[Closed] West Leeds Cycle Commuters -- where to live? advice please....

Wharfdale (Ilkley, Skipton etc) has the best road biking and opens up the whole of the Dales to you. Airedale (Silsden, Keighley etc) suffers a bit from being 'trapped' by Bradford so is a lot busier. The traffic can be pretty awful. It will be better value for money on houses etc.

Re cycle commute, your best option would be live in Horsforth (expensive!), cycle round the back of the airport from areas such as Guiseley, Menston and Yeadon (some parts of the latter are a bit ropey), stick with the A65 (I know a number of people who do, as it's wide and there is cycle lane on the way back up the hill for some of it) or look at Airedale and cycle along the canal. You can access Horsforth quite easily via a back lane from the A65 from the canal.

The Ilkley train line adds a lot to the cost of houses (rental and buying) so avoiding locations directly on the stops will be better value. I really like Otley, though know some people aren't so keen. Bit of a haul over to Horsforth on busy roads. Where are you moving from? We moved down here from the NE 18 months ago and the amount of traffic was huge shock. Personally I wouldn't want to cycle commute at peak times on the road.

In Airedale, consider Saltaire, Silsden, Seeton. Shipley and Keighley are cheap for a reason! You could cycle from Skipton if you are used to those distances but I don't think it will be quick. Best option is the canal, but it's not quick and smooth and clear. Also in the summer it can get really busy on an evening (drove me mad when I tried to cycle back from Leeds one day, I ended up getting on the train at Kirkstall). The moor top road gets really busy with drivers avoiding the main road at peak time. P20 will go that way on a day off in the week, but after the traffic has gone.

So I'd probably go for Horsforth (we rented a decent 1.5 bed flat for £695/month and liked it and it has the pubs and cafes you want), Guiseley etc and maybe go the back way round the airport, Otley has the pubs, cafe and great road riding from the door (you might need to work on the commute), or Saltaire and take the canal and accept it is a bit more of a haul at the weekend.

I was also going to point out the canal, it's tarmac/aggregate pretty much all the way from Keighley. There are some pockets of areas that are within distance whilst also with immediate good road riding (what I assume, I don't road ride) ie Saltaire, Baildon, Esholt. Only problem with canal, as pointed out, are summer evenings.

@ahsat - wow, thats a great post, thanks for taking the time on that - much appreciated, and great info....

although i hate to admit it , the ilkley "line" seems to be the best option for what i want - even if i have to pay more in rent might make it more enjoyable long term in not faffing around for road riding / dales - and if i can figure out a commute path thats not too bad , then thats a bonus , otherwise i could drive/train it in.

i did kind of think that the moors roads would probably get a lot of cut-through traffic!

i'm coming from edinburgh, so i know all about terrible traffic, from 6.20am here it getts choka, especially as i have to go over the FRB - sometimes after work , 11 miles can take over an hour.

I think the saving grace might be the gym & cafe next door to work is open longer hours than my working day, so i dont mind cycling in earlier and enjoying a wee stretch session in the morning + lazy breakfast and then a gym session after work and let the traffic calm a little. plus i'm an early riser and dont mind early morning commutes.

You are very welcome.  We got loads of advice when we were moving down here, so very happy to help someone else out, now we know more about it.  We live in Guiseley and really like it (we didnt stay in Horsforth as we wanted more green and the cost of houses).  Probably the other place I'd consider is Burley in Wharfedale for the balance of price and convenience.  I need to get into Leeds 4-5 days a week, so the position on the train line is important to me (one of the people adding to the house prices).  We head north a lot, into Ilkley, Otley and the moors.  To be honest, there are no 'bad' places along that route and because people are so used to the huge numbers of road bikers, yes the driving is nuts, but people do seem largely aware there will be another cyclist round the corner.    Train from the Ilkley line to Horsforth would be a bit of a mare, as you would have to change at Leeds (quicker to cycle!).  Otherwise there is the 97 bus, but that is a bit of a lottery!  Other places to consider are also Bramhope (though cant think there are many rentals) and Baildon (further out, but nice place).  I think your 'line A' is a decent option, and you could enjoy working out your commute - you could probably link some bits up on a cross bike too maybe.

Give us a shout if you have any more questions.  Due to injury, we haven't explored the area on bike as much as we would have liked, though p20 now has some decent road loops going into the Dales.  Both Otley and Ilkley road clubs are very big, active clubs which might be of interest.

