Commuting – do I really need a road bike?

I’ve recently moved jobs and my new place of work is only 4 miles from my house, so I’ve decided in an effort to get more riding in I’d like to commute to work by bike. I ride a long travel hardtail at the moment, but I don’t know if I should buy a road bike or just lock out my fork and get some fast rolling tyres.

What does everyone else do? MTB or road bike? Advice and first-hand experience would be appreciated!

For 4 miles probably not, though imo it does make it a lot comfier and faster. Faster rolling tyres will probably get you most of the way there though, it’s just the road bike position is a lot more efficient.

no. 4 miles?

just lock out my fork and get some fast rolling tyres.

MTB for me always – might be a few seconds slower but bigger brakes and tyres make for safer riding.

no 4 miles use anything you like
up to about 10 a hybrid will do
10 + road bike

Used to commute 17 miles on an MTB with slicks. Before that 10m with a normal MTB. Wouldn’t do it these days though, I’m not fit enough 😀

4 miles. What’s that – 15-20 mins on a MTB? And you’re considering a road bike?

You could do 4 miles on a BMX. Ride what you want but a roadbike will make very little difference to your commute times.

I ride 6 miles each way on my hardtail no probs, you’ll be fine.

Considered getting fast tyres but ditched the idea for two reasons;

– faff of changing tyres back for weekend off road rides
– the additional hard work really benefits my fitness. Am I riding to work to get there as fast as poss or is it because I like riding my bike and a few minutes extra really doesn’t matter. Plus it’s fun when you pass a roadie on knobbly tyres.

Although you’ll be fine on your current bike, if you’re planning to do it every day, all year round, you might want to think about having a dedicated commuter bike anyway.

Something with proper mudguards, possibly a rack, not too shiny (depending on where you have to leave it) and that you’re not too precious about.

4 miles? Your current bike, definitely. No need to buy a new one.

Your current bike will be fine (hope you have somewhere secure to lock thought!). I commute about 35 miles most days on mountain bike, tried road bike but just much prefer mountain and except my journey time is slower. I expect you would not notice much difference over 4 miles.
Stay with your current bike and find a interesting route with steps, drops so on, could make your commute more fun!

I have just started using a ’93 rigid hardtail mtb in SS mode. No probs at all and it only cost me £5. Skinny slick tyres pumped up hard for 4 miles each way. I would like a carbon forked £800 road bike though but then I would be concerned about leaving it at a train station all day.

Changing tyres is an issues for me I ride about 22 miles a day and now have a cross bike its quicker The faff of tyres off and on on a Friday and Sunday night and or again if I get an Mtb spin in the week is an arse. I need to grab a bike and go if I can get out.

2nd the commuter bike really the spin to work and back will take a toll on your Mtb salt etc plus if you need to leave it outside risk of theft etc,

Hang on and see of you manage a month of commuting in and out then look if you need a dedicated bike.

what pdw said, even a cheap old bike with mudguards will be nicer and keep your main steed safer.

A road bike is ideal though imo, there’s no less grip on road tyres and anyone who has used decent road brakes will know how good they are.

I’d get a cheapo old mtb and put slicks and a rack on it for that distance. Changing tyres, especially slicks, is a PITA.

Use what you have, or walk, it’ll only take you about an hour

29er with CX tyres for my commute

For 4 miles just stick a little more pressure in your tyres if its all road.
I commute 10 miles each way daily. I now use a 32/14 ratio rigid singlespeed with normal trail tyres pumped up hard.
This way if I have time I can dive off into the woods. It has also done wonders for my fitness

As the others have said for a 4 mile commute you can easily do it on your current bike with locked out forks & slick tyres. You might want to save the money you might have spent on a road bike & buy a second set of wheels for your commuting tyres, this avoids all the tyre changing faffing. Failing that buy a cheap hack bike & pimp it up for riding on the road as per pdw above.

I commute 15 miles each way on my HT with the forks locked out & have a dedicated set of wheels with slicks on pumped up to 120psi. My other set of wheels have my weekend tyres of choice for off road.

I would also advocate having a dedicated commuter bike if you can stretch to it, if you are planning to ride in all weathers I wouldn’t fancy not having decent mudguards.

I’d be wary of the build up of road grime/salt on the fork seals, make sure you clean them regularly.

Slick tyres have more grip than knobblies on tarmac too, especially in the wet.

