Andy_K 

I bought a used mountain bike ('99 Kona Muni Mula) this weekend to use for short track racing and various off-road fun. I didn't get a chance to ride it this weekend, so I rode it into work today. This bike has a pretty soft suspension fork and knobby tires. I was able to get it off road for about two miles by cutting through the "park" under some power lines and the fairgrounds parking area, but I still had 8 miles of pavement.

Off road, this bike is a lot of fun to ride, even on something as lame as the grass and dirt under the power lines, but on pavement (as expected) it was brutal in comparison to my CX bike with slick tires. It made me wonder. I see mountain bikes with suspension and knobby tires at work fairly often. Do people really voluntarily work that hard?

My actual question: if you ride a bike like this to work, what kind of surfaces are you riding on most of the way?

exile

I've commuted on mountain bikes. Only a few times did I commute on knobby tires. Like you said, they can be a blast to ride mostly due to their versatility.

Since all of my commutes are on asphalt both of my MTB's have slicks. The hardtail has Specialized Fatboys and the rigid has Specialized Nimbus.

Also remember, some people may not be that savvy and know slicks are available for mountain bikes, or their commutes are so short it doesn't matter.

cycle.stig

I would guess that a lot of people that decide to bike by choice or neccesity without a ton of money just grab an old bike from the garage, a second hand store, etc. Those bikes are usually old mountain bikes.

I personally ride a hardtail Norco with slick tires and the suspension stiffened up. Does the trick for me and can be easily converted back to off road for the weekend. No room in my apartment for two bikes.

slims_s

MTBs are the rule for commuting here in Buenos Aires. I have only seen one cross bike (Specialized Tricross) in a store, way overpriced, and regular road bikes with narrow tires aren't an option due to the really bad state of the streets. Oh, and there are almost no options for 700c tires besides 23mm slicks.
So, the only option for the serious commuter is to buy a "recreational" MTB, put a rear rack, some slicks, and eat potholes

WonderMonkey

I do, or actually did, and will again here soon. I use (or will) use the commute for fitness so like that I have to work harder. When my stock knobbies wore out I put Town & Country tires on them which helped with the comfort. My commute is under 20 miles so I'm not trying to go a long way in a short amount of time.

tjspiel

+1

When I first started commuting regularly I used a mountain bike with knobbies even though I had a perfectly good Peugeot road bike from the mid 80's sitting in the garage.

When I got my MTB in the mid 90's I all but stopped riding the road bike, though it's probably worth mentioning that my RockHopper had a rigid frame. After spending so many years on a MTB the wheels and tires on my road bike seemed scary thin, even though a decade earlier I rode the road bike everywhere. I figured with potholes, sewer grates ,and train tracks on my commute, the smart thing was to ride a "tougher" bike.

I got talked into doing a triathlon a several years ago and once I got back on the road bike I was hooked (again) and now I use one for commuting 8 months of the year.

Maybe it's my imagination, but there was a much more vocal anti-roadbike crowd in the commuting forum a few years ago when I first came here. There were plenty of people who saw rigid framed MTBs as a much better way to go for commuting as opposed to a road bike. The only road bikes in their minds were what you see in the TDF.

Chris_in_Miami

I just "un-converted" my '90 Rockhopper commuter from drop bars and 1.5" slicks back to MTB duty with knobby 2.25" tires and flat bars and I've had it out for a few rides on mixed surfaces. I haven't ridden a proper MTB in a while, and I forgot how much work it is!

Even though my bike is a non-suspension model, 13 miles of urban commute would not be much fun with the knobbies buzzing on the pavement and slowing me down.

monsterpile

People around here ride knobbie mountain bieks all the time. I had one blow past me the other day while I wa riding to work. =) I bought some tires and parts from a guy that lives less than a block from me that commutes on what is proabably would be called a monstercross with tubeless tires. He only rides about 1 mile to university campus, but he loves the plush ride and being able to roll over everything.

Years ago I rode someting even as bad as a 24 inch Huffy mountain bike back and forth to college which was probably 4.5 miles each way. In fact all that time I only had 1 bike that wasn't a mountain bike and that was a Panasonic road bike that I paid $10 for and didn't really ride much before I lent it to a friend and it got lost or stolen or both.

I 'll add that I have a friend that rode over 3,500 miles last year all on a Giant montain bike with knobbie tires and alot of that time he was car free. He will probably hit 4,000 this year even though he and his wife bought a car.

groovestew

When I started cycle commuting, I used a mountain bike. I still use it, but it's been modified with slick tires, drop bars, and a road cassette. I see quite a few mountain bikes still with knobbies locked up around downtown.

tjspiel

Try to find a kid's bike that isn't either a BMX or mini MTB style.

cyccommute 

Do it all the time. My winter (very bad) weather bike has knobbies for riding in the ice and snow. I use two other mountain bikes for commuting too but I usually use those for playing around on trails and riding over the mountain behind my work in the summer.

Although I haven't done the rides in a while, I have used mountain bikes...in full mountain bike mode...on rides of 30, 40, 50, 62, and even 100 miles. Not all of it was on dirt either. I have even done mountain bike touringof around 350 miles...a particularly masochistic enterprise.

himespau 

Especially if you look at the migrant worker commuters, you're going to see a lot of x-mart mtb bso's getting a lot of use commuting. It's about what's available and affordable for a lot of people, not what's easiest to ride.

FunkyStickman

I'm doing it, it's all about the tires and handlebar setup. It's not all bad. I did replace the heavy suspension fork with a rigid, though.

Andy_K 

This idea makes me want to leave a note on their bike, though I do realize how thoroughly obnoxious that would be.


