Does Anyone Cycle - Commuting?

Wood.Justin

Hi Folks,

I'm ditching my run around car to cash in and going to get myself a bike for the commute to/from my place of work via my company under salary sacrifice.

I used to do it years ago in previous employment and thoroughly enjoyed it. However, I'm currently after some input from like minded folk who do commute to work via two wheels!

I'm thinking of getting a hybrid (Specialized of some descript) for my 20 mile round trip. Any experiences with hybrids are welcome?

I'm not planning on just jumping on the bike, probably will build it up over a few weeks/months and then go for it.

Am I mad?!

Thoughts/comments?

Cheers! :cool:

Sgt_Pepper_2

What's your backup come winter?

Wood.Justin

Let me extend my travel arrangements - at the moment I car share with my OH, I'm getting rid of the 2nd car so technically I could share all year round. But I want to get out of the routine and jump back on two wheels. I actually am not bothered about the weather/seasons as I have done this before, if we have horrific weather (snow/ice) then I'll more than likely travel with the OH.

runninglea

I cycle nearly 14 miles each way but only two days a week. The other days I work less than 1 mile from home.

I do use the car in winter, in bad weather as dont like being wet etc and no shower at work.

Hybrids are alot slower that road bikes but depends on the terrain of the journey

runninglea

Hi again, is this because you are bored and looking for something more stimulating to do?

shaynemawer

if your getting a hybrid then depending on money go for something like a cube ltd cls pro which is £499 roughly. if you can afford more then you'll get better quality.

me personally have a scott aspect which is a hard tail mountain bike with lockable front suspension and 50/50 road/offroad tyres and use it easily on a 15 mile trip to work

jumperjohn

We had two cars but have gone to one and are saving quite a lot of money. I bought a Carerra hybrid from halfords, however my commute is only a 4mile round trip. Going to work is hard as its uphill for 2 miles, going home is great!

thelawnet

Hybrid bikes are generally a poor compromise. Get a road bike or a touring bike.

Johnmcl7

When I was choosing a bike to start commuting to work I was recommended against hybrids but to me they made a lot of sense so I went with one and been very pleased with it. I wanted something that would work well every day without issue so a Trek with a carbon belt drive, internal gear hub and drum/disc brakes was very appealing although did cost me a bit more.

I find the riding position comfortable and the smaller wheels makes it easy to gather speed and keep it. So far it's done pretty well as I've had it to work just about every day although the gearing is restrictive particularly on hills and the thin wheels make cycling in the ice and snow a bit more of a challenge.

John

discplayer

thelawnet wrote: »

Hybrid bikes are generally a poor compromise. Get a road bike or a touring bike.

That's a bit sweeping. The problem with the made up term Hybrid is that is covers many sins.

A friend had an urbanised mountain-bike: 700 tyres but 40mm wide, mountain bike gear ratios and a front suspension but fittings for front and back panier racks, quite an upright riding position. Compare that to others, basically flat bar touring bikes with narrow tyres, road gearing and a more stretched position.

Am not saying that a hybrid is or isn't neccessarily the way forward, but for commuting beware anyone saying one is.

Billy-no-Money

How long is it since you used to ride to work? Sounds like you just need updating on more recent developments and trends - so for example 'hybrid' means lots of things to lots of people, just about the only thing it always excludes is drop handlebars.

For all-weather commuting I wholeheartedly recommend hub gears - these have come on in leaps and bounds recently with the most popular being 8-speed Shimano Nexus and Alfine. Unfortunately they can be pricey, especially the newer 11-speed Alfine, but you end up with a bike that you can just ride day in day out with very little maintenance.

As another poster mentioned, some bikes combine the hub gear with a belt drive, which means even lower maintenance.

The second shift in recent years has been the increasing availability of puncture resistant tyres; the Schwalbe Marathon Plus stands out as a heavy but almost puncture-proof tyre and this or something similar is well worth the investment for a commuter. One puncture, which inevitably happens in the rain, can ruin your day.

Finally - modern hydraulic disc brakes are pretty reliable now and while they might be more complex to fix if they go wrong that's a rare thing and apart from occasional new pads they're low maintenance and make riding in traffic a breeze.

It won't surprise you to know that my bike has Shimano Alfine hub gears, Shimano hydraulic disc brakes and Marathon Plus tyres! I do also have a basic tourer but it doesn't get used much for commuting.

(Edit: Eight speeds doesn't sound like much but the range available is broad and good enough for most commuters - remember that a '24-speed' derailleur bike won't have 24 separate ratios - there's lots of overlap)