On this weeks “Comment Friday” I’d like to hear about what bikes you guys use to commute.
My bike is a Marin Hybrid. I bought it second hand a few years ago and whilst it’s on its last legs now it still serves me well until I have enough money for the next bike purchase. I like it because it rarely requires any maintenance and if needs be it can take on a bit of off-road action.
What bike do you ride around on your commute and where did you get it from?
I have a Trek 3900 with disc brakes. Yes, it is a mountain bike, but recreationally i like to throw it around off road, and i cant afford 2 separate bikes.
But i do on times out accelerate those light weight road bikes, so i don’t think it makes that much difference.
I ride a Specialized Hard Rock Comp fitted with a pair of continental traffic tires which do a really good job on both tarmac and the rough stuff and its a very good bike to do my 14 mile round trip commute.
I have an Iron Horse Maverick commuter bike with Continental road tyres, 12 mile round trip every day and it survived London 2 BRighton. nice all round bike – does what it says on the tin.
I’m relatively new to travelling by bike so I got whatever the cheapest one was at Decathlon – a B’twin 3 (http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/b-twin-3-34964162/).
From home to my office is 35 minutes door-to-door. ‘Bout the same as the train/tube/DLR.
I ride a Marin Muirwoods from 2005 with Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres to avoid punctures and take the knocks of London commuting. My roundtrip commute is 18-20 miles so replacement brake pads, chains etc are required a few times a year.
My latest acquisition is a SON hub dynamo & lights so I don’t need to worry about recharging and can ride as long as I like in the dark.
Mine’s a 20 year old steel Peugeot from eBay with a new Tiagra groupset, mudguards and Mavic Open Sport wheels with 25mm Continental Four Seasons tyres. Very comfortable to ride despite being a bit heavy and perfectly good for a mid-week circuit or two of Richmond Park.
Specialized Allez 2007
– with clip on luggage rack for commuting
– various components failing in 2010 🙁
– 17 mile commute, wouldn’t like to do it on anything slower/heavier
– Oh, and armadillo tyres (best purchase I ever made for commuting)
Specialized Allex Elite 2010 – bought it mainly for London to Paris, but commute on it everyday.
Decent road bike and happy with it at the moment, although I do enjoy window-shopping and would love a Bianchi
Boardman Hybrid Pro Ltd with Continental Sport Contacts.
Skinney tyre, light enough but with disc brakes. That’s why they call it a Hybrid!
An entry level MTB (my05 Saracen Rufftrax) with a seized up front suspension, rack, full size mudguards, slick tyres.
Changed the saddle (now a Selle Italia C2) and the grips (Ergon GC2) to make it a more comfortable run about.
I ride a Specialised Vita Elite bought about 18 months ago through the cycle to work scheme as I wouldn’t have spent so much without the tax break.
Love my bike very much! My previous bike was a Specialised Globe which I now keep for taking my daugher’s bike seat and rides along the towpath and I can’t wait to get back on the Vita!!
Saw a very lovely Bianchi Pista via Brera in Evans the other day but not sure that’s going to be very ideal for my commute?!
Hi
I ride a Cube X-Race – it’s a cyclo-cross but with some Ultra Gator Skin Road Tyres fitted. So nice and fast. Brought the bike when I was in Herefordshire and used to commute up there.
Brought a cyclo-cross because i Like the speed of a road-bike and strength of a mountain bike. Also good for the Canal route part of my commute
I travel in on a Pashley Provence (it’s a heavy thing, but its a beauty…) http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/provence.html
I got it from Bobbin Bicycles on St John St, London.
I ride a Ribble winter training bike with full 105 and full mudguards. I actually think it’s a bit big for me so if anyone wants to swap let me know!
