Bike Forums - Commuters thinking about transitioning to Road Biking

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I'm falling to the Dark Side right now as well.

After commuting for a while, I'm getting more and more enthralled with the thought of having a fun "go fast" bike with no purpose but speed. I got my first taste of racing a couple of weeks ago when I pulled my team through the cycling portion of the Laughlin AFB Adventure Race to an eventual second place finish. (On the podium!) Yes, almost everyone there was a non-cyclist while I commute nearly every day...but dropping them like they were standing still was, well, addictive.

Now I understand the true power of the Dark Side.

I'm buying my CF speed machine this month. Then my fall will be complete.

Quote:

Originally Posted by caloso (Post 6667884)

If I ride my bike from home to work, then from work to a 40 mile group ride, and then back home, am I a roadie or commuter?

Yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMY (Post 6667924)

I think so too.

Maybe I'm just being naive, but it's interesting to me that I don't see more people training with a heavy bike/gear setup to make it harder on themselves- it seems like the current thinking is to make it as easy as possible (light bike, no gear, clothing, etc).

Can someone explain this?

I'm not a roadie, just a commuter, but I accidentally did that. I commute year round, and didn't feel comfortable on the road bike at night on our leaf/acorn/rock/dead rodent strewn roads, so I took to my 40 pound CroMo hybrid, vintage 1992, for about 4 months. Flash forward to March, out comes the road bike, and I'm taking a hill on my commute at 18 mph that I used to bottom out at 16.

I truly think that pushing that beast uphill for a few months really helped. As others have pointed out, I suppose I could have just pushed it harder on the road bike anyway (since it has, like, gears and stuff). But for some reason I think the beast bike helped. I don't know if it was the psychological impact of seeing single digit speeds on the cyclocomputer and saying 'Oh *hell* no' or what. But I sure noticed a difference come spring.

do it.

no need to splurge on a new bike at first. Treat yourself to some nice new tires or wheels and go on some longer rides. You'll know soon enough if you like slow touring, fast racing or none of the above.