Commuting on a MTB

tricky78

Hi All,

New to the forum and Bike Radar and a rather rusty cyclist (last cycled regularly before in mid 90's).

What are your thoughts on commuting through a city on a MTB? Used to do it years ago and never seemed to bother me but would you recommend having spare slick wheels on during the week or just living with the extra resistance MTB tyres give on the road in order to save faffing about changing rear wheels??

Many Thanks

gtvlusso

Welcome!

Go for slim slicks during the weeks and lockout the sus forks!

canada16

I use a focus superbud full suss, but it all locks out and I find it ok.

I got schwalb nobby nic tyres, a bit slow but all ok.

I love it, jumping and hoping off stuff.

cee

tricky...

I ride a hardtail MTB to work, it has my usual Panaracer Fire XC tyres on there.

I too thought about having a second set of wheels, but unless you get them on the same hubs, with the same dishing and all that etc, it is not just a case of swapping the wheels over.

I would need to realign the brake calipers to suit....now while this is not an arduous task, i don't think the penalty for having the knobblies on there justifies the cost, or faffing to get slicks on there for a 4 mile each way commute.

Maybe if it was a longer journey I might, but then why not just buy a £100 commuter, rather than £100 quids worth of wheels.

tricky78

Thanks for the prompt responses - that has helped me make my mind up, now just have to choose my weapon - GT Aggressor XC1 or XCR (is the extra for the XCR really worth it) or the Kona Cinder Cone 08 or 09 model (are the improvements to the 09 model worth the extra few quid?).

I'm restricted to the above options as part of the Cycle To Work scheme and these are the only worthy contenders I've found through Halfords

sjburbidge

Are you going to be using it just for commuting? If so surely a commuter bike would be better - bigger wheels and thinner tyres make a surprising difference to speed/ ease of pedalling.

I use my old Hardrock with slicks and forks locked out for commuting, which is fine, but I would prefer to have a commuter specific bike for this.

federa

halfords can order in almost any bike for you if you find one that you like, you're not restricted to their range for cycle2work. you do need to make sure that it is 100% the right bike though, cos if they order it, you're buying it...

snooks

No worries on an MTB, I'm riding a 94 Marin:



Not pretty, but goes well.

Slicks make a real difference, and because this is just my commuter I've put bigger chainrings on the front as on the roads (which were flat) I'd top out at full speed, pedalling in fast forward

soy_sauce

if you can affort a XCR then why not get a Boardman Comp? better value for your money.
i commuting with a MTB too with no slick and no lock-out, i find it ok. never try it with lock-out so don't know the different but at the moment its not bad at all.

as federa said, you can order any bike you want via Halfords. just make sure that if you do so, get it order into the store then pick it up from there. that mean you will get it build and your free service after 6 weeks (which is the standard offer for any bike purchase from them). one of my workmate ordered a CUBE bike and got it delieveried to work, then find out he has to build it himself and because there is no receipt, he doesn't get the free service neither.

hondafanatic

cee wrote:

tricky...

I ride a hardtail MTB to work, it has my usual Panaracer Fire XC tyres on there.

I too thought about having a second set of wheels, but unless you get them on the same hubs, with the same dishing and all that etc, it is not just a case of swapping the wheels over.

I would need to realign the brake calipers to suit....now while this is not an arduous task, i don't think the penalty for having the knobblies on there justifies the cost, or faffing to get slicks on there for a 4 mile each way commute.

Maybe if it was a longer journey I might, but then why not just buy a £100 commuter, rather than £100 quids worth of wheels.

What you're saying makes sense in monetary terms, however, I bought an identical set of wheels but fitted slicks. I cycle to work every day and cycle off road every weekend...therefore, the ability to simply swap wheels is worth it to me. It's always a straight swap, takes 30 seconds and i'm done.

But again, that's just me and everyone weights the situation accordingly.

Cheers
David

Belv

I just have a spare set of tyres for my commuter/MTB. It's much cheaper than a spare set of wheels and i can do the change in 10 minutes max (although i would have a spare set of wheels ideally).
I'd definitely get a pair of slicks. Not only do they help you go quicker, but running the knobblies at high pressure on the road quickly takes off the edges that give you the grip in the mud.

itboffin

snooks wrote:

No worries on an MTB, I'm riding a 94 Marin:



Not pretty, but goes well.

Slicks make a real difference, and because this is just my commuter I've put bigger chainrings on the front as on the roads (which were flat) I'd top out at full speed, pedalling in fast forward

Looks like a hybrid to me :P

*ducks and runs back to the SCR thread*

kr1s

Definatley get a dedicated commuter bike - I wouldnt wear my mtb/roadie out on the slog to work

OldSkoolKona

snooks wrote:

That pump looks well placed when required for swiping someone on the back of the head

Stalexcal

Hi,

Recently returned to MTB'ing and got myself a Specialized Epic and (sadly) had to let go of my 1993 Orange Clockwork slicked up commuter due to lack of space.

I'm currently commuting on Specialized Fast Track Control tyres but would prefer to go back to the Fatboy's that were fitted to my previous steed. I can't be arsed to change tyres all the time and would like to get another set of wheels to do quick swap overs and having the best of both worlds.

Q's.
Do I have to get MTB wheels - are they different to Road Wheels (I won't be hammering them on a road), are the offsets the same?
Do I have to use exactly the same Cassette - currently a Shimano HG-90, 9, 11-34t
Do I have to use the same size (I assume so) and make rotors - Avid Ultimate 7 with 160 rotors.
Will my chain wear unevenly using two different cassettes - SRAM PC-971

I was hoping to build some commuting wheels up cheap due to limited use and abuse but with all these variables I'm bound to make a mistake!.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Surf-Matt

I do 10 miles a day on MTB tyres on an MTB with no other mods - apart from lights, mudguards (Crud Guards) and that's it.

Somehow I managed to survive despite the obvious crippling flaws in my set up and have been doing the same for 6 years now...