tch

Hello all. I'm moving in a few months and will have the opportunity to commute to work for the first time. I will have a 30 mile round trip, all of it on a beautiful paved greenway trail . . . . pretty stoked on that . The greenway is relatively level with only small undulations - no significant climbs on the valley floor.

My background is solely based in obsessive mtbing as I'm not a big fan of riding on the roads with cars. I'm a fairly big boy, 6'2/210 and currently ride a 2005 Giant Reign II as much as I possibly can.

I am going to need to get a dedicated paved road bike and have been researching here and other sites. I've decided I want drop bars, rear rack capability, fenders, and soild construction (frame-wheels-gearing). What I don't want is a slug or something heavy. It will need to be an all season build that will eventually include lights.

What I've looked at, but want more ideas . . . .
Trek Portland (the town I'm moving from)
Trek 520
Bianchi Volpe
Specialized Sirrus
Surry LHT or CC

I will test ride a ton of bikes, but I don't know what I'm missing or if I'm off base on the current ideas. I've never riden a single speed.

greenstork

What will be the intended uses of this new bike? Strictly commuting, or do you plan to take the bike out on weekend rides or extended tours?

tch

Greenstork -The bike will be a dedicated commuter as all of my free-time riding is dedicated to single-track joy. The smaller town I'm moving to is easily bike assessable and I will probably do some fair weather grocery shopping with it or short rides to visit family. I'm not big on riding in traffic.

unkchunk

Before I'd buy, I'd take into consideration where I was going to park the bike. If outside in the general public, I'd spend as little as possible. If inside in a secured spot, then I would spend a lot more.

tch

I'll have solid secure parking for the bike - theft at work is not a concern.

unkchunk

In that case I'd go for the Cross Check. Not just becaue I already got one. But if you wanted, you could put on some fatter tires and ride some single track paths you find on the way.

chipcom 

If that was my commute I'd use my Raleigh One-Way singlespeed/fixie, but out of the bikes you listed I'd choose the Crosscheck with a 50/36 double. I see no need for a triple for that commute unless you plan on doing other loaded riding in hilly terrain.

greenstork

Of all those bikes and based on your needs, I'd take the Portland. Then again, I absolutely love disc brakes, perfectly suited to wet Seattle winters where I live. Disc brakes lose their comparative advantage in drier climates.

My wife loves her Volpe and the Cross-Check is an excellent choice for you as well.

If you don't plan to tour or load the bike up with front panniers, then I would stay away from the two touring bikes you mentioned, the Trek 520 and the Surly LHT. These bikes are going to have more of a "dead" ride due to heavier tubing and more relaxed geometry & gearing, whereas the cyclocross and sport touring bikes are going to make for a more nimble commuter.

Brian Ratliff

All my bike are road bikes, with my long distance commuter (long distance commute is roughly 44 miles round trip) being a mongrel road bike of mixed heritige, and the "short distance" (depends on the terrain, right now the commute I ride this bike on is ~24 miles round trip) commuter is a fixed gear Raleigh Rush Hour (geared 48x17).

That said, I am conservative with my money too. If I were in your shoes, I'd get some slicks for the mountain bike and ride your commute route for a couple months before shelling out for a new bike. I consider any (one way) distance less than 20 miles over reasonably flat terrain to be doable on any bike in the stable. I'd get the slicks though, rather than suffer with knobbies.

If you are intent on a road bike right now, get something that has clearance for fenders. The Trek Portland seems like a good bike, though I've never ridden it, it seems well thought out. Anything from Surly has clearance for fenders too. My long distance commuter bike frame is a mid 90's Schwinn road racing bike I got for $70 off eBay. It doesn't have as much clearance at the back wheel (you know how much it rains here) as I would like, but it is not as bad as modern road racing frames.

If I had it to do over again, I'd probably pick the Surly Pacer frameset. I've even thought of switching my long dist. commuter to that frameset to get better clearance in the rear wheel area, but couldn't justify the cost of replacing the perfectly good frame I have on it now. The Pacer is what I would consider the perfect road commuting frame. I like the handling of road bikes, as opposed to touring bikes, and the Pacer has the brake bridges in the front and back sized to accomodate long reach road caliper brakes, as opposed to the short reach standard that everyone uses now. It also has braze-ons for attaching fenders and rack; another feature which is left off most road bikes now-a-days.

Old_Fart

Does the Portland have room and mounts for full fenders and a rack? Look for clearance and mounts for full fenders and racks. If you have plans for anything but good pavement, you may want to look for a bike with clearance for fatter tires. Fatter tires help protect the rims from damage from potholes and rough roads and make for a smoother ride. They may roll a tad slower, but you could put skinnies on for a fast weekend ride.

