Since the weather has improved, I decided to try out my road bike for a commute as it has been a long time since I tried it. I have been using my special build lightweight MTB setup for commuting for a long time now and since I'm so used to that one I thought I'd compare the road bike. It is somewhat lighter as it's not dressed up with fenders, lights and rack etc. I put on a new set of clipless pedals so I could use the same shoes and a new raised stem and adjusted the handlebars to be even with the saddle.

It felt a little lighter and faster but really lacked the gearing for all the hills I have. I found it to be comfortable enough but not nearly as comfy as the MTB. The narrower drop bars made the steering jittery in comparison to ergon bars. All the broken pavement and cracks right now made it a rough ride with the narrower tires but it handled it ok. It is a lugged steel cro-mo frame so it rides way better than alluminum. It was more enjoyable than I remembered but not the ride of a custom bike. My commute time was almost exactly the same depending on how many red lights I hit. My boss has a new alluminum road bike and that has a really rough ride in comparison.

Conclusion: A custom built bike that you personalize can give you a much better experience than anything you get from a store in most cases. But its alot of work and time consuming to get it right and more expensive. It was worth it for me because I'm a real fanatic about setup. I am thinking of doing some more upgrades on my road bike to make it more enjoyable. Does anyone know if a cyclocross bike has gearing similar to a mtb? I need the gears for hills.

There is no standard for cyclocross gearing -- they often come with a narrower range since you're likely to run up short steep hills, and you're not likely to reach the same top speeds as on the road. If your road bike has a standard double right now, a compact would help but it sounds like you might still prefer your regular commuter.

Everyone has a different commute. I have a few pretty long stretches of road that is wide open for 2-3 miles, so I can just sit in the drops and power on. Same commute on the MTB, I'm out of gear before I run out of leg.

considering you struggled with road gearing i don't think your post even qualified for the "my commute time was the same" straw man. besides, i don't know anyone who commutes modest distances on a road bike because they think that they will get from point A to B substantially faster. its about comfort, precision gearing, and the sheer effing joy of going 25+ mph between signals.

I agree that switching to a compact double is probably the quickest path to lower gearing on a road bike, - or you could get an aluminum road bike which would be lighter and easier to get up the hills.

I agree w/ you, droy. I have a nice old steel Univega road bike, an Origin8 cyclo/monster cross bike, upright city bike, and a SS to choose from. I hop on my converted mtn bike about 80% of the time. It has been custom built from frame up, fits me like a glove, and handles everything I throw at it around town. Nothing like custom cut handlebars and steerer tube, steel forks, gearing, tires, saddle, grips, etc....It has such a broad gearing range (28/38/48 and 11-30 9spd rear) and just excels at getting up and down our hills, pulling my trailers, flying across bad roads, granite paths, dirt trails, etc....and with Schwalbe Big Apples and unloaded, my old mtn bike flies when up to speed (48 front, 11 rear). Yes, I can spin it out going downhill, but at a pretty flippin good clip while more or less ignoring the road surface. Can surprise a lot of roadies on the bike routes w/ this machine, particularly the weekend warrior and rec riders. And I am sure that it isn't beautiful, hip, or cool. Oh, well. Anyway, my $.02.

I am not sure that my old school steel road bike is any faster because of tire/terrain limitations. Road bike is better for long, fast rides on the open road or a fast, unloaded pub run around town, about it. And it is fun to ride in its own way w/ drop bars, old school geometry, friction shifting, classic road rings and tight gear spacing in the rear. Nice to have choices. Cyclocross bike is right in between the two. Both the cyclocross and the converted mtn bike are at home in the gravel, granite, rails to trails, etc.

Anyway, Origin8 CX700 monstercross is a nice ride as well. Very versatile.
Back to gearing. Played around w/ gearing on this one quite a bit.
One option is compact crank/rings up front, 34/50. Gives you some lower gearing.

If you aren't worried about looking good, can also run a triple w/ touring gearing, 28/38/48 or 24/36/48. Pretty versatile when combined w/ 11-30 rear.

Currently running a double on my CX700, 38/50 for max top end and a hard to find 11-36 9spd rear cassette. The jumps are a little large, but not too bad. It is spaced tighter in the middle of the cassette, w/ bigger jumps for the granny, 36, and the high gear, 11. I need the low granny to pull my kids' Chariot trailer on some of our hills. Works just fine, but not quite as elegant as I might like.
Also, make sure your hub can stand the torque of a 36 tooth cog on the rear...........could possibly be an issue, particularly on some road hubs.

reminds me when I switched from my roadified hybrid w/triple to a legit road bike (older) with a double. I also didn't have the gearing I was used to. but I took it as a challenge to re-conquer those hills (which was very satisfying when I did)

when the weather allows, i always prefer to commute on my road bike vs. my hybrid or folder.

it's not just that it's a little bit faster than my other bikes, it's also just a pure joy to ride such a finely crafted machine.

but when the weather or versatility dictate that i ride one of my other steeds, they're beautifully suited to those tasks.

+1 and I often commute with a messenger bag with some clothes in it, and feel like extending my commute with a spirited ride, which I'm not going to get out of a mtb with bags.

