Okay first time poster and first time commuter!

[Arfcollins]

Hi Yahwob, I live in Fareham so I know most of your planned route quite well. After you cycle up Queen Street from the ferry there is a shared ped/cycle path that follows the dockyard wall to the Rudmore roundabout, which has underpasses so you won't need to fight the traffic coming off the motorway. Unfortunately most of the cycle path in Portsmouth is north/south, either on Eastern Road or north along the shoreline from the Mountbatten Centre. If you're cutting through North End I'd recommend Kirby Road to take you through to Copnor. I don't know what the traffic is like on it, but it is a nice wide road.

As you live in Lee you may want to chat up Solent Cycles as well as checking out Halfords. I bought my hybrid from their Portchester shop and would use them again.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your ride. The ferry is a real treat on a bright morning, but I'd place a small bet that within a year you'll be tempted by the Fareham/Cosham route. By then you'll be fit enough to make it quicker that way, and just think of all the money you'll save, £740 a year at the moment!

 

[Yahwob]

Hi Arf,

I did think about going right the way round, theres not a huge difference distance wise but I'm a bit put off by Newgate Lane to be honest! Apart from the general lack of fitness etc the other thing I'm most apprehensive about is riding in traffic. I've been reading these forums for a while now and I've read some horror stories!

 

[400bhp]

Not sure I agree. I've seen a couple of seemingly good crossfire's go for less than £100 on ebay (one for £82) and a nearly new crossfire 2 for £199. IMO generally, the more you pay the more depreciation you have to pay finance.

Subway's do, and that is the bike we are discussing.

They generally sell for close to £100 for a bike which is more than a couple of years old.

 

[Arfcollins]

Hi Arf,

I did think about going right the way round, theres not a huge difference distance wise but I'm a bit put off by Newgate Lane to be honest! Apart from the general lack of fitness etc the other thing I'm most apprehensive about is riding in traffic. I've been reading these forums for a while now and I've read some horror stories!

I'll still place my bet! Road awareness and confidence will grow as well as fitness. Newgate Lane is pretty awful but you just have to dominate your lane in the thin bits. I took the longer route home tonight along it (my commute is only from Titchfield to Fareham but I divert if I'm in the mood via Hillhead) and only had one pass that was anywhere close to being too close. When I started commuting I used pavements on some roads that have very few pedestrians, and Newgate Lane is one of those. The only problem is that the pavement on the west side disappears so you either have to go for it on the road or cross over, which isn't easy.

 

[Electric_Andy]

I had a Carrera MTB and it was very sturdy. Just make sure to take it back and get it adjusted when they suggest (6 weeks?) because the brake and gear cables will stretch and need adjusting (as others have said). A good bike though, from my experience. I also put slicks on mine when I got into road riding. I am not suggesting that you ignore other people's suggestions, but I bought the cheapest slicks I could off e-bay ( 26" by 1.35" for £14) and I never had a slip or a puncture in 12 months of riding on roads and trails.

 

[Yahwob]

Thanks for all the commentys guys, tommorow is D Day, car being scrapped and off to Halfords after that.

You don't do Titchfield Hill on your commute do you Arf, if so I'm impressed!

 

[Gooner Mad Dog]

Not going to offer any cycling tips as there are far more knowledgable cyclists on here, but am a commuter since Sept in London doing 21 miles a day on a bike that was discarded in our Westminster basement 20 yr old Cannondale with bull horn bars and now have union jack on back. Ex matelot as well based at HMS Sultan in Gosport twice and driving around to Pompey can take hour total mare, take it easy initially dont worry about times its not a race be safe be seen the speed and fitness will take of itself, 6 months from now you will feel fitter, wiser and sense of achievement will enable to enthusiastically recite cycling commuter anectdotes whilst your glassy eyed audience thinks of his jams, fuel, road rage!!

 

[Arfcollins]

Thanks for all the commentys guys, tommorow is D Day, car being scrapped and off to Halfords after that.

You don't do Titchfield Hill on your commute do you Arf, if so I'm impressed!

Unfortunately it's there, so I have to. I've cycled to work there for the last 18 months, and it doesn't hurt too much now.

