[ebubar]

I’ll chime in as well!

I like Jeff’s suggestion to keep a decent chunk of change for gear aside. A good option for cheap gear is REI’s local garage sales. You might be a member since you’re a hiker already and I’ve gotten a lot of good cycling gear for 50-60% off from those garage sales (though its bit of a crap shoot!). I haven’t seen anyone else suggest it, but my simple little Garmin Edge 200 GPS has made my commutes more fun since I race my previous best times occasionally. It adds another layer to my commute that I enjoy. Plus I like the continuous display while riding that I don’t get from my phone apps.

DEFINITELY test ride a bunch. I test rode a variety of bikes for similar purposes to yours (commuting 15 miles each way in my case and for weekend rides). My list of tests included: Kona Jake, Kona Jake the Snake, Bianchi Volpe (steel), Jamis Aurora, Jamis Nova, Specialized TriCross, Giant Defy 2 and 3 (aluminum with carbon fork), Fuji Sportif, Torker Interurban (steel) and finally a Jamis Quest Comp (steel with carbon fork). All the bikes were nice though I noticed that 1) steel was comfy and smooth and 2) Sora and Tiagra shifting felt the same to me.
I noticed a lot of talk about 105 being the lowest acceptable gear but it was out of my budget so I chose to not see what I was missing. I have had no problems with my “budget” level Sora components in around 1800 miles on my Jamis Quest Comp since getting it around Easter this year.

Regarding hybrid versus road, i’d say go straight for the road bike for that commute length. I started on a hybrid (Trek 7.2 FX). It worked fine and I still keep it for bad weather commutes and errands when I need to lockup a bike outside. With daily commuting the bike was just exhausting me. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t well designed for daily distance commuting comfortably, IMHO. Since switching to the road bike, I’m not exhausted and can help my wife with chores when I get home (maybe that’s an argument against the road bike…?). The road bike is also a lot more fun to ride and easier to ride faster than a flat-bar hybrid.

So my suggestions on top of the EXCELLENT advice already: 1) drop bar road instead of hybrid 2) don’t be afraid to test lower level components to see if you notice a difference 3) try different frame materials (carbon, steel, aluminum, titanium, combo’s thereof) to see if a material sticks out 4) enjoy the shopping!

[ebubar]

I’d suggest to maybe try some mixed mode commuting while you build up some miles? I rode my bike to metro (2 miles each way) for around 16 weeks every day to build up some confidence before going the full 15 miles on my commute. I’ve worked my way up to almost daily commuting now. Admittedly its easier in the summer when I only work 2 days a week!

[ebubar]

I would say a flat bar road bike/hybrid would be a great choice. I’ll mirror the comments against suspensions as everything I’ve seen suggest that the low price bike suspensions are basically useless and only add weight. My additional thought would naively be that they add complexity as well. Why add more moving parts to worry about maintaining? It would seem simpler to get a regular old road/hybrid (like a trek fx since you mention trek).

That’s what I used to ride (on the GBT no less) and I never have had any problems with the muddy and generally disgusting conditions that seem to exist there after rain.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ebubar]

Excellent guide that you created! Perhaps a page with some specific bike suggestions from the riders on here would help?

My general advice would agree that they will want a hybrid or a road/cyclocross. Having ridden a hybrid for a year and switching to a road/cross bike this/last month, the road frame with drop bars is MUCH more comfortable and easier to ride. I really notice the difference after my 30 mile round trip (i.e. exhausted after hybrid, ready to ride another 30 on the road frame). The road bike entry price can be much steeper however, which is hard to justify for many (myself included!).

My specific commuter suggestions:
Hybrid bike: Trek 7.2 FX.
My trusty old commuter. It was great until I realized what I was missing with the drop bars and road bike geometry. I’m cleaning and tuning it sometime this week. Would consider selling for $300 (I’m 5’9), which is probably unreasonably overpriced for a bike with 3000 miles (though the chain and cassette are new)!

Road/Cross bike: Giant Defy 5.
Nice entry level road bike that I seriously considered. Comes in at around $700 new, has lowest grade Claris components, but they’re now integrated brifters without those nasty thumb buttons. As you mention, the lower components are probably fine for a beginner. In fact, I think Sora or Tiagra is probably the sweet spot for a beginner on a budget for something that will last and work well!

[ebubar]

If interested I can share a mostly trail route that will get you to Proteus from Sligo Creek trail too!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ebubar]

I’m in Takoma Park too! I just bought a Jamis Quest Comp from Proteus. Excellent and smooth steel bike that’s worth a look (though I’m still wondering if I should’ve gotten a Volpe instead). It’s a bit faster and slightly lighter/livelier than the the Volpe, although not quite as versatile. I would definitely recommend Proteus (only about 7 miles from Takoma Park).

I also have some experience with Takoma Bikes. They’re a good bunch of people too. The owner is always there working on fixing up peoples older bikes. I’d give them a look too. They carry Giant, Masi and Redline.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ebubar]

@JimF22003 86411 wrote:

Bought me a Garmin Virb camera onsale at REI. Look forward to collecting tons of boring bike videos that I never get around to editing down to something watchable.

