What type of bike and tyre for your commute?

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Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
Just make sure it can take them. I have two road bikes that orig had 25c tyres and 28c is the max that fit inside the chainstays.
 

biking_fox

Guru
Location
Manchester
Marathon Plus on a 'sport tour' 26" road bike. Best/worst of both worlds.

Commuting bike needs to be robust rugged and ultra-reliable. Speed is not the main consideration. If you're actually training for events you'll need another bike. Having a 'spare' occasional commute replacement while something eventually needs fixing is always useful.
 

T4tomo

Guru
Thanks for the replies all. Going to go with a road bike that can take bigger tyres , that should do the job ^_^

doesn't matter whether its called a road bike with clearance or a gravel bike, but get yourself something with drop bars, clearance for at least 35mm tyres, mudguard mounts and then buy a spare set of wheels for it.

have one set shod with 30/32/35 mm slicks for the commute and road leisure riding, and the other with 35mm gravel tyres for leisure offroad.

best of both worlds. you don't need 2 very similar frames!!
 

rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
Marathon Plus on a 'sport tour' 26" road bike. Best/worst of both worlds.

Commuting bike needs to be robust rugged and ultra-reliable. Speed is not the main consideration. If you're actually training for events you'll need another bike. Having a 'spare' occasional commute replacement while something eventually needs fixing is always useful.

You don't need marathon pluses for commuting. There are tyres out there that have good puncture protection and roll better than a set of marathon plus. In the summer, I commute on carbon road bike with 25mm GP5000s because it's fun. And it's nice to be able to extend the commute and have it take the same amount of time. It's also the bike I use for weekend rides. Prior to it being stolen, I commuted in the winter on an aluminium cx bike with 32mm pirelli cinturatos- which I highly recommend as commuting and general crap weather road tyres. They can even handle light gravel and dry single track. Those tyres are now fitted to the road wheels for my new gravel bike for commuting and general crap weather rides.
If you don't need to take much to work, you can pretty much commute on anything. If you have a decent road surface, almost any tyre will do. I've commuted on my TT bike to work (post work TTs usually, but in between the time my felt was stolen and the arrival of the orro, I took the TT bike to work most days. my summer road bike needed a service and I had a 100 mile TT coming up so needed time in the position).
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
Thanks for the replies all. Going to go with a road bike that can take bigger tyres , that should do the job ^_^

So that will be a touring bike then, with proper mudguards and a rack on it so you can carry stuff around. I really don't know why everyone makes it so hard. Unless you are actually using a bike for racing on, a touring bike or flat bar hybrid is quite capable of dealing with pretty much anything barring mud-plugging off road use.
 
OP
OP
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weebeansysbro

Regular
So that will be a touring bike then, with proper mudguards and a rack on it so you can carry stuff around. I really don't know why everyone makes it so hard. Unless you are actually using a bike for racing on, a touring bike or flat bar hybrid is quite capable of dealing with pretty much anything barring mud-plugging off road use.
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Got a domane al2 that can take 32mm without mudguards and 35mm ^_^
 

biking_fox

Guru
Location
Manchester
If you have a decent road surface, almost any tyre will do.

Hah. That's very much assuming you have control over 'a decent road surface'. Which doesn't match any urban situation I've ever ridden in.

Yes there are faster tyres than MP. But for commuting I want utter confidence that I can just get on the bike and go and will get to work and home again without any drama. Each day. Every day. Week after week. For me, on the surfaces I'm on, the only one (out of very many over a few decades of riding) that's provided that has been MP.
 

mustang1

Guru
Location
London, UK
Mostly 700x25 (road bike drop bars, race geo). Sometimes 650x40 (hybrid, wwhat I call a normal bike) or 700x28 (road bike, relaxed geo) when raining or I want to mix it up a bit.
 

goldcoastjon

Well-Known Member
My town/commute bike is a 1972 Peugeot UO-18 mixte that was my mother's until she gave it to me after she turned 82.

It has Mavic Open Pro 700C rims on Phil Wood hubs, a Campi NR crankset (one 42t ring and a chain guard made from a 52t ring outboard) on a Phil Wood BB, Weinmann 999-750 brakes, an older Brooks Pro saddle, front and rear racks and panniers, and a 6-speed SIS RD and cluster shifted from the upright handlebars. The Wald "Pizza Rack" is great for bringing home whole pies or half-flats of berries.

I have been using Panaracer 700 x 28 and 700 x 32-35 tires (Messengers of late since the bike lives outside, but is locked up). It is lots of fun unloaded but also makes a great truck... ;-)

The 2020 photo below was taken after one of my weekly trips to our local Tuesday Farmer's Market, where I have been getting most of our produce for the last 20 years.
 

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