Road bike for commuting
 

I have been cycling leisurely for the past 10 years. I have 2 Treks that I love. An almost 10 year old hybrid and 1.2 road bike. The road bike is my first road bike. I love him and used to ride 100+ miles a week with him along beautiful farm roads. However, last year I moved to a city and I don't ride as often because I don't like being clipped in while in traffic and dealing with lights, pedestrians and tons of people. I have been riding my hybrid all the time because I feel better in traffic with it and still ride 30+ miles on it. I am thinking of changing the pedals to platform pedals on my road bike so I can use the road bike for commuting. Right now I am trying to decide if I should just trade in my older hybrid and get a new one. But I really don't want to drop a lot of money on another bike when I have perfectly good road bike. I have done some research on some platform pedals and am thinking about either the MKS Lambda Pedals or the Shimano PD-MX80 Saint Pedals. Anyone have any thoughts on pedals? Also, I was wondering about tires. Do tires with a bit more tread makes sense? Or they even necessary for mostly city driving and some path riding?

Sure, use whatever pedals you feel most comfortable on. Treaded tires won't help on pavement. HTH.

The mks lambda pedals are fine pedals for commuting. You can use pretty much any bike you are comfortable riding for commuting. I like 700 x 28c-32c tires for commuting.

I know treaded tires aren't needed for pavement but I will be riding on some paths that are not paved. As far as pedals I would like pedals that are comfortable for both commuting and for a longer ride if and when I am able to get out in the open roads. I don't want to change pedals for each different kind of ride (commute vs road ride). :)

Slick tires (or at least, those with minimal tread) can work really well off-road -- it's really just mud and snow that demand knobs to sink in a little more for traction.

Nor would I! ;) Perhaps you could get some of those dual-sided pedals (like PD-M324) so that you could have both an SPD and a platform side available. If nothing else, there's nothing that says you need SPD pedals to do road rides.

things that i like about riding a road bike in the city is mostly the versatility. i chose a more relaxed geometry and i thought it was pretty perfect for city commuting. i also really like brake levers on the flat part of the drops so i can sit up tall and look around at traffic but have my hands on brakes should i need it. that said, most people don't need or care for it, i see plenty of road bikes out here without them.

as for tires i see a lot of us recommend gatorskins as they are pretty bombproof for the roads here. some go tubeless. some pick a softer tire for an more softer ride and just know they will more likely deal with flats but the comfort is worth it.

i don't know much about pedals but it seems you have lots of recs here ^^

best of luck choosing! it should add some fun to your ride :)

A pinned platform pedal with the strapless mini toe clips works well for me. Ditto what tscott said about tires.

I use pedals with platform on one side and clipless on the other because of the very same reasons. When I get into heavy city traffic I unclip and use the platforms. I just replaced my Shimano A530 pedals with a pair of Wellgo WAM-D10's which have a studded platform. I'd highly recommend them.

http://www.pricepoint.com/_productim...0_weld15_0.jpg

On mine I just use some not-heavy MTB pedals with strapless toe clips.

It feels counter-productive to put slow rolling tires on a road bike. I use 25-28 tires, inexpensive ones but I avoid the heavy belted or stiff flat-protecting ones and look for tires that at least compromise for a faster ride. Don't care about tread.

While a road bike isn't really my first choice for commuting, when I do use it I really like having the much criticized "turkey leg" levers so I can use the brakes from more positions. With properly adjusted and maintained brakes they work just as well as the primary levers.

i use powerstraps or whatever they are on mks flats. the straps are not tight on my feet at all, just enough to keep em in the pedal. i ride roads, in town, commute, ride trails, ride anything with this setup. i mainly got them to keep my feet on the pedals, not to feel "clipped in". i found when riding off road or when changing gears while applying power, a foot could slip off the flat pedal. the powerstrap has pretty much prevented slipping, plus i can get out nearly as fast as no strap at all. wins for all

A road bike would work just fine. A lot of us commute on one. Personally I am thr most comfortable on one. I tend to ride in the hoods or just aft of them. I have never had trouble getting to my brakes no matter wherr my hands are. Not entirely sure why so many feel the need to always be hovering over their levers, but who am zi to criticize. By all means switch to platform pedals. Whatever gets you on your favorite bike

I clip in on both my road and utility bikes, on both rural roads and in the city. Just feels better to me, and I'm totally used to it, even in traffic and with lights, etc.

However both of my bikes have dual-purpose SPD pedals, and I use SPD shoes that look like normal walking/hiking shoes. That way I can use the platform side if I want to, or the SPD side, whichever I decide to use based on shoe choice. I use Shimano PD-A530's my road bike, and PD-M324 pedals on my utility cargo hauler bike.

