I feel in love with the Orbea Onix T105 -- https://www.orbea.com/en/bicis/modelo.../presentacion/

Of course it's a $2K plus road bike and my main use is going to be a 12 mile commute.

For those familiar with Southern California, the ride would be straight up Santa Monica Blvd from the beach, through Beverly Hills, and then West Hollywood. At 5AM, there's barely anyone on the road. At 5PM, it's jam-packed.

So my concerns boil down to whether or not I am going to have problems using this as a commuter bike, like being more susceptible to flats, drop bars instead of flats at times where traffic is heavy, and then adding lights to it, since I will be riding in the dark.

I'm not concerned about fenders, since it hardly rains here (except this week) and I'm not worried about carrying anything to/from work. I could take the car once a week (or when I know it will be raining) and leave a week's worth of clothes at the office.

What else am I missing as far as the downsides of using this as a commuter bike? Would I be better off just buying a cheaper commuter bike and then waiting to get the orbea as a second bike? If so, what's a good choice for 12 miles each way?

I commute on my low end Allez, 11 miles, all flat. I'm not sure what would make an Onix a better commuter than my Allez, apart from it would most likely feel good to ride (maybe it'll handle better and stuff like that, but what do I know, I've never ridden anything else). Use nice flat resistant tires, and you'll get fewer flats.

I presume you will be strictly remaining on paved roads only right. Low spoke counts are not gonna be good for rough surfaces.
And if you need to put on a rack (panniers and bags) in the future, there always p-clamps. So go for it I say!

There are people where I work who commute in everything from porches to pick up trucks - neither of which makes any sense as a commuter. Ride on whatever you like.

A bike designed for racing will not have the ability to have fenders, so you will get wet when it rains, or when the roads are wet.
You won't have the ability to put a rack on the bike, so your ability to carry stuff to/from work will be limited.
You will be more susceptible to flats than if you had a bike which could accommodate bigger tires.


FWIW, my main commute bike cost a little over $6K. It has lights, fenders, good tires, rack etc, so the cost is not really a factor, any good commute bike will cost some coin.

It isn't what most people would pick as a "commuting" bike but it should work fine for what you are describing.

It's likely that you will want to use sturdier tires for commuting (an easy change). Wider tires might be more comfortable (28mm might be the max for that bike). People use dropped bars for all sorts of riding. Sturdier wheels might give you more peace of mind. Adding lights won't be a problem.


Insane!

Lights shouldn't be a problem unless your handlebars are especially narrow.

Both my winter and "rest of the year" bikes have drop bars. Some people like sitting more upright than they can on a typical drop bar bike but for me it's a non-issue. When on either the drops or the tops, I'm sitting up high enough to get a good view of traffic.

I like using a road bike for my commute but the roads are generally in good shape. If it was nothing but pot holes for 12 miles it would take all the fun out of using the road bike and I'd want something with wider tires. As far as flats go, I had one flat all year last year and that was on a tire nearing the end of its life. I've had other years with more frequent flats when using tires with less flat protection.

I didn't check what tires came with the bike, but often the stock tires aren't very flat resistant. You may have to include new tires in your budget.

In heavy traffic narrow bars are better, as it allows you to squeeze between lanes of cars. I hope you can store this in your office at work. You dont want to carry a lock on it, so keep a lock permamently at the Starbucks on your way home.

It's fine. It's funny how you have almost the exact same commute as I do, except I go the other way at a later time. I ride with 44cm wide bars and I still squeeze through traffic when I need to. Don't worry about flats, the roads are good and without a lot of glass, if you do feel vulnerable there are plenty of puncture resistant tires at the narrow sizes.

I commute on my road bike and have had no problems.

If that's what turns you on, go for it. You seem to be aware of the main tradeoffs.
You might want to run more of a training tire than a race tire, but then again, you may not.

Since you don't need to carry a whole ton of stuff, I don't see any reason not to ride that as your commuter. If all you need to bring is food/phone/wallet/keys, you can get away with a small sized saddle bag like a Carradice Barley or a large seat wedge like Jandd or Ortlieb offers.
I've got friends who ride 600 - 1200km brevets on full carbon, lower (24f/28r) spoke count rigs with 25mm tires. They've got no problems with mounting lights or bags to accomodate their minimal gear for 2 - 4 days.

My main commuter doesn't have big racks and panniers. It's my brevet bike, with a 12L Berthoud frontbag and a Carradice Pendle in back. Perfect for carrying lunch, a couple folders, bad weather gear, and even a change of clothes if I need to shuttle myself between sites at mid-day.

The biggest issue I see that you didn't mention is what I ran into after buying my bike - where are you going to store it while you're at work? Are you going to be comfortable leaving a $2k bike that's obviously expensive locked up outside all day? Are you going to be comfortable leaving it out in the rain when it rains for hours? (Or even if it's a fair weather commuter, it's going to get wet sometimes when it rains unexpectedly).

If you have that in hand, I personally think it's a great idea. :-)

P.S. If you did sometime want to put a rack on it, from what I've read p-clamps on carbon fiber stays would be a terrible/dangerous idea, but there are good solutions (racks that are designed to be put on bikes without rack mounts). Just an fyi, I know you said it wasn't a big deal.