Trek 7.3fx with Specialized armadillo tyres (no punctures after 2000km so far) 16 mile Commute
I have a 2 year old Canondale BadBoy. Admittedly I bought it for the matt black finish but it I do find it a great bike. It has continental road tyres on it so is a little unforgiving on rough surfaces (Fleet Street in particular is a pain in the a***!), and hydraulic disc brakes may be flash but I find if I have to brake hard and fast (twice this morning within 30 seconds) the back end tends to lose traction and send me sideways. Adds to the fun. I do 10 miles in to work from East London and 10 miles back and find it’s perfect for it. It’s not lightweight by any standards but I find it’s also very fast off the mark. Tyres are needing replaced – any suggestions?
I’m currently riding my old Raleigh 3-speed city bike. I think it’s from the 80s. Light blue, with rusty mudguards and a rack. It’s a small frame with ever-so-slightly swept-back handlebars.
It’s practical to ride around and rather light. It’s also surprisingly fast!
I have a Brompton and an old Condor road bike. For my commute from Wandsworth to N Greenwich I use the Brompton. Originally bought it when I was coming from Kent on the train, but now I live in London I still find it better than my road bike for nipping in and out of traffic, speeding off when the traffic lights change and general low-maintenance hardiness. Also, you don’t need to worry about a lock (the only place that has refused it in 5 years is the National Gallery) and if you need to you can jump on the bus home.
I have two road bikes for my 14 odd mile round trip to work both road bikes one with mudguards on without. Both steel frame.
I have a Thorn Nomad mk2. Its big, heavy and really solidly built.
It’s a slight overkill for commuting but I’m heading off next year on a long term cycle tour and I’m in the process of downsizing all my possessions so a second dedicated commute bike would be daft at this stage in the proceedings!
I ride a 3-month old Trek 7.5fx hybrid purchased through the cycle to work scheme. Haven’t changed any of the stock components except the pedals. I test rode a lot of bikes and found I preferred the more upright riding position of hybrids for cycling in London traffic.
I find it great for commuting and generally very fast and comfortable. The carbon forks work well as shock absorbers as well as losing weight from standard forks. The bontrager hardcase lite tyres have so far been puncture-proof as promised.
My only problems with this bike is that 1) it looks like a more expensive bike (especially with the eye-catching red tyres) and 2) it’s not much good on tow paths. If I was buying a bike with cash I wouldn’t have spent this much, but cycle to work makes it so affordable!
Morning all,
have a Trek 7.2fx hybrid also bought via cycle to work scheme.
Only addition I’ve made is foot clips as opposed to cleats. Just not confident that I could unlock myself from pedal if came to sudden stop.
Bike is almost 1 year old and am a few mile away from clocking up 3000 miles on it. Cycle in from Epsom to West End.
An almost-4 year-old Pearson Touché fixed with 48×17, Continental Gatorskins and (removable) SKS blades for those damp mornings, Exposure Toro + rear light just getting broken out again for the grey/glooming sunset rides home, nothing quick release, but there’s a Fizik saddle with a clip-in Fizik bag with tools, wheel nut spanner, tube and CO2 (but I have only punctured once in the ~3k miles so far this year).
Pearson: they’re a proper local family-run bike shop in Sutton, run by the 5th generation, genuine nice-guy, bike-head brothers.
Fixed: fewer moving parts means less maintenance, decent cruising speed, better braking than just calipers alone, less attractive to tea-leaves.
Race blades: having no mudguards in the wet is just rude to those behind you.
Exposure lights: they’re eye-wateringly expensive, but have great battery life and no-one is going to accuse you of not being well lit. Also very capable of off-the-beaten-track or unlit roads (e.g. river towpath or Richmond Park, etc.).
Do also have a cyclocross for the really wet days or for more fun rides home in the mud of Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common 🙂
I commute on an orange 2009 Brompton M3L, with extended seat post.
I love my Bella, she’s a beauty. I bought her from Cycle Surgery in Holborn, and I’m paying for her through a cycle to work scheme.
I cant believe no-one else has posted a brompton yet!
see James 10. Sep, 2010 at 10:20 am 🙂
I usually ride an old Specialized Hard Rock I bought from Ebay for £35. With road tyres on it does the job very well. Occasionally I go for a longer commute (25 miles e/w) and use my Wilier Motorolo for this. I used to ride a fold up Dahon and take it on the train for some of the journey. But despite being a fold up I found that commuters still used to tut disapprovingly when I took up some of their valuable space so I gave up with it.
