Originally Posted by
zeroderby
I am considering buying a
Raleigh Sojourn for my 20km round trip commute. I currently ride a 97 Trek that I bought last summer for $80. I added fenders and v-brakes. I was wondering if the sojourn would be overkill or a fun upgrade to my Trek. I have been commuting full time since last summer. I really like it and don't plan on stopping so I thought an upgrade would be fun. I also rode through the winter, I live in Edmonton where it gets fairly cold, would this bike handle the cold ok? Would the geometry help me be faster? Would this be a significant upgrade? Would this be a good commuter? Any other thoughts?
Thanks for any input.
My Trek
The Raleigh Sojourn
I don't think you could lose by buying the Sojourn. It would have two advantages that I can think of over your mountain bike: hand positions and gearing. The semi-mustached handlebar gives you more hand positions over a mountain bike flat bar which lends itself to more comfort over longer distances. The Sojourn in all likelihood has higher gearing than your mountain bike and will feel and probably be faster.
I think the only thing I would like better for commuting is a Harris Cyclery/Bianchi SanJose8 just so that I could change gears while waiting at a light.
One thing I would do is I would retain the mountain bike for a foul/cold weather bike.