Every time someone says "use the right tool for the job" regarding which bike to commute with, I get this mental image of someone with a with 15 hammers on a belt saying "I carry all these hammers so I have one for every single nail size I have so I can 'use the right tool for the job'". He also has an entire set of hammers for each brand, so he only uses Grip Rite nails with Grip Rite hammers, Paslode nails with Paslode hammers, etc etc. :-D

Wear is about what you'd be doing anyways - it's definitely true that if you're commuting to save money, using a "high end" road bike is not the way to go. But if you'd be taking your bike out for training rides anyways, it's kinda silly to ride a cheaper bike to and from work, then take out the nice bike every night after that for training. :-)

One thing to keep in mind is that it's true that if you have a twitchy, road race bike and you're trying to carry something really heavy on the back like a laptop, even with a rack the handling of the bike might change dramatically. Maybe.

Yep. That's exactly how I got started commuting. I was taking the bus to work and home then going for a ride in the evening. One day it dawned on me that if I had my bike with me at work at the end of the day, it would be much quicker and easier to get on the bike.

Also, FWIW, there are quite a few racers who hang out in "the 33" who ride to work but don't post in the commuting forum. In order to put in the mileage to be competitive it's pretty necessary to ride to work, especially if you have a family.

The handling characteristics of the bike change, for sure, regardless of what bike you attach a rack and load to. It's then, merely a matter of getting used to it.

That said, I think that a bike with a more relaxed geometry handles the change a bit better than would a crit bike...

road bike + messenger bag = commuter

If I had more room at home for more bikes, I might be tempted to get a beater/commuter bike, but I really don't see the need right now. YMMV.
Just get on the bike and ride

Lol, well sure, but putting my fat ass on the bike changes the handling characteristics as well, as does losing/gaining weight, or increasing/decreasing my power output throughout the season, etc. :-D

If you just need to carry some clothes or lunch or something, I'm sure even my twitchy road bike would handle it just fine. Yeah, I wouldn't be carving around corners at 45 degrees as well, but I think I'd be able to manage - "somehow", lol. ;-)

On the other hand, it's a different deal if you're putting "a lot" of weight on your rack. I took my non-racy Specialized Sequoia on an overnight bike/camp trip with fully loaded panniers. Even though it's a "relaxed handling" bike, let me tell you, the handling characteristics *definitely* changed - had to remember to drive it like a bulldozer, not a sports car, lol, almost fell over a couple of times (one time I did, but it was at a near stop).

Don't think 5-10 pounds would really make any difference though - not something you couldn't easily adjust to. Putting a pack or messenger bag on your back certainly changes your own handling characteristics as well. I can't imagine hitting some tight corners with a messenger bag flopping around without having to compensate somewhat.

I'll call BS here. I run with a Chrome messenger bag with a sub strap, and that bag goes nowhere. No such thing as "flopping around"

I didn't see anyone mention this.

For me, if I throw my commuting budget at my bikes, it's good. If I couldn't afford spare wheelsets, tools, extra tubes/tires for my bike when it was a luxury, when it becomes a necessity, it's easily affordable. Throwing car level money at your bikes always works. So, assuming you have a safe place to park it at work, you should be able to commute on a better bike Road/CX or even a Tri.

Agree - it may be hot as sh*t on those hot summer days, but not a lot of floppage.

First of all, you can't call "BS" on something like this. "BS" would be if I said "Messenger bags always flop around and they're all crap." I've read several threads from people here who have had this problem with a messenger bag - hit a corner, and it slid around on their bike. Maybe you have one that doesn't - great. Please share. But there are definitely some that are difficult, "BS" it is not.

Second, what bike do you ride? My comments were regarding one of the twitchy road race bikes were you are rather leaned over. There's nothing I can put on my back at all that I don't notice while riding that bike. My flat bar bike is no problem. Even my more upright road bike is pretty decent. But on my leaned over, twitchy road bike anything at all on the back is noticeable the entire ride.

