Commuters! Flat bar or drops?

zonular

Hey guys just wondering what sorta distance are you doing for a commute and what's the weapon of choice?

ted1

zonular wrote: »

Hey guys just wondering what sorta distance are you doing for a commute and what's the weapon of choice?

30km each way , using drops and mtb cleats and pedals

07Lapierre

25k Road bike

tomasrojo

15km one way, about 11km return, 40kg flat-bar bakfiets cargo bike, which isn't ideal, I have to say, but I have to drop the kids off to school on my way to work.

Canis Lupus

16km each way. Road bike. Genuinely can't remember the last time I even used a flat bar bike. I'd probably wobble and fall off

droidus

15k each way, flat bar, belt drive, alfine 8.

Pinch Flat

13km each way road bike. Much more options for hand positions / comfort.

machiavellianme

droidus wrote: »

15k each way, flat bar, belt drive, alfine 8.

Snap, same as but shorter distance. Just under 10km.

Yourmama

6k each way. Often "getting lost" on the way back so it might be as well 30k return. Drop bars + MTB SPD.

gman2k

15k each way, flat bars with ergo hand grips that have mini extensions.
Touring pedals -MTB SPD & flat on the flip side.

zonular

gman2k wrote: »

15k each way, flat bars with ergo hand grips that have mini extensions.
Touring pedals -MTB SPD & flat on the flip side.

How to do find the mini extensions?

zonular

Spose I should check in my self, I've cycled swords to city centre on everything fixie, BMX (not to be recommended apart from the weight loss) to 90's MTB and a now stolen gravel bike.

On a Halfords hybrid which is ok, but eying either a new gravel bike or flat bar road bike with discs.

Hydro brakes I'm a total convert

SPD for years but switch to MTB flats recently and they are great too

magicbastarder

my main issue regarding commuting (two or three times a week, 20km each way, road bike with drop bars, SPDs) is that i've disc brakes, and in the wet, the crud thrown up from the road contaminates the rear pads in no time. i have a full length mudguard on the front, comes to within two or three inches of the road.

KevRossi

Changed my cheap Halford's Carrera Zelos over to flats, so use that sometimes.

If I need to carry anything then the Cube Touring E-Bike with butterfly bars.

Like this..

Colonel Panic

11KM each way on drops, albeit on a CX bike so the riding position is a bit higher than a road bike.

Stark

Have drops but positioned quite high at the front so comfortable for commuting. Most of the time my hands stay on top of the bars.

Eamonnator

zonular wrote: »

How to do find the mini extensions?

I have a flat bar Frankenbike.
Early this year, I put a pair of Lifeline Handlebars grips with mini extensions on it.
They are great. They give another hand position, and are very comfortable on the palms. I think Lifeline is a Wiggle or CRC brand.
There are other far more expensive brands out there.
Since I got them, I've done a couple of 60-70 kilometre spins on them, no discomfort on hands or arms.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/lifeline-ergonomic-handlebar-grips/rp-prod155625

Johnny Jukebox

20km each way, 29" HT MTB, SPDs, disc brakes.

Tried all combinations but the above is the most comfortable and safe.

Idleater

2-4 km + bus Brompton S

I've gotten used to being lazy :-)

Breezer

7.5km each way, flat bar. City traffic, stop start. Drop bars scare me

Mercian Pro

Depends on the route and amount of traffic. If you are going to need to be constantly ready to brake, flat bar is probably best. If you have good long stretches of open road, drops might be better.

I used a flat-bar Cannondale with bar-ends for a good few years on my 5k commute after getting neck pain from being on the brake hoods on my previous drop-bar bike.

tnegun

22k each way on a CX bike with drops, disc brakes and regular pedals dunno how guys can clip in in traffic!! I did it for 18 months on a Hybrid with flats and could never go back to it.

Stark

I use mtb style SPDs and have no issue commuting in them. The road bike style SPD-SLs/Keos are a pain in the hole.

Always an annoying decision coming up behind someone with them at traffic lights as I know they'll overtake me once they get going but it'll be a good 30s or so before they manage to get going.

gman2k

zonular wrote:

How to do find the mini extensions?

Nice to have an extra position to move to. Wouldn't mind ones slightly bigger though.

ted1

Stark wrote: »

I use mtb style SPDs and have no issue commuting in them. The road bike style SPD-SLs/Keos are a pain in the hole.
.

