A little help?
 

I'm getting a Kona Smoke for a car/bus/bus/work/bus/bike/car thing. The bike part is roughly 8 miles. So the Smoke should handle that. Eventually, I want to do away with the car part of that equation. I went to my LBS and used them as a sounding board. Recumbents are out due to price, not the best in bad weather, and they won't fit on the bus bike racks. They shot down cyclocross as well, due to the fact that they are not the most comfortable for a 60 mile r/t. They suggested the Giant FCR3, a flat bar road bike. Before the roadies start howling, I prefer the flat bar to drops for two reasons. Cost of the product is lower and I need the more 'heads-up' position due to my vision. So basically I'm asking for any suggestions on anything that would be a wee bit quicker, yet comfortable enough for 60 miles 2-3 times a week and 8-40 miles the rest of the week. Of course all of this is predicated on me being able to hack 8 miles daily for a while until I get into shape!

I rode my cyclocross Kona Jake 60 miles a couple of weeks ago. The only thing uncomfortable was the pressure on my rear end. I can't imagine a more upright bike would have made that better. I also noticed that most of the 1600 or so other people on this 60 mile ride with me were riding road bikes.

I should add the caveat that I did a lot of ab/back exercise training for this ride, but, hey, if the goal is to get in shape....

But I don't want to discourage you if you want something with flat bars. I've got one of those too, and it's nice. (I would add, though, that cyclocross bikes are reasonably "heads up.") If I were riding 60 miles, I wouldn't worry too much about speed, but I think there are a few things to look at in how fast a bike will be. (1) How heavy is the bike? Lighter bikes are faster, but much more expensive. (2) What's the gear range on it. Check out this link (http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/) for a handy online gear calculator that will tell you how fast a bike will go at a given cadence. (3) What kind of tires are on it? But faster tires aren't as comfy, so for a 60 mile ride you might want to ignore this factor.

A 60 mile RT is a pretty hefty commute in my book, so you really need to get up into some 30-40 mile rides before you will be able to really know what is going to work for you.

That said, I can't say that I totally agree with your LBS about the cross bike. Most cross frames can be set up in a ton of different configurations... and the frame will be lighter than most hybrids. That saved weight will add up if you're riding 60 miles per day. Just don't let your LBS talk you into a mountain bike. I personally feel that the mountain bike is a terrible thing to ride on the road... I see many riders suffering while trying to push a heavy mountain frame down the road.

As for flat bars... I can't ride flat bars for more than about 45 minutes on the road before they start to make my hands and arms hurt. I ride nearly every part of my drop bars during the course of my rides.

Of course this is all based on preferences... so others are sure to disagree with me on this. Weigh it all and see what works for you.

Well...any suggestion you already discounted. I use a cyclocross for commuting and have done centuries on it and felt no less tired than my road bike for the same distance. So that whole spiel of being uncomfortable due to the distance on a cyclocross I call bs.

My first bike was a flat bar, a trek 7.2 fx, which was heavy, slow, and uncomfortable for long rides (for me). The reason flat bars are 'generally' discounted comfort wise for long rides is two fold. The hand positions are restricted. You can add bar ends but there still is only a couple spots to put your hands and it gets tiring.

Second, is flat bar bikes 'generally' have a more upright position and a softer padded saddle. Sitting upright causes your weight to be mainly on your butt. Whereas a road bike your leaned forward to distribute your weight more onto your legs to share the load. Think of it as your standign on the pedals and leaning back against a saddle as apposed to sitting on a seat. Thats why long rides people prefer road style with drops.

Saddle wise, a soft large padded saddle feels better for short rides, but all that padding that your sit bones sink into, also means there is padding pushing back up where it should not be, and causes problems after an hour or so.

That said, there are exceptions to everything, and what works for the majority may not work for the individual. You say you need flat bar for your vision? is that because currently your inflexible? That may change after 1-2 months of riding.

Must be a bad LBS. Properly fitted a drop bar bike is very comfortable. If you feel like you need to sit up straight to see better?, then just sit up and use the straight part of the bars. At least with drop bars you have that choice. You're not stuck with one position like you are with drag bars.

Either a road bike or a cross bike should do, but I would think again about the flat bars. Regardless of how you feel about drop bars, they give you a lot more positions. You can still ride on the tops or the hoods, which is about the same as a flat bar, and the drops will save your butt on windy days. If you are seriously thinking about commuting 60 miles RT, I wouldn't consider anything but drop bars. The key to making drop bars work is to choose a frame/fork/stem combination that will allow you to raise the handlebars high enough. Lots of roadies never use their drops because the drop is too extreme and they can never get comfortable in them, but if you start out with a higher bar they work as intended.