I commute with one of two road bikes, one lightweight for fair weather and one with fenders, lights, and a rack to carry panniers. I like having the option of going fast and often store clothes at work so I can ride the lightweight "naked".

i'll take my specialized roubaix to work once in a while when i want to
change things up- on those days i make sure i don't bring anything that won't fit in my jersey pockets
otherwise it's my trek fx for commuting- both bikes have a specialized avatar seat

I've been on my vintage 80s Univega road bike now for several years commuting. I changed a lot of stuff, added a lot of stuff (much to the horror of my bike mechanic, but hey, it's not his bike). I added a front basket, attached a rear rack with p-clips, got a trunk bag, swapped out the drop bars for straight bars cut down to size, and I converted it into a single speed. but technically, it's still a road bike, and I like it.

Sorry, but you crossed the line into hybrid territory with the bars.

My road bike (specialized allez) is a low end performance oriented bike. Based on commentary I've read here in the past I expected it to handle really poorly with loaded panniers on the back but it handles fine. It's just feels like I'm dragging somebody behind me. ;-)

As far as messenger bag movement while riding goes, in my experience it depends a lot on the bag, how you have it adjusted, and how it's loaded. If there's no cross strap, especially if you leave the shoulder strap looser, you will have an unhappy experience on a road bike. A properly loaded, high quality messenger bag with a cross strap isn't going to move much. My messenger bag was middle of the road in terms of quality and I'd get a small amount of shifting under certain circumstances. A lot of the time I didn't notice it was there but the bulkier the load and the longer the distance, the less that was true.

From a performance and handling standpoint, wearing a messenger bag had a lower impact overall than carrying the same load on the same bike in panniers.

My old Volare handles just fine with panniers and a rack. Frappin thing just goes no matter what. It just a bit twitchy,I actually prefer to call it responsive rather than twitchy when compared to the Windsor or my Raleigh Cadent.

I commute on my race bike, which has a big saddle-to-bar drop, with my messenger bag pretty often. I'm also an art student and usually carrying a lot of stuff in my bag. The bike has only slid out from under me once on a commute and that was because I didn't take the corner correctly, but the bag always stays in place. I've also taken that bike + bag on rides lasting several hours, the only real discomfort is from a sweaty back and maybe a bad adjustment. A good bag will be comfortable if you know how to pack and adjust it well.

Several other commuters on my route to work ride road bikes, ranging from low-end to old school to top-shelf race bikes. There is even a guy who commutes on a Transition Pro and blows past me like I am standing still. I still wouldn't have a clue what the guy was riding if I didn't catch up to him at a red light one day. I used to commute on a aggressive geometry road bike as well and it was a lot of fun. I am getting older and finding that relaxing the geometry and slowing down a bit are a good thing. Slowing down to smell the roses and such...

One thing all of those riders have in common is that they really aren't carrying a lot. A couple of them have smallish backpacks but most of them have nothing at all. I assume that they do the drive one day a week and drop clothes off.

Hey, I'm in Tallahassee too. Starting my commute as soon as I bring this new acquisition up to par. Hopefully sometime next week. You should drop me a line about what route you're traveling. I think I've got a halfway decent route picked out on Monroe, but any input/tips from a Tally commuter would be great.

Used to commute on a hybrid. It got stolen (not on the commute) so I switched to a cyclocross, and enjoyed it so much more that I kept doing it even after the cops got the hybrid back. I got the bike fitted with an Old Man Mountain rack (doesn't need braze-ons) so I can use a pannier and don't need to worry about a courier bag. It didn't flap, but did weigh me down in a way I didn't like.

It's the matter of the bag, and the bike. My Chrome with the sub strap on *can't* flop around. I did share what bag in the first post.
And the bike of choice at the moment is a full carbon Fuji Team Pro on 23's. You know, one of those upright comfort bikes If not that bike then a Fuji Cross Pro.

Guess calling BS stands, huh? LOL

Road/touring bikes are def the way to go for speed. Mine happen to be vintage, but that's beside the point. For me there is no sacrifice in comfort. I'd much rather sleep in later and get home to a cold beer sooner than spend any longer than necessary commiuting.

no

Sorry bud, but you said it changes the handling characteristics. I ride your example "twitchy road bike" with a messenger bag with no differences. It goes nowhere and the bike handles the same Proof your blanket statement is dead wrong.

Maybe the 50 miles a day that I do it each and every day isn't enough of a test?

I ride a 2007 giant ocr 3 with 700x28 tires just about every day . It seem to to work good for me.