Designing the perfect commuter?

[hackbike 666]

it's you!!!..couldnt remember who it was who ran with Green's...a pm is enroute

Am I the only one who runs greentyres?

That's depressing.

I think Greentyres are a personal preference.Try them but if you don't like them bin them.As I say I may try one on the front one day.

I run 700x28...they look smaller though.I used to run 700x23 at first.

Never tried Maraton Plusses but have heard many good things about them and will try them one day.Are they harder to get on than Greentyres?
Have to use a nylon tag and you get a shoe horn type thingy with it.

 

[jonny jeez]

... I don't carry a repair kit - with a Brompton the idea is if I do get a puncture I'll catch the bus with it if necessary (or walk her home).

good point and a "Brompton Bonus" that i've never really considered

 

[SavageHoutkop]

I can't comment on non-Bromptons (sorry!) but I've got a 2x3 (two cogs on a derailleur + 3 speed hub) Brompton and the setup is good for what I need it for. I very rarely use the derailleur TBH, usually changing down while stationary at the lights on the hub. My brochure quoted 6 speed (+920g) vs a 1 speed baseline.

The hub I've got doesn't change unless you temporarily stop pedalling. My commute is pretty flat so this doesn't bother me too much.

 

[SavageHoutkop]

Yeah... some people seem to have no problems, others spend hours. I didn't want to find out I was one of the 'hours' brigade though
I had enough fun getting my pre-marathon plusses back on the rim. That must have taken me an hour or so to get the knack of! I'm sure it gets better with practise, but I'd rather not...
I also don't think I'd do a roadside fix well unless I got the wheel off. With a Brompton it's not a quick release, you need a spanner (pref two if you're a small person like me...). And then there's the gear indicator rod, and all the other goodies not to lose in the dark... and now the chain's off and dangling somewhere...

 

[buddha]

..I've heard of rear cog shearing that is a worry but want to hear from riders with real long distance and regular commuting experience.

I've had the (3 internal) splines of a sturmey archer sprocket shear. It was a genuine SA sprocket. Very inconvenient at the time as I had panniers with, 30kg ish, full of shopping, and it was at the bottom of a long climb. I now use the cheap-as-chips, 'Made in India" sprockets from oldbiketraker/freemans cycles with no issues.

 

[John the Monkey]

... I don't carry a repair kit - with a Brompton the idea is if I do get a puncture I'll catch the bus with it if necessary (or walk her home). Besides, hearing how hard the marathon plusses are to get on/off I figured it's not worth it to try roadside. Better inside, out of the rain, with all the kit you'll need on hand.

+1 - Brompton Greens are bad enough...

Re: Hubgears - I don't think they need much more thought than derailleurs, they just need *different* thought. changing on the hub tends to mean you lose momentum, as you ease up a little - so it's a bad thing to do in the middle of a steep hill. But you can change while stationary, so you don't have to think about the gear you're starting off in once you get moving again like you do with derailleurs.

 

[jonny jeez]

+1 - Brompton Greens are bad enough...

Re: Hubgears - I don't think they need much more thought than derailleurs, they just need *different* thought. changing on the hub tends to mean you lose momentum, as you ease up a little - so it's a bad thing to do in the middle of a steep hill. But you can change while stationary, so you don't have to think about the gear you're starting off in once you get moving again like you do with derailleurs.

Thanks John, just to clarify...you say when you change gear on a hub, you need to ease off?...is this easing significant?

what happens if you dont, does it all grind a bit and shorten the hub's life expectancy or does it just refuse to shift?

 

[Matthames]

I may of exaggerated on the having to rebuild the wheel every 5 mins bit. I haven't tried solid tyres and would probably be very difficult to be convinced into using them. The main reason is I would be very worried about the prospect of my wheels collapsing.

The forces in a solid tyre and a pneumatic one are very different. The air can act as a shock absorber and dissipate any point loads over the whole wheel. Solid wheels however, cannot do this. It is possible to test this as solid wheels tend to give a harsher ride then pneumatic ones for this very reason.

 

[John the Monkey]

Thanks John, just to clarify...you say when you change gear on a hub, you need to ease off?...is this easing significant?

what happens if you dont, does it all grind a bit and shorten the hub's life expectancy or does it just refuse to shift?

you need to stop pedalling (occasionally I wind the pedals back slightly). The shift is instant, pretty much. It helps a lot to be in the right gear as you arrive at a hill. There's no grinding if you keep on pedalling - not sure if doing so shortens hub life though.

I think there are two approaches to commuters, really.

The one I'd favour, personally, is a bike that's simple enough that I can, pretty much, sort anything on it out. For me that means a conventional, derailleur drive train (I'd go 7-8 speed for the longevity of chains & sprockets). Don't get me wrong, I love my brommie, but the thought of something going awry in the hub fills me with dread - I know full well I wouldn't be fixing it. I'd favour mechanical discs over hydraulic for the same reason, personally - I can carry a cable more easily than a bleed kit.

 

[hackbike 666]

I may of exaggerated on the having to rebuild the wheel every 5 mins bit. I haven't tried solid tyres and would probably be very difficult to be convinced into using them. The main reason is I would be very worried about the prospect of my wheels collapsing.

The forces in a solid tyre and a pneumatic one are very different. The air can act as a shock absorber and dissipate any point loads over the whole wheel. Solid wheels however, cannot do this. It is possible to test this as solid wheels tend to give a harsher ride then pneumatic ones for this very reason.

My answer is to get a better built wheel than the ones that are fitted.

My example being is when I bought the Dawes Audax 2006 I was riding along the Southwark Bridge Road when I realised something was wrong with the back wheel.On further inspection I realised many of the spokes on said wheel were loose and doing no job at all apart from looking pretty.

I had done 67 miles on a new bike I had bought from Evans.Had to get another (stronger) wheel built.That Southwark Bridge/Upper/Lower Thames street has a crap road surface anyway due to the amount of lorries using it.

II wasn't using a Greentyre on this bike.

I notice the same trend on the fixed and am keeping a close eye on the spokes on the back but on further inspection I think the wheel isn't as well built as a spare wheel I have had for ages in my house.That was handbuilt as well.As I say it only takes a bit of tightening of the loose spokes anyway.Im still not convinced of the build of wheels on new bikes.

The Dawes Audax is fine and I must have been using these (tyres) for just over a year maybe nearly two.

Also I haven't had to have a wheel rebuilt and anyway the tyres have a bit of play in them bit like a fully pumped up tyre.

Im not actually trying to convince people to use these tyres I just want to share my honest experiences of using them.

Yes they have their disadvantages but it's the advantages I like.Im happy with them and if there was ever any doubt I wouldn't use them.Just a pity I dont know anybody else who uses them.

have also used this route when filming the route on the fixie so it probably hasn't helped.

 

[mickle]

There is another way. The combination of puncture resistant tyres and inner tubes containing puncture sealant. In the highly unlikely event of a foreign object getting through the tyre the sealant gets to work on the resulting leak. I use 'Stan's no Tubes' tubeless liquid. Particularly on the back of my daily whose hub gears and coaster torque arm are a major obstacle to roadside puncture repairs. It's never let me down.

Not a fan of green tyres meself.

 

[jonny jeez]

There is another way. The combination of puncture resistant tyres and inner tubes containing puncture sealant. In the highly unlikely event of a foreign object getting through the tyre the sealant gets to work on the resulting leak. I use 'Stan's no Tubes' tubeless liquid. Particularly on the back of my daily whose hub gears and coaster torque arm are a major obstacle to roadside puncture repairs. It's never let me down.

Not a fan of green tyres meself.

I've always wondered about this type of solution...how do you let air out of the valve without it "sealing" itself?

 

[MacB]

I'd still carry some spare stuff, but:-

frame with two bottle cages - use one for a dummy storage bottle, will hold 2 tubes, levers, gloves and some other bits.

small saddle bag or a top tube bag for other stuff

M+ tyre on the rear and something else on the front

Front gears - none, definitely a single chainring only

Rear gears - Rohloff would be nice but the temptation would be around the reliability, no way are 14 gears needed. I use an I-9 hub and it's fine but, when it went wrong, it was a return to Germany for repair. I also found that my 40 mile a day commute only needed 3 of the gears....if that...I did it several times without changing. If you want hub gears then I'd go 3 speed Sturmey Archer, I prefer the newer ones from Taiwan. Parts are easy to get hold of, plenty of shops can maintain them and you can do your own repairs via online video instruction. Alternatively you could go with a 1x7/8/9 setup so just a rear derailler and broadish cassette. There's always fixed or single speed, very simple but harder work.

Front wheel - well worth getting a dynamo hub and LED dynamo light. Unless you run a rear rack then I'd just stick to battery lights at the back.

I'd also want mudguards but would be happy with the plastic trekking ones that slot onto a fork crown bracket. If I needed to transport stuff then a rear rack would be a must.

 

[Howard]

Thanks John, just to clarify...you say when you change gear on a hub, you need to ease off?...is this easing significant?

what happens if you dont, does it all grind a bit and shorten the hub's life expectancy or does it just refuse to shift?

I don't need to ease off at all on my Alfine. It shifts smooth regardless of what you are putting through it. A breeze compared to the derailleur set-up on my Cannondale.

On the Nexus though your mileage may vary; it doesn't have a clutch like the Alfine.

 

[hackbike 666]

There is another way. The combination of puncture resistant tyres and inner tubes containing puncture sealant. In the highly unlikely event of a foreign object getting through the tyre the sealant gets to work on the resulting leak. I use 'Stan's no Tubes' tubeless liquid. Particularly on the back of my daily whose hub gears and coaster torque arm are a major obstacle to roadside puncture repairs. It's never let me down.

Not a fan of green tyres meself.

I use a "Thorn" resistant inner tube on the front.When I first bought it I thought it was a tub (racing tyre) it's so think.Heavy though and with an armadillo tyre.

Dyno Hub is drag...I ran one for years.Stilll have a few floating about.Had to get weight off of the bike though.