I second the previous opinion - "Since you don't need to carry a whole ton of stuff, I don't see any reason not to ride that as your commuter."

Storage isn't an issue. I have my own office, but now that I think about it, I may want to ride it / lock it up elsewhere besides work.

If this bike is going to be out of your sight at any time, make sure you're using 2 u-locks (front wheel to frame, frame/rear wheel to immoveable object). Bike theft in L.A. is becoming absurd.

Also make sure that your building is OK with you bringing the bike TO your office.

If I were you, I'd pick up a used bike off of Craigslist (like, say, this $300 Benotto -https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/bik/1559247532.html), and see how you like commuting by bike and how easy it is to store your bike, etc. If you don't like it, you can easily resell it for close to the purchase price, and if you do like it, it's always nice to have a spare bike.

This is the issue I ran into when I rode my nice carbon road bike for my commute. If you have plans after work where you would have to lock your bike outside for an extended period of time, you'll have a lot more peace of mind if it's a cheap bike that's dedicated to commuting.

Your route doesn't seem like it is terribly hilly, so a nice, cheap, older touring bike or mountain bike with slick tires will have many advantages for commuting (fender, racks, durability, etc) while only taking a small hit on average speed. Plus, if you ride a heavy bike everyday during the weekdays, your weekend rides with friends on that slick Orbea will feel SO much easier.

What do you mean by ride it elsewhere besides work?

I do love riding my carbon fiber bike to work - it's more fun (faster handling) and the ride is much smoother than my aluminum frame bike, which itself is relatively good among aluminum frame bikes.

I also personally think that theoretically, the whole "nice bike on the weekend, beater bike for commuting" is just plain stupid (aside from cost from wear issues). It doesn't make the slightest bit of sense to me. You spend 75% of the your biking time on a cheap crappy bike, and 25% (if that) of your biking time on a bike that costs 5 times as much?? If you're ok with that, I don't see any reason other than "bling" to spend the big bucks on the second bike - just ride the cheaper one all the time. Unless you're really racing where 10 extra seconds from ultralight wheels makes a difference, it doesn't make any sense to me. My bike isn't a status symbol to me, so just taking it out to go biking with the Joneses isn't worth it for me.

However, the "Where can I leave the bike and not worry about it?" issue has stopped me up, especially because can tell the bike is obviously expensive just by looking at it. My bike has top-end components (Dura-Ace - didn't need that high, but wanted the frame that they came on and it was on closeout) and someone could simply take off components like the derailleur and that would cost like $500 to replace. I don't have an office to store it in - that would be nice, though I would probably still at least use a thin cable to lock it in my office.

You didn't read his original post at all did you?

For what you describe in your post, go for it man.

One of my friends at work commuted on a full carbon Tarmac w/Ultegra. He is a weight wennie and drove all his clothes and lunches in one day a week.

Do you regularly want to run errands (stop for groceries, go by the library, etc.) on the way home? You can always use a backpack or messenger bag for that, but some folks prefer rack & panniers over a sweaty backpack in the summer.

I read it but I was responding to his followup. Because he said that a major concern is having to leave his nice, shiny, expensive bike outside unattended if he does anything after work besides go straight home, a cheap bike dedicated to commuting would be much better. An additional advantage would be the option of fenders, racks, etc if he does choose to install them later on. If he's really doesn't need them, then he can choose a cheap used road bike.

I honestly wouldn't get this bike. It's a bit expensive for a bike that may be out of your site for any period of time. If someone else knew it was a 2k plus bike, I'm more than certain they will find a way to get it. The only reason I would get a bike like this is if I was training or just joy riding for long distances.

A commuter bike should be considerably cheaper and should have more options available for the future if you want to use panniers, fenders, etc.

You could always get a back pack for the days when you have more to carry to work or otherwise...

Meh... if that is the type of bike you think you would like to commute on go for it. I'm sure a lot of motorist would commute in an Indy Car if they could afford one. It's not my type of commuter bike, but to each their own. If it gets you where you are going and back again happy and safe, why not... go for it, you can always trade it on something else later if you want.

For fenders, see if you can get a set from Crud; if not, settle for SKS Raceblades or something like that. The few BF'ers who have the Crud road bike fenders have nothing but praise for them.
https://www.crudusa.com/product/27

Rack? Axiom (and maybe a couple others) makes one that attaches to the rear wheel skewer and the brake bridge.

Pretty much, whatever you want to do with a bike, someone else also wants to do it and has gotten parts manufactured for it.

Oh, and keep it in your office -- not only will it be safer, but it'll be a good conversation piece.

That guy is awesome. I would never do that in a million years, but I admire the spirit.

Instead of getting a cheap bike dedicated to commuting, how about a cheap bike for only those days where he might want to haul something more than lunch and a change of clothes, or go someplace he'd have to lock the bike up for awhile? Otherwise, I agree with Paul Rivers. Ride the bike that's the most fun for the task at hand. At 12 miles each way, he's likely going to be spending well over an hour on his bike each day.