Can I turn a racing bike into a commuter?

Nasqueron

BikingBud said:

Nasqueron said:

BikingBud said:

Whatever happened to bikes being bikes and using and abusing them wherever.

Marketing has skewed everybody's thoughts:
 - gravel bike its a frame and wheels can go where you can pedal it
- shopping bike, it's a frame and wheels can go where you can pedal it
- race bike - it's a frame and wheels can go where you can pedal it and how fast you can

Perhaps the only different need is for a track bike with fixed gears and no brakes but everything else is just a bike.

This is simply incorrect, though I do agree the bike world has tried to invent a lot of varieties that probably don't need to exist

A road bike, i.e. one with drop handlebars, is not suitable for many people who nevertheless, want to ride on the road, or equivalent - so a flat bar one like a MTB but without the weight of suspension, or a hardtail - would be fine (which I think OP is trying to achieve). However, said road bike is good for enthusiasts who want to ride on the drops - thinner tyres, lighter, more aero, at least until recently, with rim brakes etc all make the bike more suited to hobbyists. Whether there is a place for gravel (which is in essence, a CX bike) alongside road, hybrid, etc is debatable.

Shopping bike - with panniers to carry stuff or indeed, a cargo bike to carry lots of stuff, is obviously different to any other bike - both in looks, capacity etc but also purpose

Why would a fixed gear / single speed not be useful outside of a track? In a city like London with great bike lanes and where it can be done on the flat or limited hills, a fixie would be fine, no gears to maintain, easy to just get on and go etc

What is a road bike? I used the term race bike.

Shopping bike, see Belgium Holland etc for prime example of how mass cycling without over marketing can occur, https://www.cycleking.co.uk/bikes/dutch-bikes/instock?srsltid=AfmBOorJg8YYPOHP1hKi1HaZ_7WlMJwXkk0Xbni3vhxQwb-n8aECV89U.

Thinner tyres, it seems the fashion is to be fatter, no longer 19 or 21mm.

And the brakes on a track bike? Perhaps you don't recall the sad incident where a rider who had removed the brake from his fix was charge with manslaughter. 

As mentioned in your later post, CX bikes were used long before gravel and MTB bike came along. We put cow bars on Raleigh Arenas or Carlton Criterium kept the 5 speed and went anywhere and everywhere on them.

Cycling has to keep re-inventing itself in the same way that Apple will make iphone 238. You need a 12 speed block in the same way that Spinal Tap's amp went up to 11.

It's about building in obsolescence, disposable frames because the push fit BB is crap and you can't get parts for the older bikes, It's about sustaining cash flow and it seems the n+1 mantra may be running out.

Just get a bike and ride.

Road bike is a bike industry term, race bike is not - racing bikes could be TT or track for example or indeed road bike like on the tours, you can call it what you like, but road bike is understood in the industry just as CX, gravel, TT etc are

Thinner tyres - you are 10 years out of date at least, the days of 19/21mm are long gone, 25c is the minimum, 28c is more common for road bikes as the myths of thinner = faster were long debunked. Many road bikes come with 35c now with disc brakes allowing wider tyres

Charlie Alliston illegally used a track bike on the road (it wasn't removed, it never had it because it was a track bike) and it's arguable who was at fault, his bike was illegal, pedestrian stepped in front and was too absorbed in their phone call to heed warnings, but he could probably have stopped with 2 brakes so was found guilty.

Emily_Joy

After spending some very happy time in Netherlands I got attached to Ducth bikes for comfort riding position. However, the town where I currently live and the town where are work are both incredibly hilly - to the extend that a few hills are not accessible when icy without winter tyres - neither for cars, nor for bikes... So I decided to try Trek last year, and I am very happy with the choice... 
I think what I am saying is that you need to take the terrain into account. Rather than looking into something you are familiar with, I would be looking for a locally popular model.

Herzlos

Nasqueron said:

chris_n said:

Nasqueron said:

BikingBud said:

Whatever happened to bikes being bikes and using and abusing them wherever.

Marketing has skewed everybody's thoughts:
 - gravel bike its a frame and wheels can go where you can pedal it
- shopping bike, it's a frame and wheels can go where you can pedal it
- race bike - it's a frame and wheels can go where you can pedal it and how fast you can

Perhaps the only different need is for a track bike with fixed gears and no brakes but everything else is just a bike.

This is simply incorrect, though I do agree the bike world has tried to invent a lot of varieties that probably don't need to exist

A road bike, i.e. one with drop handlebars, is not suitable for many people who nevertheless, want to ride on the road, or equivalent - so a flat bar one like a MTB but without the weight of suspension, or a hardtail - would be fine (which I think OP is trying to achieve). However, said road bike is good for enthusiasts who want to ride on the drops - thinner tyres, lighter, more aero, at least until recently, with rim brakes etc all make the bike more suited to hobbyists. Whether there is a place for gravel (which is in essence, a CX bike) alongside road, hybrid, etc is debatable.

Shopping bike - with panniers to carry stuff or indeed, a cargo bike to carry lots of stuff, is obviously different to any other bike - both in looks, capacity etc but also purpose

Why would a fixed gear / single speed not be useful outside of a track? In a city like London with great bike lanes and where it can be done on the flat or limited hills, a fixie would be fine, no gears to maintain, easy to just get on and go etc

Plenty of scope for gravel bikes, with their wider tyres they are perfect for light off road, things like old railway lines, bridleways etc. Given the state of roads in many parts of UK they are probably a better bet than many road bikes.

I think you missed the point I was making - the wider tyres are available on a CX bike as much as a gravel bike - that is what I mean. Do we need a separate "class" of bikes with drop bars, disc brakes and wider tyres given that is literally what a CX bike is? Gravel comes along as a "new" must have when it's basically a CX but with a different name to make people buy more bikes. Even new road bikes often can take 35c or even 40c while CX, while the race ones are usually aimed at not much over 33c per UCI regs, can go up to 45c if the frame will take it

CX bike isn't a great example because cyclocross has pretty odd requirements that don't translate to anything else. For official races the max tyre width is 33mm, so they aren't likely to have much more clearance than that.

They also don't need mounts for racks, lights, mudguards or bottles, because races aren't that long and bikes need to be carried.

They were popular before gravel bikes came along because they were more comfortable with road bikes, which often didn't have clearance for more than 25mm tyres and an aggressive riding position.

Gravel bikes took the CX niche into a more general thing with a more comfortable riding position, wider tyres and loads of mounts. Now you got a comfortable and versatile road commuter that's capable of paths you'd never dream of taking on with a road bike. The much lower gearing helps a lot too.

Gravel bikes seem to be able to take up to about 50mm tyres now, depending on the wheel size. The comfort level going from my road bike (28m) to my gravel bike (44mm) is pretty significant.

Nasqueron

Herzlos said:

Nasqueron said:

chris_n said:

Nasqueron said:

BikingBud said:

Whatever happened to bikes being bikes and using and abusing them wherever.

Marketing has skewed everybody's thoughts:
 - gravel bike its a frame and wheels can go where you can pedal it
- shopping bike, it's a frame and wheels can go where you can pedal it
- race bike - it's a frame and wheels can go where you can pedal it and how fast you can

Perhaps the only different need is for a track bike with fixed gears and no brakes but everything else is just a bike.

This is simply incorrect, though I do agree the bike world has tried to invent a lot of varieties that probably don't need to exist

A road bike, i.e. one with drop handlebars, is not suitable for many people who nevertheless, want to ride on the road, or equivalent - so a flat bar one like a MTB but without the weight of suspension, or a hardtail - would be fine (which I think OP is trying to achieve). However, said road bike is good for enthusiasts who want to ride on the drops - thinner tyres, lighter, more aero, at least until recently, with rim brakes etc all make the bike more suited to hobbyists. Whether there is a place for gravel (which is in essence, a CX bike) alongside road, hybrid, etc is debatable.

Shopping bike - with panniers to carry stuff or indeed, a cargo bike to carry lots of stuff, is obviously different to any other bike - both in looks, capacity etc but also purpose

Why would a fixed gear / single speed not be useful outside of a track? In a city like London with great bike lanes and where it can be done on the flat or limited hills, a fixie would be fine, no gears to maintain, easy to just get on and go etc

Plenty of scope for gravel bikes, with their wider tyres they are perfect for light off road, things like old railway lines, bridleways etc. Given the state of roads in many parts of UK they are probably a better bet than many road bikes.

I think you missed the point I was making - the wider tyres are available on a CX bike as much as a gravel bike - that is what I mean. Do we need a separate "class" of bikes with drop bars, disc brakes and wider tyres given that is literally what a CX bike is? Gravel comes along as a "new" must have when it's basically a CX but with a different name to make people buy more bikes. Even new road bikes often can take 35c or even 40c while CX, while the race ones are usually aimed at not much over 33c per UCI regs, can go up to 45c if the frame will take it

CX bike isn't a great example because cyclocross has pretty odd requirements that don't translate to anything else. For official races the max tyre width is 33mm, so they aren't likely to have much more clearance than that.

They also don't need mounts for racks, lights, mudguards or bottles, because races aren't that long and bikes need to be carried.

They were popular before gravel bikes came along because they were more comfortable with road bikes, which often didn't have clearance for more than 25mm tyres and an aggressive riding position.

Gravel bikes took the CX niche into a more general thing with a more comfortable riding position, wider tyres and loads of mounts. Now you got a comfortable and versatile road commuter that's capable of paths you'd never dream of taking on with a road bike. The much lower gearing helps a lot too.

Gravel bikes seem to be able to take up to about 50mm tyres now, depending on the wheel size. The comfort level going from my road bike (28m) to my gravel bike (44mm) is pretty significant.

I have a CX, it has mounts for all the stuff above, gravel and CX are still an overlap created to sell more bikes

Guesthouse

Depends how far he has to ride. I commute on my "racing" bike all year round as well as go on group rides, events.

andygb

Guesthouse said:

Depends how far he has to ride. I commute on my "racing" bike all year round as well as go on group rides, events.

Exactly, around twenty five years ago, I used to do a seventy mile round commute to London three days a week, so I used my road racing bike with different wheels. It used to be normal back in the day.