Best bikes for Communte?

[TwoWheelsDC]

N+1 Buy a cross bike and keep the road bike (if you can). I commute on my cross bike (outfitted with fenders/rack/pannier) most days and use it for errands and intra-city riding, but on nice days that I don’t have much to carry, I commute with my road bike because it’s so much more fun to ride. It also has the added bonus of being a backup bike if something happens to the other.

[dasgeh]

When you say more “comfortable” do you mean “a softer, more forgiving ride so I don’t feel every bump vibrate up my tail bone and through my entire body”, do you mean “a more upright geometry so I can see around me easier and relieve my aching back” or both? Or something else?

[jdbrown]

dasgeh – I mean both. I absolutely love the commute but by the time I get home from the ride back I feel almost beat up along with an aching back. At first I thought this was just getting use to the commute but after 6 months of this I think I need to look at my equipment.

[jdbrown]

Do you have a recommendation on a cross bike? How big a difference does disc brakes make?

[elcee]

What I would do:

1. Check tire pressure. You may not need as much air as you think:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1378[/ATTACH]

http://www.michelinbicycletire.com/michelinbicycle/index.cfm?event=airpressure.view

2. Check bike fit, preferably with a professional. Raising handlebars by just 1 cm can do wonders for back pain.

3. Try wider and/or more supple tires. Old cheap tires aren’t fun to ride on.

4. Test ride other bikes.

[dasgeh]

@jdbrown 25791 wrote:

dasgeh – I mean both. I absolutely love the commute but by the time I get home from the ride back I feel almost beat up along with an aching back. At first I thought this was just getting use to the commute but after 6 months of this I think I need to look at my equipment.

You might look at something more upright than even cross. A “touring” bike, if you can find one, is a nice way to get more upright without being as slow as a dutch bike. (I love dutch bikes, but 17 miles on a dutch bike might be a bit slow). You may consider getting a professional fit, either as part of a new purchase, or just to see if you can do anything to the bike you have to get more comfortable. There’s lots of info on the forum about getting fit (including that at many shops, you can pay for the fit, and if you end up buying a new bike that would include a fit, they credit the cost of the fit back to you). Something about a guy named Clovis…

[KLizotte]

I also wouldn’t wear a backpack. All that weight is bound to cause problems irrespective of fit for some people.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@jdbrown 25793 wrote:

Do you have a recommendation on a cross bike? How big a difference does disc brakes make?

Disc brakes are nice, but not a huge necessity unless your commute has you riding down a lot of hills…mine does and every time I go down the main hill in the rain I cry a little at my choice to not go with discs.

WRT specific bikes, there are so many cross-type bikes out there from the mainstream builders like Specialized (the Tricross) and Cannondale (CAADX) to smaller outfits like Salsa. Just make sure that whatever bike you pick has the necessary braze-ons/mounts for whatever you want to put on the bike, as some cross bikes, particularly the ones that are aimed at actual CX racers, are somewhat lacking in these. I’d suggest going with steel over aluminum, as comfort seems to be your primary concern. I have a Bianchi Volpe and it rides like buttah. Surly’s are very popular and something like the Disc Trucker may suit your needs well (although it’s technically a touring bike). Shops around here carry a decent selection, so try a few out and see how you like them.

[rcannon100]

@KLizotte 25803 wrote:

I also wouldn’t wear a backpack. All that weight is bound to cause problems irrespective of fit for some people.

I agree strongly. Get the weight off your back on onto the bike.

[SilverSpring]

JDBrown,

I recommend a Fuji Supreme hybrid (recognizing that the term “hybrid” causes concern). Not only is it sturdy and reliable, it can hold a lot with the right rack (Topeak integrated rack and trunk bag), but–should the world economy collapse and steel become the new currency–you’d be rich.

[vvill]

Would you miss having your GT set up as a road bike (for say, faster group or weekend rides)? If not, and if the frame can take wider tires and racks then I’d just add those. You could also get a different angled stem for a more upright riding position.

[Rootchopper]

Since I ride pretty much the same commute that you do here’s my advice. I used to ride a Trek 1200 road bike to work with a backpack. My back suffered something terrible. Then I bought an old Specialized Sequoia (nothing like the bike currently sold under that name). It was marketed as a commuting bike with fenders, generator lights front and rear, and a rear rack. I am told it was sold as a touring bike in Europe. Long story short it was designed to carry rider and stuff in comfort. It does the job. Mine has over 30K miles on it and I sold the Trek eons ago. (My friend Paul still has it BTW).

I added a second bike, a recumbent, that is also designed for touring. It also does the job flawlessly. Then I added a third bike, a Bike Friday New World Tourist, that was custom made to mimic the geometry of the Sequoia. Another winner.

All three of these bikes share two traits: they carry the stuff (rear rack and ortleib roll top panniers) and they fit my body.

Long story short, buy a bike that’s designed to do the task it will be used for. You can always use your road bike as a back up commuter.

Also, if you take my advice, you’re gonna need a bigger shed to store them in.

[cephas]

@elcee 25798 wrote:

What I would do:

1. Check tire pressure. You may not need as much air as you think:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1378[/ATTACH]

http://www.michelinbicycletire.com/michelinbicycle/index.cfm?event=airpressure.view

I’m confused why anybody would use such low pressure as it recommends. I like my wheels full of air, and this chart recommends not quite as much. The bike handles better, and moves quicker with higher inflation.

@KLizotte 25803 wrote:

I also wouldn’t wear a backpack. All that weight is bound to cause problems irrespective of fit for some people.

When I got panniers, it made a huge difference in the back stress.

@vvill 25835 wrote:

Would you miss having your GT set up as a road bike (for say, faster group or weekend rides)? If not, and if the frame can take wider tires and racks then I’d just add those. You could also get a different angled stem for a more upright riding position.

How about just getting another set of wheels with thicker tires you can switch out, and a rear rack that attaches and detaches easily? That way you could transform your bike back and forth easily…

[mstone]

Why would someone ride with less than the maximum possible pressure? Well, if hard tires were the best solution, more people would trade in their pneumatics for steel disks, right? The tires are designed to have a certain amount of deflection, and the optimal pressure will be lower than the max unless the bike + rider are on the heavy end of the spectrum. There are people who like to have a crazy hard tire, but the science and the psychology seem to diverge on whether that’s a benefit.

Swapping wheels gets old. You often end up needing to fiddle with brakes, etc. I’d rather have a second bike, even a beater, than swap wheels every week.

+1000 on all the suggestions to ditch a backpack if you’re wearing one.

[KelOnWheels]

@mstone 25865 wrote:

+1000 on all the suggestions to ditch a backpack if you’re wearing one.

+1001. I have GOT to get panniers and get the bag off my back.

[Author]

Posts