Unless you only plan on commuting on warm, dry days, full fenders are a necessity. They will keep more mud and sand off of you and your drive train components, greatly extending component life.

Given the choice between the X-check and LHT, I would take the X-check for your purposes. The LHT is a tad heavier and has a tad more sluggish geometry, which is nice for heavy touring but not so much if you don't need that extra capacity.

Disc brakes are very nice indeed, but I would put full fenders, easy rack mounting, and maybe tire clearance above them for your purposes, especially since you don't have much in the way of hills.

Have you test ridden any of them yet?

cerewa

Fat tires also usually have thicker rubber on the outside, which means it's less likely that riding on a bit of gravel, wire, or glass will put a hole in your tire. I found out firsthand that gravel is capable of ripping a chunk out of a lightweight tire's casing (puncturing the tube and ruining the tire) after going right through the rubber.

tch

Thanks for all the responses. I certainly wouldn't be opposed to disc brakes as that is what I am using now, but I'm not sure my dedicated ride will demand the performance. I'll still be living in Oregon, but the geographical change will produce a less wet environment from Portland.

I agree I could ride "any" bike on this paved MUT, but I have no interest in being the tool riding a 6" dual susp. mtb to work on skinny tires . . . just not going to do that.

I am really looking forward to this ride/commute and I want a bike that will make it fun, but also be practical. With the info you all have provided it appears that Touring bikes are generally heavier with a slacker riding position compared to the others - so maybe I should be looking away from the touring oriented bikes.

I didn't post the list of bikes as my narrowed down interests, just the ones that I had found that might fit my purpose. The ability to secure a rear rack is essential and I know all of the ones on the list come with rack attachment points.

If there are other manufacturers (big or small) that produce complete bikes that fit into my needs I'd love to hear about them so I can spend too many hours feeding my gear addiction through research.

Finally, I'm new to the road bike gearing set up, but I appreciate the gearing recommendations. I'll keep doing the work to figure out what they all mean.

Adam Turman

My 2 cents is to get the cyclocross style bike. That way you have the most options for whatever kind of climate or commuting you are going to do. The wider frame allows for wider tires and you can always go with skinny.

I just bought a Bianchi San Jose set up fix for that exact reason. Now I can roll 700 x 35 studded Nokians through it.

Good luck! All those bikes you mentioned sound like fun rides.

adrien

Have to say I agree here...a cross bike with slicks (or better yet, two sets of wheeels, one knobby and one slick) would allow you to have a good, fast commute on something sturdy and then try a different kind of single track on the weekends. I use a kona JTS exactly that way, and it's amazingly versatile.

bsut

We just bought a Soma Smoothie ES frame for my 16yo son, and we're building it up as a sport and touring bike. I'm considering getting another to build up for myself as a commuter. Lots of space for fat tires and fenders.

newbojeff

I have the Trek Portland and love it. While I don't have full fenders on mine, it can take full fenders. I've seen photos of it on the web before (though couldn't find them in a quick google or flickr searches). The stock front fork has eyelets for fenders 1/2 way up. One reason I chose the Portland is what greenstork mentions. Several touring bikes I tried felt "too rock solid." Just not lively enough. I have 700x28 tires on the portland and a rack.

Having said that, I'm also a big fan of the Bianchi Volpe and you're not going to go wrong with the cross-check. Take a weekend, get your 210 lbs butt on a bunch of bikes and see what you like.

Hope you're commuting soon!!

ken cummings

My 1987 Volpe was the second best bike I have had and well worth the $800 I paid for it. Fit like a dream. I was doing 40 mile round-trip commutes on it. I moved up to a Bruce Gordon BLT which is better for commuting LA to NYC and back rather then inside your own state. Get the Volpe

kyle!

another vote for the volpe here. i like that i can ride it to work and then take it out for a 50 mile ride in the same day. built like a monster too. i really beat the poop out of it and it's fine.

martianone

suggest the Surly Cross-Check,
set up as a 1x9 with fat tires and
upright type of trekking bar.
i have 42 mm Marathons and
an Albatross bar on mine. the
upright position is good in traffic
and fat tires smooth the road
out greatly and protect against
tire problems

modernjess

+1 a cyclo cross style bike will fit your needs perfectly. And if you have the budget, do a custom build.

