Commuting - Mtb as a commuter

I want something ride around town, maybe commute a few days a month, and my lbs suggested a KHS 04 Alite 1000 with road tires. I'm looking for comfort and a smooth ride.

Anybody have thoughts on this set up? Should I stick with a hybrid (thinking about the 7000 series Trek fx). Or will a mtb with road tires be a pretty good set up.

Also, I suppose I could do some light mtbiking by switching out the tires.

Thanks.

I communte on my Giant Rinco, MTB with knobbies and have no problems at all. The decision should lie in comfort.

A mountain bike will work fine on the streets, but you might get exhausted trying to keep any speed up and you might end up revving like an Acura. Mountain bikes aren't geared well for road riding... If you're gonna do light trail riding then you kind of have a choice to make on what you want to trade off (more durability off-road versus better gearing on-road)

MTB with road tyres will be just fine. Stuff to remember:

Skinny tyres are faster and easier than fat tyres.
Hard tyres are faster than soft tyres.
If you run out of gears, go buy a smaller cassette or a bigger chainring.
You don't need suspension. You definitely don't need rear suspension.

Cannondale's Bad Boy is one of the quintessential street bikes, and it's just an MTB with skinnies.

My commute is only a couple miles each way. I use a '98 Haro Vector V1 with stock tires (cheap Kenda Kwicks), and it works pretty well. If I were commuting further -- say, five miles each way -- I'd probably get something lighter. Don't know how far your commute will be, but since you're only planning on commuting a few times per month, I'd say go with the dedicated mountain bike

Thanks for the advice.

I think I will go with the mtb with road tires (assuming fatter road tires will be smoother and retain energy better than knobbies).

I'm getting a good deal on the bike (last year's model) and I don't plan on having to match speeds with a dedicated road bike.

The commute, if I stay with it, would be between 3 and 4 miles each way. I'm kind of a bigger guy (looking to lose weight) with occassional back problems and think a road bike would be a bit too much (plus I plan on pulling my 1-year-old in a trailer occassionally).

Again, thanks!

You mentioned you're a bigger guy, so make sure you're getting good rims and spokes on that bike. If you're getting a MTB then you should be ok, though.

Hell I did my last 2 centuries on a mtb, you should be fine. Plus the position is a little more relaxed and comfortable. Smaller tires also mean it's easier to accelerate if you have to.

Thanks for the advice.

I think I will go with the mtb with road tires (assuming fatter road tires will be smoother and retain energy better than knobbies).

I'm getting a good deal on the bike (last year's model) and I don't plan on having to match speeds with a dedicated road bike.

The commute, if I stay with it, would be between 3 and 4 miles each way. I'm kind of a bigger guy (looking to lose weight) with occassional back problems and think a road bike would be a bit too much (plus I plan on pulling my 1-year-old in a trailer occassionally).

Again, thanks!

If you find you need to ride faster flatland really, mtb seem to run 34T mid rings which I find slow.
I run a 38T middle ring, custom rings are nice to ballance the chainline.
My 46 I found too big, I don't run one now, but it would be smaller.
Instead I use an 11T rear cog for flat speed.
Pulling a child, the mountain set up will work well, they are geared for it IMO.

Slick tires I'd not do supa small if you are heavy. More chance of rim bite, or you have to high inflate them. 1.5's.

Nice urban tires are Maxxis Hookworms. Big thick, some tread..they wont slip.
I've heard they do glass well, and are great to smooth a ride.

Heavier..a bit slower.

Since I'm offroad say 40% of the time and we have wet leaves everywhere...I ride trick..I just keep the knobbies. i use a round profile XC tire (round for speed cornering) with a higher psi rear, lower front.

The tire rear is smaller\ harder 1.95, front 2.10 raised knob. Works very well.

I'd stick with the mtb gearing and add a few teeth front if needed.

http://www.maxxis.com/products/bicycle/product_detail.asp?id=160

I commuted 3-5 miles for each way for years on an MTB with slicks and thought it was fine........until I tried a road bike!!! There is no comparison on the amount of ground you can cover for the energy expended. Plus I feel much safer riding in traffic because I am much closer to the speed of the cars. Now when a wild hair prompts me to commute on my mtb I get entirely worked. I find this to be the case even though I have no problem riding the MTB 3 miles to the trailhead. I am in awe of posters who ride 10-15 miles each way on 26 inch rims. It comes down to a factor of getting used to and expecting the speed of the road bike on the commute. My vote will forever more go to the road bike for road travel.

Mountain Bikes used for commuting:

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Old Reliable
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Fixed
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I'd recommend a full rigid MTB (no suspension), V-brakes (no need for discs), 26x1.25/1.5 tyres at 85psi. I commute on a CAAD3, it's light and very fast, only 2kph slower (for the whole ride) than my road bike.

CHEERS.

