Specialized2k10

i see that most of you get commuter bikes, im wondering what the pros and cons are of commuting with my specialized allez. its 9 miles each way.

do most of you get a commuter bike to be more comfortable or to be able to carry more stuff? i feel comfortable on my road bike, just curious what the reason are behind them.

astardotcom

I commute 34 miles to school using my road bike.

I figure that I've spent so much money on my bike why not use it as much as I can?

I'm 100% dialed in on my bike so comfort isn't an issue.

All I need to bring is packed in a nice Deuter backpack.

Lastly, I don't have another bike and I don't want to spend money to buy a bike just for commuting so that makes the decision alot easier

csimons

I think the pros and cons only become pronounced or significant when moving into higher-end bikes. Differences between entry-level road and commuting bikes are minimal, limited to commuting bikes coming with wider, lower-pressure tires, racks, having space for fenders, handlebar type, and possibly slightly less-aggressive riding geometry. Higher-end road bikes are intended for racing and clearly begin to have much more disadvantages for commuting, like clipless pedals requiring shoe-changes, no rack mounts, lightweight wheels more prone to damage, more aggressive riding position making it more difficult to have the wide range of vision needed in commuting, etc.

Sirrus Rider

You answered your own question. Sure I'd love to commute on my '88 Sirrus; however, It would be a little like driving an Indy car to Sam's Club or Costco. I'd have to use a backpack to carry anything and a quarter way though my arms would be going numb.

A dialed in commuter bike allows me to ride efficiently and carry a fair amount of gear.

mtalinm

I do my 25-mile roundtrip commute on my road bike whenever possible. but if it's looking like rain or other inclement weather, I'll take my commuter for the fenders and brakes that work the same wet or dry.

Kojak

I commute exclusively on road bikes, unless there's snow on the ground. Then I use my mountain bike.

If I had a Pashley Guv'nor, I'd commute on that occasionally, or if I had a Metrofiets cargo bike.... but I don't have either.

El Gigante

Interesting question - after commuting the last 3 years on a Specialized Hybrid, I pulled the trigger and picked up an '09 Tricross Comp and have been using it as my primary commuter. This is my first road bike since my 1972 Schwinn Super Sport, so it has been an adjustment, (to say the least). I really like the responsiveness and light weight of the Tricross, but having to haul everything around in a backpack is a bit of a bother. I will probably put a rack and fenders on it at some point in the future, but for now, I'm digging it just as a stock bike without a lot of accessories.

GeneO 

I use the bike that gets me there the fastest and most reliably. For me it is a cyclocross with 32 x 700 tires for my 30 mi RT commute because 80% of that is on trail. If 80% of my ride were on the road it would be a road bike.

CACycling

I've always commuted on road bikes. My commuter is outfitted with all the stuff (fenders, rack, panniers, lights, Airzound, etc.). My other road bike stays uncluttered.

AsanaCycles

I used to work at a hospital 10 days in a row, with 4 days off.
I'd ride to work and take my uniforms, and leave them there, enough for the 10 day stretch.
my shift was 2-11pm(ish)

I love to ride, commuting simply is a by product.
so I'd do my rides before and after work, ending up at work and ending up at home.

I have a variety of bikes
sometimes I'd ride the road bike before work, and just end up at work
other times, i'd ride a bike with panniers or something...

road bike as a commuter bike?
why not?
i guess it depends on what you like
and what your "Bicycle Lifestyle" is

there are plenty of people who don't like to ride for hours on end
they ride the bike out of necessity

a high dollar road bike in an urban setting...
for me, I doubt I'd pick the road bike.
however, if i had miles of country roads to ride in the local of my job, then I'd be apt to end up at work on my road bike, i.e. finish a 60 mile ride.
for instance, I used to go to work at 2pm
60 miles is about 4hrs
leave the house at 9am, ride, get to work, clean up, and clock in

tsl

I own four road bikes. Two are commuterized with racks and fenders, two are not.

All four get to take me to work depending on weather and how much or how little I have to carry that day. I try to take everything in on Monday and bring it all home on Thursday using one of the racked bikes. That leaves Tuesday and Wednesday for the others. My crit bike is a hoot to ride in traffic. So is the old-school stage racer. The racked and fendered ones are no slouches either.

bhop

I commute 13 miles each way on a road/touring or fixed gear bike, depending on my mood. 9 miles on a road bike seems like a non-issue to me.. unless you want racks, fenders and all that kinda stuff.

LesterOfPuppets

I'm pretty much with Kojak. Road bike 90% of the time unless snow or ice threatens, then it's MTB with front spiked tire.

The other 10% I'll roll my MTB with rack and panniers, sometimes even a trailer when I've a lot to carry to or fro.

I've a VERY comfy backpack to tote small loads to work and back.

velocycling

I commute on my 2000 Trek 5200 cf road bike. About 20k+ miles still going.
Ride what you got.
Enjoy it!

CbadRider

I have a road bike and a hybrid. I was mainly commuting on the road bike wearing a backpack until the day I got 3 flats on the way home and had to call my daughter to come and get me (I was about 12 miles from home). I switched to the hybrid with wider kevlar tires and am happy with the cushier ride. I also like that I can use panniers instead of a backpack.

