Looking for Ideal Commuter
 

First, hope this is considered the right section.

Im looking for a 'road bike' that has braze ons for pannier racks and clearance for fenders to use as the ideal commuter. My ride is 12 miles each way to work, so would like something zippy, but would like the option of using it also for groceries. Something fast and stable for under $900.. does my ideal commuter exist? or would this be something I'd have to build?

All input is appreciated, thanks

Hi R.Soto, this is the right place for your inquiry. I have used a cyclocross bike in the past to commute and had it outfitted with full fenders and a rack. It was a great commuter. Look for a cyclocross bike such as a Kona Jake or Surly Crosscheck as these bikes have the clearance for fenders and eyelets for racks. You may get lucky and find a used and in great shape cyclocross bike for $900 or less as well. Or build one up out of an old steel touring bike. Good Luck!

You test ride surly Orger you can put disc brakes finders and racks nice bike but it is a little be more than 900 but you buy the frame and build her up.and if you got hills yep buddy no problem there

If buying online is okay for you, I can recommend the Ribble Winter/Audax. One of their stock builds is $836 with Tiagra and including fenders.

This past winter I had to replace the frame of my three-seasons commuter. My requirements were similar to yours, with the addition of, must be aluminum, and must be available as a frame or frameset only.

I bought the 58mm Winter/Audax frame, Dedacciai Black Rain fork, and a Cane Creek headset for $274. Shipping to the US was $80. It took a couple of days before shipping while they installed the headset, then it arrived two days after it was shipped. (They ship Royal Mail Global Priority. When it hits JFK, that translates to Express Mail Overnight, which requires a signature for delivery.)

A friend is a framebuilder, and before building it up, we checked it on his frame alignment table. The front triangle was 0.001" (one one-thousandth of an inch) out of square, and from the head tube to the rear dropouts, it was a half-millimeter off on the drive side. He rated it as well within acceptable tolerances, and especially good for such a cheap frame. Just to be OCD, a couple of passes of a rat tail file through the drive side dropout evened things up.

I moved over all my old components, including the SKS P-35 fenders, and 25mm Continental Grand Prix 4-Seasons tires. (It will fit 28s, but Contis run a smidge undersized, so maybe not everyone's 28s.)

I've been riding it since the end of February. On the road, it rides very well--certainly better than the Y2K Trek 1000 frame it replaced. It doesn't beat me up at all, and it handles bumps and pavement irregularities with aplomb. Yet, the bottom bracket and driveline are stiff and responsive. The bike sprints and climbs as if it's assisted.

Handling-wise, it's well-mannered in traffic. It darts around potholes without fuss. Although the geometry of the frame and fork I chose makes it slightly "low-trail" meaning it strongly prefers to go straight and upright, needing to be held down a bit in corners. This is expected behavior for an Audax bike (Randonneur bike in the US) to compensate for the typical handlebar bag weighting down the front a bit.

The bike's only bad habit, which is something most road frames suffer (as did my old one), is that when I get more than 30-35 pounds of groceries on the back (I've carried 65 pounds on this bike to date) and I get the panniers far enough back so my big feet don't have heel strike, (I wear 45s to 47s depending on the shoe and I run 175mm cranks) the tail sort of wags the dog. With heavier loads I just have to keep a little more weight on the bars, and keep myself smooth. There's no flinging the bike about when loaded.

I've owned a Crosscheck and a Karate Monkey. Mounted my Old Man Mountain racks on both of them for commuting and touring. The 52 cm Crosscheck was a little small in the front (very short head tube) to carry weight up front. It shimmied badly at speed when carrying front panniers. So, not a great choice for any but light touring, but it made a very nice commuter.

I actually like the Karate Monkey (very similar to the Surly Ogre) better as a commuter. I will never buy another bike without disc brakes. Stopping power is one of the biggest difference between the Crosscheck and the Monkey. I also find disc brakes easier than rim brakes to set up and adjust. It's the most comfortable bike I've ever owned and I notice the weight of baggage less on this bike than any other I've ridden. I run mine as a single-speed with comfy 40 mm tires and fenders. It's slow, but works well for me on my 25 mile round trip commute here in hilly Vermont. You could probably find any of these 3 Surlys on Craigslist for well under retail.

Good luck.

I like my crosscheck. I would not describe it as zippy. More like jack of all trades. Dirt trails, fenders, rack and bag, yup. 35 mm tires with fenders are nice.

No such thing as an "Ideal commuter". The attributes that make a certain bike optimal for commuting depend largely on the individual commuter. Since a "typical" commuter will need to carry stuff, a CX, touring bike, or old school non-suspension MTB would make a good base. I'll be getting a track bike this week, and using it one day a week for my five mile, flat commute. Not something I would do every day.

YMMV

Audax or winter trainer style road bikes have long drop caliper brakes (47-57mm) so can have more clearance for tyres up to about 28mm and fenders. Jamis Satellite, Surley pacer and Soma ES are US versions of this style. There are probably some more mainstream aluminium/carbon fork versions with long drop brakes but they escape me.
Disc brakes are useful if you need more clearance or ride in mucky winter conditions.

Trek's new Crossrip is right at the top of your pricepoint, but it does have disc brakes
and a triple crank, for the hilly bits.

The ideal commuter is n+1 commuters.