Andy_K 

When I first got into regular bike commuting I had only one bike and it was nothing special. When I bought a newer, nicer bike, I kept the old one as my dedicated rain bike. Then I noticed that because it rains so much here I was riding the rain bike more than the "nice" bike, so I decided to make the "nice" bike my rain bike.

Since then I've become a dedicated follower of the N+1 rule (suburban levels of garage space + very understanding wife + sufficient disposable income). I ride more now and a lot more of my miles are non-commute, but commuting is still the lion's share. I now have one bike that I don't ride to work because I want to protect its shiny chrome finish. I had a nice carbon road bike that I didn't ride to work for similar reasons. I ended up selling it because I hardly ever rode it. The chrome bike is seeing a lot of miles on the weekends, but once the rains return it will go into hibernation.

Anyway, what I'm saying is that if you should really like your commute bike because you end up riding it an awful lot, but there's nothing wrong with keeping a garage queen that you only take out in ideal conditions as long as you have the space to store it.

RubeRad

Thanks for not saying 'beg the question'...

johngwheeler

This is the nub of my question. I don't think I like my commuting bike very much....at least not compared to my nicer carbon bike. Driving the old SUV to work might be the sensible choice, but the Porshe is a lot more fun (BTW - I don't have either, and I don't drive to work!)

Andy_K 

Yep. Life is too short to ride bikes that you don't like. I think you should try riding the "nice" bike to work for a while, at least when the weather is good, and see how you like that. You may eventually find you want to replace the CrossRip with something that's more fun to ride by still able to carry what you need to carry. Or maybe you can modify the CrossRip in some way to make it more fun.

Gresp15C

I use my best bike, all four of them. My bikes have varying levels of utility. One has fenders, rack, basket, etc. Another is relatively sporty, and a third is an absurd single-speed hipster mobile. I rode the hipster bike today. If I need to transport stuff, or am leaving the house in the rain, then I choose the practical bike. If I build another bike, I'll commute on it, no matter what it is.

Winter is a different story. I have the luxury of space for a dedicated winter (road salt) bike, so I hang up the other bikes for the season.

Andy_K 

Let me expand a bit on the story of my carbon bike and how I came to sell it....

As I said above, I didn't ride the carbon bike (2012 Ridley Excalibur) to work because I wanted to keep it "nice". Primarily I was concerned about having it get banged around on the bike rack. Some days a lot of bikes get locked to the rack and they get jostled around a lot.

I have a "utility" commuter that's pretty nice (2013 Kona Jake), but it's not as fun to ride as a pure road bike. So I decided to build a road bike that I wouldn't mind banging around the bike rack. I got a 2001 LeMond Buenos Aires and built it up with new wheels and a Shimano 105 groupset.



Well, it turns out I overshot a bit. Not only was the LeMond fun to ride, it was more fun than the Ridley. In the year after I built the LeMond, I think I only rode the Ridley once and that was just because I hadn't ridden it in a while. Then I discovered that a lot of really nice vintage bikes are available really inexpensively, and about that same time some things changed at home to open up a lot of space in my garage (sold an old car). So N+1 happened about 5 times within a few months.

The thing is, my concern about the carbon bike getting knocked around the bike rack was really kind of silly. It might have gotten a scuff here and there, but it would have survived. My paranoia paid off for me, because I discovered a whole new category of bikes that I've really liked, but there was no good reason not to ride the plastic wonderbike to work.

At the end of the day, unless you have so many bikes that you can reasonably dedicate one or more to being a "show and shine" bike you should really ride the one you want to ride on any given day. If you're worried about scratching it, grab a screwdriver right now and go out into the garage and scratch it. You'll be glad to have taken down that barrier to your riding your favorite bike and the scratch will eventually stop bothering you.

tjspiel

I have 3 bikes. Technically one of them is my wife's but she's only ridden it a handful of times and probably not once in the last 8 years. So I think by common law it is now mine.

The most expensive bike is the one I use during the winter and because of that gets the most abuse.

Which bike would it upset me the most to have stolen? It's not an easy answer. If my Winter bike were stolen now, it would be the most expensive bike to replace but it would be the least inconvenient to lose since I rarely ride it after March and before December. But it's pretty much the only bike I ride between December and March so I'd hate to have it stolen then.

Maybe back to the spirit of your original question: Is there a bike I avoid commuting on because I'm "saving" it from something, either the risk of damage or being stolen. The only thing that might be true of is the road bike. I really like the tires that I have on it but they're expensive and they wear relatively quickly. I know I'm getting closer to the end of their life. So after commuting with it for several weeks, I'll sometimes quit for that reason. In spite of that, that is the bike I have the most miles on by a large amount.

CrankyOne

I ride whichever is the best for what I need.

Commuting, errands, shopping, dinner, recreation up to maybe 75 miles / day: Workcycles Opafiets (below) or Omafiets (City Bikes | LocalMile)

Hauling stuff or kids: Workcycles Bakfiets (below background)

Training rides on the road or recreation rides over 75 miles: Scott Addict (CF, Dura-Ace, HED wheels).

Off-road: Marin mtn bike.



Scott is definitely the most expensive. It's a great bike for training and fast club rides. Similar to @tjspiel, it'd be the most expensive to replace but it'd also cause the least inconvenience.

For daily use my Opafiets wins hands down. It's overwhelmingly the most comfortable and the most efficient below about 18 MPH. I can ride in any clothes, carry stuff, and I sweat less on it than any of my other bikes.

noglider 

@johngwheeler, take a look at the Commuter Bicycle Pics thread. There is a lot of inspiration and information sharing there. You can get ideas for building a super commuting bike which isn't as snazzy or quick as your road racing bike but is just as much fun as well as practical. It may not have fat tires or even fenders, but it may. Drop bars or flat bars or something else. Light or heavy. You'll be surprised at what will inspire you to try. You can build it cheaply if you have time and patience.

zaxmalloy

I have three bikes currently and am looking for a new primary commuter (decisions, decisions...)

