New to Commuting

andy jackson

Morning everyone,
I have been riding MTB for a few years, (have a Zaskar) so I’m fairly well versed when it comes to that (that’s not to say I’m any good!), however Work are introducing the cycle2work scheme which looks interesting, my commute will generally be between here and hereabout 9 miles, the bike I am most drawn to is the Cannondale badboy, for many reasons, predominately the 29inch wheels, its looks, and the fact that to the majority of people it looks like an unassuming black bike! – I work in a college, the one time I used my Zaskar only half of it was left at the end of the day, stupidity on my part and that students are thieving little fu***rs*. I just wanted to pick the brains of some of you more seasoned commuters, I have read the forum over and picked out some great bits of info, but
Am I daft in wanting the single speed version?
How are the Shimano hub gears?
Can you fit racks/panniers?
Can you fit mud guards?
Does anyone else have one, and how have they found it?
Which other bikes for around the £700 mark would you consider, which won’t end up in pieces in the work car park!!?

Cheers
Andy

*this is my opinion, not that of work!

spen666

andy jackson wrote:

Morning everyone,
I have been riding MTB for a few years, (have a Zaskar) so I’m fairly well versed when it comes to that (that’s not to say I’m any good!), however Work are introducing the cycle2work scheme which looks interesting, my commute will generally be between here and hereabout 9 miles, the bike I am most drawn to is the Cannondale badboy, for many reasons, predominately the 29inch wheels, its looks, and the fact that to the majority of people it looks like an unassuming black bike! – I work in a college, the one time I used my Zaskar only half of it was left at the end of the day, stupidity on my part and that students are thieving little fu***rs*. I just wanted to pick the brains of some of you more seasoned commuters, I have read the forum over and picked out some great bits of info, but
Am I daft in wanting the single speed version?
How are the Shimano hub gears?
Can you fit racks/panniers?
Can you fit mud guards?
Does anyone else have one, and how have they found it?
Which other bikes for around the £700 mark would you consider, which won’t end up in pieces in the work car park!!?

Cheers
Andy

*this is my opinion, not that of work!

29" wheels?


Are you sure?

spen666

650mm

700 mm


or 26" wheels seem to be the norm on Badboy

singlespeedexplosif

my thoughts -
if you go down the more 'mountain bike-looking' route, you've a better chance of getting it nicked. Disc brakes, any form of suspension etc - ask yourself if it's really necessary, and avoid if it's not. Anything 'pimpy' on a commuter = scrote magnet. Ideally get something quite unappealing! Or, cover decals etc in duck tape or old inner tubes etc.

29" wheels unnecessary for any riding
singlespeed a good idea (well I'm always going to say that) and again, puts scrotes off. they like gears...think the 'ere, mister, how many gears has your bike got?' mentality.

In the end - get whatever bike you fancy, replace QRs on wheels and seat with allen-key bolts and get the best lock you can possibly afford. Ideally a D-lock plus a cable to secure both wheels. If you're particularly paranoid (or run a pricey combo eg carbon post and SLR saddle) get a waffer-thin cable to run round your saddle rails and put the opportunist parts-thief off.

andy jackson

spen666 wrote:

andy jackson wrote:

Morning everyone,

snip

29" wheels?


Are you sure?

Sorry, 28inch, does that equate to 700? or am I way off?

lost_in_thought

Welcome Andy!

I think if you go for a SS, as mr explosif says earlier, it's less desirable for the little chavs to steal. In London, different kettle of fish, as they are v fashionable, outside london I would say less so.

Once you've attached a rack (certainly do-able from what I can see from your link) it will be even less desirable, if like me you have a bungee permanently attached to the bike as well that's even better!

As for ss versus gears, it depends really on how hilly your 9 miles is. Distance-wise it certainly wouldn't be an issue.

However, if you do want a SS you can get a nice one for a bit less than £700 - I'll pre-empt Jashburnham in recommending Pearson's (www.pearsoncycles.co.uk) - their Touché gets good reviews (never ridden one myself), and they are very helpful indeed if you'd like another bike from their range.

Clever Pun

lost_in_thought wrote:

Welcome Andy!

I think if you go for a SS, as mr explosif says earlier, it's less desirable for the little chavs to steal. In London, different kettle of fish, as they are v fashionable, outside london I would say less so.

Once you've attached a rack (certainly do-able from what I can see from your link) it will be even less desirable, if like me you have a bungee permanently attached to the bike as well that's even better!