It sounds like you've never really ridden a road bike, or at least not one set up right for you. A road bike that fits correctly you should be the most comfortable option for riding those kinds of distances. How do you think those racers ride 100-150 miles a day? The other thing is if you are putting in that kind of mileage you will adapt to riding in a more "roadie" position. Finally, get some reasonably light, nice rolling tires like Michelin Krylions if you plan to ride those sort of distances. That can make all the difference in the world.

I recommend you ride the Smoke for a bit and learn your likes and dislikes.8 miles is about 30 minutes or so on the bike. And 30 miles one-way is about 2 hours. It took me a while to learn that what feels good and comfortable for a half hour is not what I want for a 2-hour ride. So take it out for some longer rides on the weekend. Once you get the experience with the Smoke - rely on your experience it's a better guide than anything posted here.

When the time comes to look at other bikes, I'd ask your LBS for some reason why cyclocross bikes would be uncomfortable over that distance. If you get something like the riding position is just uncomfortable after a while or the geometry is just not made for longer distances, discount anything they say about cyclocross bikes. They might know their stuff on other points but that would just be a load of BS.

60 miles a day commute??

Forgive me, but I think that ambition might be short lived. Don't spend too much money on a bike for your 60 mile a day commute plans. IMO, that might just be too much of a commute to be practical, especially if you are starting out by training now so you can "hack 8 miles daily for a while until I get into shape".

See if you can borrow or rent some bicycles and do the commute first. THEN, after you have done the commute a few times, decide what bicycle you need, if any.

Just to put things in perspective, I go on group tour rides. They plan about 60 miles per day over a weekend. At the end of the 60 mile ride (120 miles over two days), most riders are pooped. Some are completely wiped out. The skinny hyper-active super-sonics riders nibble a power-bar, sip a water and talk about an evening ride. For most folks, though, Sunday comes and someone picks up the riders in cars. The riders talk large about the grand adventure of bicycling 60 miles a day for two days in a row! You are talking about doing that days in a row and tucking in work and life onto it. Maybe, but Whew man!

We love ya, No1mad, and we sure would like to see you succeed at bicycle commuting. One step at a time on this one.

Actually, it was the Jake I inquired about. They sell Giant, Kona, KHS, and Felt. They either sold the one that they had, or shuttled it to the other store that just opened up. I personally am leaning towards a cyclocross bike anyway. But the wife would throw a fit over the price. Entry-level CX bikes cost $800. Entry level road bikes cost $650. And that's his prices. The Specialized/Trek brands carried by other LBS's cost more.

How in the world do you have time for this? That's probably going to be about 2.5-3hrs of riding every day. I think your best bet is to get a new job that's closer to home and forget about the new bike :)

Well, actually, it is probably more like 3.75 to 4+ hours per day. I will give our hero the benefit of the doubt and say that she can average 16 miles per hour on her commute - pretty good average even for a seasoned commuter.

60 miles per day divided by 16 mph = 3.75 hours. If she can't maintain the 16 mph, then the commute time goes up. Of course... if she beats the 16 mph averabe speed, she will get there faster.

I hear you. I had to ride a $300 beater for 6 months and about 2000 miles before I could convince my wife that a more expensive bike was a reasonable investment. There's something to be said for that though. I doubt the Jake is what I would have wanted when I started. Sometimes you have to ride a bike you don't like to figure out what you really want.

Well, I work p/t for a national home entertainment company. I make as much p/t there as f/t anywhere else considering my educational level (no college). Most days I don't have to be there until 11 a.m. and stay no later than 6 p.,m. No nights/weekends, paid holidays, all the free movie rentals I can stand, and a discount off of my cell phone service. Both of my household vehicles are 4 cyl.'s, but it's still costing me a little over $40 wk gas. I can ride the bus all month long for $40. But that's 2 different routes, which take about 2 hours each way. So it's roughly the same amount of time whether it's car/bus/bike or bike. I know that doing 60 miles daily + working is a bit unrealistic. I just want to be prepared for when the bus's bike rack is full, the driver won't let my board w/my bike, I can't wait for the next bus (about 45 minutes). I can beat the one bus to the downtown bus station if I have to. Do I plan to ride my bike 60 miles r/t on daily basis? No way, hell, I'm not sure I want to do even on a Friday when I'm lucky to put in 3 hours!

Last year I did 56 miles a day three days a week with a few 5 and 4 days weeks thrown in. Plus, rides on the weekend.
Don't let the naysayers discourage you. It can be done but you will need to work up to it.
Also, you can still get a reasonably upright position on drops. I hated riding that far 3 days a week with a flat bar. Almost 30 miles each way with a headwind is miserable. Drops are worth it for me simply for the fact that I can get more aero and suffer a tad less.

So what if it is 2-4 hrs a day if it is something you love doing. Better than spending the same time in a car or even half that time. Just be careful. Burnout is easy for me when riding long distances that amount of time. Commutes are not exactly exciting. :)