Moodyman
Legendary Member
Really? That some dedication. I only strip my bike twice a year - once in Spring and once in Autumn to get it ready for winter. The process takes half a day, so if your stripping is the same as mine then I applaud you.
Disadvantages of a racing bike for commute
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Really? That some dedication. I only strip my bike twice a year - once in Spring and once in Autumn to get it ready for winter. The process takes half a day, so if your stripping is the same as mine then I applaud you.
oldroadman
Veteran
- Location
- Ubique
I did commute for a short while on on of the last training bikes I had. Mudgaurds fitted, fatter tryes (25-28c), pressures a bit lower, more relaxed position (bars up a touch), a 15km jaunt, never had a problem - I'm able to easily bunny hop potholes - but a good blast with a steam cleaner once a week followed by a rub over and lube of all the important bits worked fine. Groupset was Shimano, never a problem, wheels 28 spoke stayed OK. In short, go for it, but if I had to go out and buy a commuter, a hybrid or (cheap) cross bike would be first choice.
One other thing, don't try to go as "fast as possible" all the time, learn to relax and enjoy a bit, in 8 miles you hardly get warmed up anyway!
One other thing, don't try to go as "fast as possible" all the time, learn to relax and enjoy a bit, in 8 miles you hardly get warmed up anyway!
thefollen
Veteran
- Location
- Balham/Tooting Bec
Like some of the chaps here said, secure inside storage is key. Other than that, commuting on the road bike is brilliant. Maybe braking is a little sharper on a wider-wheeled hybrid but providing your hazard perception is good you shouldn't have a problem.
paulw1969
Ridley rider
- Location
- Long Eaton, Notts.
the bike linked is far far too sexy to commute with..........
.............joke.
Seriously i would say that other than the practicalities of lack of mudguards (believe me they are worth having fitted even though you maintain a wet arse doesn't bother you) its up to you.....i personally would love a bike such as this but it would be my weekend bike otherwise i would be spending my evenings forever cleaning the commute crud off it.
.............joke.Seriously i would say that other than the practicalities of lack of mudguards (believe me they are worth having fitted even though you maintain a wet arse doesn't bother you) its up to you.....i personally would love a bike such as this but it would be my weekend bike otherwise i would be spending my evenings forever cleaning the commute crud off it.
jonny jeez
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chislehurst, Kent, UK
The disadvantages wont come from the engineering but from your head.
The bike is fine for a commute, most bikes are fine for a commute. In fact I'd argue that almost all bikes are fine for it.
Problem is (and I know V has leaned on this point already) the "special-ness" of the bike will begin to fade as it becomes your workhorse. You cannot possibly hope to attend to the bike the same way that you would (and By that I mean what me V and perhaps a few others here consider to be enough) after a special ride. You cant spend 3 hours a night stripping and lubing her after each commute and as such she will become just your commute vehicle.
Can you handle that?
Personally I'd stable a bike like that for the weekends and ride a lower spec roadie for the commute.
Unless you can afford a few such bikes then its a waste...not of the bike... but of the speacial-ness of it.
If I could afford a Lambo Gallardo or a Demosedici then I sure wouldn't take it back and forth to work each day, I'd want to take it where I could enjoy it.
For my commutes I have a choice of a special commute bike or a racing bike
The racing bike is used on nice summer days
The racing bike has the advantage of being lighter and faster. The commute bike has heavy tyres that very rarely ( once in 4 years ) puncture, mudguards to keep the shite off my trousers and extensive cargo carrying abilities
I would be quite happy riding my commute bike for a week or two in rain with mud and not bothering cleaning it. The race bike would start to do funny things with the gears. The commute bike has alfine hub gears and doesn't care. The commute bike runs cheap 1/8" chains. I just wear them out and get another one. The race bike has a slightly better grade of 9 speed chain and this lasts quite a long time as it only goes out in the dry.
The commute bike also has clearance for ice tyres
The racing bike is used on nice summer days
The racing bike has the advantage of being lighter and faster. The commute bike has heavy tyres that very rarely ( once in 4 years ) puncture, mudguards to keep the shite off my trousers and extensive cargo carrying abilities
I would be quite happy riding my commute bike for a week or two in rain with mud and not bothering cleaning it. The race bike would start to do funny things with the gears. The commute bike has alfine hub gears and doesn't care. The commute bike runs cheap 1/8" chains. I just wear them out and get another one. The race bike has a slightly better grade of 9 speed chain and this lasts quite a long time as it only goes out in the dry.
The commute bike also has clearance for ice tyres
Mr Haematocrit
msg me on kik for android
- Location
- Out of the saddle
Perfectly stated imho... You eventually view the bike as your 'bus to work'... I would not say my Look is poorly maintained but I approach it with a view to keeping it running, the bars have needed new tape for a couple of months but hey its winter, I'm wearing gloves. It's a decent bike but its not treated in the same manner as my Venge which is very pampered.
400bhp
Guru
You might - many of us don't.
400bhp
Guru
The cleaning issue:
For me, the cleaning is the biggest PITA when using one bike for commutes and weekend riding. Sometimes, by the end of the week, the bike requires a clean/fettle in order for me to consider using it the following day. This of course can be a PITA, when you are tired/constrained by time on a Friday evening.
A similar argument can be applied for using the bike on a Monday after a weekend ride.
The lack of choice makes fettling/cleaning more of a must do than a choice.
For me, the cleaning is the biggest PITA when using one bike for commutes and weekend riding. Sometimes, by the end of the week, the bike requires a clean/fettle in order for me to consider using it the following day. This of course can be a PITA, when you are tired/constrained by time on a Friday evening.
A similar argument can be applied for using the bike on a Monday after a weekend ride.
The lack of choice makes fettling/cleaning more of a must do than a choice.
Hacienda71
Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
- Location
- Wilmslow, Cheshire
I ride my bike. Be that at the weekend or on the commute winter or summer. I am luckier than some in the sense I have a predominantley rural commute and I can leave my bike inside a heated office, so my bikes take slightly less of a battering than an urban commuter.
I do think mudguards are a must and to that end, on a wet day I am more likely to use the bike that takes guards rather than the one that won't. N+1 and all that.
I do think mudguards are a must and to that end, on a wet day I am more likely to use the bike that takes guards rather than the one that won't. N+1 and all that.
Mr Haematocrit
msg me on kik for android
- Location
- Out of the saddle
If you have a weekend bike, does your commuter get the same level of maintenance, and the same kind of money spent on it as your weekend bike?
Just curious.
400bhp
Guru
My weekend bike is generally my commuter bike.
I'm looking to change that and when I do then I suspect no it [the commuter] won't get the same level of maintenance/money thrown at it..
Personally, for me, a bike is a functional object that I have no emotional involvement with.
Maybe I need a "better" bike.
I'm looking to change that and when I do then I suspect no it [the commuter] won't get the same level of maintenance/money thrown at it..
Personally, for me, a bike is a functional object that I have no emotional involvement with.
Maybe I need a "better" bike.
400bhp
Guru
I ride my bike. Be that at the weekend or on the commute winter or summer. I am luckier than some in the sense I have a predominantley rural commute and I can leave my bike inside a heated office, so my bikes take slightly less of a battering than an urban commuter.
I do think mudguards are a must and to that end, on a wet day I am more likely to use the bike that takes guards rather than the one that won't. N+1 and all that.
Hmmm-and yours are where on saturdays?