Santaria

I've commuted on:

Low-end flatbar cafe racer. It was pretty fun, light, nimble. In the end, a bike designed for speed sucks for real life. While carrying nothing (7lbs. or less) wasn't a big deal, the bike bogged down bad under any real loads.
3-speed English-style bike. IGH is decent, but I found that I just never actually felt the urge to bother with it unless I thought about it, a lot. The bike handled like a cantankerous 1 legged-crack...pirate...but with panniers on it, it was very stable. But slow. Did I mention the "not Lance's other bike?"
Single-speed mountain bike. Believe it or not, the stock tires did not cause that many issues with rolling resistance. Speed was decent. Rims held up to our border potholes (read foxholes) and generally craptacular road conditions and with a backpack FILLEd with over 30 lbs. of books, didn't show the slightest 'flex' under the load.
I'm currently riding:
Araya custom (circa 80s) with a 9-speed campy setup, and I've already buckled the rear wheel 3 times. I'm going to have to go in and replace the bearings, and I'm running campy hubs so that's not going to be pretty/cheap. I've gotta say its fun to ride in the drops at speed, but that lasts about 30 seconds before the next transvestite/light/car/foxhole/border patrol agent causes me to hop back up into the hoods. I also find that for all that sexy campy goodness, I never-ever shift.

I even had my Suburban break down last week, and use my Araya for grocery duty (big mistake) and still haven't found a need to shift while carrying a full load.

Bag in question is a Tinbuk2 backpack (https://www.altrec.com/timbuk-2/grubstake-pack). Best damn bag in the world. I NEVER leave home without it, even when I'm driving.

caloso

You mean like this?



I like your style.

tarwheel 

I commute on road bikes and a touring bike. The touring bike is great when I have to haul a lot of gear and clothes, but I otherwise prefer my road bikes. My road bikes are faster, lighter and handle better than the touring bike. The ideal, for me, would be a sport touring frame that is still reasonably light but has eyelets for fenders and a rear rack. That will probably be my next bike, and I may just replace my touring bike with a sport tourer since I don't do any loaded touring.

kgriffioen

During warmer weather I commute on my road bike and have a 31 mile r/t. I don't need to carry anything except my wallet, keys and phone so all that fits into a small frame pack along with a spare tube and a co2 cartridge. During winter and other inclimate weather I ride my old road bike with fenders but that route is only 24 miles r/t.

I tend to hammer the whole way so a road bike makes the most sense for me. For me the road bike is the most efficient way to go.

FredOak

The road conditions here are so bad a decent road bike's tires/rims/tubes would get beat in a hurry. My daughter tried it and has bottomed out a couple times.
There are good places that I would ride one but for general commuting I'll stick with my hybrid in good weather and my MTB in the winter.

Steely Dan

i commute on my road bike on most days, i don't have much to carry and it all fits into a backpack. if bad weather threatens, i'll take my hybrid which has fenders. the road bike does make a 5-10 minute difference over the course of my 15 mile route.

tsl

Naturally you're welcome to ride and prefer what you like. But please don't characterize your personal preferences as requirements of the region.

I'm not sure where in Western NY you are, but here in Rochester, there's nothing about the road system that precludes riding a road bike. In the past four years I've put 20,000 miles on road bikes--in all 52 weeks of the year, every year--with no issues. (You'll note the snow on the ground and roadie kit in my avatar.)

What do you mean by "bottomed out"? Pinch flats? That's caused by failure to maintain sufficient tire pressure--a maintenance issue--not by any design deficiency of road bikes.

The bike I had the worst wheel trouble with was a hybrid. It broke spokes several times a month and the wheels wouldn't stay true and tensioned. I blame cheesy wheels, not the hybrid. No such issues on my road bikes, all of which have quality wheelsets.

Justin J

I recently switched from a commuter hybrid style bike to a road/tourting bike for my 10 mile commute. The only real advantage to the flat bar commuter bike is that the upright position gave me better visibility and control at busy intersections.

However my commute is very suburban and office parky with long stretches of bike path in between busy streets, so for me the faster road style bike is much better. It saves me 5 - 10 minutes on average and allows me to maintain a faster pace on long flats and hill climbs. The road/touring bike is also more versatile - now that I commute, everbody wants me to join their group charity rides, which I had a hard time doing on the commuter.

If I lived in an urban area, I would think the advantages of the road bike wouldn't be realized and I would have stuck with the hybrid just for the upright position and visibility. I felt tall yet stable on the hybrid. I could see over cars easily, and I felt like I was highly visible to others.

CCrew

That's a fit problem, not a road bike one.

I frequently ride a high zoot full carbon race geometry bike for my commute. Considering it's 28 miles each way, it's surprisingly the most comfortable of the bikes I use. Cross bike is the most comfortable, but it's almost identical geometry wise to the carbon one with the comfort coming from the 32's on it I'm sure.

oboeguy

I alternate between a (fast) folder and a high-end road bike. The folder is more comfortable (e.g. wider tires, SPD pedals for walkable shoes). Curiously, the carbon fiber road bike has proven far more durable than the delicate folder (numerous trashed wheels and frames on the folder -- yay for warranties).