What do you ride to work?

linsen
linsen Posts: 1,959
edited July 2009 in Commuting chat
Saw LiT suggested someone start this thread, wasn't me, but I am putting off getting up and taking 85 pupils on a school trip in the rain, so here goes....

What do you ride to work?

Currently I am off games and so "ride" a VW Golf to work. Except for the next 6 weeks of course when I shall be lazing around doing nothing :D

Normally I would ride a far-too-posh road bike to work. I am planning to get a "winter bike" at some point which I will use instead.

edit to say: I did try to have an option for "chopper" and "one of those stunt bikes with no saddle" but it told me off for having too many. Sorry if that menas you feel left out
Emerging from under a big black cloud. All help welcome
«13

Comments

  • snellgrove
    snellgrove Posts: 171
    The 'bike with no saddle' is a 'trials bike' :-)

    I also ride a far-too-posh road bike to work and am also after a winter bike which I don't care about. Halfords do one for £90 - it's actually cheaper than buying replacement parts :evil:
  • Voted.

    Define "far too posh"

    surely if it's good bike and you like the ride, then it's the right bike.
    Never have subscribed to the philosophy that your "best" bike is kept for weekend etc. If you've bought it, may as well use it, then when you have worn it out, buy another one.
    If you see the candle as flame, the meal is already cooked.
    Photography, Google Earth, Route 30
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    work beasty has been in the past and will be again be the big green hybrid.

    I have tended to go for the heavy bike + fairy proof tires and no cycling gear. and the new upcomming commute has a part that is known as dog poo alley so a bike that has full mudguards is not just a plus, but something of a requirement....
  • linsen
    linsen Posts: 1,959
    Voted.

    Define "far too posh"

    surely if it's good bike and you like the ride, then it's the right bike.
    Never have subscribed to the philosophy that your "best" bike is kept for weekend etc. If you've bought it, may as well use it, then when you have worn it out, buy another one.

    Depends if you can afford to buy another one.....

    "Far too posh" in my case means that it won't easily take mudguards, panniers, and I can't leave it olcke dup outside all day. Ok, refuse to......
    Emerging from under a big black cloud. All help welcome
  • jjojjas
    jjojjas Posts: 346
    my only bike these days...a big, ugly, heavy tourer with rack, guards, lights, and panniers permanently attached.
    Might'nt look pretty, but never let me down.
    Jas
    it looks a bit steep to me.....
  • gtvlusso
    gtvlusso Posts: 5,112
    Fixed most days - Roadie when I am doing over 30 miles or it is rubbish weather.
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Voted.

    Define "far too posh"

    surely if it's good bike and you like the ride, then it's the right bike.
    Never have subscribed to the philosophy that your "best" bike is kept for weekend etc. If you've bought it, may as well use it, then when you have worn it out, buy another one.
    Award this man the Best Reply Of The Day award. Bikes are for riding. They wear out whilst providing endless pleasure, or fester in the shed waiting for the right weather.

    I voted road bike, as that's what I bought it for - to ride to work as if every journey is a TT. Most of them are. Huge fun it is too.

    Oh - +1. That's the code isn't it?
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    I'm currently on my far too posh bike. Luckilly it didn't melt in the rain this morning :lol::lol:

    With any luck I'll be on a fixie before too long, and can participate in long conversations about gear inches, chains etc at the Morpeth :wink:
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • Deadeye Duck
    Deadeye Duck Posts: 419
    Roadie for me. Anything else and I think I'd have a heart attack before I got to work. I need all the help I can get :lol:
    Schwinn Fastback Comp : FCN 5
    The Flying Scot : FCN 515q6cuv.png
    My Life, My Bike & My Xbox
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    I'm just perving on the tarmac 8)
    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 commuter
  • blu3cat
    blu3cat Posts: 1,016
    ahhhh, I dream of the luxury of a winter bike or any other sort of bike for commuting. (or a bike shed to keep multiple bikes in)

    Roadbike it is.
    "Bed is for sleepy people.
    Let's get a kebab and go to a disco."

    FCN = 3 - 5
    Colnago World Cup 2
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    Miss, Miss, there's a problem with this poll! I ride a drop bar SS roadie to work, there's no option for that. FG/SS come in many different flavours - including MTB and flatbar etc...

    So should I select SS or Roadie?

    8)
  • R_T_A
    R_T_A Posts: 488
    It's time to sully this thread.

    I ride a hybrid and I like it :P
    Giant Escape R1
    FCN 8
    "Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
    - Terry Pratchett.
  • Depends how I feel. MTB today want to play with the red sock brigade.

    I take the roadie out when I want to be more gentlemanly and polite to other people.
    The doctor said I needed to start drinking more whiskey. Also, I’m calling myself ‘the doctor’ now
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    Actually I reckon this poll should be restarted:

    Snob (Roadie)
    Freak (SS)
    No-knee Freak (FG)
    Perve (CX)
    Clueless (MTB)
    Beginner (Hybrid)
    Grandad (Folder)
    Child (BMX)


    Okay - is there anyone I've NOT offended? :wink:
    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 commuter
  • Agent57
    Agent57 Posts: 2,300
    "Road bike" for me (see "old 531c commuter" in signature block). Of course, it's not my nice new full-carbon road bike.

