Ultimate longer-distance commuter bike?

[ronwalf]

Perhaps the Kona Sutra?

I only disagree on two points:
1) If you want to keep the shifting cables clean, use fenders and a mudflap. Bonus: It also protects the chain!
2) Number of gears doesn’t seem to correlate with maintenance in my experience. Using friction shifters, however, does help with reliability (but then no brifters). You could also do internally geared hubs, but I don’t know of any IGH-compatible brifters. I just remember to shift before I get to the hill!

[DaveK]

Salsa Vaya Ti. Ultimate do-everything bike. I really, really want one. More real-world choice would be a LeMond Poprad Disc but they’re discontinued and pretty rare. Bikesdirect sells a Ti cross bike with discs that seems interesting.

[CCrew]

@DaveK 4734 wrote:

Salsa Vaya Ti. Ultimate do-everything bike. I really, really want one. More real-world choice would be a LeMond Poprad Disc but they’re discontinued and pretty rare. Bikesdirect sells a Ti cross bike with discs that seems interesting.

I have the regular Vaya. Nice bike, but it’s no speed demon for distance. I’d best liken the Vaya to a blend between a touring bike and a 29er MTB. My Fuji Cross Pro is still first choice for commuting and I run 32mm cross tires still.

Given the discs requirement I’d give the Soma DoubleCross DC top billing http://www.somafab.com/frames.html Cross geometry, steel frame, with a tall head tube for a more relaxed ride.

Buy the frame and build the exact bike you want to the rest of the specs. I’d definitely agree with the Poprad disc though. I still kick myself for not having bought one. Keep in mind though that “too many gears for commuting” isn’t necessarily too many gears for other purposes if it’s an all-around bike. 2×10 compact will get you a lot of capability. 7 or 8 speed you’re going to have issues getting brifters you want, everything’s 10 speed these days.

One thing I’ve found … the “do everything” bike is a misnomer. It means it does a lot of things and usually none of them as well as a bike that’s specific for a given purpose.

[ronwalf]

My most under-appreciated piece of commuting equipment? Low-normal rear derailleur.
For stops I can just slam the shifter forward and pedal slowly to shift the chain. I might appreciate it less if I had brifters instead of down-tube shifters.

[creadinger]

@CCrew 4737 wrote:

My Fuji Cross Pro is still first choice for commuting and I run 32mm cross tires still.

That’s what I commute on too! My only problem with it is that being a bike designed for racing it doesn’t have the mounts for fenders, and I had to get an Old Man Mountain rack ($$) for it.

I love the bike, but when I got my custom IF Independence last year I realized how bad it really fits me. I got the largest size Fuji but I’m 6’5″ and it’s still pretty small for me.

[ronwalf]

@CCrew 4737 wrote:

One thing I’ve found … the “do everything” bike is a misnomer. It means it does a lot of things and usually none of them as well as a bike that’s specific for a given purpose.

To each his own. I have time, space and money to maintain one reliable, “nice” bike. It helps, though, that I can summarize all my types of riding as “haul stuff to places, 5-20 miles.” I can see where I’d have more of a problem if I alternated between bunny hopping logs and road racing.

[DismalScientist]

I think there is too much of a speed/foul weather tradeoff inherent in a one-size-fits-all bike.

I’ld get an old touring bike with high-pressure 28 mm tires for fair weather commuting. You want to make sure the paint is chipped and the whole rig is ugly. This really disheartens the once-a-week race-weenies when you stomp them in SCR (“silly commute racing”).

[consularrider]

Look at the Jamis Aurora Elite in a drop bar or the Jamis Coda Elite in a flat bar.

[eminva]

Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but you specified a commuter — which means you will likely be away from it for 8+ hours — you should make sure you have a secure parking facility and a good lock if you are spending big bucks on a bike. If you have to leave it at the public rack on K Street, get something that would not be thief bait. I see a lot of old 10 speeds along there.

We have a secure bike cage at our building and I notice everything from soup to nuts there — cheap hybrids to fancy road bikes. I think it’s pretty secure, but one of my fellow commuters told me a bike had been stolen from there so even secure facilities have their limitations.

Liz

[CCrew]

@eminva 4760 wrote:

Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but you specified a commuter — which means you will likely be away from it for 8+ hours — you should make sure you have a secure parking facility and a good lock if you are spending big bucks on a bike. If you have to leave it at the public rack on K Street, get something that would not be thief bait. I see a lot of old 10 speeds along there.

We have a secure bike cage at our building and I notice everything from soup to nuts there — cheap hybrids to fancy road bikes. I think it’s pretty secure, but one of my fellow commuters told me a bike had been stolen from there so even secure facilities have their limitations.

Liz

All good points. I take for granted my secure bike cage is also called my office sometimes. I’ve seen a lot of bikes stripped to naked frames on the street in front of the building.

[Greenbelt]

OK, I think we’ve got a winner, at least in the fantasy price range (and assuming very secure parking):
http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/06/bikes-and-tech/dirty-kanza-tech-nick-legans-salsas-vaya-ti_178867

[DaveK]

@Greenbelt 4766 wrote:

OK, I think we’ve got a winner, at least in the fantasy price range (and assuming very secure parking):
http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/06/bikes-and-tech/dirty-kanza-tech-nick-legans-salsas-vaya-ti_178867

Told ya so

[scorch]

for long distances nothing beats a good road bike. I use my road bike for my 20 mile one way commute to work, on a hybrid bike it would be way too slow i think. Road bikes are pretty robust, but get some larger tires and the thing will cope with anything.

[StopMeansStop]

@Greenbelt 4766 wrote:

OK, I think we’ve got a winner, at least in the fantasy price range (and assuming very secure parking):
http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/06/bikes-and-tech/dirty-kanza-tech-nick-legans-salsas-vaya-ti_178867

Just get a pair of the toughest, heaviest U locks and leave them at your office.

[Dirt]

@Greenbelt 4728 wrote:

maybe even a little dirt.

There’s no such thing as a little dirt.

There are many bikes out there that fit this kind of description. I’m really sad about the death of my VanDessel WTF (Even though they replaced it with a bling bling cyclocross frame). Generally it was a cross geometry with plenty of room for fatter tires if you wanted. It had drivetrain flexibility. It could be run as a single speed, fixie, geared bike or with an internally geared hub. It even had a frame split for running belt drive. It could be used as a 29er mountain bike. I set it up as a drop-bar fixie commuter. I couldn’t imagine a better bike for the job.

Did I forget to mention the lovely color?

Too bad that my size had a manufacturing flaw that made it so I went through 2 of them in about 7 weeks. Next production run will be beefed up. I’ll buy another one in a heartbeat.

[Author]

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