if you were building a commuter bike...

lennymc · 17-06-2013 12:55pm #1

I'm thinking of building a commuter that could be used year round for my commute. Commute is about 105km round trip, and sometimes I take detours, so it could be up to 120 - 130 km.

- Drop bars
- fixed full length mudguards
- is 10 speed shimano compatible and must take power tap hub
- will take a pannier rack
- some level of comfort
- can be used for some training

what would you build and why. Im just looking for ideas at the moment, anything considered!

Jawgap · 17-06-2013 1:03pm

I bought a PX Uncle John for foul weather commuting - installed full length mudguards on it and changed out the PX wheelset for set of Fulcrum 5s. I've found it to be a nice balance between fast, comfortable and stable.

It takes racks for panniers which I don't use for commuting but have used for a bit of touring.

My planned next upgrade on it is either some long drop caliper brakes or disc brakes.

lennymc · 17-06-2013 1:05pm

thats a steel frameset isnt it Jawgap? How do you find it on comfort wise on the commute in?

edit - just checked - its an aluminium frame.

Bluefoam · 17-06-2013 1:07pm

lennymc wrote: »

I'm thinking of building a commuter that could be used year round for my commute.

- Drop bars
- fixed full length mudguards
- is 10 speed shimano compatible
- will take a pannier rack
- some level of comfort
- can be used for some training

what would you build and why. Im just looking for ideas at the moment, anything considered!

Bamboo Mudguards
Shimano Alfine 11 Gears
Mercian bike frame
Brooks saddle

TinyExplosions · 17-06-2013 1:08pm

Bluefoam wrote: »

Bamboo Mudguards
Shimano Alfine 11 Gears
Mercian bike frame
Brooks saddle

This.

OldBean · 17-06-2013 1:09pm

Older steel framed road bike, single speed, mudguards, panniers, bad paint job.

Unless I was doing serious Km's on your commute, I'd find it hard to stray from the ease of a single speed bike. Steel frame for comfort, mudguards to keep my arse dry and a bad paint job to keep the scobes away.

lennymc · 17-06-2013 1:18pm

cheers oldbean - If my commute was shorter I would use a singlespeed in a heartbeat, but my commute is about 105km round trip, and I generally use it as a training spin, so it needs to take my powertab hub, which is currently 10 spd. I am thinking steel would be nice. I like steel

@bluefoam - that sure does sound like a nice bike

daragh_ · 17-06-2013 1:20pm

OldBean wrote: »

Unless I was doing serious Km's on your commute, I'd find it hard to stray from the ease of a single speed bike. Steel frame for comfort, mudguards to keep my arse dry and a bad paint job to keep the scobes away.

Was thinking about this for next winter - maybe an On-One Pompino. colm_gti had one which he used on club spins over the winter. SS is fine for my commutes but tbh I'm not sure if I would use it to train on.

Ribble Winter/Audax bike has been posted here before. Might suit me.

Crippens1 · 17-06-2013 1:22pm

Consider building up an MTB frame. I've done this for commuting and put rigid forks on to save weight. In summer it's easy to switch to the suspension forks as the kids want to go rambling in the woods. Either forks, you get good comfort, good visibility and, if you have the budget, disc brakes.

Gasco · 17-06-2013 1:31pm

Am building up a Cannondale CAAD9 CX for my longish commute (60k round trip). Putting a rack on it and it has eyelets for guards. Plan is to use it for winter spins as well.

Not sure if it is the most suitable beast for commuting / winter training, but I really like the look of it - I believe that is what really counts.

ednwireland · 17-06-2013 1:31pm

7 speed

back wheels been replace for a touring one from spa cycles (carry the weight of shopping on the way home)

actually this would be nice as well

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s143p2323

OldBean · 17-06-2013 1:33pm

lennymc wrote: »

cheers oldbean - If my commute was shorter I would use a singlespeed in a heartbeat, but my commute is about 105km round trip

Ah. Gears it is then!

Actually, a bit irrelevant to your cause, but for those looking at shorter commutes, I was doing some research/intending to build something using the Sturmey Archer 2 speed kickback hubs and they sound great (Just not the coaster brake version). Unfortunately my build has since turned into a 10 speed tourer. Which means I'll have to start looking at another frame soon...

Lumen · 17-06-2013 1:36pm

OldBean wrote: »

I was doing some research/intending to build something using the Sturmey Archer 2 speed kickback hubs and they sound great (Just not the coaster brake version).

This has been on my experimentation todo list for a while. If you do it I won't have to find the money. :pac:

colm_gti · 17-06-2013 2:32pm

Lenny, if you're able to fit panniers to your TCX just use that? All you need is a 10 speed RHS shifter and 10 speed chain to convert it to 10 speed, and use your powertap wheel.

I bought an older TCX recently to replace my pomp, converted it to 1x10, and will be using it for winter spins and cx racing. It has clearance for big tyres and mudguards, ideal for winter!

lennymc · 17-06-2013 3:27pm

colm_gti wrote: »

Lenny, if you're able to fit panniers to your TCX just use that? All you need is a 10 speed RHS shifter and 10 speed chain to convert it to 10 speed, and use your powertap wheel.

