Which is best for commuting ?

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swee'pea99

Legendary Member
Depends on you, your route, road surfaces and what you want out of it. I wouldn't use anything but a racer. I like to go fast, the roads aren't too bad, and I can live with the trade-off in terms of comfort and even p*******s. But your priorities may be different.
 

Nigeyy

Legendary Member
I think swee'pea99 is right -it depends on you and your terrain. I've commuted on my road bike, tourer, folder and converted mtb. For what it's worth, I quite liked the tourer -sort of a compromise between the road bike and the converted mtb. Not fast, but not slow either.

Plus of course, you can use it touring!
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
As others have said, it depends. As yourself: What is your route like? (smooth tarmac? bumpy tarmac? off-road?) How long? Are you very fit and fast, or fit with stamina, or not all that fit? Do you have much to carry, are you happy with a rucksack, or do you prefer panniers? Do you have moderately secure parking for it at work? (will a flashy looking bike be safe?) Do you cycle apart from commuting?

As you already have a tourer, I wouldn't get another, unless yours is very worn out and needs replacing. If you want to cycle for leisure, why not stick with old faithful for the commute, but go for a bike specific to what you want to do at other times - fast road rides, or off-road?

It's probably fair to say that the one thing you won't need, is a full sus (or even front sus) MTB with knobblies, unless you commute across fields.

Personally, I commute on one of two bikes - my summer hack is a Giant FCR (flat barred road bike) with rack and mudguards added, my winter hack is a no-name MTB frame with chunky wheels and Big Apple tyres, and hub everything - it's probably a sort of hybrid.
 
OP
OP
Iainj837

Iainj837

Guru
I hope to start working @ a new place of work v soon it is about a 20 mile round trip and all round main roads and country lanes road surface vary fron very smooth and then really bumpy and some steep hills
 
Location
Shropshire
I would go for a hybrid (Mountain bike based), a little tougher than a road bike , a bit more comfortable, and a bit more stable in bad conditions. I have used all the bikes I have in the pics below ,the mountain bike was the most comfortable but was a bit of an energy sapper due to the tyres and suspension, the fixie good fun but again not really practical for my route with plenty of hills the black hybrid very fast and easy to ride in good conditions but not too good on icy/wet days (slick tyres!) the green recycled bike is prob the best combination for me, although I have built it up that way. It has semi slicks good for all conditions is not worth allot (less knickable) can be used when I take short cuts across fields/canals/down steps when knocking around locally without risk of damage.
 

Keith Oates

Janner
Location
Penarth, Wales
It looks a nice bike and I've always found Giant bikes to be reliable. I don't know where you are getting your bike from but I've seen an offer on the internet for #550 so it may well be good to shop around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Quite a few suppliers seem to have last years model available at ~£550.

Are you tied to one particular supplier through bike to work?
 
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