What Bike Query

Again..

Going to start riding to work. It's 13 miles each way, reasonably flat.
Don't have to carry much. Change of clothes, maybe lunch.

What kind of bike would you choose, and why? A roadie? Not sure my
shoulder can cope with being bent over and *having* to ride. Hybrid?
Never ridden one, or a good MTB with road tyres on it?

--

Mike P

On 12/08/2010 17:04, Mike P wrote:
Again..

Going to start riding to work. It's 13 miles each way, reasonably flat.
Don't have to carry much. Change of clothes, maybe lunch.

Woo hoo! It's a nice distance.

What kind of bike would you choose, and why? A roadie? Not sure my
shoulder can cope with being bent over and *having* to ride. Hybrid?
Never ridden one, or a good MTB with road tyres on it?

I ride an audax bike for stuff such as this. That is, a road bike which
happens to have clearance for mudguards and 28mm tyes and mounts for a
rear rack (all fitted), and in my case a triple up front. It's also got
hub dynamo lighting. This covers all commuting bar ice, and main roads
very rarely get that.

I like it. Frame is a kinesis racelight-T, rest is all fairly standard
kit - mix of campag and shimano.

Try adjusting handlebar position to go with dodgy shoulder - I've got at
least an inch left on the fork to raise the bars should I want to.

Hybrid + MTB will both be slower, unless you put aero bars on.

If your shoulder is bad, recumbent is another option, and will
potentially be the fastest and most expensive :-)

In article , Mike P
writes

Going to start riding to work. It's 13 miles each way, reasonably flat.
Don't have to carry much. Change of clothes, maybe lunch.
What kind of bike would you choose, and why? A roadie? Not sure my
shoulder can cope with being bent over and *having* to ride. Hybrid?
Never ridden one, or a good MTB with road tyres on it?

For a while my work commute was 13 miles each way, between Alton and
Basingstoke in Hampshire, which is (or was then) deep country and quite
hilly. I used my touring bike which coped with the hills OK, but the
riding position of a tourer might be too close to that of a road bike
for your liking. The rear rack carried all my gear, which was useful.

I'd already done short distance commuting, 3-4 miles each way, in London
but after a couple of months in Hampshire I moved a lot closer to work
as doing 26 country miles each day was getting me down. Didn't help that
it was coming into winter either.

If I had to do it now I'd probably go for the lightest bike I could
afford. Or move again.
--
congokid
Eating out in London? Read my tips...
http://congokid.com

In message , Mike P
writes
Again..

Going to start riding to work. It's 13 miles each way, reasonably flat.
Don't have to carry much. Change of clothes, maybe lunch.

What kind of bike would you choose, and why? A roadie? Not sure my
shoulder can cope with being bent over and *having* to ride. Hybrid?
Never ridden one, or a good MTB with road tyres on it?


Good roads, through a city, all on road or any cycle paths, towpaths
etc.?

If it was me, and assuming that this is mostly out of town or not so
busy town and suburban roads , I'd be using it as an excuse to by a
recumbent :-)

Otherwise, I'd probably go for a Fast Tourer, Audaxy type bike,
comfortable, not too heavy, but a bit more practical that a road bike.
Mudguards and probably a rear rack would be on my list of wants - though
you could use a saddle bag or somesuch. (I've never got on with
messenger bags myself, but some like them).

If you don't want drops, then have flatter bars of some sort. I used to
commute for soem time with up turned and sawn off drops on my tourer,
which was better in terms of brake lever availability, whilst giving
some different hand positions.

'Hybrid' can mean all sorts of different things. but you could look at
some of the lighter weight sportier styles, such as the Specialized
Sirrius range.

I'd steer clear of an MTB with slick for this. Extra unneeded weight,
always feels a bit sluggish to me. what would eb the pooint?
--
Chris French

In message , Clive
George writes
On 12/08/2010 17:04, Mike P wrote:
Again..

Going to start riding to work. It's 13 miles each way, reasonably flat.
Don't have to carry much. Change of clothes, maybe lunch.

Woo hoo! It's a nice distance.

What kind of bike would you choose, and why? A roadie? Not sure my
shoulder can cope with being bent over and *having* to ride. Hybrid?
Never ridden one, or a good MTB with road tyres on it?