Otley is rubbish. There are no good pubs and no good cafes or coffee shops. The scenery is awful and the people are very unfriendly. The cycling to rubbish too. The Tour de Yorkshire coming through twice this year will be woefully unsupported. In short, don't come here.

Lol at russianbob. Baildon resident here, lots of great off-road cycling on the doorstep. Did anyone mention it’s a bit hilly round here?

Baildon to Horsforth could be done by bike quite easily, a lot of it off road (I.e canal). Trains from Baildon go to either Shipley & Bradford, or Guiseley , Menston, Burley-in-wharfedale, Ilkley. If you want to go to Leeds or beyond, it’s a change at either Shipley or Guiseley. Car into Leeds is either A65 via Guiseley, or A657 (and eventually A65) via Shipley, Greengates, Calverley, Rodley. The latter is relatively affordable and only a short hop to Horsforth on the (very busy) Leeds outer ring road.

another thing about Horsforth - it’s split into two parts, and the original part ( with the railway station) is right off the end of the runway at Leeds-Bradford Airport.

Horsforth is on the Harrogate rail line, next stop out is Weeton (which is actually in Huby) but then you’re getting into Harrogate and prices start going up again.

Keighley is a hole, as is Shipley. And most of Bradford. Thackley, Apperley Bridge ok, Greengates not. Calverley is nice as long as you keep away from the Greengates end. Avoid post codes BD1-9 (although BD5-7 are south of the city so probably not ideal anyway). Keighley’s suburbs are nice, mostly, but overrun with tourists when you get out towards Haworth. Saltaire full of tourists too, and home to All Terrain Cycles

thanks for all the replies, its been a great help!!!!! now, much searching to do 😀

I live in Cookridge* - 500yds from Horsforth station but the other side of the valley. It's got all of Horsforth's advantages, but is a darn site cheaper...

(*I tell people I'm in Horsforth if I want to sound posh/middle class...)

How old are you OP ?

Saltaire is a brilliant little place, can highly recommend it

mid forties 🙁

like me quiet pubs,cafes and road riding now .......

@funkydunc

just street viewed its main high street - looks pretty nice !!!

Yes but the houses are only fit for hobbits, and the streets for hobbit-sized cars

further research today - silsden looks cheap for houses!!!!

would have to use the minor b road for commute as the main A road into the city looks nasty- but as said above that B road will probably be a rat run....

Re silsden (and Keighley, Bradford etc) they're close and easily commutable to Leeds, far and away the biggest place for decent jobs and things this side of the pennines.

Think of it a bit like London in as much as it's where most of the surrounding area (North, West East and a good chunk of South Yorkshire) go to work, if it's close and cheap there is a very good reason...

(Of course before anyone starts to complain about my bias there are jobs industry etc in other places such as Sheffield, huddersfield etc. but the "good" jobs are more concentrated i leeds)

You're more of a man than I'll ever be, if you're prepared to commute on a bike Silsden to Leeds. However, I would be quite happy to live there, train station is inconveniently just out of town but direct to / from Leeds, you can do your shopping in Skipton (rather than Keighley).

One of the lads in the cycle club (Ilkley CC) rides from Silsden to Ilkley and gets the train into Leeds.  I understand also that the direct commute is a bit of a nightmare.  Not that its particularly pleasant from Ilkley to Leeds..

hmm ok - much appreciated advice - thanks!!!!

i'm heading down next weekend to look at rentals and perhaps even a property to buy - going to center on ilkley...

-- actually good idea about Ilkley CC i'll try and find their Forum and ask a few Q's about the commute from there.

some bits of the a65 have a cycle lane, some dont ....

Ilkley housing is expensive compared to say Menston , Guiseley or Burley in Wharfedale. All on the same train line, on the A65 but not quite as expensive as Ilkley proper.

Ilkley, Burley in Wharfedale and Menston all in LS29 postcode (Leeds) but in Bradford district, so council tax will be slightly cheaper than Guiseley, Otley or Horsforth itself, all in Leeds district.

If you don’t need to be on a train line then West Park, Cookridge, Adel, Moortown & Alwoodley (LS16-17) are also close enough to Horsforth for cycle commute, all on the Leeds outer ring road but getting into town can be a nightmare - bus or car (or bike) are the only options. Stay outside the ring road if you can or if you’re not fussy 😉

I wouldn't discount Rodley or Farsley where you'll get a bit more for your money. They are just down the hill from Horsforth and have some pubs and decent cafes. We bought it Horsforth but would look that way if we were to buy again.