I use whichever boris bike is closest to Marylebone station.
Three gears, weighs a tonne. Does the job.
Specialized Allez Sport 2010. I decided I wanted something faster for my 12-mile round trip commute, and have had a couple of funny falls when getting used to SPD clips. Bontrager Hardcase Race Lite tyres were a great buy and helps repel the broken glass that Hackney’s streets have on offer.
Ridgeback Adventure 520SX – a hybrid bike with more road pedigree than MTB pedigree. I’ve been swapping bits since I bought it in the 1990s. After a 10 yr hiatus where I couldn’t commute round the M25 on it, I now have it up and running for the 11 mile run to Greenwich.
Bike from a friend — Trek 2300 from 1992, bog standard Continental road tyres, compact chainset and 8 speed on the back, dual-purpose pedals (flat one side, spd mtb the other). Commute is only 11-13 miles round. Been worrying that the carbon-aluminium joins might fall apart due to the potholes but it’s held up well the last 2 years. Also good for longer rides out, fairly light though still weighs more than most entry-level aluminium road bikes — good excuse for being slower!
Another Trek 7.3 FX just over a year old. Shimano SPD pedals added around Xmas, all other components as you were. I know it’s a bit of a Cavalier/Mondeo but I hadn’t cycled properly for over 20 years and needed a safeish option in terms of riding position etc. A great bike though – even at the start when I was pretty unfit I could still leave people at the lights (before getting overtaken 50 yards further on). 15 mile round trip.
I ride a Joey Airnimal (fold-up) with 24″ wheels for my approx.20ml round trip, it rides like a 26″ wheel bike but is small enough to put into a non black taxi cab if the dreaded puncture occurs!!
I have a Kona Smoke – brought from new. It’s quite heavy but I like feeling more control when it’s windy. It’s about 8 miles each way, as I go from Lambeth to Camden.
Road conditions here in Prague are bad and about one-third of my commute is on wooded, gravel paths, so I ride a mountain bike as well. A KHS Summit with fenders and rear rack. And a proud “One Less Car” sticker.
A fixed gear creation I made out of an old dawes diplomat – had it coated green and then put yellow trim (brake cable casing, seat, grips etc) – wanted it to look a little like a lotus
I have front and back brakes as I am not an idiot.
IRO Angus Steel Track Frame (cheap and cheerful), Acid Green Velocity Deep V on the front, Acid Green Velocity B43 on the back. Green bullhorns and slightly worn soon to be replaced Gatorskins, still (touch wood) no punctures! Perfect fixed gear bike for riding through London as I have it on a pretty heavy ratio (58/19) which is spinny enough to stop dead but heavy enough to pick up some steam. I ride 8 miles on pretty flat chunks of road, so don’t really see the point in a geared bike and it’s perfect for low maintenance and if something starts to go wrong it’s pretty simple to work out where it’s going wrong! But saying that I really would like something with gears and also lightweight.
A SE Lager Single Speed
A weird amalgam of a nice singlespeeded adapted Saracen XC frame (Kili Flyer), hefty marzocchi forks for potholes/kerbs (and even the occasional set of stairs) with 29’er wheels (disc brakes) running slicks. Fast and fun!
I currently have an old Scott MTB frame which I got off Freecycle, repaired and fitted road tyres.
I’m also building a single-speed based on an old road frame which I hope to be using for all my London cycling in the future (will probably still keep the Scott for longer tours).
Specialized Allez Sport 2009 from Brixton Cycles through the Cycle Scheme. Same as some others above, wanted something light and quick for a 12 mile round trip commute. Doubly glad I got it since I’m now doing a 13 mile each way one.
Have added SPDs and a new saddle. Tyres have gone from stock to armadillos after picking three punctures in the same week. Ran OK and no flats. Am now using some Continental GP4000s after picking some up in the sale and they stick like glue. Fantastic tyres, far more confident in the corners and no punctures as yet.