It's nice to have options.

Aggressive tread will slow you down less than you might think. Inflate to the maximum and you'll be just fine.

I was cycling with a couple of buddies from the summit of the Snowy Range pass near Centennial, WY a number of years ago. I was on a roadie with slicks, as was one of two other buddies. The last guy was on a Giant mtb with fairly aggressively treaded tires. Once we were all up to speed - wreck-and-you-die-speed - the mtb had no trouble coasting with us. His gearing kept him behind us on the flats, but after waiting for him on the descents he rolled right there beside us.

A strong mtb'er will have no trouble outpacing a weekend warrior on a roadie, on the pavement. There are some particularly strong mtb'ers who give me a good run on my way home when I take the hardpack mup.

If you are sold on the roadie option, there are modifications you could do to your mtb that will get you a close approximation to the road bike experience. You would then effectively have a monster cross bike.

But it will reduce your traction on pavement, especially at max pressure.


It depends on the trail surface. If you're talking about crushed limestone or smooth hard packed dirt, you're OK with a minimal tread -- something like the Panaracer Pasela would probably be a good tire to try. Probably the best place to start is to ride what you have on the paths and see how it feels. Get in an open area with no one else around and try some sharp turns to see how much the tires slide.

My biggest concern choosing a tire for city riding would be to get something with sufficient puncture protection. You can learn something about that with your current tires too if you're willing to change a few flats. How much puncture protection you need depends on your local conditions. Tires with too much puncture protection can be no fun to ride with.

If ones commute involves a lot of stop and go, always having the brake levers and shifter at hand in the most upright position saves time and effort while maintaining a better view of ones surroundings when braking and shifting.

I'm old school, so I still commute using clips & straps and a bike from the Nixon era. I've been happy with Panaracer TG Paselas on my commuter. Nice supple tire with good flat protection and not too knobby. If you aren't comfortable with clips I think the dual-sided platform/SPD pedals are a good option.

In what way? Continuous tractive force in engineering is a function of power, velocity, force and coefficient of friction between the surface and wheel.

I am curious about how Andy_k will answer, but FWIW I think the main issue with traction is with sharp cornering, when big knobs or pronounced tread can lose contact with the road. And possibly, different coefficients of friction since the tires are designed for different purposes.

Well, I'm not an expert in this area and I have no intention of getting into a debate about the science, but it is my understanding that tires with a smoother tread have better grip (particularly while cornering) because of their increased contact patch. I understand that in the ideal circumstances represented in basic classroom physics the frictional force is independent of the surface area, but in the real world of bike tires and pavement this isn't entirely true because there are some properties of bike tires and real world pavement that breach the assumptions made by the classroom model.

Plus, the ride would suck. Yay, heavy tires with buzzy knobs and much of the pneumatic cushioning has been lost. Sign me up.

I've done plenty of stop and go. I just don't see it. To me it equates to having a manual car is better than one with an automatic transmission just because you have to stop and go and can't do two things at once. And riding on the hoods is still pretty upright and offers your shifting and braking right there. To succumb to suicide levers though....no thank you.

Anyway, ride on.

*ahem* Advice on what equipment to use that is quantified by "never" or "always" should be considered suspect as everyone's abilities and environments are different.

:D

I've done plenty of stop and go with drop bars. Upright-ness on hoods or tops is a very small difference.

Modern "suicide levers" aren't suicide levers at all, they're inline levers that work pretty well. They are not my preference, but I can't see much of an argument against them other than personal taste. Being comfortable without them is largely a matter of experience or individual comfort. I'm perfectly happy to cruise along on the tops without being right on top of the brake levers, but not everyone is. I'm really not clear on what the case is against secondary brake levers for those who want them. No one is proposing that they go on your bike against your will or anything.

Most people probably just think they're unnecessary weight. I personally wouldn't really want them to eat up what precious little bar clamp space I have now, which is taken up by my light and computer, one on each side of the stem.

Yes, I more or less just don't want them in my way and don't feel like they add enough utility to be worthwhile for me. I want my bar tops as unencumbered as possible. But you know, vive le difference and all that.

Kinda twisted what I said, the convenience of "always" having something at hand if desired isn't the same as advising someone to "always or "never" have them. I offered an opinion why some people like them, nothing more. I could still do my commute without them, they just make things a little easier.

That's why I like the dreaded "suicide levers", don't even know they're there unless using them. I don't like the in line levers either for the reasons stated, find " suicide levers" nearly as effective as the regular levers, and they in no way interfere with the regular levers. They are so light, the weigh doesn't rate consideration.