advise needed........

Wetsham

I bought a specialized rockhopper around a year ago mainly for some off road play but also to ride to work (3 miles)....
since then i have moved and i now have a 14 mile ride to work.......i no longer use the bike for any off road stuff and i've stuck some road tyres on it...... basically i want to know how much difference there would be if i bought a more road based bike(hybrid?). i ride 3 miles of this down a canal path where its paved but quite uneven so i think an out and out road bike would get ruined. the ride generally takes 50-55 mins traffic depending!
also if it is worth changing bikes....any suggsetions on a good one to buy.....?

cheers

ChrisLS

...I would say your idea about buying a hybrid is best. I ride a Scott Sporster hybrid mostly(I sometimes go mad and ride the MTB)for my commute, some of which is off road. I fitted Schwalbe marathon plus tyres and it all works well. My commute is between 22 and 25miles round trip...as to which hybrid, there are loads to choose from

BentMikey

If it's paved, then a full-on road bike will handle it easily, and be more than strong enough to take the punishment. It'll be faster too.

Wetsham

the canal is mostly paved but very uneven....i get rattled about on my mountain bike.....
also there is a LOT of traffic on the route home (through stratford/forest gate/ ilford if you know the area) so i need something pretty agile to dodge between the cars/minicabs/white vans!....

BentMikey

14 mile one-way commute is fine on a MTB/hybrid, but I'd much prefer to do something like that on a roadbike personally. It'll be a significant amount more work on a hybrid, and you're then limited to flat bars. What's more, a road bike will be narrower, and thus fit much better through the gaps when filtering. Mind you, I'm riding a 2006 Langster, which is a pretty twitchy ride and I doubt I would be nearly as manoeuverable on a MTB.

cupofteacp

I use an MTB with slicks for a 15 miles each way commute 5 days a week, starting lin Loughton, passing through straford and then along the mile end road, ending up in westminster

You can get 26" 1.1 slicks, these would be very quick, but I'm sticking to 1.35.

Many people say that road bikes are the way to go, but I just don't feel happy in traffic with curly bars and skimpy tyres especially during winter.

Have you looked at, I think its called the Kona Sultra and its a 2006 model? Its a cyclecross bike, fitted with disks and I think one of the versions has drop bars but break levers also fitted on the top.

http://www.konabikes.co.uk/2k6bikes/sutra_2k6.php

I might retire my 15 year old P7 next year for somthing like this

Wetsham

i go from romford straight down the romford road to stratford...onto mile end then up the canal to angel (tons of traffic).... i dont mind the ride on my bike at the moment....but im just trying to work out how much of a difference changing bikes would make for my journey....obviously if my ride was 14 miles of country lanes i'd swap for a road bike tomorrow..... road bikes are lighter/quicker but i still want that agility that a mtb gives you (cake and eat it i suppose) if i can cut 5 mins off the journey time then i'd swap....

delcol

i used to use my rocky mountain vertex to commute on 6 mile each way, i put some conti slicks on it but after a month i decided to go the hybrid way imo 700c wheels are much better for road use i got a scott speedster s60 fb lighter than than my mtb road geo so it comfy to ride over distance and fast on paved surface. the thinner bars make navagating traffic easy and when you wizz past all those fellow commuters on their mountain bikes it puts a smile on your face..

even with slick on my mtb i didnt like the rolling resitance the tires caused slowing me down over a distance also the contant bobing of the forks when pedaling hard (forks dont lock out) so i opted for the hybrid if you could call it a hybrid it took 4 minutes of my time to work on my first journey now i have slashed 7 minutes off my best mtb commute on my scott hybrid,.. the bigger thinner wheels are much better for road use the rigid fork is better to stiff no bobbing,. but can be harsh on bumps esspecially if seated....

Hairy Jock

Decide on a budget wander down to LBS and try out a range of bikes which fall within your budget and buy the one that feels most comfortable to ride. Points to bear in mind for commuting you will need mudguards (unless arriving at work with muck all over your face is not a problem) and some means of carrying stuff, consider if you need a rack.

Wetsham

i often turn up with mud on my face.....work showers come in handy
quite happy with a backpack........trying different bikes out is the best option..just wanted to make sure it would make a significant enough change to buy a hybrid/road bike....

cheers all.....

Hairy Jock

If you are used to an MTB then a hybrid with 700c wheels would probably be a better choice. Use slick tyres, something like a Conti Gatorskin (or similar), you knock minutes off you time and still have plenty of fun

passout

In truth anything but a very lightweight racer will be OK. Road bikes are faster. You'll only notice a little difference with a hybrid - worst of both worlds in my humble opinion. If you like your present bike (I do) I'd keep it - does it matter if it takes a few minutes longer?

redddraggon

I've taken my cheap halfords road bike offroad and it takes it pretty well. 25mm tyres. It's quite heavy and robust, so not and out and out racer, but onroad speed should be higher than a MTB.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... ryrn_47151

I know it's from halfords, but it does the job.