Saving Hawaii

With regard to saddle choice, I've never tried that spider-flex thing. I'm glad it's comfortable for you on a mountain bike or hybrid. It may not be as comfortable for you riding in a slightly more aggressive position on a road bike. Even with more traditional saddle designs you generally wouldn't use the same saddle for your Specialized Mclaren Schmenge Venge and your Surly Long Haul Trucker. The position is different. If you want to avoid the spandex, you might look into Brooks or Selle Italia leather saddles. These have a break-in period like any other leather product but are super comfortable in street clothes once you're past that. No need for chamois and cream.

I like steel bikes for commuting. Relatively repairable, the frames frequently have useful braze-ons, and the tire clearances are often generous for running fatter tires and fenders. My main complaint about steel is that when I lay down power the bike feels like a noodle under me but that's not so relevant for commuting. I don't do so much out of saddle sprinting on my way to work. It's not that steel is the be-all material. Just that it kind of dominates the all-around road bike market today.

gregf83 

Perhaps you couldn't race one but it doesn't seem to have hurt Sep Vanmarcke: Pro bike: Sep Vanmarcke's Bianchi Infinito CV | Cyclingnews.com

BobbyG

I'm 53 190lbs. 9 mile commute each way. I had a Mtn Bike based commuter for years, then aquired a road bike a few years ago. After I stopped trying to race to and from work and just rode as I did my Mountain bike I found no difference in avg speed or times. (I do have much higher gearing on my Mountain bike-commuter than what came with it.) This year I added a semi touring bike which splits the difference betweet the road and mountain bikes as far as weight. Still no meaningful difference. If I were racing, maybe the road bike would have the advantage, but the Mtn Bike and the tourer are far more comfortable.

gsa103

You can easily drop over a pound of weight with new wheels & tires. And the Infinito is a standard bike for the spring classics. Not much different than a top-end Roubaix/Defy, which I agree is not a Tarmac.

kickstart

Its the engine, not the bike......
My path racer is half the weight of my commuter and it sure feels faster, but in reality the difference is nominal.

Darth Lefty 

+2 mph by switching to slicks, +4 mph switching to a racing bike was my experience.

Something not mentioned so much in threads like these is that more expensive components are just nicer. They shift easier, run truer, squeeze easier, and last longer.

jade408

My new bike is a frame with a more roadie (sports touring) geometry and I have upright bars and positioning. I am by no means a speed demon but have found it far faster than the old bike. And easier. But my requirements were fenders, racks and baskets.

I am also an Athena and find my bike feels both sturdy and responsive. It is also quite comfy.

I uncovered the bike for me sounded a lot more like touring and randonneuring bikes! Which sound like a perfect blend of practical and sporty. I spec-ed my bike with those ideas in mind. Each type aims to be comfy on long distances. Or you can drink the Rivendell koolaid which also blends practical with performance.

A pure road bike might be the wrong fit for your usage. But there are other types of in-betweenies that offer good performance.

rideBjj

I'm almost 47 and I do a 36 mile round trip commute to work on a repurposed carbon fiber race bike. It has no mounts, but that didn't stop me from getting a rear rack and double panniers on the back. I carry a huge laptop, extra clothes, etc etc. The bike still has race gearing and everything - 52/39 x 11-25.

I already do 120+ miles a week on a different race bike and have been for quite a while. Therefore, keeping the same position on the commuter seemed logical. It's probably at least a little faster than doing it on an upright commuter style bike. I get into the aero position and go to town sometimes.

So, you could go either way I suppose. good luck

ItsJustMe

It was very uncomfortable for me the first week or so on the road bike; I have a little bit of a belly roll and I really felt it even in the hoods (I probably don't get in the drops more than 5 minutes a week if that). It feels pretty normal now though.

baron von trail 

I never lug my electronic gadgets. I learned long ago that I don't do any work on them when I get home anyway. Of course, I have several computers here should I get the urge.

Buffalo Buff

I went from a Trek 4300 for my commuter to a Ridley Fenix and I want to kick myself for scoffing at road bikes for so long. I thought because I was a big, heavy guy, that I needed a beefy MTb frame to support me. Wrong. Skinny tires work just fine at 220lbs, in fact I just toured on 25mm's with no issues.

The road bike has made biking SO MUCH MORE FUN! I look forward to it so much more. It never feels like a chore anymore. On my MTB some days I just didn't feel like riding. With my Ridley, just looking at it puts a smile on my face, and makes me think about my next ride.

If any part of you wants a road bike, do it. I do not think you'll regret it. They take the pleasure of biking to an entirely new level. Plus, the look on a drivers face when he's being passed by a cyclist on a 35mph road is priceless

CliffordK

If you don't mind tinkering a bit, there are some good deals on Craigslist. And, let someone else take the big depreciation hits.

One option would be to find a $100 to $200 "road-ish" bike on Craigslist. Try it out for a few weeks.

If you like the drop bars, narrow tires, and etc. Then go ahead and bite the bullet and find a $1000+ bike (new or used). It should be 100% better than your cheap test bike.

If you do some maintenance on your interim bike, you may even be able to resell it at a profit.

mstateglfr 

So because the poster won't wear a spandex bib while commuting, you question if he is ready for a road bike?

1- how is one ready or not ready for a road bike? Your post makes it seem as if there is a hierarchy of bike designs one must ride thru before achieving bike bliss via a road bike.

2- it's a commute to work. From what I see, someone wearing a spandex bib getup for their commute is in the vast minority.

