What's the ideal bike to commute on then, you lot?

I’m looking at getting a bike specifically to commute on. I’ve always used my singlespeed in the past for the few of miles into town. Perfect.

Now my journey is a bit further afield. It’ll be about 14 miles all on road, with some pretty serious inclines involved. I’ve done it a few times on the hardtail but 2.5 tyres, tarmac and big hills aren’t a dream ticket. Not on a daily basis anyway.And I use it for its intended use too often to be fannying around changing tyres all the time.

So what would you lot recommend? I know a lot of you commute similar distance. Oh…. and I don’t want to spend too much (obviously). I’m thinking purely functional, so while a carbon frame etc might be lovely, it aint happening 😉

For this reason I’m thinking a hybrid rather than a full on road bike. Any good deals out there at the moment? Any words of wisdom on what direction to go in.

Your experiences and advice please ladies and gents….

I commute on an mtb with an alfine and slick tyres. I like the disc brakes and sticky tyres for urban commuting

Get a road bike that will take guards. Right tool for the job. Whilst a hybrid might feel right now, drops will give you more hand positions and be more comfortable in the long run.

Or if you want the hackneyed STW answer, get a cross bike.

genesis all day one, job done.
kinky

Road bike with room for mudguards. I never used to like drops but it took about a week to become accustomed to them, mile better than flat bars for any roadwork.

I just changed my commuter to a Genesis IO ID with an 8-speed Alfine hub which I bought second hand. Like TJ I prefer a mtb in town, with front suspension, especially with the potholes we have here. I have crud catchers on it, and changed the tyres over to Schwalbe Marathon Plus’. I also changed the front ring from a 32 to a 36. Oh and commuting distance is about 8 miles.

+1 for roadbike and mudguard. Ribble do decent bikes for not much cash. Not the lightest but do the job. I used to commute about that distance on a hybrid (Road Rat, flat bars) but the road bike is a better tool for the job.

@binners – perhaps the cheapest option would be stick with the hardtail & have a 2nd wheelset fitted with slick tyres?

If your route involves a lot of slogging up hills you’ll not benefit as much from buying a more road-oriented bike compared to a flatter route where you can cruise along at pace.

I commute 12 miles each way on my mtb, the only change from off-road mode being semi-slick tyres (Conti Travel Contact Reflex’s) & I adjust the fork settings so they’re pretty much locked out.

Higher gearing also helps a bit – most standard MTB chansets have 42T or 44T tooth outer chainring. I have always used a 46T, with an 11-32T cassette, which suits me very well.

My route is about 12 miles, mildly hilly, takes me about 35-40 minutes depending on my fitness & the prevailing wind. It can also be a very stop-start route due to traffic lights & other junctions, which cancels out a lot of the benefit of a faster road bike.

And I can’t actually afford a 2nd bike anyway 🙂

less pimp but… I’d go with an bay build either a cyclocross frame or a tourer. mountain bike gears to help on the hills, guards, pannier racks, comfortable position. Most importantly, bombproof frame and cheaper build for when stuff wears out.

I use a cx bike, which is great, but the 105 groupset is getting expensive to maintain!

+1 for road bike + mudguards

pompetamine w mudguards.

because you know you’re not going to look after it…

£800

I’ve just managed to bodge a carrier rack on to the CX bike with slicks I use for my commute and its the best. No more rucksack flailing about, sweaty and awkward.

(only took 3 cable ties as added security which is bang on my personal limit where something becomes a bad idea)

So I would say some kind of way of fitting panniers would be high up my list, the Vaude ones I have go through the seatpost clamp.

Something you won’t be too gutted about getting nicked. Mud guards, rack and panniers is a must for me as well. Something retro off of ebay.? There are some nice old tourers on there.

Old thing with twirly handlebars, matey. I got a hybrid from edinburgh whatisface for commutey type stuff which was cheap, and I sometimes swap tyres and take it off road, but on longer road journeys I defo miss the option of switching hand positions like you can do on twirly handlebar bikes.

+ another one for road bike with guards.

Get a Pompino and put mudguards and a 3 or 5 speed hub gear on it. Minimal maintenance like a SS, no derailleur to get knocked or bent.

Cheers folks. Thanks for the words of wisdom. The usual varied array of opinions as usual.

Tj – Have we finally found something we agree on? 😉 I like to have discs and some suspension around town. I run Shwalbe City Jets on the SS for that job. And thinking about it the roads I’ll be traveling on are seriously pot-holed after the winter.

joao3v16 – You seem to have come up with the temporary answer. A triumph of logic one step beyond my feeble mind’s capacity. I think I’ll do that while I have a think about a long-term solution

Anyone got a cheap wheelset going

Kona Dew range of bikes – fast, nimble, affordable and great with a few off the peg changes to some of the poor parts spec.

What’s the perfect bike? – I’ve just finished it and am loving it (any excuse to put the picture up again 😉

Cyclocross with mudguards, slightly more relaxed angles than a full road bike, faster than MTBs on road and allows you to go playing off-road on the way home if you are man enough. I’ve done werneth low on mine on the way home before now, and here’s a pic of sambob’s dad riding rhe last drop to Rowarth on his

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Marple Pootle[/url] by Notoriously Bad Typist[/url], on Flickr

Ok, so he’s on the bar-top levers not the drops like proper riders, but still, he wasn’t at the back of the pack on the descent

I got a Kona Dew Deluxe with full guards and a rack. It does the job (and look a bit crap so no-one knicks it), but if I were buying again, I would have got a road bike/tourer that could take a rack and full guards.