Ilkley is best location, if you can afford it.  Access to moors for mtb and dales for road.  Hard to beat IMHO. ICC - We have a facebook page not a forum

Route options to Horsforth I can think of

1: off road/gravel: keighley gate road to Shipley, canal towards Rodley, road to Horsforth

2: A65 Direct, most people would do this, I did for a few years when I was in the city centre

3: Hilly summer nicer route possibility. Askwith, Otley, East Chevin Road, Scotland Lane</span>

4: Cow and Calf climb, Burley Woodhead, Menston then the A65

Ilkley CC is a cracking road club btw, Thursday nights are generally the best rides.. mainly for the pub scene, although there are local rides ending in some kind of social about 5 days a week that I can think of.

I would recommend Alwoodley and Moortown area as they are are only 15 mins to horsforth by bike and about 20-25 mins to Leeds, they have all the amenities you could wish for. Its only 40 min drive to great yorks dale riding and an abundance of great 50 mile loops for road riding.

We have friends who moved to Silsden a year ago (having lived in Conoley) and really like it, but as per the comments above, it really wouldn't be the easiest commute. The canal is great but think it would really grind day in day out.

Silsden to Ilkley is a massive hike in house cost/rent. I'd also look at the other locations John mentioned, as your cash will go further (that said, if I had an endless pot of money, I would consider living in Ilkley).

Disclaimer that John commented on previous similar threads I started and we ended up in Gusieley 🙂

we [i]were[/i] considering moving from Baildon to Burley-in-Wharfedale so as to be near a direct rail route into Leeds - Mrs_D works in Shipley atthe moment but her job will be moving to Leeds some time in the next three-four years) - but I've just landed a job in Aylesbury 😯 - so we might be relocating down there.

In true STW forum style I'd say Guiseley.

I live in Guiseley.

Horsforth not to far away. Train into leeds if you need it.

A good mixture of things to do on and off the bike, road or mtb.

In previous years was the most average place in the country according to the ONS!

I look out of my kitchen window everyday and see cows, horses and cyclists.

It's no more than 15 minutes into leeds on a train and the same to Ilkley.

Also handy for holidays out of leeds Bradford airport.  Worth checking the house location in relation to flightpaths anywhere in this neck of the woods if you are not a fan of plane noise. There isn' much and very little night flying, but be aware. But you do get the advantage of seeing some interesting military planes leaving about once a month. Tornado last week 🙂 and sadly gone are the days when Concorde visited once a month.

If you are coming down stop at the Chevin and soak up the view.  Oh and we get the bronwnlees coming through on boxing day doing the Chevin chase.

Fine place, Guiseley.

Just to add, both the Wharfedale valley and Airedale valleys are very very busy with commuters.

i wouldn’t even consider commuting on the ‘moor roads’ in between because they are even more dangerous.

A friend does commute from Baildon to Horsforth by bike and he hasn’t died yet which I guess is a positive.

Where ever you live around this area hills feature !

Ilkley doesn’t appeal to me, it’s busy, and very expensive.

@withersea based on your description of being able to see horses, cyclists, and the Brownlies I am thinking we live really rather close to each other!

If I was able (waiting for knee surgery) I'd suggest that we need to all meet for a ride. So many of us near to each other.

Ahsat, sounds good, keep me posted as to when works best for you.  I am just off moor lane.

We could even give back2basics a local tour!

That's what I thought...as it was the only place I knew there was cows! Lol. We are v close then.

I'm screwed for riding for pretty much the whole year, but p20 is still getting out, if anyone does get a ride organised. I'll chuck him out the door.

I do the leeds/ilkley (why would a man live anywhere else?) commute, by a variety of routes off road and on (when the weather's okay, yeah yeah). The worrying traffic is not at the Ilkley end

thanks johnx2 -- I might need to tap you up closer to the time for help on some routes.

I notice there is a dual carriageway on the a65 just outside of ilkley - do you have to do a diversion through burley in wharfedale for that?

Back2basics you can ride that bit of dual carriageway its only short, i have done it hundreds of times. It also has a a small bicycle type lane at the side (its not an actual bicycle lane) that is a metre wide that you can ride in.

Also been looking at Guiseley today - thanks to the responses above!   seems to have a good range of pubs and a high street - renting also seems to have a good selection - more than ilkley - although the prices seem similar...

certainly worth a consideration ...not too far to ride from the door into the dales from there either....

bloody hell - its a fast rental market in Ilkley - but i'm "in" so will start in April --- and will try and checkout any backroads to my commute if I can!