3- your point is based on a flaw- you don't need spandex to benefit from a road bike. I wear mtb shorts and quick dry shirts and am WAY faster in my road bikes compared to any 26" mtb geared bike I've ridden. Sure, less wind drag could help me go faster or be more efficient, but I am certainly faster and more efficient on a road bike.

ItsJustMe

I wear a loose poly alertshirt and baggy shorts, and I very much enjoy riding my road bike. I actually don't even own any tight cycling wear anymore, I wore out the bunch I bought years ago and never felt the need to replace it.

gregf83 

You're faster mostly because of different tires and a more aero position. You'd probably be as fast on the MTB with tight clothes, appropriate tires and by lowering your handlebars. So from a financial point of view it's not clear whether it's worth it for the OP to get a road bike.

richietables 

I have a road bike but don't use it for my commuter and my commute is nowhere near as long as the OP's. On my commuter I have Serfas Drifter 700x32 tires which has turned out to be a great compromise. Gorgeous old Raleigh that I have converted to a single speed. Losing the suspension fork will get you some mph in my opinion...

kickstart

Most of my years and miles were on road bikes, my fondness for utility and CV bikes is a fairly new thing for me, and I agree with you, the differences are not as great as some are making it out to be.

tjspiel

It's hard to make generic comparisons because there are a wide variety of mountain bikes just as there a wide variety of road bikes. If you have more of a traditional MTB, lowering the bars might actually make you slower. The reason is that a mountain bike often (but not always) has a slacker seat tube angle than a traditional road bike, - especially a road bike designed for high performance.

So what happens when you lower the bars too far on a traditional MTB is that you're reducing your ability to generate power, - your legs are now coming up closer to your chest. A road bike puts your upper body in the same position while not squishing your lower and upper body together so much. Tri-bikes have even steeper seat tube angles.

The other reason that lowering the bars isn't as effective is that MTB bars are much wider meaning that you will still have a larger frontal surface area than you would with road bike bars.

Then there's the higher gearing and lower bottom bracket for better cornering that you'll typically find on a road bike, along with lighter weight for easier climbing.

I agree that there is nothing magical about road bikes and seeing all the enthusiastic responses about them makes me nervous that the OP might be set up for disappointment. Especially at first. A road bike with drops is going to feel weird and uncomfortable. If you stick with it, you'll be rewarded with faster speeds. You may come to really enjoy them like I do. For a long ride or for any kind of race on the road, there's no question I'd choose a road bike over a mountain bike. However, unless you're going all out or on a longish commute with some wide open areas, you probably aren't going to see huge reductions in commute time.

There might be a few minutes difference on my 6 mile commute using a road bike vs a MTB with slicks. The more I decide to take it easy, the less difference there would be. If my commute were a lot hillier with fewer intersections, then I'd start to see more of a difference.

gregf83 

I thought we were talking about commuting. I don't think cornering performance is relevant. I grant you it's not going to be as good as a road bike but riding with baggy clothes adds a lot of resistance to a road bike.

kickstart

My thoughts exactly.
Road bikes favor speed in the same way a MTB favors rough terrain, or a utility bike favors carrying capacity. They make the task of their intended use more efficient in proportion to the amount of effort put into it, not effortless.
Inversely, the more focused a bike is on one particular task, the less efficient it will be at others. Anybody who claims there's a type of bike that does everything better is trying to sell something.

The other issue is "road bike" covers a lot of territory, it could be anything ranging from a streetable track bike, to fully loaded touring bike that has more in common with a utility bike than a track bike.

mstateglfr 

What now?
i am faster because the gearing allows me to be. A 52-12 combo allows me to go faster than a 42-13 combo, all things equal.
I can run 32s on my touring bike and slick 1 1/4s on a 26 rigid mtb and go faster on the touring bike. Hint- 32 and 1 1/4 are equal. Why is that you ask?- gearing. And hubs, actually. I don't ride in the drops much on the touring bike either- riding position is pretty similar.
Heck, my errand bike which has 700 wheels and a road triple crank is able to go faster than the mtb and that thing is an old school early offering of what's now a hybrid. I mention this because it has butterfly bars. Nothing aero about my riding position. Oh, and it rolls on 38s...so wider than the mtb slicks.

gregf83 

You could just change the cassette if you need a higher gear.

San Pedro

The biggest difference for me, and one of the top reasons I like my road bike is that I cut through head winds much better. I rode my hybrid to the train station on a windy day last week and there is a huge difference.

The other thing is I just have more fun on the road bike, it's like commuting in a sports car... even if you're generally following the speed limit.

mgw4jc

I also had never heard of the SpiderFlex. Interesting. Out of curiosity I googled "spiderflex seat on road bike" and found this review from some site called bikeforums.net: https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...pressions.html

The OP may find it helpful.

InTheRain

I have a carbon fiber road bike - Cannondale Synapse SL2 - that I like to commute with when I have great weather and light loads. It's a blast. I have a steel touring bike with a rack, panniers, fenders, heavy duty wheels, hub dynamo, and electric motor. I use it for wet weather commutes and heavy loads. It's a blast. My commute is 7 miles each way. The road bike is about 3 minutes faster than the touring bike without the electric motor. The touring bike with the electric motor is about 2 minutes faster than the road bike. Is it "worth it?" It depends on how much value you put on time. If I had to go with one bike for commuting and $'s were an issue... I'd go with a touring bike. It's slower, but it's a lot more versatile.

If you are "racing" with commuters you're putting your "competitive drive" to work in the wrong arena. Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't buy a bicycle to "beat" other commuters just to prove that I'm in better shape. If you're going to spend money on a road bike, you should have a lot more uses for it than just commuting... that's not it's specialty.