Don’t fool yourself thinking you’ll look after it – you won’t. Go 2nd hand.

Assuming somewhere safe to keep it, Charge Mixer (700c, Alfine, discs). Evans, Cyclesurgery, etc are knocking out 2010 versions at £750 – just need to pick up some mudguards.

Not a fan of drops in heavy traffic.

depends on how fast you want to get there

Cheap, tough, drop bars, full mudguards, as hassle free as possible so SS if you can manage it, fixie for the minimalist (i tried but couldn’t manage it) and easy to fettle brakes.

Edit: what rocketdog said 🙂
“Not a fan of drops in heavy traffic” why not Simon? I think they’re ace, nice and narrow for squeezing between (stationary) cars. I presume you mean too much of a head down position?

Oh and if you’re going with Joao’s suggestion what about 700c for the second wheelset? mavic used to do speedcity for such things (too pricey for commuting wheels tho)

Too much head down, yes – but I also feel like I can’t brake with full pressure from the hoods, at least not as well as I could on the drops. Fine on a regular road ride involving more anticipation, but when cutting through traffic I want to be either covering the brakes or able to react as quickly as possible.

And if flat bars are too wide, just cut them down.

What about the Boardman performance Hybrid range?

Essentially a flat-barred road bike but fitted with a larger spread of gears and disk brakes. I have the basic £500 model and love it. SRAM X5 gearing with a 36/50 compact up front, plenty of spread for hilly routes. Bars are narrow enough for traffic and come with bar ends for the change of position. Lovely bike, fast enough to commute on and slightly more upright than a full on road bike so you can see that bit more.

For me:

And if flat bars are too wide, just cut them down.

dont you get more leverage from being further forward on drops/hoods? Which a similar width flat bar wouldn’t give you? I’m not 100% sure on that could be wrong, but flat bars the same width as drops don’t feel right to me (been a while since I’ve used a flat barred bike on road tho)

Fortunatley the levers on my commuter feel fine braking on the hoods but as you mentioned my road bike does brake better from the drops.

Soma you’re not in manchester are you? only yesterday I saw a guy on an old red kona like that.

Strangely enough, i bought the Boardman when out of work for if/when i got a job that required a longer commute. Then i got a job only 15 minutes away so continued to use my old Carrera subway for the job.
The Boardman now covers road and touring duties, i did the C2C on it and wasn’t crippled by the end of the day, nor did it struggle on those bloomin’ big hills around County Durham!

Road bike with a more upright geometry, drop bars, full mudguards, disk brakes, rack, hub gears (or singlespeed if you can deal with it).

Just stick an Alfine hub on your singlespeed.

Actually… I’ve just spotted this

Alfine gears, Discs. A bit of a bargain at the moment. Might pop in at liunchtime and have a look

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_551233_langId_-1_categoryId_165534#dtab

i got a kona dew drop last week, 2009-2010 the black one for £459

I stuck with MTBs, fancied a 2011 Ridgeback Storm, which will take mudguards, paniers etc. But decided to just buy some rigid forks and mudguards for me XC bike. looks a bit of a ****t, but needs must

Yep another vote for a road bike with guards or a cx bike.

Wide bars on mtbs are too much for gaps in traffic and the bigger wheels are easier to keep going. I fitted a disc project 2 fork to an old Kona cx bike, the frame angles are slacker so it’s slower but I have a disc brake on the front and the additional weight verses a standard road bike gets my heart a pumping. I now quite fancy SSing it but will wait until something breaks on the drivetrain first.

You can pick up an old steel tourer for £30-40 on e-bay, Gumtree or the like, may even have mudguards fitted.

For me a flat bar was necessary (carpel tunnels, 🙁 ), but you could leave the drops.

You’ve now got a: Tough, comfortable, fast, cheep and un-nick-able commuter.

Seems a no-brainer to me.

APF

Right, you old tart binners….

While a road bike with guards is the proper answer, I’m not sure proper is what you need. Even for a lumpy 14 mile round trip.

And cross bikes are rather du jour at the moment – you might find yourself veering towards lycra. And you’d have to think very, very carefully about that fella.

Stick with your HT and buy the following (pref off the classifieds):

1. Pair disc 29er wheels.
2. Pair road-ish tyres to fit wheels (cos the rims will be too wide to take 25c slicks) – say 28-30c width.
3. Seatpost mounted read mudguard.

Enjoy!

Drop bar Cotic RoadRat?

It’ll take mudguards and panniers and gears or not….

I’d say a nice tough SS/fixed cross bike. it does everything.
Pompino, pompetamine, genesis day one etc etc. All can take mudguards, all last forever (unless you’re me), all go fast, all are quite cheap.

Here’s what I’m waiting for my cyclescheme voucher for.

Sorted
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binners[/url] by snowslave[/url], on Flickr