    However, I've fitted a rack to my old MTB and bought a pannier. Once I've got some full length mudguards & flaps, and some less chunky 26" tyres, I'm planning on using that and leaving my old road bike on the turbo trainer.
    MTB commuter / 531c commuter / CR1 Team 2009 / RockHopper Pro Disc / 10 mile PB: 25:52 (Jun 2014)
  • Cafewanda
    Cafewanda Posts: 2,788
    R_T_A yay!!

    Keiran :roll: I are very offended (even if it's an apt description)
  • Roastie
    Roastie Posts: 1,968
    You left out the genre of bike arguably most suitable for commuting - the tourer. I ride one, obviously. :wink:
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    Roastie wrote:
    You left out the genre of bike arguably most suitable for commuting - the tourer. I ride one, obviously. :wink:

    My God! You're right. I must correct the over-sight

    Snob (Roadie)
    Freak (SS)
    No-knee Freak (FG)
    Perve (CX)
    Clueless (MTB)
    Beginner (Hybrid)
    Grandad (Folder)
    Flat cap man (Tourer)
    Child (BMX)


    :D
    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 commuter
  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    Voted.

    Define "far too posh"

    surely if it's good bike and you like the ride, then it's the right bike.
    Never have subscribed to the philosophy that your "best" bike is kept for weekend etc. If you've bought it, may as well use it, then when you have worn it out, buy another one.
    Award this man the Best Reply Of The Day award. Bikes are for riding. They wear out whilst providing endless pleasure, or fester in the shed waiting for the right weather.

    I voted road bike, as that's what I bought it for - to ride to work as if every journey is a TT. Most of them are. Huge fun it is too.

    Oh - +1. That's the code isn't it?

    I've got a commuter and a "posh" bike for weekends. I would never, ever ride my carbon Focus into town through traffic and leave it chained on a bike rack whilst I'm at work, at the gym, shopping or whatever, it would last about 5 mins before some b*stard with bolt cutters, liquid nitrogen etc etc would have it off the rack and in the back of a van!

    Also my commuter takes quite a battering through the rush hour, London's roads ain't exactly smooth so I end up ricochet-ing off potholes, I'm forever braking and I have ridden it in all weathers so it's splattered in muck and oil which I barely ever get time to clean off.

    No thanks, I'll save my Focus for blissful rides on nice sunny days through the Kent countryside with the club. Another thing is that after riding my heavy commuter with a 5-10+kg rucksack all week, jumping on the Focus means I absolutely fly. It feels incredibly responsive and quick
    Do not write below this line. Office use only.
  • MrChuck
    MrChuck Posts: 1,663
    Singlespeed hybrid. And I'm not a beginner :P
  • soy_sauce
    soy_sauce Posts: 987
    im the only one commuting on a MTB??!! :shock:
    "It is not impossible, its just improbable"

    Specialized Rockhopper Pro Disc 08
  • Deadeye Duck
    Deadeye Duck Posts: 419
    soy_sauce wrote:
    im the only one commuting on a MTB??!! :shock:
    Loser! :wink:
    Schwinn Fastback Comp : FCN 5
    The Flying Scot : FCN 515q6cuv.png
    My Life, My Bike & My Xbox
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    soy_sauce wrote:
    im the only one commuting on a MTB??!! :shock:

    within the commuting forum maybe yes probably loads in the MTB section though, the commuting forum has a fair number of roadies.

    i suspect that hybrids/mtbs still outnumber roadies, just not on bikerader and not in the commuting section.
  • fnegroni
    fnegroni Posts: 794
    To be fair, I voted hybrid but mine is a converted MTB: rigid fork (or should I say rusted suspension) and slick tyres.

    I do also think it is best to have two bikes, one for the weekend training ride and one for commuting and shopping.

    I do occasionally commute with the best bike but generally the two bikes are for different purposes.

    The MTB is rugged, can take a child seat in the back, which I use to take my son to the child minder's before work and pick him up afterwards.
    It also has V-brakes which are far better at braking in heavy traffic. A flat bar for manuvreing around traffic and pedestrians at toucan crossings.

    I can also forget to chain it up at work since it is a secure car park. And I can then ride from work to any destination.

    My road bike is made of scandium, far too fragile to withstand any racks or brackets clamped on the frame.

    I also commute 80 miles a week to work and 80 miles at weekends training. So both bikes see an equal amount of use.

    Incidentally I now need to change chain and cassette on the commuter so I might end up commuting with the best bike until I get the commuter sorted.
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    to subvert ever so, any one see more odd bikes? i see a few bents around here, some slow some very very rapid.
  • wantaway
    wantaway Posts: 96
    I don't get it, what exactly is a winter bike? Will my road bike disolve as soon as the temperature dips?

    is it one of these?

    http://www.freewebs.com/warningbmx/Snow ... %20002.jpg
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    I ride all 4 of my bikes to work... just depends on what's happening with beers, my legs and the weather
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • wantaway wrote:
    I don't get it, what exactly is a winter bike? Will my road bike disolve as soon as the temperature dips?

    is it one of these?

    http://www.freewebs.com/warningbmx/Snow ... %20002.jpg

    ALl hail the Gaffa tape!!!
    The doctor said I needed to start drinking more whiskey. Also, I’m calling myself ‘the doctor’ now
  • wantaway
    wantaway Posts: 96
    Clever Pun wrote:
    I ride all 4 of my bikes to work...

    all at once? now that IS clever.