I ride an audax bike for stuff such as this. That is, a road bike which
happens to have clearance for mudguards and 28mm tyes and mounts for a
rear rack (all fitted), and in my case a triple up front. It's also got
hub dynamo lighting.

Ah yes, I meant to say that. I'd pretty much consider a hub dynamo as an
essential for year round commuting nowadays

--
Chris French

On Thu, 12 Aug 2010, chris French wrote:

In message , Mike P
writes

Going to start riding to work. It's 13 miles each way, reasonably flat.
Don't have to carry much. Change of clothes, maybe lunch.

What kind of bike would you choose, and why? A roadie? Not sure my
shoulder can cope with being bent over and *having* to ride. Hybrid?
Never ridden one, or a good MTB with road tyres on it?

Good roads, through a city, all on road or any cycle paths, towpaths etc.?

And what are the traffic and junctions like?

The default answer is a touring bike: built for comfort over distance,
carrying capacity, and a modicum of robustness. Up to you whether you get
drops or flat handlebars, but if you get flats, get either bar-ends or
aero bars so you have a choice of riding positions, so you can keep your
hands comfortable. I'd suggest 26" over 700C wheels, because they're a bit
lighter and a bit more robust; not a lot in it, though.

If the road is good, not too hilly, free from obstructions like traffic or
lights, *and* you like riding really fast, then get a more racing sort of
thing - either an actual racing bike (or probably a training bike) or a
sportier tourer.

If the road is (entirely or over significant portions) poor quality, with
potholes and kerbs and whatever, or you spend a lot of time stopping for
traffic or lights and then starting off again, then you might consider a
road-ised mountain bike (ie one with a rigid or lockout fork, slick tyres,
and perhaps slightly higher gearing). The heavier build and lower gearing
are suited to that sort of road. Unless the road is very good and open,
the high gears will be high enough for the speeds you'll want to do - with
normal mountain bike gearing of 38 teeth on the big ring and 11 on the
small sprocket, and a nominal wheel radius of 26 inches (ie 207 cm
diameter; i think i have 210 in reality), at a comfortable 60 rpm, you can
do 16 mph, which is a reasonable cruising rate. If you go up to a 48-tooth
chainring, as i did, it becomes 20 mph, and if you go up to 80 rpm as
well, it's 27.

You could look at hybrids too, but i've always found those to be pointless
sports of nature.

If it was me, and assuming that this is mostly out of town or not so
busy town and suburban roads , I'd be using it as an excuse to by a
recumbent :-)

Otherwise, I'd probably go for a Fast Tourer, Audaxy type bike,
comfortable, not too heavy, but a bit more practical that a road bike.
Mudguards and probably a rear rack would be on my list of wants - though
you could use a saddle bag or somesuch. (I've never got on with
messenger bags myself, but some like them).

If you don't want drops, then have flatter bars of some sort. I used to
commute for soem time with up turned and sawn off drops on my tourer,
which was better in terms of brake lever availability, whilst giving
some different hand positions.

'Hybrid' can mean all sorts of different things. but you could look at
some of the lighter weight sportier styles, such as the Specialized
Sirrius range.

This is all pretty much bang on.

I'd steer clear of an MTB with slick for this. Extra unneeded weight,
always feels a bit sluggish to me. what would eb the pooint?

The only reason would be if the ride was stop-start with lots of filtering
and crawling, where low gears are useful, and involved lots of riding over
badly maintained roads, kerbs, etc. In short, if it was an urban commute.
Seems unlikely over that distance, though.

tom

--
We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that
needs to be done. -- Alan Turing

On 08/12/2010 05:04 PM, Mike P wrote:
Again..

Going to start riding to work. It's 13 miles each way, reasonably flat.
Don't have to carry much. Change of clothes, maybe lunch.

What kind of bike would you choose, and why? A roadie? Not sure my
shoulder can cope with being bent over and *having* to ride. Hybrid?
Never ridden one, or a good MTB with road tyres on it?


Depends on whether you mind taking about an hour to get to work. If not
then sit up, enjoy the scenery and something like Cannondale's Vintage 8
would get you there nicely.

http://www.cannondale.com/gbr/eng/Pr...n/Vintage/All/

Ride slowly enough and you won't need a shower when you get there.

Seriously though, if I were increasing my commute to 13 miles I'd be
looking either at a tourer or possibly a hybrid like Giant's Seek 0 for
example.