Growing up my Dad would lurch from one used car to another, seemingly buying each one shortly before it's demise and I may be repeating that in my commuter choices.

I'm using a $20 Raleigh C-50 garage sale find as my main ride. I've fixed it up 'enough' that it works reliably and it has good tires. But it really needs fenders and a fix to the skip tooth cogs to be a 'real' commuter and those upgrades would cost 3-4x more than the bike did. Plus its not exactly what you'd call epic - it's utilitarian at best and it's living proof that rust never sleeps.

So if the weather's bad or I just feel a bit Rebelicious I'll take my Specialized Fatboy or on a nice summer day my carbon road bike might be my office chariot. But for now it's me and the purple C-50 that usually get the job done until I find the next. Dad would be proud...

zaxmalloy

Now that is gorgeous

ItsJustMe

No rounding. Leaving aside riding down the driveway and back, and maybe a few hundred feet down the road, after doing maintenance to check everything is working, I have ridden exactly zero inches when not going to work or some other utility cycling thing for probably 20+ years now. Just too many other fun things for me to do to blow hours riding. It's why I commute - it sort of doubles up my time - I would have to drive 35 minutes anyway, so the 90 minutes on the bike is somewhat recovered there, and I also get 90 minutes of cardio and 90 minutes of audiobook listening time.

HardyWeinberg

Same here; I do now have a CF no fender bike that is only for the arid season but I definitely commute on it too.

But my formerly 'nice' steel lugged roadbike has fenders and is my hopefully 3 seasons bike. It definitely rides worse with a rack and pannier so I took the rack off and use a backpack most of the year. But it is great I get to ride it most of the year! But winter it's a cyclocross bike w/ chunky tires, rack and panniers. And fenders and dynamo light. That cyclocross bike was formerly my nice bike. It still is a nice bike. It's lighting needs more than luggage or robust tire needs that dictate the shift between those two.

RubeRad

So those "few hundred feet" must add up to less than 264 ft per 1000 mi, if your stated percentage, at your stated precision, is correct.

Sorry, I have a PhD in math, so technically I think that officially deputizes me as the Math Police...

no motor?

I'm in the minority here, but I still only have 1 bike and that's the one I ride for everything. Well everything except for test rides when I'm working on friends bikes.

InTheRain

My bike that is best for commuting is my touring bike that has been converted to an ebike. In nice weather I enjoy commuting on my carbon fiber road bike. It's difficult to say which is the "best" bike. Depends on the purpose. Both cost a pretty penny and are quality bicycles.

sweeks

"Petitio Principii"
Steve

RubeRad

That begs the question, what does 'petitio principii' mean?

sweeks

"Begging the question" is a logical "fallacy of presumption" when the premisses of an argument presume the conclusion. Also called a "circular" argument; "petitio principii" is the formal name for this fallacy, which I remember vaguely from a course in logic 45 years ago. I thought that was what you were referring to when you said "thanks for not saying 'beg the question' " because that phrase is often used but not in the "correct" sense.
Steve

kingston 

I'm in the beater commuter camp and have been commuting on the same crappy Schwinn beach cruiser that my roommate gave me when we graduated from college in 1992.

baron von trail 

No. I use a commuter, which is my older aluminum frame Cannondale. I leave my cf in the garage and use it only for weekend rides. Someday, I will probably buy a new weekend bike and then use my CF for commuting. But that is probably a few years away.

Reasons for two bikes:

1. Commuter is loaded down with lights, bags, rear splash guard, and wide puncture resistant tires with tread.
2. Commuter sees some pretty crappy roads and weather conditions.
3. Weekender is a stripped down light bike with skinny, light slick tires.
4. Weekender sees only smooth MUP and sunny days.

irwin7638

I don't have a real beater for commuting. I use three different ones at different times in different weather or seasons. Most often I use a Soma Buena Vista Mixte, if I don't need lights I might use Rivendell Sam Hillborne, I'll use the Rivendell Hunqapillar anytime in any weather for any reason. I love 'em too much to leave them in the garage, but I do have a very good lock.

Marc

zacster

My old Trek 7000 (1990) is my commuter, upgraded with XT parts. It has a rack, fenders, dynamo lighting, 3x10 gearing. My CF Kuota Kredo is my road bike, no longer new but still a top-notch bike and I consider it my "best" bike. I have a few other old steel roadies too. The few times I've used my Kuota for riding to the office I've regretted it. First off, needing to carry my stuff on my back makes me uncomfortable, second is how much the messenger bag with the stuff adds to the overall weight, third is wearing Keo shoes and clicking in/out, fourth is how much stop and go there is on my NYC ride and can't really go that fast anyway, fifth is the shoes again, I can't walk into my building in those shoes, change, then go up to my high floor office in my cycling shoes, so I have to carry office shoes too.

My commuter may be a slower bike, but what rush am I in to get to the office anyway? Work is just an interruption to a good bike ride.

Isolation

It depends on the conditions. Nice bike for dry weather and the heavier one with mudguards if wet.

a1penguin

I use my best bike for commuting! Why? It's 22 miles. I have a safe place to park it while at work. 16 of the 22 miles overlaps with some of my weekend non-work rides. I only ride in nice weather. If I had a shorter commute, I might consider riding in rain, but I would rather have a beater bike for bad weather.