I commuted for years on a hard tail mountanbike with slicks (that's all I had), then on a racing style road bike. Eventually I discovered all the things I needed in the perfect commuter and went out and built up my Cross Check. My commute is very similar to your's only about half as long. I went with a single speed but I think if I was riding 30 miles a day I'd recommend multispeed (I'd probalby run a 1 x 9, 42T front, 12-25 rear, with one barcon, I like things simple). Becuase your route 30 miles all paved MUP I'd recommend you run thin tires (25mm max). There is no need for fatties on that, but you have the option with that frame. Switch them out for the winter if you want. I run Nokian studded 35mm in the winter, 25mm T-servs the rest of the year. Drop bars for sure, and cantilever brakes so you don't have any clearance problems with your fenders or switching tire sizes.

The Cross Check is a great frame for versatiltiy and customization. It's not super light, it's not super stiff, but it's a joy to ride everyday as a commuter because it does exactly what I built it to do: get me to work everyday with a smile on my face. If you can, I highly recommend the build one for yourself approach.

Good luck

bsut

My profile is similar to yours - 30 mile round trip and 6'2/220. Daily year-round commuting in Silicon Valley. My trip takes between 51-55 minutes each way, depending upon traffic and lights and how frisky I'm feeling.

I ride a Specialized Allez Elite with a rack on the back. I only use the little ring on very occasional weekend rides up into the mountains, and I only use the big ring on downhills and tailwinds, so the middle ring gets all the mileage. I could probably get along fine with a single front, but why bother since it's already there?

About riding on the road with cars - that's a skill you can learn, and with skill comes comfort. For starters, read Street Smarts. If you'd like more info and hands-on instruction, take a Road 1 class.

M_S

I'd like to throw in the possibility of the Jamis Aurora. It handles quite a lot like the Cross-Check, and has a very "lively" ride considering it's technically a touring bike. The Surly does have steeper angles on the seat and head tubes, of course, but when I test rode 'em both they were pretty similar in feel. Yes the cross-check had a "racier" feel, but the Aurora still felt pretty nimble.

Just throwing that in there because bike shopping isn't complicated enough already

MrCjolsen

The main thing the crosscheck or the LHT has going for it is that you can get the whole frameset for <$500. Then you have a lot of money left over to do a custome build to your exact specifications. For example, on mine I have a cheap Alex DA22 rim on the front, but a handbuilt Mavic T520 on the back. Why? Because I know that with a load and my 215lb butt, I'd break spokes on just about any machine back wheel but I've almost never had to even true a front wheel in almost 10000 miles.

I also have a 48-36-26 old school mtb crankset with a tight road gearing on the back because that fits my riding style the best. Most stock touring bikes have wide range cassettes which just doesn't fit my perfectly flat commute.

The nice thing about the LHT is that you can put a front rack on it which will ultimately improve handing by giving you a better center of gravity.

ldesfor1@ithaca

I am 6'3" and 220 using my commuter for short commutes in an around boston and some longer winter training rides. i ride every day in all weather.
I have a cross check with a flat bar and barends. i have run it fixed, SS, 1*8, 3*8 and now most happily with a Nexus 8 internal gear hub. The ability to run it fixed (which on a flat MUP could be really sensible and very light) or with internal gears puts this frame on the top of my list. I have a cheapo steel fork with disc tabs so i alwats have the option for a front disc.
it fits the biggest tires short of a 29er MTB and can be used for touring or CX.
that said, if you really want a specialized machine to make your commute fast, locking it to poles in a city is not a nessecity or a fixed/internal gear is not on the table... i would look at some other bikes such as:
-surly pacer with CF fork (cyclocross model for fender clearance?)
-soma smoothie ES or doublecross
-gunnar sport or crosshairs
-Salsa Chili con Crosso or casseroll
-Rivendell anything, if you can wait
-IF club racer
-bianchi Volpe and castro Valley
look on EBAY/ craigslist for old nice steel frames in your size, build'em up with nice parts
many flatbar road bkes may fit the bill too as long as they have propper fender/tire clearance

Aerobars will make any bike ride go faster and without traffic could be used in your situation.
Dynamo hub if night riding is in the plans?


If you have the money get handbuilt wheels for what ever bike you get, this is night and day. Being able to run 28's or 32mm tires is likely to be important too as upwards of 250 lbs. is going to make 23-25's a bit unhappy.

chephy

One concern is a secure place to store the beauty for which you're gonna shell out some big bucks. Is there secure parking in your workplace or will you be basically leaving the bike outside where any thief and vandal is free to pick on it? If it's the latter, I would not drop a lot of money on a bike, going the used route instead. Or at the very least would uglify my new bike quite a bit. Disk brakes are theft magnets btw.