I fail to see how your answer would in any way facilitate me wanting to buy a new bike.

I did think of buying a tiagra 10 spd group (currently about 330 euros on merlin) for the cx bike, as some of the components are worn and could probably do with being replaced. Maybe Ill just do that.... but then id have to go taking mudguards and racks of the cx bike, and im just pure lazy and couldnt be doing that every weekend. Would drive me bananas!

mp31 · 17-06-2013 4:05pm

Giant Defy... meets all your requirements.

BTW Are you commuting that distance every day?

rurs · 17-06-2013 4:21pm

I have my eye on the Revolution Country Explorer as a utility/winter trainer/tourer. Looks good value, although for your needs maybe not ideal, as it's a 9 speed+triple. Steel frame too, so on the heavy side. Plus, it's already built...

Surveyor11 · 17-06-2013 4:32pm

My recently nicked Dolan Preffisio ticked a lot of boxes (40km round trip daily). Would replace it with something similar except with permanent mudguards (had race blades)

mistermatthew · 17-06-2013 4:33pm

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/FRGURE/guerciotti_record_frameset

funkyjebus · 17-06-2013 4:51pm

If you are looking to buy new, want some comfort and don't want to break the bank, perhaps the Ribble 525. Coming in at €842 with Tiagra 10sp and fulcrum 7's which should do the trick.

studiorat · 17-06-2013 5:09pm

Surveyor11 wrote: »

My recently nicked Dolan Preffisio ticked a lot of boxes (40km round trip daily). Would replace it with something similar except with permanent mudguards (had race blades)

Pretty good deal on the Preffisio frames on the Dolan Website at the moment.

Don don don....

doozerie · 17-06-2013 5:16pm

Some of these have certainly been covered already, but I'm just gonna be lazy and rattle off a list that springs to mind without checking if they've been listed:

Things that I'd require for a commute bike:
* Full length robust mudguards. I like SKS and would seek out models that had a reflector on the rear mudguard and a mudflap on the front. The mudguards should accommodate the widest of tyres that you plan to ever fit - that's stating the obvious but I found it easy to forget that when fitting mudguards to my MTB with slicks on, but remembered in time before I cut the stays to a length to suit only the slicks.
* Pannier rack. I have an old SKS one which is great, but I also like the Topeak that I have on another bike, which has side rails that allow a pannier to hang a little lower while leaving clearance for the full of the flat top of the rack to be used.
* Space on the handlebars for at least one decent light. I've found space limited on my bars on occasion.
* At little carbon as possible. This is partly because I lock my bike in a communal bike park at work and reckon people will not be very gentle with my bike as they try to get to their own, but also almost all of my (few) falls from a bike have been while commuting and I want to minimise the amount of stuff likely to break/shatter in a fall.
* Robust wheels. I'm small and very light, so for me 32-hole wheels count as very robust. 36-hole wheels would be better though. Basically I occasionally carry a silly amount of weight on the pannier and I want the wheels to handle it. The wheels should also be possible to true at the side of the road if necessary, and conventional spokes are more convenient there.
* Clearance for wide tyres. In particular I need a bike able to take spiked tyres when the weather turns icy. That has meant I could continue to commute by bike during some horrible weather during the last couple of winters. If I remember rightly, the 700C version of the spiked tyres I use are 35mm wide but it's their height that poses a problem for come frames with brake callipers - my wife's hybrid has cantilevers and just about takes spiked 35mm tyres, my mountain bike takes 1.75" spiked tyres comfortably.
* Lockable via my existing locks. I have one long U-lock, and one short U-lock. I typically like to lock my back wheel plus frame onto something solid with the long U-lock and then lock the front wheel to the frame with the short U-lock. However, my short U-lock is too short to wrap around the frame and wheel, so I end up having to wrestle with it so that the long U-lock goes through wheel, frame, and solid object, and it's a pain in the neck every time. A second long U-lock would sort that out but the good ones of those are heavy compared to my mid-weigh mid-strength short one.

Things that I'd like to have for a commute bike:
* Dynamo hub(s). I like the idea of never having to worry about forgetting lights or batteries.
* No V-brakes. They break my heart. Adjusting them initially is painful as they end up very close to the rim if you don't want lots of slack in the levers, and even a minor buckle can then be an unnecessarily big hassle. And as the brake pads start to wear you may have to adjust the angle of the brake shoes so eventually when you replace the pads you have to re-adjust the shoes again. By comparison I love the simplicity of my callipers, though I'd consider disk brakes too (I've never used them) or maybe even hydraulic cantilevers.
* Hub bearings that are robust but still relatively easy to service when they need replacing.
* Bottom bracket, or bearings, that last quite a while. I like the simplicity and robustness of the square taper!
* Gearing which is as simple as possible, which means no triple chainset for me.

