Hybrid vs a Moped

themaverick

Hi,

Ive been reading the forum for over a week now - mainly threads about people starting out on the bike commute. I was so inspired that ive presented the cycle scheme at work and the owners have okayed it. They are laughing saying they don't think I will stick it out etc but taht doesn't bother me!

Problem is they have also offered to get me a moped - in a similar way to the cycle scheme but without the tax benefits etc

I'm 99% certain on a hybrid bike - it's only a small commute of an 8 mile round trip ( 12 miles ) if i go to the gym after work so its not exactly hardcore.

The fitness side of things really appeals to me aswell as the cost saving.

So the point of this thread is to ask has anyone done moped commuting before and have changed to a Bicycle commute? I'd love to hear of the advantages and dis-advantages !?

Give me some reasons to hate a moped!

Thanks

rjsterry

I think VespaTrek would have some useful thoughts.

Lancslad

Give me some reasons to hate a moped!

Other than you'll be hated by cyclists and motorists alike? Oh the insurance and running costs.

Oh and I saw a scooter under the front of a car yesterday.

HamishD

Mopeds are awful things. Unless you are delivering pizzas or are Italian and are extremely stylish, man up and get a push bike. Or a proper motorbike. Anything but a sort of hybrid in betweeny thing . . .

Stevo_666

themaverick wrote:

Give me some reasons to hate a moped!

Mopeds are like fat birds - they're good for a ride until your mates fiind out

danowat

8 miles?, bike, easily.

themaverick

Enjoying the answers !

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/sco ... e-ec020708

Looks like the Scott is the front runner - got a budget of upto £600! So any bikes between £500 - £600 i'm looking at... Suggestions welcome! Hybrid all the way....

I'm actually thinking of going for a full face helmet ... had alot of dental work done so need to protect the goods!

dancook

I have a car and a mountain bike, my commute is 10 mile round trip.

The 5 mile journey takes me about 15-20 by Car or 20-25 minutes by Bicycle (if it were a Roadie/Hybrid it would be faster)

I enjoy getting exercise simply by travelling to work and back on my bike. If for some reason I have to take the car, like I did this morning, I am pretty disappointed about

So I can't comment on having a moped, but I would want to cycle every day if only for the fitness aspect.

Oh I'm pretty happy i'm not filling up my car nearly as often as I would... 30mpg drinks some.

kelsen

I used to commute on a scooter in London. It served the purpose fine, was nippy around traffic, relatively cheap to maintain, and involved very little effort on my part.

I now commute on a road bike. Involves a bit more effort (a lot if I'm giving it some), journey time takes a little longer (though just as quick through heavy traffic), have to get changed, showered, etc at both ends.

The main difference though is one was just a way of getting to work, but the other became a passion. I also started taking part in group rides, races and sportives and my collection of bikes went from 1 to 5. Even if you only use the bike for commuting, the sense of involvement is a lot more fulfilling. You're getting from A to B by means of your own effort, which instils a sense of achievement you don't get with any other means of transport. I also turn up at the office feeling infinitely superior to my lard arse colleagues as I sit my well-toned bum at my desk! 8)

sarajoy

Mopeds don't keep you fit

8 mile round is fine, mine was twice that (it's now 6 miles or 8.5 miles depends on what route I take)!

I wouldn't go full-face on the helmet though, you'll fog it up with your panting!

kelsen

HamishD wrote:

Mopeds are awful things. Unless you are delivering pizzas or are Italian and are extremely stylish, man up and get a push bike. Or a proper motorbike. Anything but a sort of hybrid in betweeny thing . . .

themaverick wrote:

I'm 99% certain on a hybrid bike

:twisted:

pintoo

Agree with many others - for 8miles, get a bicycle.

The only requirement to ride a scooter is a CBT, which frankly is not enough training to be on the road with a motorised vehicle. I would recommend a minimum of a 3 day course, or better still, a full motorcycle licence. That, along with the other running costs pushes the scooter costs way higher than you might expect. Servicing is about every 6 months and insurance is not cheap.

Buy a good bike, security accessories, clothing and helmet and cycle insurance - all for under £1,000. And you can cancel your gym membership, too.

iPete

Get a road bike, if your into the fitness side, you'll most likely find yourself doing more miles and weekend miles. Consider an Audax road bike if you want to use panniers to carry work stuff/shopping. (that said, my roadie doubles as a tourer/supermarket bike)

As for scooters, I just cycled through Italy and quite want a Vespa now :oops: (with the intention of learning the ways of the road and working towards a motorbike, not to replace my bicycle though!).

p.s. as said, an 8 mile round trip is nothing, you'll be fine!

pintoo

Oh! As for the style of bike; get whichever you prefer. Hybrid, road or MTB. You're the one riding it, so make sure you like it!

themaverick

good stuff .. really enthusiastic about it all - quite suprising myself ..i'm hoping I catch the bug after a couple of months as it will be a big change of routine for me ...

Done my research and think Hybrid is the best for me - can't complain seeing as i'm getting a discount via the cycle scheme!

I'm currently leasingan astra for £225 a month , £69 insurance a month and £150 in fuel. So the savings are huge!

iPete

That is a huge saving! I'm saving £220 a month over trains, which is dwarfed by yours!

I will take one last opportunity to point out that evans also sell road bikes on C2W..

Then again, you can easily upgrade in a couple of months with those savings...

El Capitano

themaverick wrote:

.i'm hoping I catch the bug after a couple of months

You will...

Fuel saving is another important thing to consider, not just from the car, you'd still be putting fuel into a scooter (granted, not as much). I save £5 a day in fuel if I ride. This money becomes legitimate bike upgrading funds.

My commute is about 8 each way miles if I go the direct route, takes me just under 25 minutes (dammed traffic slowing me down *shakes fist*). If I take the car, it's around 35 minutes.

Bikerbaboon

I would still say get a road bike. audax bike would be spot on realy. Road bikes let you go faster with less effort. When you ride every day thats important.

rjsterry

Anyone in any doubt about whether road bikes can handle the odd bit of rough terrain should take a look at the article currently on the BR homepage.

Still not entirely sure how he didn't fold his wheels up, (helium filled helmet?) but very impressive. Riding down the face of the Avon gorge was particularly bonkers.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/video-amazing-stunt-riding-on-a-carbon-road-bike-26614

amnezia

Even a hybrid is better than a moped although obviously both are inferior to the ultimate commuting machine - a road bike.

rich_e

The bike has way more benefits over the moped.

You didn't say where you are, but I'm going to assume London?
If so, at the moment your probably pay tube/bus fair to get into work.

With a bike, your initial outlay of the bike and accessories is soon paid off, compared to public transport every year.

With a moped, you've got to take CBT if you don't have it, insurance, tax, servicing and of course petrol, which is a killer.

Servicing and maintaining a bike will never been anything like that of a moped, plus you can take a bike anywhere, where as a moped could be harder to park in some places and they are still a target to get nicked.

The fitness benefit is massive, you will be fitter if you cycle to work almost everyday. Plus most people end up enjoying it so much that you will no doubt do it some weekends.

VespaTrek

For an 8-12 mile round trip I would definitely do that by bike every day and not even think about a scooter.

My commute is 21 miles each way. Fed up with the trains I started using a scooter to get in, but also mainly so that I could go to the gym before work, and the scooter was the only way to get there early enough - ie to be at the gym when it opens at 6am and into work at 7.15am. My PB for the journey in was 31mins. I try and cycle in twice a week now (on a Trek 7.7FX or Trek 5500), instead of the gym, and may increase that at some point. However I've changed jobs now and don't have to start til around 9am, so life is much easier in the mornings!

The cost isn't that bad, even though I have a 300cc scooter. Insurance was £95, Tax is £35 (I think), Fuel is about £12 per week for a full weeks scootering. Last service was £80. Depreciation will be the main cost.

Anyway, that's me. Having said all that the costs will be going up now as I tested the impact resistance of the scooter against the side of a car last week at 25mph and concluded that it wasn't such a good idea to do that :oops: I'm still here but the scooter's a write off!

bike_addict

Moped

Advantages
No pedalling
You will not get sweaty
Faster (just!)

Disadvantages
You wont get fit
Insurance, MOT

I wont include maintnenance for the bike or the moped as you will find both will easily rack up costs. My MTB service just cost me £200 in parts alone so you get my drift... I did all the work...

Hybrid/Bike

Advantages
Get fitter
A great way to blow off steam
No tax/Insurance
Park the bike in the office if you like!
Combine exercise with a mandatory requirement of getting into work, save time going to the gym.

Disadvantages
Arrive at destination sweaty

I faced a similar dilema although I have a full motorcycle license. I have a 22 mile round trip commute and the hybrid gets my vote. Especially as I lost 3 stone doing it! just use the car in bad weather or when you need to be at work super early.

davis

themaverick wrote:

I'm currently leasingan astra for £225 a month , £69 insurance a month and £150 in fuel. So the savings are huge!

Wow.

That's 5328 quid a year. Depending on your income, that's going to be around a 7500 GBP/year impact on your salary - every year. That's some insurance cost you've got there, too! The bike will be about 10% of that, for one year only, and at the end of the year, you'll still have a bike.
Sorry, I always do that salary maths after my father pointed out the folly of buying or leasing cars to me when I'd bought a car I really shouldn't have.

So... You'll get fitter. Much, much fitter. You'll notice the change in the seasons, you'll be more relaxed and happier, and you won't have the hassle of MOTs and insurance.

Simon the Pieman

Oh get the bike. No contest. As to road or hybrid, I have a hybrid and it is perfectly fine and lovely. You can always move to the dark side later on.

Aidy

I opened this thread assuming it was going to be some sort of epic tale of racing!

themaverick

Some great posts here ...

i live in brentwood Essex and will be cycling to work in Great Warley - it's actually only 3.2 miles away just been on google maps! So it's a 6.4 mile round trip - including hills and countryside views !

Update - my boss really thinks i wont keep the whole cycling to work up ..so i have agreed to get a real bucket of a bike £25 mountain bike or something) from somewhere and cycle to work over 7 days to see how it fits. i agree it's not ideal but i guess if it goes well if I do get my hands on this bad boy...

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/sco ... RRWidgetID

Then it will feel like a breeze going to work after the bucket bike!

looks like i'm being delayed for a week then I will be upgrading .. i'm still enthusiastic and inspired but really want to get on the cycle to work scheme as I can get a better bike then

Anyone got one of those Scott Speedsters?

p.s im test riding a 50CC scooter on Saturday for my non cycling to work days ..well if i have any!

kelsen

themaverick wrote:

Some great posts here ...

i live in brentwood Essex and will be cycling to work in Great Warley - it's actually only 3.2 miles away just been on google maps! So it's a 6.4 mile round trip - including hills and countryside views !

Update - my boss really thinks i wont keep the whole cycling to work up ..so i have agreed to get a real bucket of a bike £25 mountain bike or something) from somewhere and cycle to work over 7 days to see how it fits. i agree it's not ideal but i guess if it goes well if I do get my hands on this bad boy...

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/sco ... RRWidgetID

Then it will feel like a breeze going to work after the bucket bike!

looks like i'm being delayed for a week then I will be upgrading .. i'm still enthusiastic and inspired but really want to get on the cycle to work scheme as I can get a better bike then

Anyone got one of those Scott Speedsters?

p.s im test riding a 50CC scooter on Saturday for my non cycling to work days ..well if i have any!

That Scott Speedster is pretty much a road geometry bike but with flat bars. Are you sure you're not after a more traditional hybrid? If not, why not just go for a full-on roadie? And have you got anywhere safe to lock it at work?

Oh, and if you intend to start off commuting on a crap bike, don't let it put you off initially because there is a world of difference between that and a decent commuting bike.

themaverick

I guess i just don't want drop handle bars - so its a road bike with flat handles? ( sorry just learning all the lingo)

i will test a road bike and a hybrid to make my decision.. you guys are swaying me towards a road bike - I havent rode a bike for a few years so i guess im holding back a bit which is why im looking at hybrids... but that scott bike could be the middle ground winner?

aldric

The ride is only just over 3 miles each way, just get what you feel comfortable with as the difference in time between a hybrid and a road bike will be minimal.

You will be able to do it in under 15 minutes and not break sweat :twisted:

However, If you are thinking that you might take up cycling seriously and do it in the evenings / weekends then a road bike is definately what you need.

Legon

One advantage of scooters not mentioned is that as a 'licensed' and 'taxed' road user, car drivers may be more considerate, plus you might be able to escape their rage cages faster.

Whatever your choice, get a low slung seat for although peddling is harder the fall is softer. Gaudy day glow frames seem to help also, imo.