Any thoughts on C'Dale Bad Boy for Clyde?
 

I am digging the Bad Boy on he C"Dale website. Anyone using one as an all around commuter/townie type bike? Is it really two bikes in one or does it underperform as a road/trail bike? Also, is the ultra really worth the extra cash or would a disc version be good enough?

I've got one and I love it. I posted a review on one of my blogs last year;

http://www.devlab.ca/blog/?p=4108

To update, I still have no buyers remorse, it's an awesome commuter. I'm actually about to start riding it to work again in the next couple of weeks.

If there's ONE suggestion I'd make, it's that the suspension could be left out and I'd never notice. So if you're going to pick one up and you're not entirely sure if you need the suspension, save yourself a couple of hundred bucks and get the badboy without it.

Some might argue that it's somewhere between a mountain bike and a road bike and therefore there's no real "place" for it, but if you're riding pretty intensively in the city over a pretty diverse landscape it makes perfect sense. I can do stuff on this bike that would decimate a road frame, and I can smoke most equivalent mountain bike riders on flat surfaces (eg; me on a mountain bike v. me on the badboy, the badboy wins).

HTH

I purchased one in 2002 and used it for about 5 years. Love the bike still. IMO, as a Clyde my only real option was to go for the rigid. I personally hate suspension of any type for city riding. More bouncing up and down as opposed to going forward. I also used it for touring but would recommend swapping out the flat bars for touring/butterfly bars if you plan on using it for that.

+1 no suspension. On the road you really don't need it, it adds weight and maintenance to your commuter which ideally should be your simplest and easiest to maintain bike. Maybe slap some fatter tires on it (700x32 or 35) which will have a more appreciable affect than the suspension for the majority of the time (and will also keep your wheels in better shape).

Keep an eye on the spoke tension on the wheels too they'll loosen up more with disks and while they may not rub on rim brakes they'll go out of true and be weaker for it if not maintained.