Commuter bike: cheap hack or bling

Chatting with a mate, 3 both have 3 bikes and also cycle to work. A mountain bike (both our cycling passion), a road bike and a commuter.

So..his

Expensive MTB and Road bike – probably used 2 a month each & el cheapo commuter.

Me Expensive MTB cheap road bike – again each used about twice a month and a pimp commuter.

For me, the bike I spend most my time on is the commuter and is probably my best bike.

So what is the general consensus on this? I guess its a personal choice thing and depends where you can store your commuter.

ride a 3k santa cruz as my commuter, but it is 14 miles each way and about 70% off road

ratbike.

Something that under the skin goes like Florence Griffith Joyner chewing ‘phets but actually looks like Tessa Sanderson eating a lemon.

Mine. With tippex highlights.

Shirely the commuter quality depends a hugh amount on where you get to store it at work (or out of the house, like @ the station)

as above, all down to where you store it.

If you can see it all day then bling otherwise I’d go for something that works well but won’t attract attention.

I’ve a choice of two commuter bikes – a 2004 Enduro or a 2009 Wolf Ridge!

I simply inflate the tyres to their maximum recommended pressure and away I go. It doesn’t earn me much capital in the traffic light snobbery stakes but it suits me.

1997 Univega Alpina 800 bought new for £250 in 1998. Despite being aesthetically peerless, no one has yet tried to steal it. 😆

Wouldn’t dream of using a bling bike to commute unless justified by the distance or terrain.

trailgator and a child seat on the back – keeping your options open, there 🙂

use a pompino. but we have a secure bike shed.

and lots of bike shelters – which distract the bike thieves

Blingo roadie, Blingo mtb(s), Blingo foldie (it sits under my desk at work)
If I was to keep the commuter outside in full view then I’d change it for something “less knickable” like a sha*ged out fixie or something.

I now need to stick some lights on it, this morning was quite dark outside.

Got a nice hardtail, and insurance. Despite having my remedy nicked from my own hallway I still despise the idea of riding a piece of shit everyday just to avoid the attentions of chavs.
Latest addition is a motion sensing alarm though!

I bought 1 bike to ‘do it all’ – MTB & commuting, a Scandal 29er (swapped tyres @ weekend & all was well). All great until Scandal got nicked & then disc brakes nicked from replacement.

I now use a 15 yr old hack MTB which does me proud. I cycle to various venues round London daily & park my bike in/on whatever is the nearest parking facility (railings or stands) & learnt that nice bikes & non-secure parking dont really go together.

I rack up c60-100 miles a week & if I had secure parking I’d invest in a nice commuter (something with an alfine maybe)…

I have a winter bike with full guard and drops – have used my race bike, MTB etc but I find the drops and full guards are spot on but then I don’t do many urban miles in my commute.

Personally I don’t think you should let the thieving ba*tards win by change you mind on what bike to ride. Any bike that you ride a lot should be a decent one in my eyes as you then get far more enjoyment. If you have a relatively safe place to lock the bike then I say decent bike, decent lock and lots of enjoyment.

Granted if you had to lock your bike just in the street then I would probably go for something more modest but I could never ride a piece of ugly crap. Then again it doesn’t seem to mater what bike you have as it always amazes me the crap that thieves nick.

Best advice, get a really decent lock. They cost a bomb but do the job.

Hack bike, a 1992 Raleigh Dynatech “Diablo DX” complete with flexstem.

Winter road bike is also year round commuter. Well, it was when I was actually regularly commuting by bike…. 😳 Current commute (52m round trip) just feels too tough to do very often and function at work.

I’m lucky to have v secure bike parking hence mine’s on the blingy side (Roadrat). Given the amount of miles I cover on it and the terrain involved, I feel I deserve it! Certainly makes my commute more fun that a crappy cheap bike does (I’ve used the wife’s such bike on occasion – no thanks).

I treat my commute as training and bike to work 10 miles each way every day if I can
I am lucky enough to have secure storage so use the SS 29er

The only thing I have found in the past is that your ‘hack’ bike gradually collects bits of bling over time and ends up being worth just as much as your best bike that sits idle in the shed while you are on your hack

Define bling?
Commuter : Kona Paddy Waggon, Fixed wheel, grey with yellow wheels, Look pedals, SKS guards, Durano Plus tyres and a Topeak rack. I also now have bling lights and a nice bling bag to match the frame. Total cost is about £700. Our site is totally secure, but I lock the chainwheel with a heavy duty padlock. Just so it will have to be carried away 😈

Since it’s the bike I ride most (100+ miles per week), I’m happy to have a nice bike to ride. If I was locking it somewhere dodgy, I’d just use a bigger lock.

Road bike : Shiny bling, never leaves my side when I’m out with it! Too nice to ride in the winter 😳

Any bike that you ride a lot should be a decent one in my eyes as you then get far more enjoyment. If you have a relatively safe place to lock the bike then I say decent bike, decent lock and lots of enjoyment.

+1
I like riding my bike, I ride my commuter quite a lot, and so I want to have a good ride on a good bike. That said you do have to make concessions to practicalities, I’ve got a Roadrat (drop bars, mudguards, SS) which strikes a reasonable balance for me.

Since I ride 13 miles each way and have secure underground parking at work I ride a semi-bling commuter, 105 gruppo, 700cc wheeled, disc braked, carbon forked, flat bar roadie.

To be fair unless I spend a big day out on my carbon road sled, the commuter is the bike that gets most use.

My MTB’s on the other hand stay at home all locked away for their alternate uses, they’re semi-bling too, but I’d never be using them for a commute, unless it takes in some off-road

I have a langster for the commute, so relatively cheap. But over time I’ve upgraded various bits so its quite a nice bike. But I spend more time on this bike than the rest of them put together so I think any money spent is well spent. I also have to lock it in various places around the north west, fortunately a good lock seems to be enough up here.

I commute on either;
1 terra cotta brown 20yr old trek MTB with slicks
2 Ancient, Orange Peugeot crosser

Both look horrible, both are worth very little and i enjoy riding them for every minute that i’m on them.
My other bikes are not for commuting on. bikes for purpose imho