Road bike VS HT for commuting.

kenan

Company I work for has changed hands and I now get the cycle to work scheme. Have a HT and was thinking of getting a road bike to cycle to work. How much quicker/easier are they on the roads compared to a HT on slicks? never been on a road bike so any input would be great.

whyamihere

How far is it?

cooldad

Generally much easier.

getonyourbike

the C2W scheme isn't that great anymore, if you wanted a new bike, it would be a lot cheaper and less hassle if you got a bike in the sales instead.

mattv

Depends on the terrain you ride to work. I have a 5 mile trip to work, around 20 mins by bike. I am quicker on my Epic 100mm full suss than on a road bike, because I dont have to be careful, look for drops in the curbs, it has better acceleration etc. I have to ride down a small amount of canal towpath, along tarmac cyclepaths, then have the option of over some treeroots and grass or the long way round and navigate through a carpark.

kenan

Trip is about 10miles and would be on the road.

meanredspider

I'm about 10+mins quicker on my road bike over 15.25 miles than I am my HT on Ice Spikers. The journey takes me about 47 mins on the road bike (Focus Cayo) and just sub an hour on the MTB (a Cube Reaction Race). 20 mins a day soon adds up though - over an hour and a half a week.

El Capitano

kenan wrote:

Trip is about 10miles and would be on the road.

Road bike. Or, like wot I did, get a CX bike. With 'road' tyres, it's as quick as a road bike, but can take a fair amount of abuse. Granted not as robust as an MTB hardtail though.

cooldad

Not a bad idea, and Boardman make some really nice ones at a reasonable price and they have mudguard and pannier mounts.

njee20

I rode a cross bike on the road for a while, the geometry wasn't as good as a road bike IMO, too high at the front, but then most entry level road bikes seem to suffer the same. YMMV, but I'd get a road bike.

Raymondavalon

My commuter originated as a bargain from Gumtree, the entire build cost me under £300 and if it ever got stolen I wouldn't shed any tears..



However I would still like a road bike but not as a commuter, for commuting I'd like a flat bar single speed, but as lack of space allows for neither road bike nor SS, the cheapo commuter will have to suffice

Given the choice between road bike and MTB for commuting, I think the MTB would be the choice due to the fact I love hopping over speed bumps and pavements

welshkev

i've got both and to be honest, even though nearly all of my commute is on cycle path/road, i find it much more enjoyable on my HT. i run conti race kings, which aren't slick but they have just a small tight tread pattern, something like maxxis swampthings might be even better.

it is marginally quicker on the road bike but more fun on a mountain bike IMO.

(i'm glad i never bought a road bike, it's my bro in laws that he never uses and keeps in my shed)

tlw1

For me the road bike is so much faster, but it is 35 miles each way!

Is there opportunities for jumps on the way to work? If so HT - as you can't beat a bit of fun on your way in & out of work

andy46

i got my first road bike a couple of months ago, while it is quite a bit quicker and alot less effort, my full sus is more fun to ride. 8)

road bike is good though as i'm not as tired after my commute.

kenan

Unfortunately the commute is road only, no fun to be had on the way. In the lighter months I go for rides before work at the local trail which is top, but looking for a winter weekly option to keep the fitness.

I don’t really get chance to keep swapping tyres over on the HT hence the idea of a road bike. Thanks for the advice, looks like I will be going for a road bike.

ichabod crane

How about a full susser?

Stevo_666

kenan wrote:

Unfortunately the commute is road only, no fun to be had on the way. In the lighter months I go for rides before work at the local trail which is top, but looking for a winter weekly option to keep the fitness.

I don’t really get chance to keep swapping tyres over on the HT hence the idea of a road bike. Thanks for the advice, looks like I will be going for a road bike.

Yep, get a roadie for that sort of distance and keep the MTB for what its designed for. Or get a hybriddy thing like the one in my sig if you want road ability with decent brakes and tyres more than 1mm wide.

meanredspider

I like the drops on my road bike for options of hand positions. Even with ergo grips and bar-ends on my MTB, I can never get as comfortable. Disc brakes would be good if the commute is urban but rarely use mine on my roadie except for a few sharp corners/junctions.

welshkev

ichabod crane wrote:

How about a full susser?

ha ha

bails87

Yeah, my commute is ~15 miles each way, I wouldn't want to do it on anything other than a road bike tbh. But that's because I'm not really weaving through traffic or bumping up and down kerbs. It's just 15 miles of head-down, open-road pedalling, so braking power, manouverability, strength etc are pretty irrelevant, I just need something fast.

welshkev

bails87 wrote:

Yeah, my commute is ~15 miles each way, I wouldn't want to do it on anything other than a road bike tbh. But that's because I'm not really weaving through traffic or bumping up and down kerbs. It's just 15 miles of head-down, open-road pedalling, so braking power, manouverability, strength etc are pretty irrelevant, I just need something fast.

yeah, that's the thing with mine is that it's quite stop start and some of the roads are quite pot holed and bumpy, with coming off and onto roads and cycle paths fairly often. i've tried it on a road bike but didn't like it, hardtail all the way for me.

but it depends what you feel most comfortable on at the end of the day i'd say

njee20

If you're wanting to ride on paths and up kerbs and what not then a road bike's a daft choice. If you want to ride on the road it's the best tool for the job.

El Capitano

njee20 wrote:

I rode a cross bike on the road for a while, the geometry wasn't as good as a road bike IMO, too high at the front, but then most entry level road bikes seem to suffer the same. YMMV, but I'd get a road bike.

TBH, as I use the CX bike primarily for commuting (lights, mudguards etc), the higher front end's okay. Extra frame clearance also means I can run wider tyres. With this bike it's more about reliability and comfort than speed.

njee20

Personal thing as well really let's be honest. I also find the position on my Allez commuter/winter road bike horrible. A lot of people just seem to want long head tubes. If that's you then a 'cross bike makes more sense.