Mountain bike or road bike for commuting/training?

Little legs

Next season I want to meet all the targets I'd set myself in 10 mile TTs that unfortunately fell by the wayside this year. Getting some good mileage in my legs is the first thing I want to do, so I am going to start commuting to work by bike in the next few weeks.

I don't want to use my current road/TT bike, so the question is whether I should use the mountain bike I already have or consider getting a cheap winter road bike. My thought is that a winter road bike would be better for my relatively short commute as the geometry and feel would be more similar to the TT bike, but does it actually matter? Do I just need to get my legs turning, get miles in any way I can and then do more specific TT training on the turbo?

Any opinions? Thanks

Bronzie

If it's just for "getting the miles in" then I don't think it matters too much as long as you do you TT specific high intensity training in your TT position in the weeks leading up to the new season.

If your bike is comfortable and not too cumbersome so that it is not a burden to ride it, then that is a distinct advantage.

Jez mon

Depends on what training you want to do during the winter. If you want to just do turbo sessions to compliment your commute, then I would just commute on the MTB.

If you want to start doing some slow steady miles during the weekends, which can be a good way to train, then I would get a cheapish winter bike, if however, you do this sort of thing already and are happy using your best bike for weekend rides then I wouldn't bother getting a new bike.

ride_whenever

well considering you can get a ribble for a smidge over £400 with sora, might be worth buying a second roadie, plus it'll be faster and more fun for commuting.

Jez mon

Or spend 400 on the TT bike, however, in truth, you would only get a decent aero front or rear wheel for that money...

Little legs

Thanks for the comments. Thinking about my goals a bit more, I definitely want to do some club runs during the winter as well as the commuting, so a cheapish training bike is probably the best choice...

Thanks again!

djaeggi

There's lots to be said for getting a fixed wheel bike:

- You'll massively improve your pedalling technique
- You'll improve your fitness (no freewheeling!)
- Cheaper (not forking out for gears/derailleur)
- Lighter (not lugging around gears/derailleur)
- Less maintenance (...gears/derailleur...)
- Makes for interesting training e.g. it forces you to attack hills :-)
- Fun!

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html
http://www.fixedwheel.co.uk/

I've been commuting on one for a couple of months now and am genuinely loving it, it's a completely different mindset from riding my regular road bike. Even taken it out on my weekend rides occasionally! The one possible negative is that lots of "cool" city folk have jumped on it as the latest and greatest, using blinged-up track bikes; the plus side to this is that there are quite a few respectable complete fixed gear bikes on the market for relatively little money. If you're commuting, mudguards and a rack make a lot of sense.

Little legs

I like the idea of a fixed wheel but I think my commute is too hilly to consider one. I'm not sure if I'd be able to get the right gearing to get me up the hills and back down again. Saying that my return journey would be great for high cadence training

djaeggi

Going up hills on a fixed is surprisingly OK. You carry less weight and less rotating mass so the bike feels pretty responive. Plus, you've improved the mechanical efficiency of the chainline.

The net effect is that the same nominal gearing on fixed (say 48/18, which I run) feels easier than on my road bike. In other words, you can accept a higher gear and still get up the hills, which allows you more speed for a given cadence on the way down.

Going down hills fast is more exciting and possibly only retrospectively pleasurable :-) (I was told I sounded/looked like Chewbacca after a particularly interesting descent one saturday!)

That said, you do have brakes, so you'll always be able to get down the hill fine, just not as quickly. What happens when riding in a group with others on geared bikes is that you fly up the hills and then get caught on the way down. And, of course, it's this imposition of high cadence cycling that does your pedalling technique wonders.

Whereabouts do you live? As long as you're in reasonably good shape, I can't imagine not being able to get over most hills you might encounter on a commute on 65" or 42/17, and that still gets you a pretty respectable ~23mph at 120rpm.

Dan

Bronzie

Little legs wrote:

I definitely want to do some club runs during the winter

Road bike with mudguards will almost certainly be needed then - nothing I hate more than riding the club run in December behind some muppet with no guards.

Little legs

djaeggi wrote:

Whereabouts do you live? As long as you're in reasonably good shape, I can't imagine not being able to get over most hills you might encounter on a commute
Dan

I'm in Hemel Hempstead, so pretty hilly but nothing too long or too steep. I'd not considered a fixed wheel but the small amount I've read about them since your replies make it sound an attractive option. I can definitely see the appeal of something that's easy to maintain and improves your cycling technique.

Do fixies normally come with standard ratios or can you specify what you like? Thanks

djaeggi

Hemel, you'll be absolutely fine on a fixed wheel!

Spec: depends where you get it from - some of the cheaper ones you'll get what you're given but most places will cater for your needs. Clearly, it's also a simple task to change sprockets/chainrings yourself to suit. Most rear hubs are also two sided, so you can fit 2 sprockets and flip the wheel round to get a different gear.

Can I also put a big recommendation in for Pearon cycles. I have their touche http://www.pearsoncycles.co.uk/index.html?action=97 and it's both a great value package plus it's quite unique in fixed gear offerings in having a frame geometry that's more road than track, and has clearances/fittings for mudguards, rack, wider tyres, whcih makes it an ideal commuting bike. Also, although being an "off the peg" offering, Pearson build them up in house to order, so you can basically specify what you like and you'll effectively get a custom build - great service!

Dan

Little legs

A mate at work also mentioned Pearson and I've seen them advertised in the mags so I'll have a look at their website later.

Before deciding (although I'm pretty close to being converted already) I think I'll ride my road bike as a single speed along my commuting route and get an idea about what ratio I can get away with then take it from there.

Cheers