I currently commute on a road bike most of the time and a rigid mountain bike with studded tires when the roads are snowy or icy.

The roadbike cannot handle the snow. The mountain bike is slow when the roads are clear.

Lately, I've been thinking about what an ideal commuting bike (for me) would look like. I'm wondering if there really is no such thing. Any single bike would necessarily be a compromise due to conflicting requirements.

What do you think? Do you use more than one bike to commute?

Paul

Without compromise, probably not. The best I think you could do would be to get a nice cross bike and swap out tires for different conditions. I only use one road bike for commuting, but live in FL and do not have to deal with snow.

Ideal commuting bike? There is none.

"Doing it all" is by definition compromise. Don't overthink it.

For you, it sounds like a cyclocross would fit the bill.

sure - put studded snows and fenders on your road bike!

I probably could use my summer commuter (CX bike) in the winter as well just by popping on studs for a few months. However, the hybrid I ride in the winter has better tire clearance and shifters that are easier to manage with heavy gloves.

It's always nice to have a backup bike, in any case.

'do it all' is too vague.
some of us put on suit and tie when we get to work while others put on the coveralls.
some ride regardless or weather while others only ride if its nice out.
some of us need to carry a lot of things while some can do with a light messenger bag or knapsack.
etc...

Nope, you'll always have compromises. I've been thinking about this with respect to hybrids. Hybrids never achieved best-of-both-worlds status. They're typically a bit slower than dedicated road bikes, and worse at off-road than real mountain bikes. Their advantage lies in smoothing out the worst aspects of the two sides of their heritage: They do better off-road than a pure road bike, and are faster on pavement than a pure mountain bike.

So, no, no perfect bike with no compromises. That said, I was looking for a broadly multipurpose bike recently. Mostly commuting and recreation on asphalt and multi-use trails, a little light off-road and abuse (mud, dirt, gravel, grass, curbs, etc.), with the possibility of light touring in the future. I ended up wanting a Kona Dr. Fine, but had to settle for a Dr. Dew. Sadly, I don't have it in hand yet, so I can't give personal experience.

The general consensus for multipurpose rides seems to be cyclocross bikes and good hybrids with nice, large tire clearances. If you're riding in the snow and ice, you'll probably want something with disc brakes and that can handle studded tires (which mostly don't get narrower than 35mm).

My Cyclocross bike has provided for a variety of cycling needs very well. It's core duty as Commuter/Long Distance/light Touring/Fitness bike has provided excellent performance.

It's not ideal for fast group rides and I don't take it down single track, but it could perform those duties also.

Your approaching this the wrong way. You should be looking for reasons to justify another bike (N+1) rather than looking for a do-it-all.

Every bike is a compromise. Even a race bike. Visit the racing subforum and if you asked those guys what kind of bike they'd get with an unlimited budget, I'd bet they'd say not one bike but 4 or 5: a crit bike, a road race bike, a climbing bike, a TT bike, etc.

It depends on what your version of "do it all" entails. The short answer is no.

EG a road or cyclocross bike aren't going to handle a downhill run like a full suspension mtn bike will, even though both will beat the hell out of the mtn bike on a flat road.

If I had to go down to one bike (Hope that never happens!) I'd keep my touring bike. Road geometry but allows enough room to mount wide tires, fenders and all the racks I can imagine.

Not without compromise but there are bikes that make good all-rounders. My winter bike wouldn't be too bad aside from being a bit on the heavy side. It's fitted with dirt drops can take anything from 23mm tires up to about 50.

As everyone else has stated, no. Every bike is a compromise in some way. I like tarwheel's approach.

I'm with corkscrew if I had to go down to one bike and keep the tourer. But I have no interest in going off road.

To answer the other part of your question, yes I use more than one bike. Even if there was one bike that was really good at everything I wanted to do with it, I'd still be tempted to use a different bike in the winter. Winter is tough on components. Anything likely to wear out or suffer badly from exposure to water, salt, and grit at least needs to be inexpensive to replace.

In my opinion an ideal commuter bike would be a steel framed cyclocross bike that has mounts for disc brakes, racks, and fenders. That way you can put road tires on it when it's nice out or bigger studded tires when it's icy. Disc brakes will help in wet/cold conditions. Fenders will keep you dry. The rack will allow you to haul stuff. Drop bars allow for a variety of hand positions.

A disc braked hybrid with wide tire clearance may also work.

Depends on what you define as "a bike".

What I mean is, just because a bike comes with skinny slicks, do you need a second bike to be able to use wider knobby tires?

I think that you can get a do-it-all bike. You just have to decide what "all" you want to do with it. I look at tourers to see what a do-it-all bike can look like.

Dahon Cadenza 8 would be the best all around bike for me (converted to drops).
I don't have it, because I already have other bikes, but if I had known about it before I started, that would be it.

A rigid forked MTB , using drops and long travel road levers. Skinny slicks in the summer like a Micheline CX Road, little less than an inch and a half wide high pressure. I run Shwalbe CX pros for 26 in this winter, though big honkin' knobs in previous years. Still waiting for snow enough to test the skinny knobbies. MONSTER CROSS!!

With "it" being any bike in general, isn't that true of all of us?

It seems like cyclocross bikes with disc tabs are fairly unusual (at least in my hunting). Not unheard of, but unusual. That's the one downside to CX in this case: your field of options gets really narrow without building yourself. Putting drops on a mechanical disced hybrid might be easier.

On a wholly unrelated note, your avatar is slightly distracting.

My CX frame (Cross Check) fits the bill for being a fairly decent all-rounder.

I've used 28mm Gatorskins for 2 years, just recently swapped up to a pair of 32mm Pasela TGs because many of my long-distance routes take me over lots of chip-seal or even some light crushed stone/gravel/dirt roads.
I throw a pair of 35mm studs on it for the ice and snow.
I'll even be giving it a true test of all-rounder mettle on a 300k this fall which has 20 miles of loose gravel mountain roads. Might even consider a pair of 40mm tires for that venture!

It is a compromise bike, though. It's not the lightest thing on the street. Nor will it be the fastest, no matter who's powering it. It's OK in the snow, but not awesome like having a pair of 2.2" fatties to help float on the fluffy stuff. It can haul some stuff, but not like having a fully loaded touring bike.
If you need, as I do, to go really far at a modest speed with a limited amount of equipment on roads that don't suck too bad, it's a great bike.

Thanks for the responses. To clarify, by "do it all" I meant do it all commuting wise for me in particular. Not do it all for any riding I might do, or do it all for all commuters.

I suppose it would have helped to describe my commute. It's 12 miles each way on suburban and rural roads with bike lanes or wide shoulders. I live in Colorado (300 sunny days/year) but it does get cold and snow now and then.

I do like the idea of changing tires as needed. I've probably switched bikes five or so times so far this winter. I don't think the tire changing would be all that onerous.

Paul

Here's my do it all: