40 Mile Round Trip Commute. £1000 to spend. All Year. Suggestions..

[SquareDaff]

Hello All, my bike is for the knackers yard and its time to dig deep into the cycle to work scheme. I commute all year round, going from about 20 miles a day, now going up to 40 miles under new contract. All road, in all weathers. Also go out sometimes doing 40-60 mile rides on days off. That may change. Any suggestions for my new 'WonderBike'?

Getting back to your OP - Fossala does have some valid points but personally if I'm cycling 40 miles each day I want something light under me. Look for a decent light wheelset. Have seen many good bikes "ruined" by sticking heavy hoops on them and/or heavy tyres.

 

[VamP]

I can't see how it's perfect for the job. I can understand that it is possible to do the job on one, but perfect, I doubt. Anyway, don't want to derail this thread http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/recommendation-on-bikes.133593/
Sorry OP good luck finding your bike.

Like the OP I commute a decent distance. All on roads. On my bike I can travel the 25 mile one way trip in a smidgeon over an hour. It's fast, comfortable and joyful. In my book that makes it perfect. I would not consider another type of bike for this purpose.
I am really not sure that we are derailing the thread too much TBH.

 

[fossala]

Getting back to your OP - Fossala does have some valid points but personally if I'm cycling 40 miles each day I want something light under me. Look for a decent light wheelset. Have seen many good bikes "ruined" by sticking heavy hoops on them and/or heavy tyres.

This I agree with more. Tyres can totally change the feel of a bike. It's not that I think weight is a good thing, lighter is better, but you have too choose what sacrifices you are will to make to get that lightness.

 

[HLaB]

I don't see why when people ask for a commuting bike to use all year round, people recommend racing bikes. Get the right tool for the job.

OK its a fixie speed but I use a 23mm shod road bike all year round for commuting; I can't see the problem with somebody suggesting one.

 

[AhThisFeckinThing]

This I agree with more. Tyres can totally change the feel of a bike. It's not that I think weight is a good thing, lighter is better, but you have too choose what sacrifices you are will to make to get that lightness.

This to be honest is my issue. Do you go for the light road bike as per VamP. Its similar to my previous bike. Or do I go for the heavier but smoother, less cracks on the wrist and arms ride and go for steel. Its a long journey and making the wrong choice will be depressing, mile after mile of 'I wish I picked .....'

 

[deanE]

I’ll put in a plug for the Specialized Sirus. Being an OGIL I don’t commute but have recently done the End2end on my 8 year old version with no problem. Just because you can get a bike up to a grand on the cycle to work scheme doesn’t mean you have to.

 

[MacB]

This to be honest is my issue. Do you go for the light road bike as per VamP. Its similar to my previous bike. Or do I go for the heavier but smoother, less cracks on the wrist and arms ride and go for steel. Its a long journey and making the wrong choice will be depressing, mile after mile of 'I wish I picked .....'

It is a toughie as there are so many variables not least of which are the personal subjective views. It's worth having a think about the different aspects to choose between and then trying to order them by your priorities. Then you need to accept that your priorities may change over time. For the same distance you're talking about I initially prioritised weight and speed then ended up moving towards comfort and reliability. Weight rose a lot but speed didn't drop anywhere near as much as the weight weenie style marketing blurb would have you believe. But I can well believe that riding the sort of 'tank' I ended up building would be unappealing, maybe even mentally too much, for a lot of people.

 

[HLaB]

This to be honest is my issue. Do you go for the light road bike as per VamP. Its similar to my previous bike. Or do I go for the heavier but smoother, less cracks on the wrist and arms ride and go for steel. Its a long journey and making the wrong choice will be depressing, mile after mile of 'I wish I picked .....'

I guess its more to do with my bikes but my light bikes roll over things where as I find my heavy steel bike more of a boneshaker (less friendly on the wrists and arms). The only thing I could suggest is, test ride before you buy.

 

[BSRU]

He should look at a CX bike or a tourer, something which can take guards, ice tyres if required and have rear pannier rack mounts. Disc brakes would be an added benefit.
I commute on either a road bike, CX bike or a steel tourer, the road bike is the fastest but the steel tourer is more practical(only wish it had BB7's like my CX bike).

 

[benb]

Croix de Fer is a fantastic bike - I do 90% of my commuting on it. Not quite as quick as my carbon, but steel is a nice material for long distances and you can mount guards and a rack.

 

[aces_up1504]

Would something that has the fittings for mud guards / Panniers but much more suited, obviously in the winter you could be riding in on a cold clear morning but cycling home in rain/snow so need to be storage etc.

Also something that allows winter tyres to fitted if snowing etc

So maybe some kind of Cyclocross bike

 

[VamP]

I have two cross bikes and a MTB. I guess I might use one of those for the commute if there was a lot of snow, but that has not happened yet.

Steel vs. AL vs. Carbon is a personal choice. All can be made into wonderful bikes.

 

[Andrew_P]

I have done almost 15000 miles on my Carbon road bike, mostly commuting. I bought a Boardman CX for the winter and it has barely been used because I didn't enjoy riding it. I just add raceblades to the Roubaix for the winter. I lost 8 commuting days due to the weather in the last 12 months and that was 4 more than the year before. Not sure I would fancy Snow commuting even with ice spikes etc..

 

[SquareDaff]

The Boardman CX I can comment on - as I have one!

I find it a nice bike - not as happy on it as my carbon road beastie - but it's excellent for commuting. A rear rack can be fitted easily - so can a rear mudguard. You have to get "inventive" with the front mudguard. The CX has a large gap between the bottom of the fork and the tyre - so you normally end up having to "extend" this in some way to get the guard near the tyre. You also have to do some creative bending with the stay on the brake caliper side (there are topics on this forum that explain how). The only other thing I've found is some toe overlap (and I only have size 7 feet).

I put 28mm slicks on over the summer and probably only lose 1-2mph over my road bike - late autumn/winter I put on 35mm treaded tyres. The Apex kit is pretty bombproof.

Last thing - if you do get this change the tyres and the disc pads asap. Paper would give you better puncture protection than the Ritchey tyres and the standard pads are squealing nightmares.

Sounds like a bad review but it really is a good bike. Just a couple of cheap upgrades (£5 each forsemi metallic pads - disco brakes), and some semi decent tyres (£15 each - Spa cycles currently have deals) and you're set.

Join British Cycling - get your 10% off the Halfords price and that'll pay for those minor upgrades.

 

[lejogger]

I do really like my Boardman CX. I don't love it like I love my Boardman Team Carbon.

If I had my time again, I'm not sure I'd buy the same bike as I've had a fair few mechanicals, it does feel heavy and a little cumbersome, but then I might buy something else for the sort of riding I use the CX for and still wish I had the CX - because compared to the Team Carbon most heavier bikes would seem a bit sluggish and a bit worse specced.

What do you have to carry for your 40 mile commute? I have to take my suit and shoes etc. I have a 10 mile each way commute and wouldn't really want the rucksack on for much further when it's got tools, tubes, a pump and a lock etc in there too. So that would mean getting something which could cope with a rack.

I might look at something like the Dolan Preffisio on that budget.