Luisj4055

hello fellow riders of all types,
I've made this thread to gain some knowledge of the road bike world. At 16, I don't have a car yet. I quite possibly will have to commute who work with my bicycle. I current ride a specialized mountain bike but since I will be commuting approximately 4 km every morning I'd like to consider switching to a road bike. I would like some advice on what bikes I should look at and for just commuting to work, how much I should be spending. Thank you and I hope to hear back from someone in the near future.

MRT2

4 km is not very far. Unless you are talking about extreme hills, you should be able to do that with just about any bike, be it a road bike, hybrid, mountain bike, cruiser, or a single speed.

CafeVelo

If you don't plan to keep using it after you do start driving, it's hard to justify the cost of a commuter. A good commuting road bike is easily more than $1000, probably more once you've outfitted it properly. It wouldn't make sense to dump that kind of cash if you're going to drop it when you can drive.

If you're interested in buying one anyway, go to your lbs, and talk to the people there. You should look at entry level road bikes, and be sure to budget about $200-$300 for lights, luggage and accessories.

seymour1910

Give us more info. Do you want to do more riding other than your commute to work? Do you think you would want a race bike, or a more relaxed road bike? What is your budget? Do you already have some bike shops in mind? As MRT2 said, that is a short commute and a hybrid would be just fine, but a road bike will not hurt.

AlmostTrick

I agree that at 4 km any bike will work. A Specialized MTB is a good quality bike. If it were me I'd get some smooth road style tires for it and maybe fenders and ride that. No sense spending more unless you have money to burn.

B1KE

Stick with the mountain bike if it's only 4km, you want see too drastic of a speed increase over a 4km ride and the mountain bike will be more comfortable overall so you'll have plenty of time to productive at work.

PiLigand

I'm sure we have different ideas of good, but...
I got an old steel bike at a yard sale for $20. Another 20 in lights and it was set to go. I've been recommending craigslist in the $100 range for years for commuters. I didn't spend more than $1000 in fact on several real road bikes.
... Just where are you commuting?

OP, I defer, because my cummute isn't long, but an old road bike should be cheap, and worth taking to school in your future. Check out craigslist in the $100-$200 range maybe?

CafeVelo

Road bike: $800+ new
Rack: $50
Luggage:$50
Lights that mean something:$100+/ set
Helmet: $50

That's $1050 if you do it cheaply new. Used is a different story but OP doesn't sound like someone who knows what to look for used. Even then it's probably $500 at least.

RoadGuy

Where are you located? If you state your location, people can look on your local Craigslist and made some recommedations on a good used bike. You should be able to find a decent used road bike for $200 or less (and less if you are willing to do some work). I bought four Trek road bikes last year, and didn't pay more then $100 for any of them except a Trek 2300 Carbon Composite bike that I traded for.

How tall are you? What's your bicycle inseam (wearing shoes, slide a hardback book up between your legs to the top and tight, then measure from the floor to the top of the book)?

You do not have to pay $1000 for a bike to ride on the road.

Shuffleman

+1. This would be the least expensive route and makes total sense.