What kind of bike do I want: commuting all the time edition

[dasgeh]

In an attempt to un-hijack the other thread, I’ll try to move this discussion here. The short version: I’d like a bike that I’m comfortable commuting in all weather on. My commute is currently 7-8 miles each way, and includes both Capitol Hill and Rosslyn hill (the deal breaker for “it’s kinda comfortable but not really” bikes). I have a Raleigh R500 which is comfortable to ride for a long time but (1) is not upright enough to be comfortable with limited vis (aka ski goggles) in traffic and (2) doesn’t have the clearance and braze-ons for wide tires + fenders. I haven’t ridden a lot of steel, but from what I read, that’s where I should be looking. I haven’t ridden fat tires ever, but I doubt that’s the way I’ll go. I am will to test ride them. Any bike has to be able to get me up Rosslyn hill comfortably (aka not too heavy). I can do basic bike maintenance, but would prefer not to.

I’m almost certainly going to put a back rack, full fenders and a dyna-hub on whatever bike I end up with. Flexibility to, e.g., do some touring in future years (once kids grow up) would be great.

And budget-wise, it looks like I’m going to get a windfall in the next couple months, so I’m not looking for the cheapest thing out there. I’m still an economist at heart, so I do want the best deal and don’t want to pay more than I have to just for a fancy brand.

The conversation so far (thanks everyone who chimed in):
@dasgeh 73925 wrote:

Alas, I didn’t bike to work today. […] I realized that clothing wise, I was fine to bike. But bike-wise is another matter. I have been commuting on 2 bikes: 1) my (Dad’s) Raleigh, which fits very well, but I don’t think has clearance for better tires; and 2) Raleigh Detour Deluxe, my no excuses bike. I love the Raleigh, but I must admit, it is too small for me. It’s just not comfortable enough for the 7.5 mile commute, and I end up dreading the ride home.

So on my bike to lunch (on a CaBi), I swung by BicycleSpace to see what they would recommend for a bike I could use all the time. I was steered toward the Surly Straggler, but might consider another Surly or an All-City… Any thoughts?

And I got some helpful responses:
@cyclingfool 73936 wrote:

Something of a Surly fanboy here, so I think the Straggler would be a fine choice. The Straggler is basically a Cross Check w/ disc brakes, so if you’d rather stick with rim brakes, there’s always the Cross Check as well.

My old bike was a Long Haul Trucker, which I was very partial to and miss immensely. There’s also a Disc Trucker now, if you want disc brakes.

Fitting/sizing info for both Truckers and Cross Checks here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/SurlyLHT/2pGsJfXWb6A in case they don’t have/can’t order the specific size you’d want to test ride.

Either would be good as an all around bike IMO. Straggle/CC should be a little lighter/more nimble than a Trucker if that’s important.

Can’t speak to All-City bikes.

@Riley Casey 73939 wrote:

You like Raleighs? Oh boy, oh boy you need a new, bottomless pit of a bike addiction.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/623699-For-the-love-of-English-3-speeds

@TwoWheelsDC 73940 wrote:

Straggler also comes with STI shifters, IIRC. Compared to bar ends that come standard on the Crosscheck.

@KelOnWheels 73946 wrote:

ALL-CITY!

A Surly Straggler would be awesome, actually. I want one.

But it’s basically the bike I have just with disc brakes.

But I still want one.

@vvill 73965 wrote:

Both brands focus on tough, steel, urban bikes so either would probably be good if that’s what you’re after. All-City have a bit more of a track/CX/700c focus perhaps, and don’t make any MTBs whereas Surly has a presence in all sorts of bikes. All-City’s marketing seems a bit edgier and “epic”, Surly is a bit more off-beat and quirky.

I think figure out what kind of tire clearance you want, and also if you want flat bar or dropbar and if drops – STI or barend shifters. CX-specific bikes will usually fit up to 35mm comfortably but not necessarily that much more – so that may limit your studded tire choice if you plan to get those at some point. Having disc brakes or not will also influence your options quite a bit, if you have a preference on that.

@peterw_diy 73974 wrote:

Belt drive 26er fat tire fixie will take care of you all through the zombie apocalypse.

Don’t brifters suck with gloves/mittens? So I’ve heard… Otherwise, when I go shopping I wish my Cross Check had longer chainstays, and Surly cuts the steer tubes kinda short on their “complete” builds. I’d also like less toe clip overlap. (I shoulda bought a 26er Disc Trucker.) Straggler is one of a few they bother treating for rust, the others you might want to Weigle.

Topic

[dasgeh]

@dcv 74065 wrote:

Sorry. If I were a stronger rider, maybe

[jopamora]

I know you said steel, but what about titanium? Bikes Direct has this drool worthy bike.

[sethpo]

@jopamora 74077 wrote:

I know you said steel, but what about titanium? Bikes Direct has this drool worthy bike.

Very sharp. I’ve had my eye on this one as well.

I read somewhere that a pretty bike goes faster. I believe it.

[bluerider]

Salsa Vaya. Done & Done.

[culimerc]

Definitely look at the Salsa Vaya, some of the nicest things about the vaya are the sloping top tube, the incredibly wide tire clearance, and the placement of the disc brakes. And this doesnt even begin to cover the ride. I mention the brake placement because the traditional seat stay placement means you have to get creative with the rack and fender installations.

The Surly LHT and the Cross Check are also both great options. There’s a reason you see alot of them.

The Jamis Coda may not have the tire clearance your looking for. My wife has one and whenever I put 32mm cross tires, I have to inflate them after they are in place, the inflated tires wont make it though the brake pads.

