Bikes, Tyres, Suspension & Speed & Hello to All

[psi friday]

Hello to all, this is my first post on this forum so go easy on me if I sound like a buffoon.

I have been mountain biking for many years but only in the last two months have I started to commute to work on my bike. I have to say Idanged well love it and wonder why I didnt start doing it years ago.

Anyay Im commuting in on my hardtail mountain bike which is fitted with standard big chunky MB tyres. The communte takes about 45mins. I know that this type of bike is not the ever going to be the fastest option for my commute. Therefore Im thinking about buying myself another bike to commute with and save the MB for the weekends. However, if i do buy myself a hybrid with say, 700 x 35 tyres, how much faster will i go and how much time will I actually shave off my journey ? Is it worth the expense of a new bike just to shave 5 minutes or so off my journey or will I really notice a difference ?

Whatcha fink ?

 

[Fab Foodie]

Hi psi friday, welcome to CC!

A decent non-suspension hybrid with decent tyres will indeed be quicker than your hardtail MTB, no doubt, it'll probably be more fun as well. How much quicker I don't know... but it will feel easier and more efficient, accelerate, stop and turn quicker, it will feel sprightlier over tarmac and you'll want to ride it harder, you'll get more ereward for your effort. Any reason why 35c tyres? You can commute on thinner lighter rubber and there are some good flat-bar road bike available which would be even more of a scream!

The low cost option is put thinner slicks on the MTB and lock the suspension... better than nothing, but hopeless for a spot of downhilling on Sunday morning.
Keep asking questions.

 

[HJ]

If you are going for a hybrid or a road bike then you should really be looking at 25c or even 23c tyres, that would make a significant difference. But as FF says just getting slicks for your current bike will make it faster on the road.

 

[Keith Oates]

I'm currently doing a 69KM round trip commute and using the roadie saves a good 10 mins each day on the total time, if there is a head wind the time saving is even greater, it's also easier on the legs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[hackbike 6]

Hello to all, this is my first post on this forum so go easy on me if I sound like a buffoon.

Don't worry im a professional at that.

 

[threefingerjoe]

I agree with the earlier posts, but, on a budget, I wouldn't be afraid to run the hardtail. Lock out the front suspension, and change the tyres to a slick, like the Continental Sport Contact. I use those on hybrid (my commuter) and think that you'll notice a world of difference from the knobbies or combination tyres that you probably currently have.

 

[Tynan]

bit of a shag swapping tyres every week though init?

 

[PBancroft]

You will notice a difference with non-knobbly tyres. I'm using Bontrager Comfort tyres on my GT Avalanche 2.0.

They're OK. Not ideal, but they do the job.

However, as well as commuting, I did a short tour earlier this year on them (about 140 miles) which covered a bit of distance over sand. They stood up to the task reasonably well - better than narrow tyres would anyway.

I would consider investing in something like these before splashing out on a new bike, especially whilst you are new to commuting.

 

[Moose]

Hi psi - I'd buy another bike. Not only will it reduce the time for your commute, it'll also give you more flexibility and further options (if something fails on one bike, you have a back-up)

Is your commute hilly? If not, consider a single speed for the winter as there is less to maintain.

 

[ACS]

I have recently put SCHWALBE Speed Cruiser 26 x 1.50 on my hardtail MTB for getting the winter miles in. Living in rural Fife, the quieter roads are not in a good state and used mainly by the farming community so a sturdy bike set up is mandatory. Given the low cost under £20 a pair it may be worth considering as an option.

 

[psi friday]

Thanks for all the replies. I cant lock the suspension on my bike and I use my MTB offroad at the weekends so it would be a pain having to change the tyres every week.

Anyways I have been lokking at hybrids today and have had my eye on a Ridgeback Meteor (any good ?). Now all I have to do is persuade the missus that we have the cash and space for it !

 

[Fab Foodie]

Thanks for all the replies. I cant lock the suspension on my bike and I use my MTB offroad at the weekends so it would be a pain having to change the tyres every week.

Anyways I have been lokking at hybrids today and have had my eye on a Ridgeback Meteor (any good ?). Now all I have to do is persuade the missus that we have the cash and space for it !

The meteor looks OK, but is a bit upright and staid. A good city machine/general bike, fully kitted out but no speed machine to be honest.

Compare to this, which would be a much zippier beast... a rack and guards could be added if required.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/sirrus-2008-hybrid-bike-ec001400

'Hybrid' or 'Flat bar road-bike' covers a wide spectrum of machinery, the Sirrus above is more flat-bar road bike, but there are even racier versions to be had!

Worth defining your needs and how fast you wanna go!

 

[BentMikey]

Yes, the Sirrus is quite zippy, and is a great bike. I had one, as does Maz of this parish.

I'd go for a road bike with drop handlebars if your commute is all on road and you want speed, as that will be faster still.

 

[Batzman]

I switched from a full-sus MTB to a hybrid, I noticed that it was *much* faster on the commute - one problem was that on the MTB, I was basically riding in top gear all of the time - the hybrid was much higher geared, which was a lot better. (I was a little horrified at how rough/uneven the roads are around here though).

I'm riding one of these: http://www.marin.co.uk/2009/bikedetail.php?ModNo=3962-1F#

 

[Stig-OT-Dump]

One of the triathlon mags (220?) is currently doing reviews of cheap road bikes (£250 - £400 I think). The gearing, light weight and skinny wheels will make your ride mobs faster. If you have a bike for the road and a bike for the single track, do you really need a hybrid?