Commuting and family friendly bike... possible?
Kyrotek
Posts: 48
I have been using an hardtail MTB for some time to commute every other day as it was useful for weekend trails with the family. We were using a trailer but may now move up to tag-a-long style rides for the boys which will share the hauling duties on future rides, which will be nice. However, I am hoping to commit to a full time commute as I have recently changed jobs to a much more cycling friendly company who provide locker rooms and showers.
What I would like is a flat bar bike which is nice and quick on the tarmac but also good for weekend trails over much different surfaces including gravel/sand/leaves and the like. I don't like drop bars and prefer a more upright position for riding. I can't afford masses of machine but up to about £800 for a single bike. The hardtail will have to go as I refuse to lose my Reign2 full-suspension MTBeastie due to fun factor when free to roam alone.
I have only found a few in my price range and so far the favourite is the Trek 7700 but I am not sure about that headset style shock absorber. Any other suggestions for a family friendly commuter?
What I would like is a flat bar bike which is nice and quick on the tarmac but also good for weekend trails over much different surfaces including gravel/sand/leaves and the like. I don't like drop bars and prefer a more upright position for riding. I can't afford masses of machine but up to about £800 for a single bike. The hardtail will have to go as I refuse to lose my Reign2 full-suspension MTBeastie due to fun factor when free to roam alone.
I have only found a few in my price range and so far the favourite is the Trek 7700 but I am not sure about that headset style shock absorber. Any other suggestions for a family friendly commuter?
Don't get too close as a broken tail light often offends...
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You need a CX bike...
- 2023 Vielo V+1
- 2022 Canyon Aeroad CFR
- 2020 Canyon Ultimate CF SLX
- Strava
- On the Strand
- Crown Stables
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Keep all the bikes...Full Sus, hard tail, and a road bike.0
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I think the real problem here (whether you went for a CX with drops, a flattie roadie, or a more MTB-style geometry) is that roads like slick tyres, and trails like knobblies.
I suppose you could end up with semi-slick tyres, sort of knobbly on the sides and pretty slick in the middle - but I think that can make cornering on a wet road a little bit dodgy, and likewise loses you traction should you hit any mud or gravel going uphill on a trail.
If you are really regularly switching between road and trail, maybe you could have wheels for each, that you just swap? I understand that cassettes and chains often wear together, so if you ride mostly on road and then intend to occasionally swap to trail wheels - you might find the near-pristine cassette on the lesser-used wheels might not do your chain much good.
Or something? I don't really know my stuff...
You could always just ride with 32mm knobblyish 700c wheels, whether on trail or road.... that's somewhere in the middle and would be the best compromise, I suppose?0 -
PS I ride a Spesh Vita Sport, much like the Sirrus Sport - it's a flat bar roadish beast, with 28mm slicks on 700c wheels.
I managed a very gravelly, occasionally muddy and often lumpy trail on it, but it was pretty shakey, and I did struggle to make it up one or two of the muddier/rockier inclines in a wood.
It's absolutely doable, but was at the limit of comfort on that bike, and I wouldn't like to do it too often...0 -
how far is your commute?
If it is less than 5miles then you could just buy a nice mtb.0 -
Il Principe wrote:You need a CX bike...
bloody perverts :shock: ignore them their popping up everywhere.
I'd guess pretty much any hybrid, but the Trek 7700 looks fine, and the headset style shock should take some sting out of the ride.pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................
Revised FCN - 20 -
have you thought about just swapping the nobblies for some faster slicks? makes a real noticable differnce.0
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Hardtail MTB, put some semi slicks on it and have a spare pair of wheels with nobblies for family trails, that's what I have.....although the rack looks a bit silly of road!
SimonCurrently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
A Tricross Sport costs £750.....Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
2011 Trek Madone 4.5
2012 Felt F65X
Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter0 -
Kieran_Burns wrote:A Tricross Sport costs £750.....Kyrotek wrote:I don't like drop bars and prefer a more upright position for riding.0
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sarajoy wrote:I think the real problem here (whether you went for a CX with drops, a flattie roadie, or a more MTB-style geometry) is that roads like slick tyres, and trails like knobblies.
