Commuting on the good bike

[lukesdad]

I ride a nice bike all the time... both commute and leisure.
Life is too short for crappy bikes.

Blimey Ian have you bought a litespeed or you still riding those crappy old other US products ?

 

[ianrauk]

Blimey Ian have you bought a litespeed or you still riding those crappy old other US products ?

Damn, you've seen right through me my man......

 

[BlackPanther]

I'm the opposite. I commute every day on my good bike trike,and use my cheap (compared to the trike) bike (a Scott Sub40) for family weekend rides.

Surely any good quality bike will take a daily commute, and only consumables should need swapping?

 

[HLaB]

I prefer to ride a cheap bike to work so I'm not worrying about it, and it makes the good bike seem even more special when I do get on it

 

[Kookas]

I commute on my best bike. Then again, it's one of two, where the alternative is a bulky MTB weighing three times as much with knobbly tyres and a frame two sizes too small.

 

[2Loose]

I love riding the porker in crappy weather\ over winter partly because it can take it and partly because it makes the good bike feel so much faster when I finally get back on it when the road salt has gone.

 

[robjh]

The same road bike for commuting, club runs, day rides, even light shopping. I used to take the rack off for appearance sake on club runs but have stopped doing that, it has no effect on my performance.
My other bike is a heavier tourer with fatter tyres, and that comes out for touring, heavy shopping, off-road and snow. It's not a question of 'best' and '2nd best', each is suited to a different type of ride.

 

[jarlrmai]

I have one bike, it is a good bike, owning/storing 2 bikes would become "political" I would like a junk bike for going the pub/shopping on but when I look I in the classifieds I start getting ideas of doing up a classic steel roadie instead....

Commuting is most of my riding, longer rides are generally an extended commute.

I don't have carry anything to or from work so no need for a rack/panniers.

 

[Hip Priest]

I prefer to commute on a heavy hybrid. It makes my road bike feel lighter.

 

[MickeyBlueEyes]

Always commute on my good bike as it is when I do 96% of my cycling. I dont think I'd enjoy the extended routes in/home on anything else. A good clean & relube keeps it in tip top shape all year.

 

[Jdratcliffe]

Always commute on my good bike as it is when I do 96% of my cycling. I dont think I'd enjoy the extended routes in/home on anything else. A good clean & relube keeps in in tip top shape all year.

agree i dont get out much on the weekends and when i do normally a family outing offroad so its the mtb so no money for a "good " roadie and "bad "roadie so i stick to a good clean / lube routine ( the the wife thinks im crazy washing and fettling every weekend)

 

[Phil485]

I'm the same as kookas. Good bike or rubbish mtb!

 

[crumpetman]

A question to those who do not use the best bike for commuting because of wearing out components, how much extra do you think it would cost if you used the bike for commuting as well?

After about a year of commuting on my good bike I have paid for a couple of services (I am crap at maintenance) a couple of sets of brake pads, a chain and cassette. It is on the same tyres still and I think they have got a bit more life left in them. So, approx 4k miles and parts/repairs cost about £100. No doubt other parts will be wearing out faster than if I used it only for a Sunday ride (which I don't do anyway)

If I used my cheap run-around bike for the commute then it would still need parts replacing and the cost would not be much lower and the commute would be far less fun.

 

[lejogger]

A question to those who do not use the best bike for commuting because of wearing out components, how much extra do you think it would cost if you used the bike for commuting as well?

After about a year of commuting on my good bike I have paid for a couple of services (I am crap at maintenance) a couple of sets of brake pads, a chain and cassette. It is on the same tyres still and I think they have got a bit more life left in them. So, approx 4k miles and parts/repairs cost about £100. No doubt other parts will be wearing out faster than if I used it only for a Sunday ride (which I don't do anyway)

If I used my cheap run-around bike for the commute then it would still need parts replacing and the cost would not be much lower and the commute would be far less fun.

It's not so much the cost for me, but just the fact that my best bike is for best, and the more I use it, the less special it feels.
I try to strip down and store the carbon bike from october to march/april so, as others have said, after 6 months of riding a heavy hack for club rides and commutes, when it's time to get the carbon out again, not only does it feel like a new bike, but the better group set shifts so much cleaner, it flies up the hills because it's so much lighter and I genuinely get far more enjoyment from it than I would if I used it every day.

 

[4F]

A question to those who do not use the best bike for commuting because of wearing out components, how much extra do you think it would cost if you used the bike for commuting as well?

After about a year of commuting on my good bike I have paid for a couple of services (I am crap at maintenance) a couple of sets of brake pads, a chain and cassette. It is on the same tyres still and I think they have got a bit more life left in them. So, approx 4k miles and parts/repairs cost about £100. No doubt other parts will be wearing out faster than if I used it only for a Sunday ride (which I don't do anyway)

If I used my cheap run-around bike for the commute then it would still need parts replacing and the cost would not be much lower and the commute would be far less fun.

For me it would be quite a lot. My commuter which is laden with mudguards is a fixed gear so component wear is very low, 1 chain and 2 tyres in the last year.