What type of bike do I need?

[RoubaixCube]

Invest a little more so you also have something nice to ride during the weekend/days off should that take your fancy. Unless you already have a bike for that

 

[Fab Foodie]

Steel Touring bike would be my first choice. EBC do a cheaper version but this has discs which would be advantageous over gritty terrain

https://www.edinburghbicycle.com/roux-etape-250.html

 

[Fab Foodie]

Theres a nice Kona Sutra for sale in your price range in Classsifieds

 

[sKiTz-0]

Does your employer offer cycle2work?

Currently not, although they used to. I asked HR to raise it in the next employee forum for me.


Good going on the pic @mjr I think it's that long since I've been on there that the surface was a lot better in my mind's eye.

Although much better scenery, the terrain does look pretty slow on that route. Ideally I would like to get the journey down to ~1hr to encourage me to do it more. Maybe sticking to the roads would be the better option?

Thanks for all the input so far, definitely some food for thought.

 

[Sharky]

Think maybe you should set a new baseline time with your old bike, using both road route and trail route and evaluate the time difference between the two routes and decide which route is going to be the most practical for the commute. Then you can decide better what bike is best.

When I used to commute, time was always at a premium. If your commutes are over 90 mins its going to take 3+ hours out of your day and more if you add in rest & recovery time.

Scenic routes are nice, but when you have to get in for an early meeting ... not always practical.

Good luck

 

[AndyRM]

@sKiTz-0 - that Kona is seriously good value. I have a Honky Tonk which is similar and cannot fault it. Well worth considering if you can stretch the budget a little.

 

[sKiTz-0]

Think maybe you should set a new baseline time with your old bike, using both road route and trail route and evaluate the time difference between the two routes and decide which route is going to be the most practical for the commute. Then you can decide better what bike is best.

When I used to commute, time was always at a premium. If your commutes are over 90 mins its going to take 3+ hours out of your day and more if you add in rest & recovery time.

Scenic routes are nice, but when you have to get in for an early meeting ... not always practical.

Good luck

This is what I'm thinking after being reminded how sections of that path look. I have done both routes before and they are the same distance. So undoubtedly using the roads is the faster option of the two. As you say, if the journey takes 2 hours, then that's going to be 4 hours travelling, plus probably an extra half hour each side to get showered and changed. 5 hours out of my day commuting is not practical and is likely to put me off. If I can get the 16 miles down to ~1 hour, that knocks it down to ~3 hours a day on commuting, which isn't too bad as it takes me 2 hours there and back in the car at the moment.

My mtb at the moment the gears need adjusting, the large front sprocket (sorry don't know what it's called!) is bent, and it crunches as I ride so I think some bearings have gone. If I want to ride at any speed I have to keep my hand pulling the gear in to keep it on the wonky big sprocket, so it's pretty unuseable at the moment and I don't want to throw good money after bad. Bike only cost £120 brand new.

 

[MichaelW2]

32mm tyres are probably optimum for fast mixed surface riding. You can fit these on hybrids, tourers and the variety of cx/gravel/adventure/doitall style bikes.
I would suggest disc brakes and rack and mudguard eyelets for practicality.
You may also need lights, !ock, rack, luggage, repair kit.
How much will the alternative to cycling cost?
£200 is not much to spend on several years of commuting. If that is your limit then look for something used, not too old and in good condition.

 

[biggs682]

Theres a nice Kona Sutra for sale in your price range in Classsifieds

must admit if i was a touring person then thats what i would be looking at

 

[Arjimlad]

I'd use my Revolt on a mixed commute like that. Probably with the Smart Sam 700*35c tyres too. Disc brakes save rim wear in the mud, grit and rain.

Used examples can be found within your budget.

 

[fossyant]

The Middlewood way gets very muddy in winter. I use it regularly on my MTBs. Its also quite gritty so I would invest in mudguards and make some extra flaps as it eats drive chains. I'd recommend a non suspension MTB either old skool or change the tyres on something like a Carrera Subway.

This is just a few miles in Spring on The Middlewood way

 

[Alan O]

There have been quite a few good suggestions here, and it has to be your choice, but I'll tell you what I'd ride (assuming that slightly muddy section is the worst and that a fair bit of the ride is on fairly hard surface).

On days when the route should be dry I'd ride my Raleigh steel tourer with 32c Schwalbe Marathon tyres (Original, not Plus), mudguards, and wide-ish ratio gears (14-28) with triple chainset (28, 38, 48). Probably most days, in fact.

On days when I thought it would be too wet and muddy for that, I'd take my MTB (a GT hardtail) with Schwalbe Land Cruiser tyres (enough grip without being all-out knobbly). If it was wet enough for knobbly tyres, I wouldn't commute to work by bike - I love riding on knobblies in wet conditions, but I invariably end up caked in mud.

On sunny summer days if I could be confident of good firm surfaces all the way, I might take my "road" bike - which is actually an Orbit steel tourer frame, but with 32c Continental Gatorskin tyres (I like them a lot, but they lose grip on soft or loose surfaces for which they are not intended), closer ratio gears (14-24) and double chainset (42, 52), and no mudguards.

The most important thing for me, really, is tyres. I've never ridden anything narrower than 28c, and as I don't ride modern "road" bikes, look to maximize performance, or actually race (all of which are honourable pastimes in themselves), I can't see that I ever would.

Alan

 

[ozboz]

If you want new , then Ridgeback are incredibly good value , my GF has had one for years and it has very rarely had to have a spanner taken to it , A friend of mine recently bought one , and enter touring round France on it , loved it , CX is a good all rounder , Merida have one not to far above your price mark

 

[uphillstruggler]

as @Fab Foodie says, the Edinburgh Bike Co op range is cheap, have a look at this, https://www.edinburghbicycle.com/roux-etape-150.html

its within budget with the necessary rack and guards, but is short of disc brakes. but at that price, you'll be hard pushed to find anything that does as close to what you need.

best of luck.

in actual fact, I may even buy one myself. damn this thread

 

[mjr]

the large front sprocket (sorry don't know what it's called!) is bent

Big chainring. It takes quite some doing to bend a decent one... but I've also managed it before by doing something stupid

Introduction to derailleur gears and the terminology: http://cyclingfortransport.com/bike/components/gears/derailleur-gears/