Five days, five commutes, five different bikes

[kcb203]

Wednesday afternoon on the tri bike was my fastest ride home ever, with my record time based on a combination of tri bike, no backpack, hard effort, and getting lucky at the lights and road crossings. I was about 5 minutes faster than a typical road bike commute. Maybe I should have used the aero helmet and skinsuit? or perhaps not.

https://www.strava.com/activities/378183279

Thursday:
2010 Gary Fisher Hi-Fi Deluxe full suspension 29er

I’ve never really liked this bike and somewhat regret getting it. In retrospect, I should have gotten a 2×10 hardtail instead of a 3×10 FS bike that weighs a ton. It’s great on technical trails, but it just feels sluggish on asphalt or even on gravel.

The gravel trail paralleling the W&OD just isn’t challenging or enjoyable enough to outweigh the slow speed of the MTB for commuting. I was about 13-15 minutes slower than a typical commute on my road bike. Maybe it’s worth it on days when I have enough extra time to hit some of the trails near Lake Fairfax off the W&OD near the Reston ice rink.

Morning: https://www.strava.com/activities/378576739
Evening: https://www.strava.com/activities/378966307

Friday: 2008 Felt F4

This is my standard commuter. It’s really a race bike–low front end, carbon, 23mm tires, no racks or fenders. Several years ago, I was commuting on a Specialized Sirrus, which is a flat-bar road bike with rack attachments. Over time, I realized I prefer to go faster and use a backpack instead of panniers. I eventually started commuting full time on this bike and donated the Sirrus to Phoenix Bikes.

https://www.strava.com/activities/379291023

Final Thoughts:

First Place: Tie between cross bike and road bike. My commute is on good pavement both to DC and Reston, so I haven’t seen a need to run Gatorskins or other sturdy tires. The road bike is comfortable and predictable, and great for day-to-day use. In fact, most of my ride to Reston is on the same stretch of the W&OD that most use for recreational riding anyway, so there’s no need for a heavy-duty commuter. The cross bike is a great alternative for wet days of if I want to horse around a bit on the gravel trails.

Third Place: Tri bike. It definitely saves time, and the tires are no more or less fragile than the road bike. I frankly don’t like riding in the aero position with a backpack, though. It’s just not comfortable. So this is reserved for days when I plan ahead and have extra clothes at the office so I can ride with just my wallet, keys, and phone.

Fourth Place: Fixie. I’m not entirely comfortable on it, both because it’s a fixie and because it’s so small for me. Not bad for a change of pace once a month or so.

Last Place: Mountain bike. At least on my route, the off-road detours aren’t fun enough to make up for the sluggish performance on the pavement.

[TwoWheelsDC]

I would try this, but the thought of commuting on my hybrid makes me a little queasy. I could catch a little bit of singletrack, but I also wouldn’t really want to do my commute on my mountain bike either, based on the short time I’ve had it…although that is the plan for snowy/icy days this winter.

[hozn]

I love it. Hello, landscape worker commuting on the Magma, yeah you had to do a double take because this is my 4th bike this week! Guess what, I’ll be on something else you haven’t seen tomorrow!

I wish I had 5 bikes so that I could ride a different one every day of the workweek. Wait, why stop there: I wish I had 7 bikes so that I could ride a different one every day of the week!

[kcb203]

@hozn 123057 wrote:

I love it. Hello, landscape worker commuting on the Magma, yeah you had to do a double take because this is my 4th bike this week! Guess what, I’ll be on something else you haven’t seen tomorrow!

I wish I had 5 bikes so that I could ride a different one every day of the workweek. Wait, why stop there: I wish I had 7 bikes so that I could ride a different one every day of the week!

Good thing I don’t have to work tomorrow–I’d have to break out my unicycle.

[KWL]

@kcb203 123048 wrote:

Final Thoughts:

First Place: Tie between cross bike and road bike. My commute is on good pavement both to DC and Reston, so I haven’t seen a need to run Gatorskins or other sturdy tires. The road bike is comfortable and predictable, and great for day-to-day use. In fact, most of my ride to Reston is on the same stretch of the W&OD that most use for recreational riding anyway, so there’s no need for a heavy-duty commuter. The cross bike is a great alternative for wet days of if I want to horse around a bit on the gravel trails.

Third Place: Tri bike. It definitely saves time, and the tires are no more or less fragile than the road bike. I frankly don’t like riding in the aero position with a backpack, though. It’s just not comfortable. So this is reserved for days when I plan ahead and have extra clothes at the office so I can ride with just my wallet, keys, and phone.

Fourth Place: Fixie. I’m not entirely comfortable on it, both because it’s a fixie and because it’s so small for me. Not bad for a change of pace once a month or so.

Last Place: Mountain bike. At least on my route, the off-road detours aren’t fun enough to make up for the sluggish performance on the pavement.

I think these would likely be my ratings as well, except the fixie would be 3rd because I would have crashed the squirrely tri-bike .

[Author]

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