new bike for commuting

emmanuel123

Hi

I am going to start commuting to work on a bike. It is 15k one way on highway and paved path. Now should I buy a new hybrid or update my road bike with better tires and fenders and racks. The road bike is in decent condition. I am concerned about a hybrid bike being that much slower than a road bike. I tried a hybrid at the local bike store and it felt great, though it was close to 1000Cdn dollars. It was very comfortable.

Tofino, BC
emmanuel

Orpheus

Why not just ride the road bike for a few months and then if you still want to change rides, do it then?

Verewolf

Change the road bike into a comfort bike:
- Add bigger tires
- Change the handlebars to a straight bar or risers with comfortable grips
- Add brake/shift levers
- Get a more comfortable saddle
- (optional) get a suspension seat post
- (optional) replace the fork with a hybrid suspension fork

You can do all the above for a lot less than the price of a new hybrid.

Don Shipp

It does depend on what your road bike is like, of course, in terms of both comfort and durability, but I would suggest that you start by changing the tyres only. Schwalbe Marathon Plus will give you a comfortable ride, handle road and track and are extremely puncture resistant. Together with mudguards and carrier this should be all the changes you need for a 15k commute. (And good lights, of course!)

__________________
"Boudreaux pissed me off, what should I do?"
"Nothing, just shut up and take his advice."

emmanuel123

Thank you for your help on this matter, I will look in to updating my road bike

Mostly, I am concerned about the tires, a flat is not good on the way to work.

Verewolf

The upgrade items I listed above (minus the optional ones)
can be purchased for less than $100 USD.
I think working with your current bike is the best and least expensive choice.
BTW - What kind of road bike do you have and do you have a pix of it?

As far as a flat tire goes - won't really matter what type of tires you have,
sooner or later you're going to get a flat.
Just be prepared and carry a spare tube or tube repair kit.
And of course a pump and tire levers.

Flats happen often when your as far away from home as possible.
And usually when you least expect them and at a the most unconvenient times.

emmanuel123

My bike is a 10 year old Miele, I believe it is a company out of Quebec. It has served me well over this time and would prefer to keep it in service. I inherited it from a heavy hitter litterally and figuratively on my soft ball team. He kept popping the racing tires.

Verewolf

I'm not familiar with Miele so I went to their website.
They're still in business.

There are a lot of options available for converting your bike over to a comfort bike.
And there's a lot of satisfaction in picking out the parts you want.
Once you're done you'll have a one-of-a-kind bike.
Plus you'll end up saving a bunch of cash that you would have spent on a new bike.

My road bike is a 20+ year old Suteki still in excellent shape.
I recently took off the drop bars and put on a straight bar.
Only problem I had is it's a true 10 speed (2x5) so I wasn't able to find
a brake/shifter dual control lever.
I added Shimano brake levers and left the downtube shifters on.
When the tires need replaced I'll add bigger tires.

Insight Driver

As long as you are comfortable on your road bike it is suitable as a commuting bike with better commuting tires (which are just as fast as racing tires but more forgiving of rough roads), fenders (much more comfortable in rain than feeling streams of water spraying your legs and back) and a rack of some kind on which you can put a bike bag or box. I'm specifying a custom bike now that I am going to use for commuting. It's a road bike but will have fender and rack bits attached (it's a full custom carbon fiber bike). I'm comfortable using a classic style of road bike for commuting, personally. I would not want a straight bar on it. I would not want a hybrid bike as I stick to paved trails and streets only. These are my thoughts and opinions for you to consider. Just figure out what is important to you.

Cheers.

roadbikeman

OCR1's are absolutely fantastic. I have been commuting to work in Melbourne, Australia with mine for the last 11 months, and I have just passed 5,000km on the speedo. I commute 30km each day, 5 days a week - rain hail or shine and my blue 2004 OCR (Shimano 105) has taken it all in it's stride.

This heavy riding/commuting is what they are designed for. It is still light enough to race even the fastest commuter on the bike trail, and I often get up to 55khp on the flat.

In fact, I have just converted two of my nearby friends who also work into the city to purchase 2005 OCR1's and they now have been bitten by the bug and join me almost every day.

OCR1's are also great for entry level racing in clubs at all levels, where they will provide you with bomb proof durability until you decide you need something a kilo or couple of pounds lighter for serious racing. OCR1's weigh approx 9 kilos or 22 pounds.

I am very very happy with mine. Few tips, keep it serviced at least twice a year and gently hose off dirt, road grime with bio cleaners at least once a week. It is all in the preventative maintenance that will keep you riding the same bike for 10 years.


You cannot go wrong with an OCR1.

strummer_fan

The biggest problem that you will face is that many road bikes have such a narrow tire clearance that it is difficult to get a larger tire in there, much less fenders.

If you are planning on giving it a go, without spending too much money, you should get any tire in th 700 * 28 range such as:

Pasela Panaracer Tourguard, Schwalbe Marathon, Continental Gatorskin (what I ride - 1200 miles so far with no flats).

See: http://www.wallbike.com or http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/tires/622.html for similar deals.

If you can't fit a full fender under those brake calipers, you can go half-way there with a set of SKS RaceBlades or something similar.

60 bucks for the tires, 50 bucks for the fenders, and you can ride your Miele to work in fair weather to see if you enjoy commuting and if it works for you.


good luck!