Skipton, or at least the hill out of it up and past Chelker Reservoir (likewise the one out of Ilkley up past Addingham) will probably have you cursing as part of a longer commute. The A65 isn't much fun at all, not well lit and very fast through that stretch. Otley also has a ****er of a hill on the way into Leeds.

Best bet would be the nicer bits of Bingley and Baildon, pick up the canal around Shipley, which is all paved as far as I can tell, then branch off before you get to the ring road and up the hill to Horsforth. That wouldn't be too stressful, or that long.

Also been looking at Guiseley today – thanks to the responses above!   seems to have a good range of pubs and a high street – renting also seems to have a good selection – more than ilkley – although the prices seem similar…

Guiseley would be a fast commute if that's not too far in. It's not a bad suburb of Leeds at all - Menston is great too if you can afford it. A65 has a designated cycle lane for long stretches at that point, it's pretty flat all the way to Horsforth.

...main roads to Leeds from Ilkley are lit. All the cycle commuters I know use A roads for usual, er, A to B. Otley Old Rd's a bugger but the 660 is more drag than hill, and the OP'll be on the 65 anyway (not a hill, in the context of local hills). The main ilk/skip rd is no fun (tho Roman Rd is), but why would you want to go to Skipton?

If I were you i'd just get myself a room in a houseshare in Horsforth for a few months while you settle in and get to know places to live and roads to cycle on.

BD postcodes are way cheaper than LS postcodes.

well i'm signed up now for Ilkley in a wee house....so i'll have to make the best of it 😉

to be honest, the roads north are all looking like great Dales routes, and i would prefer an extra 10mins on my commute either cycling or driving, to not have to do any driving or nasty roads at the weekends to ride - so ilkley i can ride straight out the door and into the dales, along with the many many others in the very large ilkley cycle clubs

and its got tons, and i mean TONS of cafes/pubs/eats/shops etc etc

I drove the A65 route - and apart from the small dual carriageway section, it *seems* like it will be ok, many bits are quite wide with a large seperator in between , few hills, theres also a cycle lane for a short section, and then i hit a shared use path direct into work.

there is also a bypass i could do and go south at burley in wharfedale down a backroad folllow the railway line and come out further down the a65  just north of guiseley ... well thats a plan anyway

cheers everyone for the invaluable advice!!!!

Hope you enjoy, it’s a lovely area, I may well pass you doing the school run.

Avoid the ‘moor’ road from Ilkley to Menston at rush hour it’s a rat run and dangerous.  The main road from Burley up to Menston is actually quite safe before the mayhem towards Leeds.

Leisure rides.  Avoid the main road from Ilkley to Bolton Abbey to Burnsall.  At weekends it’s rammed with cyclists and weekend drivers, none of which get on.

There is a lovely backroad on the north side of the Wharfe running from Otley to Askwith to (optional Langbar) to Bolton Abbey to Burnsall all the way up to Litton. People for some reason use the main road which baffles me.  The back road very rarely gets cars on it

Cool. Nice one b2b. Welcome to Yorkshire.

Leisure rides.  Avoid the main road from Ilkley to Bolton Abbey to Burnsall.  At weekends it’s rammed with cyclists and weekend drivers, none of which get on.

There is a lovely backroad on the north side of the Wharfe running from Otley to Askwith to (optional Langbar) to Bolton Abbey to Burnsall all the way up to Litton. People for some reason use the main road which baffles me.  The back road very rarely gets cars on it

This definitely. Choice of two minor roads over to Beamsley, both are absolutely ace. Crossing the Wharfe at Cavendish Pavilion after your coffee gives you another great little minor road which you can follow all the way up to Hebden.

Ilkley is great (though obviously not as good as Skipton) ;). Watch out for the yummy mummies in their Evoques.

Cool, see on the road soon!

Avoid the ‘moor’ road from Ilkley to Menston at rush hour it’s a rat run and dangerous.  The main road from Burley up to Menston is actually quite safe before the mayhem towards Leeds.

yeah thanks FunkyDunc - a lot of people have said this to me!

work doesnt do flexi so its 8.45 start / 5.15 finish - but to be honest i'll get in on the bike and enjoy a coffee breakfast and podcast catchup in the morning before others arrive.

I note that there is a nice "bridleway" right over the moor south that could be done a cross bike / mtb hardtail and then perhaps a few other off road routes east into leeds for a more interesting commute in/back 😉