The Jamis Bassonova may warrant a quick look.

Cyndi says good things about her Volagi, and that was on my short list if I couldnt get exactly what I wanted; the Van Dessel WTF

A word on disc brakes; the Avid BB5’s arent worth the time of day. The Avid BB7’s however work very well and are easy to service.

[Phatboing]

Another option, if things aren’t muddled up already: An On-one Pompino, built up with an IGH.

I have mine set up with a 5-speed IGH and v-brakes, and I’m currently enjoying it as an everyday doer of everything.

[vvill]

I’m going to weigh in again because I spend a lot of time thinking about my ideal commuter (amongst other bikes), and because I love n+1 threads.

On disc brakes:
If you’ve experienced the problems with rim brakes in wet weather and would prefer something better, then I’d get them. Some people aren’t too bothered by wet weather rim braking. I’ve crashed once (not badly) and felt unsafe more than once (would’ve been bad if I’d crashed) in those situations, so I definitely prefer disc brakes overall.

They will make a bike a little heavier and a little more expensive overall, and since you need to have the right frame/fork/wheels to use disc brakes it’s definitely a decision to make upfront. I wouldn’t bother with hydraulics (mostly for maintenance requirements), mechanical (BB7s) are fine and dropbar bikes don’t have great hydraulic options anyway. If you are going with dropbars, disc brakes will probably feel a little grabbier than rim brakes which may take some time to get used to (I’ve accidentally locked up my rear wheel descending a road on my CX bike). If you’re not going with dropbars then I would definitely go with disc brakes, as they won’t be much more expensive, and the lever feel will be about the same as a rim brake.

I wouldn’t say disc brake wheels are harder to swap out, especially since the brake calipers are independent of rim size, but wheels built for rim brakes won’t be usable with disc brakes. The only other caveat is that disc brakes are often noisy (squeeeeal) in the wet (which doesn’t bother most people).

If it were me and it was between Surly and All-City I’d go with a Macho Man Disc (orange!) or a Straggler. I’m not sure the Macho Man has rack mounts though.

[vvill]

If you’re open to IGH options and not married to drop bars or steel, then you could also consider something like this:
http://spotbrand.com/bikes/product-page/ajax/

Belt drive, IGH, disc brakes… mmmm. There’s also the Acme which is a slightly higher end version of the same bike.

[Dirt]

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/road/awol/awol-comp-

[dasgeh]

@vvill 74099 wrote:

If you’re open to IGH options and not married to drop bars or steel, then you could also consider something like this:
http://spotbrand.com/bikes/product-page/ajax/

Belt drive, IGH, disc brakes… mmmm. There’s also the Acme which is a slightly higher end version of the same bike.

LOL. Those are the bikes that started me thinking down this path, as the Clymb has the Ajax on sale.

[Riley Casey]

I’ve commuted on a Jamis Coda for ten years now. Bought it as an actual cross bike for recreational use and morphed it over the years into a commuter. Flat bars for maximum control with a heads up ride for car watching, aluminum frame works well in the city over pot holes and curbs, light enough to offset all the crap I’ve added, fenders, panniers, lights galore. Still rides more like a steel bike than the Cannondales that preceded it. I’ve gone down on it more than a few times, taken it on trails trying to keep up with my grandson’s new found love of mtb biking, it keeps on keeping on. Longest ride I’ve taken it on ( before changing the tires out ) was 60 miles RT to Mt Vernon from DC and it was not a bad ride. Never been a fan of drop bars for any riding that involves genuine traffic. Fine for country roads, not so much for city streets.

Running on Michellin City Tires which have been great but I gather from other posts that the quality has gone down recently.

[dasgeh]

@Riley Casey 74113 wrote:

I’ve commuted on a Jamis Coda for ten years now. Bought it as an actual cross bike for recreational use and morphed it over the years into a commuter. Flat bars for maximum control with a heads up ride for car watching, aluminum frame works well in the city over pot holes and curbs, light enough to offset all the crap I’ve added, fenders, panniers, lights galore. Still rides more like a steel bike than the Cannondales that preceded it. I’ve gone down on it more than a few times, taken it on trails trying to keep up with my grandson’s new found love of mtb biking, it keeps on keeping on. Longest ride I’ve taken it on ( before changing the tires out ) was 60 miles RT to Mt Vernon from DC and it was not a bad ride. Never been a fan of drop bars for any riding that involves genuine traffic. Fine for country roads, not so much for city streets.

Running on Michellin City Tires which have been great but I gather from other posts that the quality has gone down recently.

Thanks! How wide are your tires?

[dasgeh]

I came over to say that if I could really have my way, I’d get a sloping downtube (making it easier to ride in a skirt or just to get my leg over when I’m lazy).

[mstone]

@dasgeh 74116 wrote:

I came over to say that if I could really have my way, I’d get a sloping downtube (making it easier to ride in a skirt or just to get my leg over when I’m lazy).

That sounds more like a mixte frame than a sloping top tube.

To clarify:

sloping top tube — http://archive.raleighusa.com/archive/2013-steel-road/clubman-13/
mixte — http://archive.raleighusa.com/archive/2013-steel-road/clubman-mixte-13/

(The second one was nice and fairly unique, so of course raleigh killed it this year)

[FFX_Hinterlands]

This is the part of my day where I find someone discussing cross and touring bikes and throw in a pitch for the Handsome Devil. I have one, like it. The purchasing process was fantastic as well as they ship to a local LBS and have them fit/assemble it for you.

[Author]

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