I suppose you could end up with semi-slick tyres, sort of knobbly on the sides and pretty slick in the middle...0 -
I'm shifting to a road bike shortly but I've been doing 14 miles round trip on a knobblied MTB for some months and ithas been fine. The tyres are Continental Speedkings which roll relatively quickly (enough to make me quicker than most road bikes in Leeds) on road but behave well off road too and, to be honest, I find it fine. The downsides are that the tyres wear a bit quickly - 1000 miles or so (basic Speedkings aren't too expensive though) and that it seems silly to me to cover so many miles on road with a bike I got for off road.
Besides, I wanted a light weight bike just for the fun of it - I have no problems at all with the current machine - it does a fine job of the commute and if I was bothered about cost/space, I'd be happy to keep it. That said, the new road bike was purchased for about twice the cost of the replacement MTB tyres I'll need soon. If cost is the only issue, there are hundreds of good commuter bikes out there for from £30 or so upwards. No need or point in buying new.Faster than a tent.......0 -
I've got centre railed knobblies pumped up hard for the road which are softened up for weekend rolls. I suppose its the weight and gearing of the MTB which let it down more than anything, pedalling like the clappers will still only get you 20-25mph on the flat. Lighter, bigger wheeled and more road than trail is what "I would like" (pronounced: "the missus says I can have") despite wanting a Spesh Sirrus Expert or the Trek 7.6FX... apparently the carbon parts wouldn't take too well to the vibrations from uneven terrain.
Enough dreaming! I did look at the Cotic Roadrat for fiddling into a CX styled ride for a while, mind you.Don't get too close as a broken tail light often offends...0 -
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sarajoy wrote:Kieran_Burns wrote:A Tricross Sport costs £750.....Kyrotek wrote:I don't like drop bars and prefer a more upright position for riding.
Sara, you know we don't actually believe posters when they say they don't like drop bars. We just assume they mean they don't like the idea of drop bars but have never really ridden for long enough on a set to appreciate how perfect they are, and are just assuming that they must be only for riders looking to get picked for Team Sky next season, which is far from true.0 -
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Eau Rouge wrote:sarajoy wrote:Kieran_Burns wrote:A Tricross Sport costs £750.....Kyrotek wrote:I don't like drop bars and prefer a more upright position for riding.0
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I'll save you some money:
Buy a set of carbon rigid forks for the hardtail. - £100
Buy a set of light XC wheels. - £150
Buy some proper slicks (i like spesh nimbus armadillos for their p*ncture resistance) - £40
Sell suspension forks. +£50 (?)
Install carbon forks and xc wheels with skinny tyres onto your hardtail.
For weekend excursions swap to current wheels with mtb tyres for off road traillie stuff with the family.
(buy a road bike)Not climber, not sprinter, not rouleur0 -
Kyrotek wrote:I've got centre railed knobblies pumped up hard for the road which are softened up for weekend rolls. I suppose its the weight and gearing of the MTB which let it down more than anything, pedalling like the clappers will still only get you 20-25mph on the flat. Lighter, bigger wheeled and more road than trail is what "I would like" (pronounced: "the missus says I can have") despite wanting a Spesh Sirrus Expert or the Trek 7.6FX... apparently the carbon parts wouldn't take too well to the vibrations from uneven terrain.
Enough dreaming! I did look at the Cotic Roadrat for fiddling into a CX styled ride for a while, mind you.
most mtb's have cassettes that go fairly high at the rear ie 11T so with slicks they should be good for 30's?
i do find the road bike quicker than the slicked MTB but it's not the differnce that slicks do.0 -
I use my Edinburgh bicycle courier. It has the rack and the Rhode Gear Limo child seat which quickly slips on. I also used it to tow my trailer (which I sold today). I have the attachment for the trailgator which I use for my tiddler who is too small for the real tag along.
Oh yes and I commute at least 30 miles per day, sometimes up to 50. It is very robust.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38699266@N06/3641214079/
How do I post the image itself?0 -
Windbreaker,
You can probably fit a tag along hitch to your full susser's seat post. This would then be fine for towing the kids along trails. This would mean that you could keep your new commuter for road duties and avoid the whole tyre wheel swapping palava.
I tow a trailer bike behind my Trek Fuel EX9 at times. Obviously it's a bit like bringing a heavy machine gun to a sword fight but it works fine.
J0