Originally Posted by mikdes
anonymouse99, would you recommend the SU200 as a low-maintenance bike for a 10-mile one-way commute? Is it fast enough to make that ride? Also, I'm in Oregon where it rains 8 months a year. The main reasons I'm looking at it are price and the disc brakes. I'll have about $100 to spare after buying the bike to add things like bar-ends, fenders, rack, etc.
My main concerns with it are speed, maintenance, and the aluminum frame (is it a harsh ride or do the fatter tires make it somewhat smooth?)
You'll go just as fast on the SU200 as you would any other hybrid of comparable price, if not faster, since the smaller wheels allow for faster acceleration in stop and go traffick. Throughout the summer I used the bike for 20-30 mile bike rides on paved asphalt through the cornfields during the weekends and 6 mile round trip commutes each day. I competed in two sprint distance tri's with it, too, and on the first which recorded accurate split times, I averaged 18.2 mph over the course of 12 miles, which had lots of rolling hills.
I can't bike as much now as I used to, but get more joy out of riding the SU what little I am able to by riding it with fat-arse knobbies, 26x2.2" IRC Mythos, front and rear specific. Hummmmm-druuumm through the road. I don't avoid pot-holes anymore with them on... I go straight for them and hop curbs and ride through construction debris just for ****s and giggles.