a suitable bike to commute to work in (CTW).

strathblair

Hi, looking for some advice re a suitable bike to commute to work in (CTW). I will be initially travelling 5 miles each way on a typical busy B road. I will also be travelling along country roads that may have the odd pot hole in and could be doing up to 12 miles. My current bike is 10 years old and is a Cannondale MTB however I am getting lots of conflicting advice re my CTW scheme. I have been advised not to go for another MTB and avoid a hard tail with shocks.

I have been told to look at the Specialized Sirrus Comp (fitness bike @ Dales), another assistant told me to look at a hybrid and today I was told by another assistant to look at a Giant seek 0. which is Urban / City bike.

Basically i think I need some impartial advice re a suitable bike around the £850 - £950. I have been looking at Specialized, Scott and Giant bikes to date.
Any advice would be most welcome.

chigman

Hi

I have just bought one of these.... http://www.cube-bikes.de/xist4c/web/slc ... 36165_.htm and although I've only had two rides out with it, I cant praise it enough. It's light, fast and very responsive, even with the shallow knobblies on that came with it. I cant wait to stick some slicks on it to give it a right old go on the tarmac.


steve

WesternWay

I find these posts very difficult; they all come down to "what will you have most fun on". This is not meant to be a dig at you, more a "you'll be fine, whatever you get"

You would be hard pushed to find a bike in that sort of price range that isn't absolutely fine for commuting ten miles a day on... it is all down to what you will enjoy riding and whether you want to do anything with it outside commuting.

My only advice would be to put some commuting tyres on whatever you get.

itsbruce

The odd pothole isn't enough to justify an MTB for a commute - they're fun for the terrain they are designed for but slow and heavy on a road commute. But as WesternWay says, that leaves you a wide range, particulary at your price bracket. You could go for a solid tourer, a cx bike or any reasonably tough road bike (so not the ones that pretend to be track bikes). You could go the Urban/Hybrid route, although your route doesn't sound that urban.

Try a range of bikes and see what is fun to ride. Do think about comfort, given that you may be riding more than 10 miles. So look at drop bars (better for longer rides), make sure there's space and fittings for a rack, don't pick a frame that's too heavy for you. Don't confuse suspension with comfort; suspension is a waste of time on the road.

Most of all, though, pick a bike you like. You have decent money to spend, so don't buy something you won't have fun on just to satisfy the prejudices of others. My Mixer is good looking and fun to ride and bollocks to the roadie jihadis on here who can't tell the difference between a hybrid and a flat bar road bike

Cafewanda

itsbruce wrote:

.......and bollocks to the roadie jihadis on here who can't tell the difference between a hybrid and a flat bar road bike

(takes out wooden spoon and stirs gently) That's fighting talk there Mr

UndercoverElephant

itsbruce wrote:

My Mixer is good looking and fun to ride and bollocks to the roadie jihadis on here who can't tell the difference between a hybrid and a flat bar road bike

So, when you're playing *THE GAME*, I'm assuming you give yourself a roadie FCN? Thought not. :P

lost_in_thought

So, itsbruce, enlighten us.......

What IS the difference? :P

jonginge

Probably could tell the difference but I can't be bothered

hee hee hee hee

UndercoverElephant

Oh, and to the OP, that's a hell of a lot of money for a relatively short commute. For five miles each way, you don't need to spend half that, IMO. As always on a fairly short commute, it comes down to what other kind of riding you may want to do. If you think you might want to do longer, road rides, get a road bike. If you like mountain biking, you'll be able to do a short commute on a mountain bike.

WesternWay

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Oh, and to the OP, that's a hell of a lot of money for a relatively short commute.

I have a niggling doubt about the CTW scheme, that they encourage people to buy bikes that are far too expensive for their tasks. I vaguely worry that it must put upward pressure on prices too, but have never bothered to look at whether bikes are more expensive here than places without CTW schemes.

wgwarburton

lost_in_thought wrote:

So, itsbruce, enlighten us.......

What IS the difference? :P

That's a good question! I realised when I read it that I didn't know the answer (I can picture the difference but not define it!).

So, I looked it up (kinda quiet here just now- new job next week!) and what I got was:

A flat-bar road bike is just that- a road bike fitted with flat bars & shifters. Basically a niche product for those that don't (or think they don't) want normal bars.

A hybrid is designed for light trail use- so a bit more robust than a proper road bike and with clearance for chunkier tyres, but not as heavy and complex as a proper mountain bike. You'd still expect 700c wheels, but with wider rims than a proper roadie and a higher spoke count.

Cheers,
W.

[edit- typo]

supersonic

A hybrid is designed for light trail use- so a bit more robust than a proper road bike and with clearance for chunkier tyres, but not as heavy and complex as a proper mountain bike. You'd still expect 700c wheels, but with wider rims than a proper roadie and a higher spoke count.

Like a CX bike?

FrankM

itsbruce wrote:

The odd pothole isn't enough to justify an MTB for a commute - they're fun for the terrain they are designed for but slow and heavy on a road commute.

This has always puzzled me - what exactly constitutes "slow"? Doesn't it depend on the person riding the bike?

surreyxc

I debated for a long time whether to go for a road bike or something more versatile. In the end I opted for a Boardman CX. The weight is reasonable 19lb and will get lighter, I can up the tyre width or reduce it when needed. Eventually I will have a road set of rims, and some cx's then just swap the cassette over. Never had a road bike or similar but love it, the drops are great and it is good knowing I can just mix it up with roads, bridleways etc. The country roads round here are very potholed copes no problem. Would like to get some carbon bars and post to reduce buzz. Weight is not an issue, in comparison to a road bike the gears run out quick (can be changed) and the brakes (can be changed) could definitely be improved, but all else is good. Worth a look.

mcj78

FrankM wrote:

itsbruce wrote:

The odd pothole isn't enough to justify an MTB for a commute - they're fun for the terrain they are designed for but slow and heavy on a road commute.