The plan is to capture some stuff to make riding the trainer next winter a little less like a torture session.

Let me know what you think of it. I’m in the action cam for commuting market and this seems a good alternative to a Go Pro or Contour Roam.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ebubar]

I do from 15-18 miles back and forth (30-36 roundtrip miles). My food plan: morning – cup of yogurt and perhaps a piece of toast and a couple sips of juice. Drink about half a bottle of water on the ride in. Snack once I get to the office (maybe a power bar, string cheese or handful of trailmix) and a bowl of Cheerios with a full bottle of water. For lunch I have a PBJ sandwich and munch on more trail mix (I like the Trader Joes sweet and salty mix with raisins, peanuts and m&m’s). Then I have an afternoon snack of two apples around 1 or 2 hours before heading home. I make sure to drink water throughout the day as well. Get home and immediately down a couple of tall glasses of milk. Then a sensible dinner and maybe a small sweet treat for dessert. That seems to work for my roughly 30 mile roundtrip commute.

I’d love to hear other people’s food routines too! I’m starting to try and pay more attention to what I’m munching on in an effort to lose some bit of belly fat (#DTSScoffeeclub excepted).

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ebubar]

+1 for the forum being my mentor.

My adult biking history:
When my wife decided we should bike, we got what I thought were expensive bikes ($600 city bike for her, $500 hybrid for me). We went on 1 ride down the CCT with friends, and then the bikes sat unused. Being annoyed at spending all that money, I started to ride to metro so that I could get my money’s worth. Rode the two miles to metro a few times a week. I decided to look into biking all the way to work and googled “long distance bike commuting” as well as asking about routes on here. My googling showed the a useful blog post from Greenbelt and I was determined to ride all the way to work at least once in my life.

Then, my wife decided to take a year off work. Once again my needless money panic set in and I decided to be a full time commuter to save on huge metro expenses. I was motivated by stinginess, but started to love the bike commuting. I read the stories of folks on here and everyone who rode a bike seemed to be friendly and happy (well,…mostly). I started commuting daily and getting in better shape. I’ve only got a little over 1.5 years of semi-regular, long distance commuting under my belt, but now i’m more motivated than ever with a new road bike and desire to stay towards the top of the NBC leaderboards!

So thanks to all the forum folks on here especially Greenbelt’s ENORMOUSLY useful long distance commuting guide and all those who helped me find my maiden route to work!

[ebubar]

Keep us updated. I’ve noticed this problem myself, as with the good weather i’ve biked through there on my work day commutes. Its quite annoying, but hasn’t been a problem as i’ve had people on the opposite side pushing the button. If its not fixed soon, i’m happy to contact someone as well! TEAMWORK! Law-Abiding Cyclists UNITE!

[ebubar]

@brendan 84484 wrote:

Hmm. I don’t know the strava terms, but if PR had anything to do with speed, I hope it was a weekday (or other low-usage time) or farther out west…

The towpath inside the beltway (and/or near great falls) and mt. vernon trail are two areas where I don’t think it’s worth challenging my past speed records.

hopefully not too much of a buzzkill,
B

(

PR was indeed a personal record for speed. Was a weekday around 11 AM. Of course, I’ve been riding a hybrid and just upped to a road bike a few weeks ago, so my PR’s are nothing special. Not a buzzkill at all since fast for me is probably crawling pace for most on here!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ebubar]

I’ll confirm that the towpath is fine for my entry level road bike (Jamis Quest Comp). Actually set a Strava PR on the towpath the other day!

[ebubar]

@cvcalhoun 84350 wrote:

Tell me about it! Before I found this forum, I always thought of the twice a week bicycling, for a total of 30 miles a week, as a lot. Since then, I’ve had weeks when I rode over 100 miles–only to find that one of my teammates had exceeded that in a single day’s cycling. About the only area in which I have any hope of being competitive is in the workplace statistics–and then only because my single-person workplace is guaranteed to have 100% participation.

However, all those insane cyclists on our team are so far keeping it at #1 nationally. And of course, the way the prize structure works, you can get prizes even if you aren’t one of the top riders.

This is definitely a tough bunch to keep up with. The miles some of you stack up is astounding! We’re in second place right now. SUPER close to Gainesville, with around 30 fewer riders. GO ALL STARS!

[ebubar]

@jpetty1 83954 wrote:

I just saw this on the news, and had to post it. They said it was on beach drive. I like the dedication, but everyone be careful out there today.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5417[/ATTACH]

I don’t know if this is ELITE or just insane…

[ebubar]

On the Thursday before Easter I got a brand spankin’ new Jamis Quest Comp. Steel frame with carbon fork. SUPER smooth ride that was reminiscent of my other love the Bianchi Volpe. It’s just a bit lighter and sportier which is what I wanted. A smooth riding fast road bike that could go off road onto the Georgetown Branch trail and C&O Canal. Thus far with crappy weather and holidays I’ve only gotten two commutes in but it’s meeting and exceeding my expectations thus far! Someday I’ll be able to bring it by DTSS Coffee Club!

If you haven’t yet, I’d give the Jamis Quest Comp a try.
And yes, it has rack and fender mounts.

[Author]

Posts