Lumen · 17-06-2013 5:23pm

doozerie wrote: »

* Full length robust mudguards.
* Dynamo hub(s)

I would place these above all other considerations, but particularly a front dynamo light. Modern dynamo lights are the most excellent thing ever.

funkyjebus · 17-06-2013 5:28pm

Lumen wrote: »

I would place these above all other considerations, but particularly a front dynamo light. Modern dynamo lights are the most excellent thing ever.

lennymc · 17-06-2013 5:39pm

Thats a great list Doozerie, and Kind of what I would be hoping to end with. Currently Im using a mix of the CX bike and a carbon road bike for commuting. the CX is certainly more practical as a commuter and i may just end up with another CX bike (or a single speed cx for racing). therein lies my problem - the racing starts back in a couple of months and there is no way I would be pulling bits n pieces off the cx bike to race it, and then put them back on to commute on it. There is an On One pompino single speed for about 590 on planet-x, which would cover the cx requirement, and i could just stick with the tcx for commuting.

Surveyor11 · 17-06-2013 5:42pm

studiorat wrote: »

Pretty good deal on the Preffisio frames on the Dolan Website at the moment.

Don don don....

Yeah seen that. I've got a pair of spare wheels and a seat clamp, so working out the cost of a rebuild from there!

colm_gti · 17-06-2013 5:43pm

Surveyor11 wrote: »

Yeah seen that. I've got a pair of spare wheels and a seat clamp, so working out the cost of a rebuild from there!

Hahaha, just bought seat clamp, must buy matching frameset

lennymc · 18-06-2013 1:51pm

so currently Im thinking convert the tcx to a full time commuter, add a dynamo hub, 10 speed shifter and pannier rack and im pretty much sorted and could fully justify buying a new CX bike. I was already half thinking (how do you half think) of a single speed cx bike, so maybe this is the best course of action? A built up on one pompino is coming in at around 600 euros, throw a set of tyres and some cx gearing on it and hey presto, sorted.

Seaneh · 18-06-2013 2:03pm

studiorat wrote: »

Pretty good deal on the Preffisio frames on the Dolan Website at the moment.

Don don don....

And the Ribble winter trainer, which is the exact same frame with a different paint job, is always good value too

lennymc · 18-06-2013 2:17pm

the ribble/dolan bikes are something that I would consider, but they wont take 32mm tyres, so that rules them out.

doozerie · 18-06-2013 3:33pm

lennymc wrote:

Thats a great list Doozerie, and Kind of what I would be hoping to end with. Currently Im using a mix of the CX bike and a carbon road bike for commuting. the CX is certainly more practical as a commuter and i may just end up with another CX bike (or a single speed cx for racing). therein lies my problem - the racing starts back in a couple of months and there is no way I would be pulling bits n pieces off the cx bike to race it, and then put them back on to commute on it. There is an On One pompino single speed for about 590 on planet-x, which would cover the cx requirement, and i could just stick with the tcx for commuting.

One of the moments of great cycling joy in my life was when I bought an MTB and was able to keep my road bike for weekend spins only. Life got so much easier when my road bike was always ready to go each weekend, without accruing the muck, wear and tear, and mudguards that commuting tends to inflict. Then I started riding off-road every weekend and life got complicated again with my MTB being the bike torn between the desirable traits of a commuter (mudguards, etc.) and the desirable traits of an off-road bike (absolutely no mudguards, etc.). Along came a new road bike into my life and tidied all that mess up nicely as my old road bike was relegated to commuter duties.

I'm not sure at what point I contracted "the bipolar" but for some time now I've been struggling to balance the demands of my lycra side ("my good bike is getting' awful mucky over the winter. I know, I need a different good bike for winter and my good good bike for summer. Yayyy! Hmm, what about a turbo trainer bike?…") with my utilitarian side ("it's nice to have a zippy bike for commuting but I also need something beefier that can tow a trailer. Two different bikes, yayyy! Oh look, folders..."). My wallet and house storage space struggle to cope.

When compiling the list in my previous I think what I was struggling in vain to describe is a light but robust, cheap but good quality, practical but fun, lowly geared as a triple without being a triple, easy to maintain but versatile, yoke of a thing, that'll hopefully go like the clappers but somehow also be able to fulfil the role of grunt/tractor bike as necessary. I neglected to include some requirements on the list, such as a kick stand, ability to take a trailer hitch, no-paint finish, and comfortable to ride.

I'm trying to deny reality, and it's a fight that I'm losing, the truth is that all of us actually need an army of commute bikes to mirror our army of "good" bikes. So there'll be the cargo bike for shopping commutes, the recumbent for fast commutes, the three-wheeler recumbent for icy fast commutes, the single speed for low maintenance commutes, etc. To try to combine the benefits of all of these bikes in one bike would be an abomination, a crime against bicycle design. Which is where the cyclo-cross bike comes in, of course, the Frankenstein's monster of the cycling world. I have to admit that I do actually want a cx'er. …oh the shame!

if you were building a commuter bike...

Comments