This has always puzzled me - what exactly constitutes "slow"? Doesn't it depend on the person riding the bike?

Since moving from a lightweight mtb with 1.5" slicks to a cheap-ish road bike with 25c tyres i've noticed consistently higher average speeds and feel less tired after a 10 mile blast to work in the morning - road bikes are generally lighter & don't have suspension which adds weight and soaks up some of your energy which would otherwise be turned into forward motion. In short, mountain bikes are over-engineered for road use, whereas road bikes on the other hand have evolved purely to go fast on road, and gererally they do it well - you just can't have a quick blast on the bmx track on the way home

itsbruce

UndercoverElephant wrote:

So, when you're playing *THE GAME*, I'm assuming you give yourself a roadie FCN? Thought not. :P

I don't bother with numbers. Taking scalps is enough fun by itself (and heavy squats three times a week means I have the acceleration for that).

WGWarburton wrote:

A flat-bar road bike is just that- a road bike fitted with flat bars & shifters. Basically a niche product for those that don't (or think they don't) want normal bars.

A hybrid is designed for light trail use- so a bit more robust than a proper road bike and with clearance for chunkier tyres, but not as heavy and complex as a proper mountain bike. You'd still expect 700c wheels, but with wider rims than a proper roadie and a higher spoke count.

Well, there's still some attitude in there but yes, that's about it A flat-bar road bike has no MTB in its ancestry. The frame, while well within the parameters of the regular road bike species, is likely to emphasise agility and the riding posture dictated by flat bars sacrifices some speed for better visibility and control.

Now, some people might buy such a thing because it suddenly becomes the latest fashion or because a bloke in a bike shop tells them to, but others will buy them because it suits their purposes best. This is certainly true for me. If I want a full-on road bike for other purposes, I will buy one. Won't use it for my commute - that would be, for me, a needless compromise.

wizzlebanger

Have a look at the Trek FX range. I ride a 7.5 and love it for my commute (about 12m round trip) and also for longer rides at the weekend.

Coming from a hardtail scott mtb that I commuted on its definitely faster under my legs. Admittedly not as fast as a road bike might be under my legs but touchwood I haven’t been scalped yet!*

*Disclaimer : Commuting in the North of England I generally only ever see a handful of people on my commute.

PS...Hello everyone. This is my first post after lurking for a bit.

RufusA

Back to the OP. I use Specialized Sirrus as a daily commuter and it works great for me.

It's a fast hybrid / flat barred road bike with just enough clearance to take mudguards and a rear pannier.

Personally I don't think it's worth spending the extra on the Comp edition over the Elite. Most of the cost is the rear carbon stays and uprated drive train which:

a) You won't really notice.
b) Make the bike more desireable for thieves.
c) Will probably give you problems mounting mudguards / panniers!

You'd be better spending the extra on accessories (better lock, lights, clothing, spd pedals / shoes, helmet?, puncture proof tyres, saddle bag toolkit etc.) which will make a difference to your commute!

My Sirrus is just about fast / fun enough for weekend runs in the country if I'm not carrying all the commuting baggage, but I still lust after a proper road bike!

HTH - Rufus.

davman

I have one of these;

http://www.cotic.co.uk/product/bikes/roadrat/alfine/

Or rather, something very similar (custom build from my LBS)

A great frame, one of the most comfortable i've ever had. I had the Alfine hub and front hub built up onto Mavic Open Pro rims, with Conti 4 season 25c tyres. Avid discs give so much more, controllable stopping power, Best of all it the weatherproof ness of the Alfine and the discs

The bike is fast and responsive and will go just about anywhere within reason. i only use it on roads to work, but wouldn't hesitate to use it on canal paths, old railway lines etc

Simon

luther

I'm new here (first post yay! ) but just went through exactly what you are with choosing 'the bike'.

First question. Are you tied to any particular stores? I ask because I'm using the ride to work scheme through my employer to fund my new £900 hybrid purchase and I'm restricted to the Evans Cycles chain of stores (no bad thing with their great range).

Secondly.... whereabouts are you? A lot of choosing a new 'commuter' comes down to your route and whether you're dealing with hills on a regular basis or a flat stretch of road. I dusted off my Giant XTC MTB a few weeks back and took that out to get a feel for 11 mile commute into work. After a 12 year gap from cycling, it was truly hard work but persistence and a bit of elbow grease got me back on the road. After riding it out for a few weeks, I decided that a hybrid or flat bar road bike would suit me best.... my Giant just feeling too heavy with its front suspension and knobbly tyres. (Incidentally, the tyres were quickly changed to some Conti Gatorskin slicks which made the commute more bearable and fun )

As I was tied to Evans, I ended up visiting 4 different branches and talking to loads of staff who (fair play to them) never pushed me towards the most expensive bikes or tried to make the hard sell. I narrowed my selection down to a Cannondale BadBoy (gorgeous looking bike) with the Alfine 8 speed internal gears, a Specialized Sirrus Expert, and a Trek 7.7FX..... bikes ranging from £900 right upto £1250.

Popped into my local Evans a week later and took them all out for a test ride (one at a time obviously ) In the end, the Specialized suited me best but had I never taken them out I would've probably picked the Cannondale. Point is, get a few in at your local store and just ride them. As it turned out, I ended up saving £100 off the Sirrus so it ended up being the cheapest option too.... just waiting for my voucher to arrive and I should be picking it up soon.