OldShacker

After looking over some of the postings, I did find only one or two that rather not have a shock fork.
I travel only 12-miles;24-round trip. Most of it is bike path (now under water) for a great deal of the ride, The roads do have big holes on the edge of the road. My road bike now is a Cannondale R300. I first had the backpack that felt top heavy at times when I have to maneuver through some switchbacks. I tried the rack in the back and found that it worked very well but sometimes when I have to walk through some fine mud on the path the bike gets tippy. I was thinking of a cross bike or a comfort bike for a poor weather bike.
It looks like I need to get panniers. I like to go fast, but at my age of 50 I still like to move. All your posted photos really help me out.

vrkelley

Unlike racing, commuting is more about what actually works for you. My setup is a racing bike/fork, pedals/rims. But I use fenders, mtn bike gear and at times a BMX stuff. If you're unsure, perhaps you can borrow or rent a bike on a day that's a little less messy just to get a feel for the road and speeds.

It seems that road bikes are moving more toward suspension anyway. Go with what works for you!

OldShacker

Thanks, it is so true. The fenders are a must around her. I do like my road bike when the wind is in your face going up hill. I have a river side path on my commute that at times it is only the wind that makes it hard to ride.

tacomee

I'd skip any suspention-- it's just one more thing to go wrong and it makes fenders harder to fit.

I personally don't mind riding slow bikes... but many roadie folks get kind of freaked switching to a slower, more commuter friendly bike. But id you're ok with it, there are lots of cheaper options for a bad weather or just-riding-as-transportation bike.

phantomcow2

If your not going offroad, and its just bumpy roads i wouldnt bother.

OldShacker

Thanks, I did not think about the component element for some reason (cost thing). My road bike is looking better with each posting. I appreciate you taking the time.

OldShacker

How about wider tires? The bike I am using now to commute uses 700X23 @ 120psi if I go with a wider tire the fenders will have to go. As it is now most shops here said that the bike can't have fenders but I made them fit without any real modifications. The fork/break clearance is very close. Not sure how a fat tire will fit. I do know that very small changes make a big difference.

d2create

I've got a front suspension on my new commuter. Seems to be working out fine for me. It's nice having some extra cushion up there and if i know i won't need it i can just reach down while riding and flip the lock out, or adjust the travel somewhere inbetween.
I can also fit a front fender. The pic below shows just the rear half of the front fender, but the front half snaps right on if i need it.

vrkelley

Maybe you can swap out the fork to get better suspension and possible support the wider wheel. Wider wheels will definately slow ride (OK you'll have to pedal alot harder to spin the same commute times.

EDITED:....adding
RE Panniers. If you're experiencing tipping with the rack or backpack, and under windy conditions, I'm not sure pa$$niers are the way to go. It might be better to reduce the loade instead.

OldShacker

Now the Gary Fisher bike looks like a commuter bike. This is what I kind of had in mind. The price is out of my range. Have you had any maintenance issues?

roadfix

At 50, I prefer a sprung saddle on my commuter/light tourer for comfort.

MichaelW

There is a middle ground between a flighty race bike and a suspension MTB. For cyclists who like performance, that middle ground is probably close to a light touring bike. These are not expedition tourers, just road bikes that have more clearance, more stability and perhaps lower gearing. Mine takes up to 32mm tyres+fenders (with caliper brakes), and is good for rough roads, good trails, muddy lanes and curb hopping. It is not so good in snow but we dont get much of that.
The ideal commuter bike is whatever works best for your situation.

Merriwether

Hey Shacker,

My view on commuting is that you should aim to go as fast as you can while still carrying what you need to carry. So, if you can get by with your roadbike, I would just stick with that.

Do you use a seat post rack now? And you think that the load on top of that rack makes your center of gravity too high? If that's what you're getting at, I still would bet that it's worth the extra care you have to take to walk across some slippery mud to have the road bike's advantages.

