59 year old reborn commuter.

[Lovacott]

Hi all,

I used to cycle to work in London over 30 years ago. Harlesden to Bushey and back, every day for six years.

But since then, and up until about five months ago, I've maybe only totted up a hundred miles or so on the odd pleasure ride.

At the moment, I'm doing a 20 mile return ride over hills in Devon country lanes. My first outbound journey took me over two hours (I walked a lot of it). It also took me about a week to recover.

To date, I have averaged 80 miles per week in the 20 weeks.

I'm riding an old Halfords Apollo Paradox MTB and although it served me well to start with, I've found myself spending over £300 on parts bringing the thing up to scratch (I do all of the work myself thanks to youtubes from Parktool and the like).

I'm looking to buy a new bike using the cycle to work scheme and I need some experienced advice.

The 21 speed, 27.5" x 2.5 tyre MTB works well up the big hills and cow dung slurry, but it is as heavy as hell on the 3 miles I do each way on proper main roads.

I'm looking for something which can do the hills and the muddy bits and also give me a bit of oomph when I hit proper tarmac.

Any suggestions welcome.

 

[si_c]

If you want to ride where it's muddy and on roads then you're basically looking at something like a cyclocross bike. Essentially a road bike with design changes that allow for wider nobbly tyres that work well on muddy off road sections. It's not suitable for full on off-roading but it's a good halfway house and will probably work better than most hybrid type bikes. You can change the tyres and have a bike more suited to a full on road ride as well.

Another option would be what are termed adventure road bikes or gravel bikes, these are again road bikes with wider tyres and a nobblier tread on them which means they work better on gravel, although they're not as good in full on muddy conditions.

All these bikes will tend to have disc brakes and lots of clearance for things like mudguards as well. A good starting point might be something like this from Halfords - although it's not a recommendation as I've never seen or ridden one but more of a pointer towards what would work well in your case.

 

[Cycleops]

A gravel bike would be your best bet as it will have fittings for mudguards, which sounds like you might need, unlike a CX bike. There are plenty of models about if you can find one in stock .
Decathlon do a nice one and it’s great vfm:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-rc520-gravel-id_8504030.html
Sorry about the Apollo, I wouldn’t wish one of those on anyone.

 

[Lovacott]

One of my work colleagues suggested a gravel bike last week and I'd never heard of them before.

He's an experienced competition road cyclist.

Thanks for adding weight to his point of view.

 

[Spiderweb]

An idea of budget would be good and you don’t say if your preference is flat bar or drop bar?

If you want drop bar then the Decathlon gravel bike that @Cycleops suggested would be a great choice, unfortunately, as with most bikes at the moment, there is no stock so you will have to pre-order.

If you fancy flat bar then this Ribble would fit the bill, not particularly marketed as a gravel bike but it does have 35mm tyres so would be a decent all rounder, they even do a fully loaded version with mudguards, rack and lights. Again this is pre-order but maybe worth a wait?
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-hybrid-al-commuter/

 

[Juan Kog]

Welcome. 30 years ago my cycle commute was Bushey to Neasden , we may have passed each other.

 

[Lovacott]

I bought the Apollo 5 years ago for occasional level pleasure rides along the Tarka Trail which is five minutes walk from my front door.

I've wanted to upgrade since lockdown started, but there is literally nothing available.

Since I started using the Apollo for commuting, I've spent twice as much on parts than the bike cost to buy.

I've changed out the entire drivetrain along with the bottom bracket bearings and wheel bearings. I've upgraded the gear shifts and swapped out the brake cables and rotors.

The way I see it, is that if i can ride the badly built camel of a bike that I have now, I will be in luxury when I get to ride a racehorse.

My quandary is that half of my ride is good quality tarmac and the other half is pot holed cow shite smothered single track farm lanes.

I'm thinking either a better quality hard tail MTB or a Boardman ADV.

Thoughts are more than welcome.

 

[Lovacott]

An idea of budget would be good and you don’t say if your preference is flat bar or drop bar?

If you want drop bar then the Decathlon gravel bike that @Cycleops suggested would be a great choice, unfortunately, as with most bikes at the moment, there is no stock so you will have to pre-order.

