Only work I have done to mine is to fit a single chain ring, less to go wrong. Used every day and only now needing bearings replaced.

If you're commuting two hours each way then you are clearly making big bucks.
Get a titanium Brompton.
If I can be honest, you are a bit mental insisting on disc brakes for a one mile flat route.

Brompton and take it with you?

Just when I think I've covered every niche, I now find I've only got a medium/long commuter!! Argh!!