See what you make of it first, but for 4 miles assuming it’s not too hilly I’d be looking at a SS road bike like a Charge Plug etc

do you not read the magazines?
you deffo gotta get yo self the following innit
a single speed
a 29 er
a full sus short travel
a full sus long travel
a carbon hardtail
a ti hardtail
a hand made steel is real hardtail
a jump bike
a cx bike
a hybrid (forum seems to like roadrats)
a carbon road bike
a ti road bike
a handmade steel road bike
and a bmx.
then you’re covered for whichever fashion they push next month unless it’s 650b wheels……..

in all honesty buy some road tyres, if you don’t like faffing but have the spare cash for a road bike buy some spare wheels of the bay and just swap the wheels. riding to work was one of the best ways of improving my fitness ever. or if there’s woods or something on the wayt o work ride them to keep it interesting.

I do 6 miles. You don’t need a road bike for that distance, it will be less than 30 minutes.

I bought a second bike for the job. Very cheap singlespeed made up off the classifieds, spare parts and ebay. It saves me worrying about it getting stolen when I lock it up in town. It also means I worry less about it corroding in winter when they grit the roads. I found a mountain bike was better for the year round conditions, snow ice, potholes, kerbs, occasional steps and detours.

Buy a cheap bike to commute on, I picked up a cannondale hybrid off the bay of thieves for £35 when I started commuting by bike (10 miles each way) new tyres and mudguards and it’s perfect.

Unless you can take the bike into a very secure area don’t use a decent bike to commute on, even if it’s not nicked if the ‘care’ shown by other bike users in the bike racks where I work is the norm it’ll be scratched or bent within a week.

nickhart – you forgot rigid!!

i don’t ever let my main bike out of my sight (unless it is in the house obviously!), so for going to work i bodged a bike together using leftover bits i had. no need for anything special i reckon, other than mudguards maybe.

let’s face it, we’d all like “one more bike!”. Your current bike will be fine but if it’s a temporary thing I’d look for something secondhand and cheap for commuting.

if you were doing it daily, you could get a second pair of wheels.

Identical hubs, so that the disks and gears line up, built onto a pair of 700cc rims with proper road tyres.

dont bother swapping cassettes etc, just buy another, cheap deore one.
neowm

Been riding my mountain bike for courier work for 2 1/2 years with mtb slicks. Just getting round to getting some 700c wheels built to put on the on-one. Be interesting to see if I’m any quicker.

Doh! 🙄

At one point I had five working bikes. I decided to ride in each day on a different one. It was about 17 miles each way.

It went great until I did it on my Gimp (singlespeed dirt jumping bike) which left me shattered. I didn’t bother with the unicycle.

As above. Purely to save wear and tear on your mtb, get a cheap commuter. S/H Carrera Subway or similar would be my choice. Or a single speed. Or a Ribble thing. Or a Planet X thing. Or a full custom Rourke or Mercian piece of gorgeousness. Or a ……..

I moved office so only have a 2,5 miles commute, had an old set of wheels so a cheap cassette, second hand rotor and 1.3 conty sport contacts and I have a commuter. You should be able to get a cheap spare set for sub £100 I would have said. I’m around 30seconds quicker on slicks (about an 11-12 minute journey) but arrive a lot less hot than if I use normal tyres

One thing to watch for is ice on the roads in winter, sounds obvious, but I was happily riding to work when it was a bit ‘brisk’/. Didn’t even cross my mind there might be ice about till I hit the ground really hard right on the point of my elbow…still hurts 2 months later. Oh and buses/drivers seem to regularly try to kill you during winter.

Will be walking next winter, not sure it’s worth the risk tbh.#

I have been using my perfect commuter for four months now.
Specalized Centrum 3 speed. £150 from Ebay.
Paid nearly half that for the bike lock.

Cheap commuter bike could well cost less than a new set of wheels/ tyres/ cassette and rotors; most like be less desireable to robbing scumbag’s and saves the wear and tear on your proper bike. Also, proper mudguards…starting off on a windy bloody cold day in the driving rain, with a bit of a hangover, when the kids got you up too early and your motivation is already pretty low for it, isn’t helped by having your arse crack filled with freezing gritty water by the time you have got to the end of your road. All year round bike commuting isn’t all chicks and glamour 😉

I do 4 miles each way, 5 days a week, year round – I have a dedicated commuter (old steel road bike with a fixed gear) and I would suggest a cheap hack bike

less steal-worthy, keeps your mtb in better condition for longer (cos commuting eats bikes), set up with rack and mudguards

ebay, halfords and have a look at edinburgh bike coop

My commute was shorter than that, but, I didn’t want the wear and tear on the expensive mtb bits, not to mention that it was pretty nickable. So I got a cheap commuter that’s faster but also cheaper to run and less nickable.

What trainers for a 4 mile commute? 😀