It's true, and I consider that with really old or low end bikes. It's the nicer MTBs that puzzle me, though I suppose even then if you can only have one bike and you use it as a MTB on weekends it might make sense, kind of like the IMBA ad with the really nice Yeti on the roof of an old beater car.

My first commuter was a GT Timberline with a low-end suspension fork and city-ish tires. I don't remember it being this inefficient.


This is a very interesting perspective. It was definitely more of a workout than I can usually get between stop signs.


I've got an '89 Rockhopper that I use for commuting occaissionally, but it's got semi-slick tires (Country Rock) and a rigid fork, so it's nothing like the experience I had today. It's shocking how loud the knobbies can be on pavement.

On the flip side, I've ridden my CX bike with 35mm CX tires under the power lines a few times, and that really sucked because the ground was so hard and choppy beneath the grass. It completely wore me out. So that's what made me wonder. I don't think even the worst pavement I see would justify the suspension fork (though it definitely justifies fat tires). Enough unpaved roads might make it worth considering. In fact, I found myself trying to think of unpaved roads between my house and work.

AlmostGreenGuy

I commute by MTB. Admittedly, my 30-mile round trip is stretching what can be done by a middle aged man on a mountain bike. And I use a rigid fork and street tires.

I live in an area with a ton of migrant workers. They all live car free, riding cheap full suspension WalGooses for all of their chores.

truman

I've commuted a lot of miles on a few different mountain bikes. Usually it's a bike that I still like to ride on singletrack when possible, so I usually run Nanoraptor or SmallBlock8 tires for the dual-duty rig. Other than that, I don't change much.

woodway

My full-suspension Intense Spider will get me to work on the rare occasion we get snow (Seattle area). With a 36 mile round-trip commute, it's a chore but still better than taking the car. Otherwise the mountian bike is relegated to the trails and CX bike accompanies me on the daily commute.

Andy_K 

Yeah, I'd have to consider that an ex-mountain bike. It's a city bike now.


Sadly, they'd probably be much better off with a bike like yours. It disturbs me that so many X-mart bikes come with suspension. They may as well fill the tubes with concrete.

neil

I used to ride a hard-frame MTB with knobbies. For about 10 years, this was my only bike. (And the two bikes before that were also MTBs, and the bike before that was a little red thing with coaster brakes that I first learned to ride on when I was 5.)

Distance matters; the furthest I ever commuted regularly was 8km (5 miles or so), and that was fair weather only, and often only 3 times a week. I did occasional commutes that were longer, but when I lived further from work/school, it was more of a once-every-couple-weeks kind of trip.

But more than anything, it's lack of experience with anythings else. MTBs were all I'd ever ridden growing up, and so I didn't know just how much difference riding slicks could make. I also wasn't the multiple-bikes kind of person until recently, and I did do some offroad riding, so the MTB was the only bike that could really do everything for me.

Now that I own a slick-tired touring bike, I could never go back, but I didn't know that until I finally bought one a couple years ago.

john426

Dear Andy:

I work in Philly and there are a lot of potholes, trolly tracks and brick streets. I have an old and ugly huffy mountain bike that is perfect for this type of riding. Knobby tires are a must in winter, and I keep them on in the summer to help me lose weight.

My only requirement is that I have a rigid front fork. I find the spring types are not as nible as a rigid fork.

John

Steely Dan

when i switched from being a multi-modal commuter with my folding bike, to just biking the whole 30 mile round trip distance everyday, i got my old mid-90s hardtail mountain bike out of my sisters garage where it was collecting dust. it only took a couple weeks of riding on the worn and tired knobbies before i replaced them with some slicks. that change alone is the most signifcant change one can make when taking an old mountain bike and turning it into a city pavement commuter.

after about 6 months, i determined that the suspension fork was too much of an energy suck, so i switched it out for a rigid fork. then last fall, after getting used to and falling in love with my first proper road bike, i decided that i wanted more hand positions for better comfort along with a more down riding position for a little bit better aero on my old MTB, so i put on some bullhorns with rapid fire shifters and reverse pull levers. so yes, i ride an old hardtail mountain bike frame as a winter/back-up commuter, but it's been so monkeyed around with, that it's not really a mountain bike anymore.

i have a very hard time understanding why anyone who rides 100% pavement would want to commute with big fat knobbies and suspension everyday, unless they're only going really short distances. knobbies and shocks certainly have their proper place in the cycling world, but commuting 20+ miles a day on paved city streets is not that place (winter commuting excepted, obviously, as knobbies can provide a real advantage in snow).

CabezaShok

MTB commuter =peace of mind. Cheap old riggid MTB's are much less of a target for bike thieves here, where roadies and fixies are in hi demand. Also, they can go where roadies cant. i regularly drop off curbs with loaded panniers, and my rims never need truing....the fat tires just soak it up.

Fizzaly

I commute on my actual MTB with knobbies when im going to go for ride in the mountains after work, I for sure prefer the slicks though

orionz06

I rode a good bit on a Cannondale Prophet with everything wound tight and aired up last year. This year I bought a CAAD10 and will NEVER look back. All of the horsing around I could do was not worth it. I can load the bike up and park closer if I wanna drop off of stairs and what not.

cyccommute 

Here's some that aren't citified

Hardtail in winter kit


In summer


My touring/commuting mountain bike


I have yet another mountain bike...an Epic...that I occasionally ride to work. My mountain bikes are mountain bikes and are always ready to be taken off the peg and ridden on dirt. If I want something with smooth tires, I have 4 other bikes to chose from...including this one



But that one is all about style