If you fancy flat bar then this Ribble would fit the bill, not particularly marketed as a gravel bike but it does have 35mm tyres so would be a decent all rounder, they even do a fully loaded version with mudguards, rack and lights. Again this is pre-order but maybe worth a wait?
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-hybrid-al-commuter/

View attachment 543096

Thanks for making the effort to respond to a newbie.

I'm not at your level by a long shot. I'm just a 60 year old bloke who has rediscovered the joys and pains of cycling after a 10 year hiatus.

I start work at 6.30am so I am already doing most of my morning commute in the dark. The bike is working well, but it is simply a cheap Halfords Apollo Paradox 27.5" wheel MTB. The more i work on it, the cheaper it looks and feels.

Having said that, if I can get that old mare to work every day, my life may be so much easier (if I had a proper bike)?

My ideal solution would be a chance to try all of the different bike types on the same route in different conditions.

(If there are any bike manufacturers out there looking for an old guy test rider, I'm your man.)

I'm really not sure which way to go when it comes to buying my "forever bike"?

Hints and tips are welcome.

That's the main reason why I joined this site.

 

[Lovacott]

Welcome. 30 years ago my cycle commute was Bushey to Neasden , we may have passed each other.

I worked in London Road Bushey and lived in Harlesden. I rode to and from work every day in all weathers for eight years.

50 minutes each way (depending on which way the wind was blowing).

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I understand that you've expressed a preference for a new bike, so feel free to ignore the following.

I used to commute on a MTB - an as basic as they come Trek from the 90's.
The biggest difference in performance came from changing the tyres from knobblys to a more road friendly type, albeit with enough grip to handle the rough stuff.
(Not meaning to start a tyre war, but my preference was for Schwalbes, normally from the touring lines because I could rely on their puncture resistance).

I didn't have to ride in the "rough stuff" but it was enjoyable enough that I'd often do it on the way home.

I found that over time the ooopmh came not from the bike, but the engine. It became stronger!

The most important things I found for a commuting bike were comfort, reliability, mudguards and a rack.
From experimenting, I found wider tyres more comfortable.

I liked the fact that my bike was old - and looked it. It was less stressful to use as a general utility bike since it's less attractive to thieves and I'm not as bothered by clumsy git parking theirs too close.
Personally, I'm more comfortable DIYing an old bike than a gleaming new one.

Since you're coming back to cycling and getting into the swing of things, I'd like to suggest an alternative for a new bike;
Forget the commuting (you already have a commuter) and think about what else you may want to do on a bike. A LeJog? A big tour? Join a club? Endurance rides?
Then get a bike for that.

By the way, and no offence intended, but if the bike is not running well and you have specced and fitted the components yourself it may not be a bad idea to have it checked over by an experienced mechanic.

Best of luck!

 

[Lovacott]

I understand that you've expressed a preference for a new bike, so feel free to ignore the following.

I used to commute on a MTB - an as basic as they come Trek from the 90's.
I found that over time the ooopmh came not from the bike, but the engine. It became stronger!
The most important things I found for a commuting bike were comfort, reliability, mudguards and a rack.
From experimenting, I found wider tyres more comfortable.
By the way, and no offence intended, but if the bike is not running well and you have specced and fitted the components yourself it may not be a bad idea to have it checked over by an experienced mechanic.

I'm a mechanical engineer by trade and I am pretty anal when it comes to assembly order and torque settings (albeit in pressure vessels which are not bikes).

I've always had a bike since I was kid, but the new innovations of the last twenty years or so have left me and my feeble mind far behind.

Six weeks ago , I had never heard of a "cassette" assembly and I assumed that it was just a new word to describe a freewheel.

(That mistake cost me a few bob).

I haven't got a Scooby Doo when it comes to which tyre or groupset is best.

But I do love riding my bike and I welcome every single bit of advice I am offered.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

But I do love riding my bike

That's the most important thing!

I like touring on my bike and used an old hybrid until it died. It wasn't a "suitable" bike but I made it work and when the time came to replace it I had the experience to know what worked for me.

Unless you're in a rush there's no harm in just doing some research. Don't forget - Winter is coming Commuting in winter can be an interesting experience!
(Also, I believe there's a Covid induced shortage of new bikes)

I'm whatever the opposite of an engineer is 😄 and solved the problem of the complexities of modern bikes by riding a 20 year old one!

Keep enjoying the bike!