Help- what bike should i use for a Daily 10 mile commute

[gentlegreen]

10 miles total then.
Unless you're riding on pristine roads, for maximum safety if for no other reason go for the MTB - get a rigid fork if you want.

If you want a road bike with a view to serious riding, you won't even get warmed up over 6 miles.
If so, will you be spinning indoors during the winter. ?

[Mr. Viking]

If it's ten miles total, go for the hybrid. It will give you better visibility and make you feel safer. it will also have mudguards and clearance for bigger tyres if you feel the need. I cycled through heavy snow on mine with standard tyres and was fine. If you can get drum/disk brakes, get them as they are effectively maintenance free and work just as well in bad weather

[AshleyClements]

Yeh the hybrid comes with hydrolic disc brakes.

I weigh 18 stone but still ok in regards to fitness.

I suppose the question is, if I went for road bike would I'm be making a bad choice?
And if I went for a hybrid will I be making a bad choice?

My colleague and boss are adamant a road bike is the way forward?

[Mr. Viking]

I weigh between 17 and 19 stone depending on the season and have never had any problem with a hybrid, except on longer (15-20 mile) hilly routes, where I would have preferred something (preferably myself) lighter. The upright bike will allow you better visibility in traffic and make you feel safer. It will not go as fast because of the aerodynamics and different gearing, but for a fairly short commute this shouldn't matter

[vjosullivan]

...it is only a 4 mile trip in the morning and 6 mile trip in the afternoon...

Ah, that's a bit different to:

...I am looking to start commuting to work which is about a 10 mile commute to and from work....

I think most people were assuming you were intending to do 10 miles each way. Given the shorter distance, each day's riding will be much less of an expedition than people were advising for.

In that case, I'd be even more inclined to go with the consensus opinion of getting the hybrid bike and mudguards (get strong and wide ones and add an extra mudflap to the front one or, better still, both). You said you didn't want a rack because you'll be carrying so little. All the same avoid using a backpack and consider a small saddlebag (they come in every possible size and with quick release fittings). Once you've had your first puncture, you also realise why you should have bought bullet proof tyres.

Aim for about a five minute mile. At age 22, once you had a couple of weeks in the saddle it should be quite doable without you arriving in a layer of sweat. And don't forget; it's not compulsory. If the weather is cold/wet/snowy/icy/foggy or in any other way typically English, you still have the choice of using any other more convenient means of transport.

[gentlegreen]

Aim for about a five minute mile. At age 22, once you had a couple of weeks in the saddle it should be quite doable without you arriving in a layer of sweat.

12MPH ?
It'll surely depend on terrain, headwind and how much interaction there is with the dreaded school run.
I struggle to achieve 10mph average in the morning.

Mind you, I am more than twice that age.

And with a bit of luck it won't be long before you're making every minute count, exercise-wise - it's addictive, but in a good way - and sweat is a mark of honour. Mine is the only bike in the shed with a water bottle.

[AshleyClements]

Yeh valid point made, my opinion is that the hybrid bikes are more safe with better brakes and you are always in the 'upright position' with better field of view etc.

And the length of my ride only being on average only 5 mile with only one trip being hilly it would make sense for a hybrid.

Is it true that the hybrids are more comfortable ? I may not use mud guards as I don't care about getting too wet either and I still probably won't use racks on the bike, so in that instance should I just get a road bike?

[gentlegreen]

Road bikes are not "transport" - not in my world anyway.
The only reason I can see for commuting on a road bike is if you're putting in another couple of hundred miles during the week and you want to stick with the bike you're used to.
They're going to take more effort and expense to maintain and mudguards can be positively lethal - and disc brakes are rarely an option.

Would you drive the kids to school in a Ferrari ?

[AshleyClements]

Yeh this is a good point. For 6 out of 10 journeys in one week, I will be riding down a 4 landed road which will be heavily congested with cars, it is generally flat and dead straight with lots of lights, so a lot of stopping and starting and potentially avoiding cars lol

So a hybrid as it will have disc brakes, and easier control?

[RickH]

... mudguards can be positively lethal - and disc brakes are rarely an option.

Have you got a link to figures for the fatality rate caused by mudguards? Seriously, what is so lethal about mudguards? IMHO they do a reasonable job of keeping the majority of the cack off me & the bike.

Would you drive the kids to school in a Ferrari ?

I used to sometimes get to take the grandchildren to school/playgroup in my daughter's old XK8 jag if I was minding them - does that count?

Rick

[gentlegreen]

Just out of interest ..

You know this site is associated with the Cyclists Touring Club ?

I commuted day in, day out for over 20 years before I was shown one Sunday that I could ride 24 miles in a day .. the next Sunday ride was about 68 miles .. it killed me, but the commuting made it possible.

I would say the average Sunday rider - not the Lycra lot are riding hybrids, I'm one of the very few who turn up on a MTB - albeit like I said up-geared - but there's a 30 year old locally who has one but with narrow rims and tyres and I'm pretty certain he caused a full Lycra and carbon guy to go home in a sulk. And another local rider who must be older than me, does Audaxes on a 21 speed sit up and beg ...

So start getting those miles in and hopefully before too long you'll want panniers and won't be able to stay indoors on a Sunday if the sun is shining.

You're like me. It's the 60 pounds you're carrying that makes hills more of an effort than they need be - not the bike - so you need those low gears - but it's all good exercise however slow.

20 years it took me and it was only thanks to extreme poverty at 27 that I found I didn't need an engine attached.

Cycling is one of the very few unreservedly brilliant things in my life.

[gentlegreen]

... mudguards can be positively lethal - and disc brakes are rarely an option.

Have you got a link to figures for the fatality rate caused by mudguards? Seriously, what is so lethal about mudguards? IMHO they do a reasonable job of keeping the majority of the cack off me & the bike.

OK there's one local rider whose mounting slipped and got seriously smashed up and several I've read about - only takes you to pick up a big twig - and there are masses of those on the lanes I ride on.

So little clearance on a road bike - shockingly I only read about safety clips recently - probably on here.

It's enough to make me stick with my shortie MTB guards and crud catcher.

[eileithyia]

NO MUGUARDS! I hope you change your clothes at work and are prepared that you will be putting dirty/wet stuff back on for the ride home. It is not just clean rainwater that gets sprayed up your back, but dirt, oil, diesel, rock salt.... etc., it can ruin your clothes and it really is not a good look. You might be riding when there is not actually any water leaving the sky but if the roads are wet you will still get wet, mudguards will help prevent this....

[gentlegreen]

NO MUGUARDS! I hope you change your clothes at work and are prepared that you will be putting dirty/wet stuff back on for the ride home. It is not just clean rainwater that gets sprayed up your back, but dirt, oil, diesel, rock salt.... etc., it can ruin your clothes and it really is not a good look. You might be riding when there is not actually any water leaving the sky but if the roads are wet you will still get wet, mudguards will help prevent this....

Like I say I have shorties with dangerous Maori decals.
They only let me down sometimes if I hit deep water.
The transmission wear is annoying, but averaged over the miles it's sod all.

Rear mudguards are a no brainer - once you have a rack and stick something on it.

Why would anyone ride a bike with stuff on their back ?
(unless it's delicate)

Never once thought it sensible - first bike was one of those silly "road bikes of the 70s" with stupid high gearing and no discernible braking .. but I actually had a cardboard box on the back of that - perhaps it was wrapped in polythene - but I certainly got caught out one evening in a downpour

Only thing I carry is my small under arm bag with phone, music etc ...

[mrjemm]

Watch out gentlegreen, the Horwich Church of the Holy Mudguard are onto you!