Comuting - road or hybrid?

chrisp

Hi,

I recently got a Cyclescheme quote for a BH road bike to start cycling to work. I initially went for a road bike for two reasons:

I'm a bit out of shape and thought it was my only chance of making it up the hills
It's on a road, anything more would be overkill, right?

Anyway, having effectively placed the order for my new road bike I tried the route on my full susser. Two things occured. Firstly, I'm not as unfit as I thought and in fact I don't need a road bike just to make it there. Secondly, the roads are really, really poor. In many places you have no choice but to go over a pothole or a join in the tarmac and I'm now worried I'll either break a road bike or go over the handle bars if I hit any of these at speed.

So, now I'm having last minute thoughts about changing the order. I don't strictly need a full on road bike and I'm worried it might struggle with our trail-like road surfaces.

What do people think?

Christophe3967

There's no doubt that traversing potholes is easier on a MTB, but that's it as far as benefits go. A decent set of road wheels will soak up all the punishment you're likely to find on roads. You'll find that you soon get used to the location of the potholes and where appropriate adopt a position on the road that allows you to avoid them. And of course if they are really awful you could report them to the council who will have them fixed.

gtvlusso

After riding a Hybrid for a number of years - I would always go with road bike....Faster and more agile. I can also use it for leisure more effectively and racing.

Only go with a Hybrid if I was touring Europe or something!

chrisp

Well the concern here is that often you're faced with no choice:

The first third of the road has a parked car in the way, the second third is taken up by a pothole of Grand Canyon proportions and the third has a massive crack where they've patched the tarmac with the skill of a three year old with some dried up playdough. You have to go over one of them...

As well as the impact on the wheel I'm slightly worried a skinny-tyred road bike could be unsettled by this in a way that something with fatter tyres and more relaxed geometry wouldn't? Presumably even if the structure could take it I'd have to slow down too stay on the bike?

And there's also another (unrelated) question. I had hoped to get a nice secure indoor spot for the bike, but it now looks like there might be a chance it'd have to live outdoors. What are the chances for a bike secured to a lampost in broad daylight in a decent-ish area of North London? Can it be made truly secure?

Eau Rouge

Do you really want to base your entire decision on 1 (albeit large) pothole? The road bike will be fine on the crack, and your really not going to take the Grand Canyon no matter what bike you buy. The only thing I would say, in general, is thats it better to take these imperfections (not kerbs or Grand Canyons) with some momentum (speed). Any bike will be more stable that way.

roger_merriman

road bike will be fine, i take a old 20 plus bike with 20mm tires into surrey lanes and go off to such places nr family which tend to be far rougher, but really road bikes are fine, yes bigger tyred bikes will smooth over lumps and bumps and a MTB framed bike will be more stable over lumps but to be honest for a 7 mile commute i'd take the less effort over the fact that on rougher roads you'll have to ride the bike more, rather than just plowing on.

DonDaddyD

It is always safer to ride around potholes on any bike while commuting.

With more anticipation you'll be prepared for pot holes.

Your full suspension is OK, for your journey now. Should your commute change, should you want to go for longer rides, should you want to go faster you'll benefit more from having the road bike.

billy whippet

the road bike option doesn't have to mean a carbon number with 23c tyres and carbon rims, but could mean the equivalent of a winter commuter with 28c tyres and guards - which will cope easily with suburban roads. No reason to consider anything else...

prawny

I've just watched Paris-Roubaix again on eurosport, If you've not seen any clips look on you tube and then go and buy a road bike. Crazy :shock:

chrisp

The problem is it's not one pothole. The roads near me aren't much smoother than some MTB trails! It's not a problem on a mountain bike, but I presume a road bike doesn't have the same stability?

But yes, I possibly am being a little alarmist. It's just I've never ridden a road bike before and it's a lot of money to commit on something which could - maybe - be unsuitable. Might have to have a second attempt at securing a test ride...

roger_merriman

where abouts ish is this? i think you'll find that even fairly rough roads will be fine, i live in londonish, ride in the surrey lanes, breacon beacons etc, and i can only think of one road that i'd be wary of taking a roadie down and that has skree down the middle and potholes you have to take with care in a car...

sarajoy

Yeah a test ride is your best bet really, I think.

Also consider just going up a couple of tyre sizes - there are some nasty lumpy bits of road on my commute which are not too bad with my 28mm slick road tyres. I think most road bikes should be able to take that width of tyre... someone else in the know can confirm/correct me!

I also am not too worried about doing the odd dusty dirt track/trail on my bike, though possibly wouldn't make a habit of it...

I do have flat handlebars but apart from getting comfortable with the changed position, I can't see why drops would be any worse over rougher ground.

chrisp

roger merriman wrote:

where abouts ish is this?

The back roads around Enfield, Finchley and Southgate.

Headhuunter

Personally it'll always be a road bike. Have commuted on hybrids and MTBs but they're just simply nowhere near as efficient to ride

roger_merriman

ChrisP wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

where abouts ish is this?

The back roads around Enfield, Finchley and Southgate.

if you want a road bike but are unsure that it will cope, it will cope fine, as other have said they are much easier mile eaters, rather depends what you care about.

simonaspinall

I commuted 13 miles each way on a specialized tri-cross cross bike and that was perfect for the job of yorkshire hills and out in the stix bumos and terrible road conditions. The gearing gave great cadence up hill and plenty of speed downhill + carbon forks for absorbing some of the road surface - and at £749 it was very good value (probably be cheaper now as the 2010 models will be out in the summer).

I now do it on a steel road bike with 23's for tyres and that still takes all the punishment, and accelerates faster and keeps at speed better. All i'd say is make sure you get good pedals and shoes.

fooshnicken

After commuting for over two years on a mountain bike, I recently bought a road bike which I massively prefer. It was an easy decision to make, and probably the best.

The only advice I can offer though is to buy what you are comfortable with, and make sure it's properly fitted