Mark

[snipped...]around town, [...] commute a few days a month, [...] hybrid [...] Or will a mtb with road tires be a pretty good set up. [...] light mtbiking by switching out the tires.
Hi,
Road-setup MTBs being excellent for commuting, if you have the choice, a hybrid here is a good option because:

You will use it for light commuting.
These bikes can be fitted with wider tyres for light mtbiking, unpaved trails, etc.
You can clinch standard road tyres for really fast flatland riding.

If you get to enjoy the rides, you'll end up using it more than a few days a month.
All the best to you and everybody else.

Another example of how to set up a commuter.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=545751#post545751
The only items not shown are the clip on Topeak DeFenders

Well I cheat on this score. I ride a Specialized Rockhopper at work as a Bike Cop and have a duplicate Rockhopper for myself. My work bike is a 19 inch and my personal is a 21 inch. That being the case I often ride my personal MTB to work and just stay on it for the shift. I only have a 4 mile commute however and am not in a rush so the speed of a roadie is not an issue. Works for me stock with knobby tires and all.

Just a question... I've noticed a lot of people here saying speed isn't an issue... For me I can't stand going slower than like 14 mph. A leisurely cruise at 10 mph, to me, is no fun. Does anyone else feel that way? I mean, I don't even find it relaxing, enjoyable, nothing. I enjoy going as fast as I'm able to go at the time, maybe that's why MTB's aren't really a favorite choice of mine.

Anyone else?

(That's not to say I don't have times when I can't go faster than 10, just that I don't enjoy going that slow ever).

[QUOTE=vincenzosi]Just a question... I've noticed a lot of people here saying speed isn't an issue... For me I can't stand going slower than like 14 mph. A leisurely cruise at 10 mph, to me, is no fun. Does anyone else feel that way? I mean, I don't even find it relaxing, enjoyable, nothing. I enjoy going as fast as I'm able to go at the time, maybe that's why MTB's aren't really a favorite choice of mine.

I totally agree, I don't like to go slow when I can go fast. I commute for the workout and tend to forget about the scenery. I know, some of you might say "why not ride an mtb if you only care about the workout?" Sometimes on the road bike, (like if I am sick or early for an appointment) I like to cruise along at about 16-17 miles per hour but I inevitably have to force myself to slow down. Plus, I am lazy; I time my commute such that I can stay in bed the longest but have to ride the fastest.

Go with whichever feels more comfortable for you. If both feel the same, see which one is better equipped, or better price, or consider if you ever want to be able to take the bike offroad. The hybrid can probably handle tires wide enough for packed gravel multi use trails.

The MTB is probably more rugged and you can swap off-road knobbies for road tires as suggested above. I did this to my MTB (Raleigh M60 hardtail) and recently replaced the cheap (and heavy!) front shock fork with a rigid fork (got a good deal on a suspension-corrected rigid fork from the LBS and the black fork sort of goes with the silver bike frame). I don't need the suspension shock on pavement. One issue with MTBs is the short chainstays may not give you enough space to mount a rack and panniers without heel strikes. An extra long rack may solve the problem. The hybrid will have 700c wheels and may be geared better for road use. Most hybrids seem to come with suspension forks, too these days. See if the LBS can do something about that. The chainstay may be longer, too.

In either case, check that there are fittings for mounting fenders, racks etc.

Just a question... I've noticed a lot of people here saying speed isn't an issue... For me I can't stand going slower than like 14 mph. A leisurely cruise at 10 mph, to me, is no fun. Does anyone else feel that way? I mean, I don't even find it relaxing, enjoyable, nothing. I enjoy going as fast as I'm able to go at the time, maybe that's why MTB's aren't really a favorite choice of mine.

Anyone else?

(That's not to say I don't have times when I can't go faster than 10, just that I don't enjoy going that slow ever).

I feel the same way. The only 10 mph rides I like are when I take my hands off the handle bars, sit upright, and cruise, that's the only comfortable way to go.

My 80 rpm is 21 mph flatland ATB with knobbies. 15 is a cruise.
Maybe you ride junk.
C-mon..20 lbs bikes. Forget the shocks.

[...] I can't stand going slower than like 14 mph. [...] maybe that's why MTB's aren't really a favorite choice of mine.

Let's review the mtb concept here. Many people ride 'oil rigs' rather than mountain bikes, and whoever sees them get the picture of mtbs as slow, ton-heavy pieces of rusty junk, with wide and high handlebars, low saddles, knobbly poorly inflated tyres and skwealing like a bag of mice because oil is for salads, not for the bike's drivetrain. Well, that's not the whole picture. Not being the Lance Armstrong of the commuting tour myself, experience shows that no amateur pack of road cyclists can leave behind (not that I'd easily pass them either) my fine tuned mtb fitted with drops, 1.2" slicks and geared in 50-12. At 15 mph there's hardly any sweat. In the daily commute one averages 18-20 mph depending on wind and temperature, on open road, with peaks of 30 mph. Hey, not bragging here: I emphasize that I'm not the fastest on the road--it's more to do with how the machine performs.

All the best to everybody.

I ride an old Bianchi 18 spd MTB with smooth road tires. Works well, but could be better. I'm usually in the highest gear and am keeping an eye out for an old road bike for cheap.