I have been using an inexpensive mountain bike for commuting around town. I has survived for 3 years of being used in the rain, sleet, snow, ice, down stairs, up curbs, through gravel, snow, and mud. However, it is thoroughly rusted the front suspension is completely shot, the derailleurs are rusted to the point of no return, and every piece wobbles in its socket. So, once the street sweepers come through I want a new bike to start fresh with that will make my life easier and commutes shorter. I am sick of having to readjust my derailleurs after every snow/rain event just to keep everything running smoothly. I rarely change gears around town, so I have decided on a single speed.

However, I am torn between a road bike and a 29er mountain bike.

I have pros and cons for each and unfortunately I am not financially able to buy one of each at the moment...but then again, that may be fine given the time of year.

Knowing that I have a complete disregard for the well being of my current commuter bike, I need something that can take substantial abuse. Likewise, when I ride my road bike around, everything feels so much closer as my speeds are substantially higher on a light, road efficient bike.

For the summer, I won't have any snow and ice to deal with and the mud will be minimal (I dont want to get covered in mud on my way to work) so I feel like the road bike would be faster. However, what if I decide I dont want to ride around to the ramp and just throw myself down a flight of steps? Can you do that on a road bike? Never been willing to try in on my race bike out of fear of bending some spokes, but I have seen people do some stunts on road bikes online.

With that in mind, I came across the 29er mountain bikes. They are rigid so will be more efficient than my current full suspension bike and have larger tires so should be smoother. They have mountain bike wheels so I am confident that they can take a reasonable set of stairs without bending, and I have absolutely no problem running it through snow, mud, gravel, or whatever else happens to show up on my paths.

I know that the 29er will work for me, but I just love riding my road bike around town. I am just unsure of the durability and ability to handle adverse conditions (I dont take my road bike out in bad weather).

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Have you considered a single speed cyclocross?

maybe a FGFS bike? You'll be able to drop of a flight of stairs, curbs and whatnot and be on a 29er/700 wheel with a geometry closer to a road bike...

That's a good option too! Something like the All City Nature Boy...

Fantom Cross Uno.

Amen and amen. Buy some road tires for summer and use the cross tires for winter and you will have youself the bicycle equivalent of a swiss army knife.

Singletrack on a cross bike sucks. Just saying.

For your purposes though, it really is the best decision. I'd go so far as to buy a separate wheelset and cassette for the crappy days.

when in doubt buy two. I have 4, oh wait I just added another so 5. dam, need to sell something now.

all city dropout

I commuted on a SE Stout for a while. It was a really tough and fun bike. It served me just fine, but I realize that I could be getting around faster. So I have an All-City Big Block on order. I'm hoping it will be the fast, light bike with more aggresive geo that I'm wanting while still being tough enough to handle daily commutes filled with curb hopping, potholes, bumps, uphill mashing, ect...

My SSCX gets a 38T chainring in the winter and for offroading and a 49T in the summer. I have two wheelsets with cogs and freewheels ranging from 15T-20T. One wheelset has CX tires the other has 28mm Conti 4 seasons. I barely ever use it because I have lots of other bikes, LOL, but if I had to sell all my bikes but one, thats the one I'd keep because it can do everything. CX bikes aren't optimal on singletrack, but doable, and still fun, but not necessarily in the same way that a MTB on singletrack is fun.

My advice to the OP would be to buy a bargain SSCX like a Fantom Cross Uno, and spend the money saved on extra drive train parts and extra tires (or even wheels) to maximize the bike's capabilities.

are there any alloy, disc brake, single speed cyclocross bikes jet? with discs being legal now it should be only a matter of time. frameset only would be perfect - really want one.

There used to be a Bianchi SS cross bike with disc brakes, the Bianchi Roger, not sure if its alloy.

The Fantom Cross UNO looks like it might work really well and is priced right within my budget. I didn't notice it being a cross bike on quick search through the site. (my road bike is the Motobecane Sprint)

I am not familiar with different tire widths, but I assume I can just get some road tires and switch out the cross tires that come with it (while using the wheels that come with it) for the upcoming summer months then switch back once it gets snowy?

Thanks for the pointer!

Wash your bike in the winter to remove salt.

For speed in the city, use 700c x 25 or 28 with smooth treads. Cyclocross bikes should be able to take 700c x 32 or bigger. The wider tires will be more comfortable on bad pavement, too. And they won't be that much slower, anyways.

look at what Surly has to offer. The Ksrate Monkey seems like it would fit your needs since it can be a mix of both

A disc brake in the rear isn't as beneficial as a front disc. Just buy whatever cross frame you want and use a disc compatible fork and use a rim brake in the rear.

yes.

This has worked well for me when I had it set as a fixed wheel (it's geared now)

For the price, lowest to highest, I recommend:

Fantom Uno. It's cheap, but you get a lot of the same parts from midpriced SSCX bikes for a lot less. If you just don't have much concern for longevity of the frame, this is the way to go.
All City Nature Boy. This is an amazing beast. Only reason I am not getting one is because I'm buying a Macho Man to race. Otherwise, they're the same bike, sans gears.
Marin Pine Mountain 29er SS. This is just a really sweet ride, imho. Jenson USA has them on sale for $999 right now and, unlike the KM, you get a Rockshox Reba 100 on the front, Avid Juicy 3 hydros, M520 pedals stock, quality BB, crank along with better wheelset. It's a 2009 model, but if I was looking at Karate Monkeys (which I loved, seriously back in the day) - this is far more bang for the buck.

My disclaimer about Surly is that you're already going to be spending at a minimum $1150+tax to get into a LHT or CC. If you want a KM its more. You might find a new-old stock one floating around a shop somewhere with a discount, but after 2009 they stopped installing the Mr. Whirly crank and replaced it with a shoddy alternative. I love the guys at Surly, but there are better options in the same budget with the competition at this price point.

If you want a 29er, splurge on the $999 (if you get a size that works) and get the Pine Mountain. Otherwise, honestly, spend around $850 for the All City Nature Boy and get a sweet SSCX.

yes the roger was alloy but only made for a pretty short time and allmost impossible to find a good used one in my size. gues they where a bit ahead of the time. meybe bianchi plans a reissue?!

discs in the rear are nice too - better modulation and no wearing throu the rim, replacing a disc is so mutch faster then relacing a rim...

on one has a pretty nice and cheap disc cx frame but it's 4130 steel and heavy

This makes no sense.

Which part?

The frame is a non-quality Chinese or Taiwanese manufacturered low budget hunk of metal. It is my assumption that because of the craftsmanship involved, it will not have a long lifetime. If this is wrong, then you're statement would imply that everybody else is just stealing their customers blind.

If you're saying that the parts on the Uno aren't on par with the other mid-priced SSCX bikes, then I'd have to say you're wrong. They appear to be on par with the Masi, Raleigh and even All City's options I can think of off the top of my head.

For some people its a good deal, I don't begrudge anybody. I'm just not going to drink the kool-aid nor call them outright crap. They meet a standard for some. For me, personally, they don't.

I'm at least somewhat sure that the frames are built by Maxway, who makes the frames for just about every major retailer there is. I'd bet that either Masi, Raleigh or All City has frames made there. While it's true they can be spec'ed differently I don't think that they will fail in anyone's lifetime.

True, they are a low budget hunk of metal, but a custom Vanilla is just a high budget hunk of metal.

this is what you just described: