First Commute On A Steel Bicycle

[BSRU]

This morning I had my first ride to work on my Ridgeback Panorama.
Took it very easy as still recovering from illness so no flat out lung busting sprints or SCR, just 24km of gentle spinning.

Very interesting experience, seems to climb really well despite my lack of energy and overall a far smoother ride than on my old hybrid.

Not too keen on the tyres, Continental Contacts, not keen in general on road tyres with treads so will probably swap them for some GP4 Seasons, the tyres I normally commute on. Already changed the saddle for my Brooks and pedals for my XT's, both off the old hybrid.
Bought some new panniers, Altura Orkneys, they seem cavernous, almost worried about falling in

Hopefully back to 100% very soon and then out to try some more serious climbs(for Wiltshire) .

 

[clarion]

Steel is, indeed, real.

 

[ianrauk]

Steel tis now my choice of commuting bike.
And I love it..... smoooooth

 

[dan_bo]

Not too keen on the tyres, Continental Contacts
.

You don't say.

 

[BSRU]

You don't say.

If there is no ice or snow then it's slicks all the way .

 

[clarion]

I commute with Marathon Plus. I've used Durano Plus, and I might go for Paselas, but there's no way I'm compromising further than that on puncture protection.

 

[BSRU]

I commute with Marathon Plus. I've used Durano Plus, and I might go for Paselas, but there's no way I'm compromising further than that on puncture protection.

Everyone has their own level of PF aversion, if the PF was a frequent visitor I would use Marathon Plus tyres or maybe the Continental version.

My old commuter has now been fitted with an old set of Marathon Plus tyres as it will be used for shopping, allotment visit and as a general utility bike, for short journeys, so I will not have to carry the equipment needed to fix a visit from the PF.

 

[clarion]

My personal anecdatal audit of punctures I have witnessed over about a year showed Continental to be disproportionately represented.

 

[BSRU]

My personal anecdatal audit of punctures I have witnessed over about a year showed Continental to be disproportionately represented.

I personally found Vitorria to be far more prone to visits from the PF, although they are very good tyres.

 

[ianrauk]

I personally found Vitorria to be far more prone to visits from the PF, although they are very good tyres.

Yet I have ridden many of thousands of miles on Vittoria with very little punctures. (None on the current pair as of yet at near 2000 miles). It's all down to how much you look after your tyres. Check them after every ride removing small stones, flints, glass etc will help prevent punctures. Get into the habit and your puncture rate will go down.

 

[clarion]

I had a pair of Vittoria something or other. Sat on my bike for its sojourn of several years in the shed with only occasional exposure to daylight. They weren't very good, but I didn't get as many punctures as I had at first feared.

Sampling bias, since there are far fewer Vittorias on the road, might account for their lack of representation in the anecdata.

 

[BSRU]

Yet I have ridden many of thousands of miles on Vittoria with very little punctures. (None on the current pair as of yet at near 2000 miles). It's all down to how much you look after your tyres. Check them after every ride removing small stones, flints, glass etc will help prevent punctures. Get into the habit and your puncture rate will go down.

I do check my tyres but found the Vittoria Pro 3's I used were fine for the first 1000 miles or so but suddenly started to puncture easily. I have not had a similar problem with my GP4 Seasons and so far, touch wood, my GP4000S tyres on the road bike.
It always seems everyone has different PF experiences with tyres.

 

[gaz]

Yet I have ridden many of thousands of miles on Vittoria with very little punctures. (None on the current pair as of yet at near 2000 miles). It's all down to how much you look after your tyres. Check them after every ride removing small stones, flints, glass etc will help prevent punctures. Get into the habit and your puncture rate will go down.

Vittoria fan here and like ian, rarely have a puncture on them.

 

[biggs682]

schwable lugano's are ok

and steel is real

 

[daSmirnov]

Been running some cheap Continental Ultra Race's on my STEEL road bike for the last year / 2500 odd miles. One puncture on the back in that time (a very slow puncture at that, which took several hours to drop below about 80 psi). So not too bad really considering they did see me through the winter. Back is starting to get a bit worn now, but could probably see me to the end of the year. Never had an "oh shii" moment, even at speed in the wet.

However I've just ordered some Vittoria jobbies since they were 40% off on Wiggle. So hopefully they'll do alright.

All my bikes are steel here.