I switched from the road style to MTB style and best decision ever. Small things like walking from locker room at work to bike shed is so much more comfortable

eeeee

20k each way, old track bike, now a fixie, drop bars. SPD-SL's, tried SPD's and found them harder to clip in and out of, couldn't get on with them.

saccades

125km round trip on a Friday, drops and mtb spds.

Tis a "adventure" bike with kinda relaxed geo so easy enough to look about in traffic.

28c @ 75psi

jon1981

KevRossi wrote: »

Changed my cheap Halford's Carrera Zelos over to flats, so use that sometimes.

If I need to carry anything then the Cube Touring E-Bike with butterfly bars.

Like this..

Thats seriously fugly

Oh and, 8km e/w on a road bike with disc brakes, croozer trailer attached for the first 1km, parked at creche and picked up on my commute home.

zonular

jon1981 wrote: »

Thats seriously fugly

Oh and, 8km e/w on a road bike with disc brakes, croozer trailer attached for the first 1km, parked at creche and picked up on my commute home.

Is it wrong I sorta like em, pulling that string brought round to velo orange crazy bars

Alanstrainor

15km each way on drops, spd-sl (mountain bike cleats) and discs.

I was an adamant flat bar rider for a long time. I had my hybrid stolen maybe 7 years ago and bought a drop bar single speed and saw the light. In my mind, it's all the benefit of the flat bar with the added comfort factor of being able to shift your hand position whenever you feel like it.

The drops have added benefit commuting through towns/cities with traffic as your bike isn't as wide. Which can be handy when filtering.

Idioteque

50KM daily roundtrip on flatbars with small stubby bar ends. Find the flatbar a more comfortable riding position for commuting and better control around the city. If I was doing long trips for leisure on weekends I'd probably have drops but I don't so no need.

Also SPD's and discs. I don't find the problem a previous poster mentioned about discs in the wet, I find their performance great in the wet.

zonular

After the ride home tonight, discs all the way!

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

my main issue regarding commuting (two or three times a week, 20km each way, road bike with drop bars, SPDs) is that i've disc brakes, and in the wet, the crud thrown up from the road contaminates the rear pads in no time. i have a full length mudguard on the front, comes to within two or three inches of the road.

Is that why my recently serviced rear disk brake isnt working properly since last week?

zonular

As far as I remember Lidl had disc brake spray cleaner couple of weeks ago, worth looking out for

magicbastarder

downtheroad wrote: »

Is that why my recently serviced rear disk brake isnt working properly since last week?

depends on how it's not working!
i cross over the east link on the way home - not that it might be any grubbier underfoot than any other route through the city centre, but it's what i ascribe my back brake performance to; partly because my front brake does not seem to suffer nearly as much, and partly because cycling in the wet on country roads also does not seem to have the same effect on the rear brake.
it's usually fine after my normal cleaning routine (i leave the pads sitting in boiling water for five minutes, hit them with a heat gun, and a minor rub with some fine sandpaper (but not necessarily in that order)

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

depends on how it's not working!

If I'm not on the bike the brake works fine for the rear wheel but when I'm cycling it just does not seem to be braking, the mechanism is moving but the wheel isn't locking. Any ideas?

tnegun

Cable or hydraulic? Mine are cable and I have my rear adjusted so that its harder to lock up but still can if pulled all the way. There are two adjusters at the caliper on mine as only one side moves and I get them as close as possible to the disk and then back each out slightly. There will always be a tiny amount of rubbing but once its not consistent I'm happy to live with it. It's also worth making sure the wheel to properly centered as is the caliper as a few mm off can have a great affect.

magicbastarder

downtheroad wrote: »

If I'm not on the bike the brake works fine for the rear wheel but when I'm cycling it just does not seem to be braking, the mechanism is moving but the wheel isn't locking. Any ideas?

well, if you're pulling the brake with the bike stationary and the rear wheel elevated, it doesn't take much braking at all to stop the back wheel. if you're on the bike and moving, you're asking the brake to stop anywhere between 60kg and 110kg, instead of its own weight (probably about 1kg).
does it squeal in the wet? it could be contaminated. are you handy enough to take the back wheel off and take the pads out to look at them?