--
www.slowbicyclemovement.org - enjoy the ride

On Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:05:28 +0100, chris French wrote:

In message , Mike P
writes
Again..

Going to start riding to work. It's 13 miles each way, reasonably flat.
Don't have to carry much. Change of clothes, maybe lunch.

What kind of bike would you choose, and why? A roadie? Not sure my
shoulder can cope with being bent over and *having* to ride. Hybrid?
Never ridden one, or a good MTB with road tyres on it?


Good roads, through a city, all on road or any cycle paths, towpaths
etc.?

Well, it's from Twyford (RG10 0XH) to Slough (SL14AU) First couple of
miles on country lanes, then onto the A4 and straight along it, through
the centre of Maidenhead, out the other side. It's all main roads.
There's a couple of inclines, no serious hills. It's pretty busy in the
morning, but not excessively so and it certainly doesn't worry me riding
in traffic.


If it was me, and assuming that this is mostly out of town or not so
busy town and suburban roads , I'd be using it as an excuse to by a
recumbent :-)

I've never ridden a 'bent, I may have to try one. They must be an
acquired taste, because they just look a bit low and unstable to me. I'm
clearly wrong on that!

Otherwise, I'd probably go for a Fast Tourer, Audaxy type bike,
comfortable, not too heavy, but a bit more practical that a road bike.

Clive has suggested the same thing, I will look into this. I don't have
much need to carry anything other than my lunch, and even that isn't a
must. My plan would be to drop clothes off at work on Sunday when I go
past in the car anyway, there's a shower outside my office door and my
office is enormous - not a boast, there used to be six people in there
before the merger started and they all left slowly..


Mudguards and probably a rear rack would be on my list of wants - though
you could use a saddle bag or somesuch. (I've never got on with
messenger bags myself, but some like them).

If you don't want drops, then have flatter bars of some sort.

I love drops, I'm a real bum up, head down rider. It's just that after 20
miles or so, my left shoulder plays up something rotten. I change hand
position as often as practical, but it doesn't make much difference.

snip

I'd steer clear of an MTB with slick for this. Extra unneeded weight,
always feels a bit sluggish to me. what would eb the pooint?

No idea thinking about it.

Thanks!

--
Mike P

On Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:24:13 +0100
Clive George wrote:

If your shoulder is bad, recumbent is another option, and will
potentially be the fastest and most expensive :-)

And require you to carry a toothbrush to get the flies from the resulting big
grin out of your teeth.


No prizes for working out what I'm using for this week's commute -- and all
the coming weekend's work trips too ;-((



Mike

On Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:16:34 +0100, Tom Anderson wrote:

On Thu, 12 Aug 2010, chris French wrote:

In message , Mike P
writes

Going to start riding to work. It's 13 miles each way, reasonably
flat. Don't have to carry much. Change of clothes, maybe lunch.

What kind of bike would you choose, and why? A roadie? Not sure my
shoulder can cope with being bent over and *having* to ride. Hybrid?
Never ridden one, or a good MTB with road tyres on it?

Good roads, through a city, all on road or any cycle paths, towpaths
etc.?

And what are the traffic and junctions like?

The default answer is a touring bike: built for comfort over distance,
carrying capacity, and a modicum of robustness. Up to you whether you
get drops or flat handlebars, but if you get flats, get either bar-ends
or aero bars so you have a choice of riding positions, so you can keep
your hands comfortable. I'd suggest 26" over 700C wheels, because
they're a bit lighter and a bit more robust; not a lot in it, though.

If the road is good, not too hilly, free from obstructions like traffic
or lights, *and* you like riding really fast

What do you class as really fast? My average speed over the last 620
miles, according to the computer has been 17mph. On the flat, I cruise at
20-22mph comfortably. The gearing is such that my legs don't spin out
until 35mph on the small chainring, 46mph on the big one. I really must
count the teeth!

If the road is (entirely or over significant portions) poor quality,
with potholes and kerbs and whatever.

South East roads. Do I need to say more? They're ****e

snip useful info

The only reason would be if the ride was stop-start with lots of
filtering and crawling, where low gears are useful, and involved lots of
riding over badly maintained roads, kerbs, etc. In short, if it was an
urban commute. Seems unlikely over that distance, though.

It's not urban, but the roads are pretty poor quality.

--

Mike P