 

[Becs]

You could look at it another way - stick with the big fat tyres, burn more calories at any given speed, get fitter faster.

 

[Yahwob]

Okay done the deal!

Bought a Carerra Subway Ltd Ed for 200 pounds, a helmet, waterproof jacket, lock and rucksack,. pick it up tommorow. Had an anxious moment when the guy asked me if I wanted to ride it the lenght of the shop but as the route he pointed out was about 30 feet between racks of bikes I had visions of falling off and wrecking as many bikes as I could so I declined the offer I did sit on it though lol.

I've also asked them to fit some cityjets to it, the tyres it came with were semi knobbly, if that's not a rude description!

Just seen the weather forecase for the weekend and apparently it's going to be raining!!

 

[400bhp]

Okay done the deal!

Bought a Carerra Subway Ltd Ed for 200 pounds, a helmet, waterproof jacket, lock and rucksack,. pick it up tommorow. Had an anxious moment when the guy asked me if I wanted to ride it the lenght of the shop but as the route he pointed out was about 30 feet between racks of bikes I had visions of falling off and wrecking as many bikes as I could so I declined the offer I did sit on it though lol.

I've also asked them to fit some cityjets to it, the tyres it came with were semi knobbly, if that's not a rude description!

Just seen the weather forecase for the weekend and apparently it's going to be raining!!

Get the tyres put up in the for sale forum and get some money back.

 

[Arfcollins]

Okay done the deal!

Bought a Carerra Subway Ltd Ed for 200 pounds, a helmet, waterproof jacket, lock and rucksack,. pick it up tommorow. Had an anxious moment when the guy asked me if I wanted to ride it the lenght of the shop but as the route he pointed out was about 30 feet between racks of bikes I had visions of falling off and wrecking as many bikes as I could so I declined the offer I did sit on it though lol.

I've also asked them to fit some cityjets to it, the tyres it came with were semi knobbly, if that's not a rude description!

Just seen the weather forecase for the weekend and apparently it's going to be raining!!

Looking forward to the report of your first commute Yahwob!

 

[Yahwob]

Okay done it! Picked the bike up this afternoon, funny thing was when I was waiting for the bike to be bought out to the shop floor there was another guy waiting for exactly the same bike although he had kept the knobbly tyres on his bike, shows how popular the Carerras are. The Halfords guy went to see if it was ready he came back and said it would be another five minutes as they just discovered it had a puncture! That could of been a bad omen but at least they discovered it before I picked the bike up and started off!

Anyway I then cycled home and from Halfords Gosport to my house is near as dammit the first leg of my commute, it took me 25 minutes with a fair bit of free wheeling. I was quite pleased, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it might be bearing in mind I havn't been on a bike for 18 years! I blocked the traffic out of my mind lol although around 50% of the route was on a cycle path.

Overall I was ver pleased, I will go out over the weekend a few times and the first real commute is next Wednesday morning. Feeling a lot more confident now

 

[musa]

Well done. You'll look like a madman. At my workplace I'm only the one left who comes by bike. One guy has left and the. Other is subject

Never mind. More mileage to come

 

[Yahwob]

Okay did it, my first commute.

Was lulled into a false sense of security on the way in as I did the whole eight miles in 67 minutes. Might not seem good to most of you guys but as it was my first commute for 20 years and there was a 15 minute break in the middle on the ferry I was pretty pleased

However my happiness was short lived as the ride home was much harder! I must of had the wind blowing me in this morning because it was defintetly against me on the way home! Also the route I take through Portsmouth is a bit dodgy with having to cross over some major roads against the traffic so more than once I got off and walked across at the nearest lights lol. Also there's a section of the route where I'm cycling along the dockyard wall on the pavement which I'm pretty sure doubles as a cycle path to and a fair few pedestrains were coming up from the dockyard giving me dirty looks as if I had no right to be there and they certainly wern't making any attempt to make it easy for me to pass, at one stage I had a small collision with a bus stop! The trouble was the side of the road I really needed to be on was impossible to reach.

Anyway took me 80 minutes to get home which I guess still isn't that bad but seemed a lot more effort than the ride in and knackered me out lol.

Might have to look at tweaking the Portsmouth side of the route but other than that though I'm quite pleased