If there is a lot of slop, mud, or snow on your commute, and you're walking way too much for your comfort, an alternative to another bike is to find a route with better maintained roads. Around here, too, the trails are more or less ignored come snow, mud, tree limbs, what have you, so I use the roads exclusively in bad weather conditions.

That said, if you've simply decided that you want a bike with a permanent rack, mounted fenders, and the like for commuting-- and I would completely understand this preference, having it myself-- I'd echo the advice of some others above. Find one of those old steel road bikes from the seventies or eighties, what used to be called "sport touring" bikes. You can get them cheap. They'll take a rack on the rear, and sometimes in front. They've got plenty of room for fenders. But they also retain a lot of the advantages of the road bike.

On the other hand, if you ride enough that you've decided you just want a better bike that can take some abuse, I'd look at a new touring bike. Fuji, Navaro, Cannondale, and Trek all make touring bikes around $1000, and they're definitely a step up from the older stuff. Cross bikes are reasonable possibilities, too, but my guess is that they are overkill for conditions on the pavement.

As far as suspension goes, it's absolutely not necessary for commuting on the pavement. And it makes the bike heavier than it has to be, it eats up energy from bouncing, and it makes full fenders impossible or a huge pain to mount.

Good luck.

d2create

So far so good. But I've hardly had it a month yet...
Loaded up like it is, it's 42 lbs. It's a tank but rides smooth. My speed is a good 5mph slower using the same effort on more of a road bike. But with these roads I'll take the trade off. And I can go off road when i need to.

Rowan

There is no definition of a commuter bike. People will use whatever is available to them at the time. As their experience increases -- and it may take years -- their equipment levels and desires will change. Like many things with cycling, the original specification will change over time.

One thing I have found is that cycling -- and especially cycling commuting -- is a dynamic thing, and what suits you one day may not suit you in a year's time. And then, there are people who have lived with one set-up for years and wouldn't consider changing a thing.

My best advice is:Just do it and learn from *your* mistakes, not others'.

OhiOH

Hey OldShaker, welcome to the forum.
I suspect I ride about the same paths as you (Creekside down US35 to Eastwood Lake down the Mad River Trail). I use two bikes for commuting, an old Trek 1200 road bike with 700x28 Armadillos for summer/good weather and a Trek 930 mtb (no suspension) with fenders for night/foul weather. I don’t use panniers because I drive to work Monday with all my cloths for the week, leave my vehicle at work and drive it home Friday night. My mtb does have a seat post rack/bag on the back and I know what you mean about tipsy, but I just consider it part of the joy of commuting.

Guess my suggestion would be to pick up an old mtb somewhere and go with the two bike method. In the summer 90% of the time you can fly down those paths on a road bike, but this time of year fenders and snow tires are pretty much the norm. As for suspension, if the mtb you find has it, ok, but I wouldn’t make it a priority. For the paths around here it is just extra weight you don’t need in my opinion.

Go see John at Village Cyclery in Yellow Springs. He is one of the few shops around still selling used bikes.

p.s. Nice to hear of another old f*rt in the area commuting.

Daily Commute

My suggestion is a cross bike. They can take panniers and you can build up a good head of steam. If you get a mountain bike, make sure it can take panniers. Some can't. Panniers will be much better on your back than any messenger bag or back pack. They also keep the senter of gravity low. They make quick stops easier because they put their weight on the back end. And my panniers do just fine in windy conditions (although I did once balk at 50 mph gusts).

You can get the Surly Cross Check for under $1K. It can take tires with fenders from 23 to 44. You might also want to look at Surly's Long Haul Trucker. (Warning, I have a Surly, and am therefore part of the bike's cult following, so understand my bias.)

Vrkelley and Merriwether are right: Commuting is about what comfortably, reliably, quickly, and economically gets you and your stuff to and from work. Keep those factors in mind and you won't go wrong.

And to answer your question, unless you have pain problems that make it necessary, I don't think a suspension is a good idea on a commuter. It's just one more thing that can go wrong and it steals energy that otherwise would go to making the bike move forward.

