Radiohead84

Hey I am in college. I am buying my first road bike and was wondering if you think it is wise to use it as a commute to class as well. I am going to get a Bianchi Brava and dont want it to get beat up or stolen.

aballas

depends on where you go to college...I have hidden places where I lock my bike up...(not in the racks)...usually inside the building I'm having class in at the time...

Jonathan Drake

Thta sounds about right, but I'm curious if Radiohead84 is only planning on using hios bike to commute, or does he want to race on it too?

Retro Grouch 

Nope. I don't think that riding your "good" bike to class is smart at all. That's what garage sale bikes are for.

the beef

I like the Bianchi Brava. Steel, fender/rack eyelets, double-butted frame. If you're talking about the 2006 or 2007 model, I say go for it! The 2005 models and older use cheap threaded headsets, which I really don't like. They're a pain in the effin' ass to keep secure.

I commuted on one for about six months. Locked it up with a beefy U-lock / cable combo, never had too much trouble. Of course, it helped that I parked next to some guy's Bianchi EV3 every day.. (who the hell commutes on an EV3?!)

Remember to buy one in celeste.

t4mv

+1 Go to the campus police auction for impounded/abondoned bikes, get something crappy (read cheap), fix it up, and use it for your classes. You're asking for it if you take your good bike to campus and classes.

3MTA3

^^ yes.

aballas

I should also add that I work in a lab where my supervisor lets me store my bike in her office too...

huytheskigod

I commute to our university on a good bike. I then lock it up in my office. I have a crappy dumpster bike I leave on campus to get around. Short answer: don't use your good bike.

crd15

I just bought a road bike so i could join the Ga southern team but i would never ride it to class... I use an old GT bmx bike to go to class. Besides, the bike racks can do a number on your rims if they get knocked over. At night the bike racks look like graveyards with all the missing tires, seats, bent rims, and flat tires. Definitly go with the cheaper walmart bike to get to class

rlodewell

I work at the University of GA and every year there are a few bikes in the racks that slowly are devoured by various miscreants. First, the front tires goes, and you can't ride it home, so you leave it, take the bus, and the next morning the saddle's gone and the rear wheel goes soon after that.

I'd strongly advise you not ride your good bike to school.

adun111

If you're only leaving it during class, I'd say it was ok. At most, it's by itself for an hour or so during the middle of the day. Of course, I'm talking something that wasn't race worthy. Tough bikes (cyclo-cross and whatnot) should be ok to survive the racks.

If you get lazy one day and leave it overnight (maybe you walked a girl home or something), you'll be sorry the next morning.

z415

I go to college also and I've seen people ride their good bikes to class and such, but then they don't leave it over night outside. I ride my "good" bikes to campus, but at night when I am in the apartment, the bike is there with me. If you live on campus, well that might be a prob.

I prefer my mtb for class commuting. I tend to hit people less on it.

GatorFL

I wouldn't even lock a nice bike up outside class for an hour in a crowded spot. People are klutzes. I had my Pista locked up for a few hours one day and came back to my pedal limping off the crank. Turns out the threads of the crank were stripped right out from somebody running into it. It takes a helluva lot of force to strip Cro-moly threads. I've been riding my full carbon Ridley to class the last few weeks (not leaving it outside, obviously) waiting for the new crank arm to come in. When I get my Bianchi working again, I'll be locking it up someplace more remote.

huerro

If you like riding that bike, ride it to school and make sure it's insured and out of the rain. It's only a bike and it's an easily replaced one at that.


The much more important question is what you want to do with it. If you are planning on running clipless pedals, do you mind carrying a change of shoes to school everyday? If you have to carry a computer and books, would you rather have a rack and pannier (it's quite nice for commuting)? Do you plan to ride in the rain (you might think about fenders)?

If the answer to any of those is YES and especially if that's the answer to more than one,
I would highly recommend a cheap old beater.

Godwin

If you have a safe place to keep it, like your own office or something then get a good one to ride to school and a very good lock in any case. Otherwise, if you like them like I do, use it as an excuse to own a vintage racer and still buy a very good lock (I'd reccommend the bulldog).

nitropowered

If its your only bike, I'd lock it up inside.

I would never lock up my race bike outside unless its a quick in and out. I have a beater (to my standards, probably pretty good to other people) that I commute/lockup outside.

Dahon.Steve

Here's what to do.

Buy a cheap, old girls bike and paint it pink. Put a basket on the front with a picture of Barbie pasted on top for everyone to see. Lock it to that rack with the Kryptonite New York Chain or New York 3000. Your bike is safe because NO guy would be caught dead on that pink bike!

Trust me, you will become well known around campus as the guy who rides a pink girls bike to school. You will become a topic of discussion and that bike will be your ticket in meeting other girls. Why? They will ALL want a ride on your bike!

I envy you.

Radiohead84

Well i have a bike but its a mtb and its REALLY REALLY ****ty..not fun to ride at all. I got this new brava so i could get around places, excerise, do some rides, ride to work, and ride to maybe the store once and a while.

is this bike not good for that?

Quijibo187

That will deter thieves better than any lock on the market.

Hambone

75% of the delivery guys in NYC seem to ride expenive bikes* that I have to imagine were once the property of college students who thought a 50 minute class was short enough for their nice bike to be safe outside.

Build a single speed. Paint it flat pink. It'll be yours until you graduate.





* Although they are mostly MTBs

Radiohead84

Well I am on a small budget here and i want a road bike to do rides and exercise on....so this what my choice...i dont want to buy another bike for everyday use.

dur4ce

I ride a Cannondale CAAD7, and the only time I will ride it to campus is when I am going to my research lab first thing. Its on the roof of a 5 story building, to which <10 daily have access. Even then I use my U-lock to secure it. There is NO other place on campus that I would risk my bike being out of my sight, and I go to UC Irvine, in the FBI's safest city in America (a couple years ago).

huerro

I'll say it again:

Ride your bike to school. Love it. Have fun on it. Just make sure you lock it up and have it insured (on your renters insurance/through the lock/whatever).

Think about switching out your quick release skewers for bolt on skewers.

Lots of people here are so anal about their bikes that they are willing to change their flavor of gatorade to match their paint job. They think the baby Jesus cries every time a piece of carbon gets scratched. They ask a world full of strangers if it's ok for the seat and bar tape to be different colors.

That doesn't sound like you, so take their advice for what it's worth. Your bike will get scratched. Your paint may chip. Your bike could get stolen. Life is full of risks. You've got a new bike. Now, go ride the hell out of it.

EDIT: Also, learn how to lock it up safely!!! Read this ...or this.

c64

a ***tty MTB isn't bad for a commuter. It's probably better (IMHO), because it can handle a lot more road debris and is less likely to be stolen.

I'm assuming what makes that bike ***ty is the knobby tires. Buy yourself a set of Conti TravelContact or CityContact tires, learn about bike fit, keep the chain lubed, and you'll be crusin with all the speed you need.. With far less flats and maintainance costs (those tires last far longer than any 700c's I've had).

You can still have the Brava for non-commuting. You'll find that more fun.