I used to commute on my folder since it folded up small for the Metro train I take for 11 miles each way each day. But then two things happened:
1. Los Angeles Metro made "bike cars" by taking out four sets of seats in some cars.
2. One morning my folder flatted (well, really, had a blow-out) as I rolled it down the driveway at the start of my commute.

So . . . I grabbed my road bike as "emergency" commuter but I liked it so much better than the folder, just for riding position mostly, that I've never gone back. In the morning I have no trouble getting my bike in a bike-car on the train, in the afternoon sometimes a bit of a hassle, but totally worth it.

My road bike is an old ('98) GT Edge, steel, with compact double in front and 11-26 in the back; nothing fancy at all, but fine for my relatively flat commute.

Rick / OCRR

I agree the road bike is more for the open road and a mtb more for mountainous country even if its paved. I will use it some more as I always have in the past just maybe not for commuting. I just got spoiled riding the personalized custom built one like AusTexMurf mentions he did with some of his. I will fiddle around some more with it just because its fun.

A road bike (CX or touring for example) can be geared as low as you want.
A hybrid can be geared as high as a road bike - just depends on the crankset up front.
Some hybrids and mtbs have CF frames and weigh less than some road bikes.
Some road bikes have CF frames and lightweight components and weigh less than some hybrids and mtbs.
A 700 series rim on a 29er or anything except a performance hybrid will take fat, medium and skinny tires.
A 700 series rim on a road bike (with the exception of CX and touring frames) are extremely limited in tire size - usually 28mm is stretching things.
The bars on hybrids and road bikes and mtbs can be adjusted for a variety of heights and riding positions.

So ultimately the differences between the bikes may be more related to how the bike is set up and how much money you spend that the kind of bike it is.

There are seven sets of railroad tracks on my commute - several at angles that make crossing then in traffic in the rain kinda risky. Tire size is really what determines what I enjoy commuting on most myself - as in FAT.

I've commuted on my carbon road bike, my steel classic road bike, and two different Trek bonded aluminum MTBs, both converted to commuting use with rack, lights and slicks. It takes me an hour to commute on my MTB, it takes 59 minutes to commute on either road bike, it takes 55 minutes to commute by subway. In NYC there is no advantage to a road bike if you don't have long stretches of open road, and guess how much open road there is in NYC? Like none.

What do I usually use? My Trek 7000 MTB, now with fenders. I only wish I had a road bike when I get back to Prospect Park and want to do a few extra laps.

That sounds like very logical reasoning. I have some open road but its so hilly that my road bike gave me no advantage in commute time. Not that I'm in a hurry to get to work or anything. I just like improving efficiency for the fun of it. I need to have a mix of comfort and performance so the MTB(hardtail/rigid fork) set up as a commuter with fenders, lights, rack,etc has always been my choice. Alot of people here always recommend road bikes strictly just because in general they can be faster because of the lighter weight, bigger wheels and narrower tires or just because its what they have and don't need to try anything else.

That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Maybe your road bike doesn't have proper gears but I can't imagine there is any better than a road bike to attack hills and descend and corner at high speed.

Well, not having proper gearing is a pretty good reason not to use a road bike on hills, and most road bikes don't have good gears for hills. They are good for fast downhills, but that only really works if there is not much traffic.

I run a compact double up front and an 11-26 cassette on my road bike. Never once wished I had lower gearing (including climbs in the north Georgia mountains), and it spins out at about 45mph on downhills, so the range is great. A road bike is just fine for hills, but it is what it is, a bike designed for performance and a fit rider. If you need lower gearing, find a road bike with a triple up front, or a touring bike, but don't blame the bike if the rider chose his steed poorly.

I mean, when was the last time you heard of anyone using a road bike on HILLS? My touring bike has a granny gear and a wide range cassette, I think it's 48-38-28, with a 14-26 freewheel. It can gear down to something preposterous. I commute on it pretty often, it's great with bags, and taller gearing than most any mtb for when I'm cruising in the flats, and if I need to tackle any incline, I've got a pretty wide range there too.

Leaving touring bikes aside for the moment, most entry level road bikes either come with a triple as standard or as an option. The gearing is plenty adequate for most hills as long as you're on a paved road. Road bikes not geared low enough for rock gardens, climbing over logs, or riding through sand and mud, - that's what off road bikes are for.

Higher end roads bikes might be geared too high for somebody who is not used to riding a lot of hills or maybe aren't as young as they used to be. There are compact cranks for those folks or maybe even just a cassette with a wider range.

I guess I am using the wrong type of bike for my hill repeats and training rides.

Triple!

This is my road bike, for which I chose each and every part:



It's an abomination to the guys in the "Hot 'R Not" thread over in the road forum, but it does exactly what I want.

Would it be sufficient to just get a new cassette with a lower low gear? Shimano short cage RD's are okay to 27t, even a few more if you adjust the B screw and don't cross chain.

Whats not to like????
Did they just turn their noses up cause the stem isn't slammed and its not red??

WOW!!!! I wanna see your commute!!!!

That and the triple crankset. It's a tough crowd over there.