As for ss versus gears, it depends really on how hilly your 9 miles is. Distance-wise it certainly wouldn't be an issue.

However, if you do want a SS you can get a nice one for a bit less than £700 - I'll pre-empt Jashburnham in recommending Pearson's (www.pearsoncycles.co.uk) - their Touché gets good reviews (never ridden one myself), and they are very helpful indeed if you'd like another bike from their range.

Jash.. get this http://www.pearsoncycles.co.uk/page/112/Cartouche

squired

For what its worth, one of my mates bought a bad boy as he felt it was the bike that would get him commuting regularly and help him to lose some of his excess weight. He'd bought a road bike and given up after less than a week as he didn't like it. He had a mountain bike, but didn't enjoy commuting on that. He loved the bad boy, but by my reckoning he has used it less than 5 times. He did really rate the bike though when he was using it. He bought the most expensive version. He did get confused by the built in lights on his one and ended up breaking them due to not understanding how they worked.

il_principe

lost_in_thought wrote:

Welcome Andy!

I think if you go for a SS, as mr explosif says earlier, it's less desirable for the little chavs to steal. In London, different kettle of fish, as they are v fashionable, outside london I would say less so.

Once you've attached a rack (certainly do-able from what I can see from your link) it will be even less desirable, if like me you have a bungee permanently attached to the bike as well that's even better!

As for ss versus gears, it depends really on how hilly your 9 miles is. Distance-wise it certainly wouldn't be an issue.

However, if you do want a SS you can get a nice one for a bit less than £700 - I'll pre-empt Jashburnham in recommending Pearson's (www.pearsoncycles.co.uk) - their Touché gets good reviews (never ridden one myself), and they are very helpful indeed if you'd like another bike from their range.

Dammit too slow.

Yes yes get a Pearson, or better still buy mine so I can get this:



Droooool.

Clever Pun

jashburnham wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Welcome Andy!

I think if you go for a SS, as mr explosif says earlier, it's less desirable for the little chavs to steal. In London, different kettle of fish, as they are v fashionable, outside london I would say less so.

Once you've attached a rack (certainly do-able from what I can see from your link) it will be even less desirable, if like me you have a bungee permanently attached to the bike as well that's even better!

As for ss versus gears, it depends really on how hilly your 9 miles is. Distance-wise it certainly wouldn't be an issue.

However, if you do want a SS you can get a nice one for a bit less than £700 - I'll pre-empt Jashburnham in recommending Pearson's (www.pearsoncycles.co.uk) - their Touché gets good reviews (never ridden one myself), and they are very helpful indeed if you'd like another bike from their range.

Dammit too slow.

Yes yes get a Pearson, or better still buy mine so I can get this:



Droooool.

that's what I linked for you... £1600 sheeet that's a fancy fixed

il_principe

Sooo tempted. But a carbon Fixed is a step top far even for me.

Cheers for the link though.

lost_in_thought

jashburnham wrote:

Sooo tempted. But a carbon Fixed is a step top far even for me.

Cheers for the link though.

It would be nice and light...

Kind of ruins the 'I can leave my fixed/ss locked outside and ride it in all weathers without fear' thing.

But it is very pwitty.

il_principe

Apologies to the OP for the blatant thread hijack!

I think you know what sort of bike you should get though...

lost_in_thought

jashburnham wrote:

Apologies to the OP for the blatant thread hijack!

I think you know what sort of bike you should get though...

Do your new white rims look like those? They're very tarty...

il_principe

lost_in_thought wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

Apologies to the OP for the blatant thread hijack!

I think you know what sort of bike you should get though...

Do your new white rims look like those? They're very tarty...

Those are the exact rims. Lovely but somewhat impractical in the current weather.

lost_in_thought

jashburnham wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

Apologies to the OP for the blatant thread hijack!

I think you know what sort of bike you should get though...

Do your new white rims look like those? They're very tarty...

Those are the exact rims. Lovely but somewhat impractical in the current weather.

Very nice! So how many times a day are you cleaning them?

il_principe

Twice!

simon_ramsey

and how many times a day are you cleaning them if you actually ride the bike ?

itboffin

OP don't forget to checkout the classified section on this forum, every once in a while someone will sell a perfectly good bike to fund their dirty upgrading habit.

As if I would, but it has crossed my mind more than once.

FTR I am just hours away from bike no 10.