is a road bike suitable for commuting?

DavidTQ

If you have to park up in town you need to spend good money on well reviewed locks, dont take a trip to halfords and buy whatevers on the shelf. Look around for articles on how to lock up your bike, I would guess that method of locking is almost as important as the locks used.

You can never guarantee complete safety for a bike but a couple of good locks and secure locking methods should see you fine in public in town.

Very worthwhile making sure you have good insurance, if you have insurance at least the bike would be replaced.

gtvlusso

Thanks DavidTQ.

I will have a look around.

Compton77

Just got my first road bike, a LeMond Versailles which has pushed my hybrid to the back of the shed!! I was a bit nervous at first, as I went the whole hog and bought clipless pedals and shoes at the same time. After 5 mins of getting used to clipping in and out I hit a main road and what a difference, the acceleration was incredible and the hybrid was no slouch!! The test for me was a steep hill right at the end of the ride home which I used to be on the highest gear on the hybrid, this time I pushed straight up without the hint of a wobble on the top cog!!

Anyway, I commuted for the first time this morning and it was a pleasure, 9 miles of London roads and with a little extra effort was sailing past buses and cars.. great fun..

Whilst i'm here, anyone wanna buy a Giant FCR1 (2007)??! Doubt it's going to get much use!!

gtvlusso

Cool! So a road/racing bike is worth it - even with a carbon frame?! Guess I will insure up! Any recommendations on model and spec of bike?
G

DavidTQ

Planet x Carbon is very well rated not tried it myself but based on what Ive read around I dont think you can go far wrong with that.

gtvlusso

Will I wear it out? Road salt and rain knacker it?

Sorry for all the questions! The last car I bought cost me £700!!!!

andyp

gtvlusso wrote:

Whoa! Thanks for the advice fellas! I have asked everyone I know (and posted many times on this forum too!). The only other thing that would worry me is parking a bike elsewhere in town! Home to work is fine, butr I do run allot of errands and park up outside a boat club! How do people feel about that - does it affect what you pay for a bike?
Cheers

G

These people offer very good prices on locks.

Personally I'd avoid getting a carbon fibre bike if you're going to be using it for running errands and the like as a) carbon fibre isn't particularly robust and could get damaged by frequent knocks from the lock and b) it'll be a magnet for bike thieves.

DavidTQ

purely guesswork for me on carbon frames, I dont own one so I dont know. I dont see road salt and rain doing anything to carbon as it should be fairly inert, probably more inert than aluminium or steel which can both oxidize. I would guess there may well be some types of chemicals that can do nasty things to the resin in the carbon fibre, these same chemicals may well be harmfull to normal paint, pure guess work there. Ive not heard of any major problems with carbon frames.

gtvlusso

Hmm- some good points there guys! You lot are very informative - thanks!

Food for thought!

secretsam

Get a condor, they are doing great offers on there last season bikes at the moment. Their shop is round the corner. I never go in...I daren't...

samuraiblade

got to be honest i think alot of you need to look at the new range of hybrids , they have caught on big time and there not the 'nerd' mobiles they used to be , i was going to get a racer but ive never felt comfortable with the riding position or strength , (im an x-crosscountry mtb racer) possibly as im used to riding my custom built kona explosif
i wasnt even going to do the C2W scheme with halfords due to there lack of range , then found out about the cboardman range , the hybrid pro im getting is specifically designed for the commute and i was really impressed at the build and components , also im gonna get a tri-bar for a different riding position , so dont knock em till ya tryed the latest incarnations , there a differnet kettle of fish imo.

benvickery

I've just bought a planet-x superlight pro through the Halfords cycle2work scheme and it is wonderful. I dug my mtb out of my garage last summer and started cycling for fun including more recently commuting a few times a week. I cycled to work today on my road bike for the first time and noticed the difference. It's so much lighter and more nimble. I even left work a little early so I could take a 20 mile detour on the way home

My poor old mtb is going to get a bit dusty!!

always_tyred

I'm a rower also. Take the bike into the boat club. Really, nothing is too crap to nick. Okay, maybe some bikes are too crap to steal, but nothing is too crap to break, just to pass the time.

I distinctly recall seeing a guy once with about 40 blinkies attached to a stolen shopping trolley. No doubt he had a good line in multi tools and drinks bottles also. Don't know about you, but it would take me several minutes to disassemble all of the bits I wound't want stolen from my bike, and I'd need a bag to carry them all in.

Come to think of it, I once knew a guy who had a bike so crap, when he chained it up, someone nicked the lock.

niblue

I commuted for a while on a Giant OCT3T with a seatpost mounted rack. It's a bit faster than my usual commuter (a rigid On-One Inbred with slicks) but less practical in wet conditions as it can't take mudguards.

benzjammin1980

I have commuted between 9 and 20 miles a day for just over 4 years on a MTB

2 weeks ago i got a road bike which i converted to a flat bar setup

I LOVE IT!

My commute time has gone down by about 9 minutes and i just love how quick the acceleration is comparred to the MTB.

I will agree that potholes and road debris are much more of a concern now, but i have noticed that drivers seem much more respectful of road bike riders for some reason?

Sailing7

Ten years ago I used a MTB in London for a 9 mile commute (Teddington - Park Royal). Fast forward to now - last 12 months commuted every day 13 mile each way on mid range Orbea racing bike - no panniers, just a courier bag over the shoulder with sandwiches and clean clothes in. Definitely way to travel.

Have got C2W in now. Colleague just got LeMond Tourmalet - she won't be going back to her Spec Rockhopper for the commute. I'm trying to think of pluasible reasons to 'upgrade' my frame now as everything else has been swapped already!

Can you just get frames (and maybe some smart wheels) on the C2W scheme?

gtvlusso

HI All,

I am building a flat bar road bike from an Ambrosio frame and bits off my mountain bike! Seems quite light at the moment - will give it a shot and see what happens! may fall to bits under me!

Just wondered how manouvering was on drop bars?

Cheers

G

magicroundabout

Well, I'm a road bike beginner and mine doesn't want to do much other than go in a straight line.

Once you're used to it it's fine but it's a very different feel with drop bars. Somehow it's really twitchy (good with small movements) but really unresponsive too (bad with big movements).

MR

cupofteacp

I commute 30 miles a day in London on an old MTB with slicks and I'm thinking about a Kona Dr Dew, as it's a road bike with disks and a flat bar.

I think I'll still going to use the MTB during the winter, as I'll want larger tyres when it's wet.

If your commute is out of town then I'd say a road bike was the way to go. If you commute in town then I'd say you should go for flat bars at least, and then if it rains just be careful.

Wynne G Oldman

I use a Dawes Super Galaxy for my 25 mile round trip commute. I used to use a cheap mountain bike with road tyres, and the difference is amazing. It's strong, quick and comfortable. It came with mudguards, bottle cages and front and rear racks. All I had to do was buy a set of lights and panniers. I tried SPD's for a couple of months, but I couldn't get on with them. I fell off twice, putting me in a life threatening situation. I 've gone back to my toeclips, which I can find more comfortable and can get out of much more easily. I'm not restricted to which shoes I wear either. I think that a decent touring bike makes great sense for commuting, as theyre generally built to be stronger than road/race bikes. I really prefer drop bars as well, and don't find them any harder to use than flats.