cobrabyte

I've had folks thank me for announcing my passing. Never gotten a complaint about it. As a slower cyclist myself, I always appreciate when another rider lets me know they are approaching. I tend to swerve wide around obstacles and it would be a shame to have it cause an accident because someone thought it was impolite to say something as they approached.

cobrabyte

lol you know, maybe we were on to something as kids with the old playing card in the spokes.

TenSpeedV2

10/10 would ride this on my commute on any day that ends in y.

TenSpeedV2

It's even more fun on a daily commuter with no fenders, no hand brake, one gear and a ridiculous looking lower seat tube.

kickstart

No assumption nessary, that bikes ergonomics and geometry would limit me to about 10 minutes of miserable riding. Drop bar, skinny tire road bikes are an automatic fail for me.

yankeefan

That is by no means a comfortable bike. To be more specific, there is no way I would be comfortable locking that up outside in NYC for 8+ hours. Besides I can't see why anybody would commute on that. No rack mounts means you're going to be hauling a loaded backpack with your body positioned in a very aggressive aerodynamic manner. I can't imagine that being very comfortable for a 10+ mile commute.

I-Like-To-Bike

I prefer a bike with pedals, lights, reflectors (bell too!) and something to carry my lunch; as well as one that I own rather than one displayed nice and shiny in an ad for fan boys to covet.

No need for a lock on that bike though since a bicycling ball and chain will never be left outdoors out of the owner's arm reach.

Light as it might be, not too comfortable to need to carry it everywhere.

TenSpeedV2

I ride something like this with less gears and bullhorns on an 8.5 mile commute each way, with that fully loaded pack on my back. Never had an issue. I have also done 50+ mile rides on it as well, again, no issue. If you can fit the bike to you, it becomes extremely comfortable.

Jim from Boston

For this bostonredsoxfan,

I store my bike in my office, and use a backpack to carry lightweight items like extra clothes. The potholes don't bother me because here in Boston, the streets are paved with gold, and the citizens are honest and respect cyclists.

caloso

Plenty of riders commute on race bikes, quite comfortably, myself included. I know a guy who's a former state TT champ who will occasionally commute on his TT bike just to spend time getting comfortable on it. That doesn't work for everyone, but it works for him.

yankeefan

To each his own. I used to commute with 24 miles with a ~22lb backpack (u lock, flex cable, spare tubs & laptop alone made up half the weight) and after a couple weeks the back pain became unbearable and decided to get a bike with rack mounts. If it works for you then by all means.

harshbarj

Because it's not. That's a sporty bike, not a utility bike. It's built for sport, for speed, not comfort. Anyway, where are the fenders, where are the racks. Not really a useful commuting bike. All one needs to do is look at where commuting by bike is normal and see that the type of bike you posted is almost non existent. Yes that bike has it's use, but commuting really is not one of them.

caloso

Again, all that's necessary for a bike to be a commute bike is that it's ridden to work and back. Just because a bike isn't set up to commute in the manner you yourself prefer doesn't mean it isn't a useful or comfortable commute bike for someone else.

FBinNY 

+1 ---- What defines a commuter bike is that it's used for commuting.

If we wish to debate how well it's suited to he purpose, then we have to consider the commute itself, and the preferences of the rider. What's well suited for a 2 mile in town commute for someone who needs to dress for work, is likely very different that what's best for someone riding 15 hilly miles each way, and has a place to change at work.

Likewise, with whether the commute is on well paved roads with good weather, or on dirt trails in rain (or any combination of road/trail and weather). There are more variations in commutes than there are bikes, so everyone has to ride what works out best for him.

kickstart

That's entirely true, and it would be foolish to ride something one doesn't like, but its also true that at some level it becomes more about what one is willing to tolerate to make their preferences work.

wolfchild

It needs some platform pedals and a bell before it can be called a commuter bike.

alan s 

I wouldn't commute on that unless it had electronic shifting and disc brakes.

wolfchild

Electronic shifting gets me so annoyed I start to shake violently and froth at the mouth and change from human into a werewolf.

achoo

"Because it's not"? "Where commuting by bike is normal"?

That doesn't even come close to answering why you assume that bike's uncomfortable. That's so off I think your answer might have boarded MH370.

Come on. Explain why you assume it's uncomfortable.

I-Like-To-Bike

It needs some kind of pedals before it can even be called or used as a bicycle. But anybody can guess/dream that this thing is a comfortable bike with or without pedals.

I-Like-To-Bike

Sure some people can get comfortable in the wackiest positions if they can convince themselves of it.


Good luck with your comfortable commuting bike when you save up your pennies to buy it all by yourself.

john4789

This is either a very stupid comment or a very lame "oh grandpa" joke. Hmm...

wolfchild

Backpacks don't cause back pain....Your unbearable back pain was most likely caused by your bike not fitting you properly or maybe you just have a very weak back and you need to strengthen your core.

wolfchild

The problem with all these high performance racing machines is that they can't be ridden in comfort unless the person spends gobs of money on professional fitting, and even after professional fitting is done, they still have to wear a diaper and gobs of butt cream to prevent saddle sores.

john4789

Someone riding a bike like that for a commute is probably already riding on the weekends and has already had it fit. Their commute is just extra training. A guy passes me all the time in the summer who commutes with a teardrop helmet and racing bike. He is very fast and I assume he rides competitively on the weekends.


Agree, or has multiple bikes for the conditions. I have a road bike for summer, a mountain bike for winter, a folding bike when I have to take public transportation one way, and a tandem bike when my wife and I are going to the same place. The type of bike chosen depends on the task at hand.


No.