I ride a Condor Fratello with Shimano 105 components throughout that I had built in 2006 when I worked near the Condor store in Chancery Lane. I wanted a quick audax type frame but also one with the dimensions and the braze-ons that could accomodate the mudguards and rack that I think are essential for commuting. Also liked the idea of being measured for a bike rather than just taking an off the shelf and having to replace the cranks or stem to fit me.
Originally had Armadillo tyres and Shimano 105 wheels but changed to Mavic Ksyrium wheels and Vredestein Fortezza tyres that work much better for me. The tyres are hard skinny and slick but they corner superbly on tarmac (although not so well on drains or manhole covers) and potholes are not a problem if you always go round them. Almost everything else (apart from brakes, chain, cables, and block) is the same as the day it was built and still runs beautifully.
Mine’s a Trek 7.1 FX Hybrid – she’s called Tallulah! Much as I love it/her – I do have my eye on a Van Moof when it’s time to move on…
I ride a Dahon Cadenza 2009 with Conti sport pro tyres – on Bike 2 work scheme. It’s done loads of miles both on 15m each way commute and L2B/country rides etc. The hinge on the fold occasionally needs tightening (when I’ve been over lots of cobbles and potholes) and I’ve had a run of punctures just recently – but probably just a sign that I need to change the tyres. It’s not particularly light but I can still carry it up and down all the stairs at Harrow-on-the-Hill and Amersham stations. And best of all – the seat post is also a pump! Would love a sexy single speed or road bike but probably not practical as a sole bike.
Trek 1200 SL.
I got fed up with roadies whipping by me and my old cheapie mtb. Although my new 6 mile round commute now doesn’t really warrant it.
Also have Thorn Nomad Mk 2 as also planning an expedition sytle tour. This get the occasional outing, especially in less pleasant weather. Not quite as easy to lug up the stairs to my flat though!
I got so fed up with I’ve decided to buy a road bike myself tomorrow! My mountain bike weighs a ton!
Thorn Raven Tour with rohloff speedhub / panniers / child seat / chariot double trailer. Built like a tank and weighs as much as one when all three kids are on it too. Luckily I can dump them and the trailer half way.
Bought 2nd hand to replace a dearly loved Dawes Horizon that snapped in two after one pot-hole too many. I may have over-compensated on durability 🙂
i first started cycling to work exactly a year ago. Through last winter, I used my 3-speed Brompton (purchased on cyclescheme).
This summer I have been commuting the entire 20-mile/day distance (no multi-mode) on my vintage mixte:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10938860@N03/4758351572/in/set-72157624128246558/
But 30+ year old (yes, original) brakes are not up to winter commuting so…
I have just gone back onto cyclescheme for a Surly Cross Check:
http://surlybikes.com/bikes/cross_check_complete/
I am hoping this will be the ideal all-year bike for me, not just for commuting but also for light touring and maybe even an audax or two next year.
As you can see, I have a weakness for steel! 🙂
Diamondback mountain bike from the early 1990s, inherited from my cousin. Steel, Shimano Deore LX, no suspension, slick tyres. Sturdy yet relatively lightweight, and fairly unattractive to thieves. Perfect commuter.
I switched from a Giant FC3 to a Charge Plug (single-speed) in July – purchased on the cycle-to-work scheme.
And wow! What a difference a few Kgs make! I’m making the 17-mile commute to and from work on average 4 times a week now, as opposed to once or twice.
I put Bontrager puncture resistant tyres on almost immediately and have recently upgraded the pedals to save my calves and shins from continual bruises and scratches. Currently considering dropped handle bars…
A fixed wheel 2006 – I think – Fuji Track, with chopped riser bars (I know, I know..), Mavic OpenPro’s w/ Vittoria Rubino types, which seem to keep most of the punctures out. Nice and simple.
Yes I have a brake.
A bike I found at the tip and bought for £5, cleaned up, re-sprayed, converted to single speed and some vintage drop bars! Best buy I think; although one can of paint was more than I paid for the bike…