DogBoy

suspension is not needed if you are riding on roads, but if you aren't doing much climbing, then the suspension won't rob that much energy. This is especially true if you get a lockout. I don't like suspension for road riding, but if you want a reasonably good inexpensive bike, almost all of them now have suspension. Either deal with it by getting a lockout, adjusting the tension to the max, or asking the shop to switch out the fork to a non-suspension fork.

Juha

I agree, use whatever works for you. Personally, I took the time and effort to find non-suspended bike for commuting. My reasons were:

• Cost. A good suspended fork costs real money. The cheap ones will not do a good job and/or will not be very durable (see following).
• Service. It's a commuter, so I need it daily. I have to be able to service it myself quickly. As such, I want no extra or unnecessary moving parts that can break down.
• Needs. I commute on paved roads. I did test ride one or two suspended bikes, and while the ride was smooth and nice, suspension turned out not to be the must-have some sellers made it sound like.
• Extras. I wanted good fenders and a front rack. Not impossible with front suspension by any means, but certainly would have required a bit of thinking and fitting. I even had one place tell me it could not be done. I don't go there much anymore...

As a commuter bike it usually has one or two panniers, lights, a heavy U-lock etc. attached, so weight was not a big concern for me. But I was on a limited budget, so all these things considered I chose a rigid frame. Who knows, maybe my next bike will have suspension.

--J

d2create

Ya, i have to agree here. I'm not saying to get a suspension, but having one myself I can't actually feel a difference switching from suspension to full lock out as far as energy loss is considered. But my commute is mostly flat so....

Daily Commute

Instead of a suspension, think about a cyclocross bike with 35+ slicks. You will be amazed at the difference in ride between that and your current 23's (you'll notice a difference even with 28's or 32's). I generally ride with 28 slicks on my Cross Check. I rode my old hard-tail MTB with 1.25 road tires one day. The difference was amazing. Some potholes I would not dare roll over with my 28's. I could go over them at speed on the 1.25's.

As always, there's a price to be paid in terms of speed, but it might be worth it.

bsyptak

I have a nice road bike but I want to keep it that way, i.e. generally riding in nice weather. Wet weather wears stuff out much faster, so I bought a disposable/replaceable Giant Cypress SX. No suspension, fender ready, big tire ready, though I run 700x28s and maintain 15+ mph with fenders, rack and panniers. For my simple 17 mile RT commute along a bike path, I use probably 3-4 gears, so 27 is overkill for me. But there are no stock bikes of this caliber with 1 front ring (at least in stock for me to ride b4 buying). Building one up with new parts would have easily cost twice as much as what I paid, and I didn't have time to look around for a frame.

I do think that a mtb with anything larger than 1.5s is too slow. But that's my opinion, and many ride with full knobbies every day.

I'm thinking about building up a cyclocross style bike for some variety, and for that I will use a backpack instead of panniers. We'll see if that one comes to fruition.

Nightshade

To understand what makes up the "ideal" commuter spend some time
studying Dutch bikes. The Dutch live on their bikes and know what makes
up a bomb proof commuter. I copied many of the features the Dutch
use on my commuter / utility bike and find that these changes dialed
the bike right in for comfort and use. The adjustable bar stem REALLY
made a difference. (Kalloy makes a nice adjustable stem).

https://www.cycle-heaven.co.uk/gazelle.html

Michel Gagnon

It depends a lot on the roads you use and their conditions.
If you go with a front suspension, make sure you get one of the bicycles that has a second fake "fork crown" that is attached to the bottom part of the fork. That way, you will be able to fit full fenders and mudflaps.

Personnally, I would go for suspensionless -- but I do ride in a vehicular fashion and not through forests and curbs. Why?

- easier to fit full fenders and mudflaps;
- less weight (useful when you bring the bike indoors);
- one thing less to maintain;
- many suspensions don't work fine in sub-freezing weather, especially if wet.

But then, I like the touring bike as a commuter.

cyccommute 

Do my eyes deceive me or did you violate that blessed Brooks?