Originally Posted by
no1mad
Ok, here's the deal. I live about 30 miles from work. I'm getting a Kona Smoke hybrid for a car-bike-bus thing. I'm afraid as the price of gas goes up, so will the number of people doing the same. The buses only have room for two bikes on their racks. So I am wondering if a 'bent could fill the bill of forgoing the car/bus. I hear everyone extolling the comfort, but what about speed vs say, a cyclocross or touring bike? Also, what about year round, all-weather?
30 miles is a LONG way to commute, if I had to ride the whole distance and considering that my average speed is only somewhere around 16 MPH.... what's yours?
If you had a gas engine on the bicycle that could work, but bicycle engines aren't legal everywhere. Some bus lines don't allow recumbents on bike racks (if that's a concern) and won't carry bikes with engines either.
Also, for the price of what a good bicycle+engine setup would cost, you could get a cheaper Chinese or used moped that was built a lot more robust, but even with the moped you're still looking at only 30-35 mph
tops.
I like bicycle riding but for that distance I would be looking at a 150cc scooter or maybe a 250cc motorcycle, quite honestly.
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