Cofused by Which Bike to get? Help!

dp77

I am on the cycle to work scheme, I haven't ridden for 10 years I used to be a avid mountain biker, have done some research into which type of bike to go for and visited a few bike shops. But still i'm stumped, I will be cycling 20 miles a day so I know I need a tough machine that will last, the roads are a bit rough i live the country side and its hilly, so i'm not sure which bike a mountain bike? a hybrid, road bike? or a tri-cross?

16mm

Most importantly, get a bike you like the look of, that make you want to ride.
You'll need gears for the hills, but 32mm tyres should be enough for most roads, so something that can take 700*32 would be best.
Proper Mudguards will keep you happy.

If you want the fastest option, on of the cross style commuters would be best, and you'll be able to blast a lot of off road too.

MichaelW

Sounds like a cyclo-cross style would be best for a longish commute on rough roads. The modern disc-brake ones are good for foul weather riding, esp with rack and mudguard-compatible mounting on the seat-stay.
The other styles of fast, useful bike are winter trainer ( with long drop caliper brakes), tourers and some of the non-sus hybrids, but CX would be my choice.
What are your secondary uses? fitness, shopping, touring, sportiffs and charity rides, off roading?

rolf_f

I ride 30 to 40 miles a day on the commute over hilly terrain with rough, potholed roads on 23mm tyres. As long as the roads are tarmac'd, you don't really need anything special to cope with them. I use a carbon framed Ribble road bike with crud road racer mudguards. It is the perfect tool for the job. So far it has covered 10,000 miles - aside from normal consumables, it has used up one set of bottom bracket bearings and one freehub bearing.

16mm

Sure you can ride anything on 23s. I ride some fireroads on mine.
I'm assuming that you ride around the potholes on your 23s, rather than through them?

For a utility bike, 32s are not measurably slower, and loads more comfortable, with more air between any pothole edges and your rim, and for someone used to mtbs will still look unfeasibly narrow.

A carbon framed road bike as a commuter makes me smile, horses for courses I guess.

supersonic

What is your budget?

Barteos

dp77 wrote:

I am on the cycle to work scheme, I haven't ridden for 10 years I used to be a avid mountain biker, have done some research into which type of bike to go for and visited a few bike shops. But still i'm stumped, I will be cycling 20 miles a day so I know I need a tough machine that will last, the roads are a bit rough i live the country side and its hilly, so i'm not sure which bike a mountain bike? a hybrid, road bike? or a tri-cross?

Get a cyclocross bike and put some 700x35mm Kojaks, Marathon Racers or Paselas on it. Keep the tyres at the sensible - 50-70PSI - pressure and they will offer you plenty of speed and comfort. That's the right tool for the job.

Forget about 23mm nonsense. The place for such narrow tyres is pro RACING and the benefits for non-competitive cycling, especially commuting on typical roads are VERY limited.
They leave tiny margin of error when you negotiate potholes and traffic at the same time, especially when it's dark (and raining...)
Your av. speed will be largely determined by aerodynamics anyway.
Learn to like drops

rolf_f

16mm wrote:

A carbon framed road bike as a commuter makes me smile, horses for courses I guess.

Why would it make you smile? Most of the miles I ride is on the commute - maybe 100 minimum per week and 200 when the weather is nicer. Why wouldn't I want to ride a carbon bike under those circumstances? I think most people who drive to work do it in cars that cost more than the £1200 my Ribble cost so the cost can't be a factor. And it isn't as though there aren't huge numbers of people commuting on carbon bikes. You make it sound as though it is unusual.

I do sometimes commute on a tourer. Oddly enough, that was on 32s when I did manage to hit a pothole. Wrecked both rims. I have a sneaking feeling that on a narrower tyre, the tubes would have taken the hit which would have been a lot cheaper if slightly less convenient at the time. The assumption though that 32 mm tyres will allow you to safely ride through potholes is a somewhat misguided one

Barteos wrote:

the place for such narrow tyres is pro RACING and the benefits for non-competitive cycling, especially commuting on typical roads are very limited.
They leave tiny margin of error when you negotiate potholes and traffic at the same time, especially when it's dark (and raining...)

FWIW, I use 23s because they fit under Cruds on my bike whilst 25s do not. Ideally, a bit more clearance would be useful to allow 25s but it was not to be. I have run the bike with 25s but there is little difference between them and the 23s either in comfort, speed, vulnerability or anything else really (so I now use 23s on my other road bike which does not have mudguards). Of course, if you are on the big side, then 23s are more of a disadvantage but to say that 23s are suitable only for pro racing is, to use your own term, nonsense. It isn't something worth losing any sleep over.

Barteos

Rolf F wrote:

Barteos wrote:

the place for such narrow tyres is pro RACING and the benefits for non-competitive cycling, especially commuting on typical roads are very limited.
They leave tiny margin of error when you negotiate potholes and traffic at the same time, especially when it's dark (and raining...)

FWIW, I use 23s because they fit under Cruds on my bike whilst 25s do not. Ideally, a bit more clearance would be useful to allow 25s but it was not to be. I have run the bike with 25s but there is little difference between them and the 23s either in comfort, speed, vulnerability or anything else really (so I now use 23s on my other road bike which does not have mudguards). Of course, if you are on the big side, then 23s are more of a disadvantage but to say that 23s are suitable only for pro racing is, to use your own term, nonsense. It isn't something worth losing any sleep over.

First of all I'm sorry that your bike doesn't take tyres wider than 23mm and mudguards at the same time... It's very far from what one would describe as "the perfect tool fro the job" for commuting. It may be the best tool for YOU but objectively not for most of commuters and especially the OP.

Just to clarify, I'm not criticising your decisions and preferences regarding your tyres choices.
I'm just generally questioning the usefulness of 23mm tyres for commuting. Yes, they are nonsense.

As I said before it's the size optimised for winning pro races at high speeds and on fairly smooth roads and objectively speaking offers no benefits for a typical commuter.

Moving to 25mm or 28mm width will increase the tyre volume by 18% and +%50 (respectively) and will allow you to run around 20PSI and 40PSI less. That makes a difference in terms of comfort, safety, grip and (reduced) rolling resistance but it may not be wide enough for some commuting tasks.

The real world of comfort and practical performance though starts from 32mm. Wide fast, quality tyres (run at 40-70PSI not at 100PSI !) offer completely different riding experience (especially if you run them tubeless 8) ) for those with enough clearance...

Big_Paul

CX bikes are great in that they tick a lot of boxes, they can take comfy tyres, most have rack and mount mounts and they can shift when they need to. Try to get one with disc brakes as canti's are dodgy if you're loaded up.

FWIW, most of my commuting is done on 28's or 32's I tried running 23's for a while and they needed such high pressure they were horrible to ride, our urban roads are in such bad condition it wasn't tolerable for everyday use.

anonmouse

Always worth remembering that a cross bike will cost more than a hybrid or entry level road bikes, so with them you would have more money left on your voucher for the accessories that you'll prob also/want need. Although most shops would prob reduce accessories if you spend the whole load on a bike. The Focus Mares 4.0 comes with guards and discs and looks proper rugged for commuting and being bashed about.