I am going to be biking to work, biking to one university and doing a 5 mile (round trip, for now. Increase mileage when I get used to it) trek to another university (UTD). Total weekly mileage is going to be around 55 miles (until I start increasing my distance to UTD).
I am trying to choose between a Specialized Rock Hopper (mountain, obviously) or a Trek 1.1 (road bike). This will be my first bike purchase, so I’m not wanting to spend more than $650 on the bike. I live in Texas (DFW area) so there aren’t (to my knowledge and according to my clients that do trail riding) too many trails in the area that are less than 30-40 minutes away. I would love to get a trail bike, but between my wife, school, lifting, climbing, and work I don’t know if I can squeeze any time for trail riding.
Are trail bikes good for commuting, or should I stick with a road bike for the next 3 years until I can free up more time (done with school, new job hopefully)?
Also, would any of y’all recommend Anatrop for use in a camelpak while doing all my riding? (The goal for UTD is to get up to 20-30 miles per trip there), or just stick to water and slam down some protein/carbs after I arrive?
My trail bike is my prized posession, but I wouldn’t want to commute on it.
If you’re just using it for transportation, I would look at a Specialized Sirrus. It’s my second set of wheels when I just need to get somewhere… fast. The drop bars of a road bike never appealed to me, so this was the perfect blend of comfort and mobility.
Here in Toronto, bike theft is a huge issue. For commuting purposes, especially if you are going to be parking outside, everyone here gets a used bike. If theft is an issue in your community also, I would suggest you get a used road bike. Faster, simpler looking, and less likely to be stolen.
I’d second the recommendation to get a flat bar bike for commuting. Also, having ridden in Atlanta in the middle of the summer, being able to put a rack on the back of the bike and get all your stuff off your back is really nice. Messenger bags and backpacks will leave a huge pool of sweat on your back when its hot and humid out.
My experience with putting anything other than water in camelbaks is that, unless you are obsessive about cleaning them out everey day they pretty quickly grow funk.
I asked my husband, who is a competitive mountain biker who also trains on road bikes, for his opinion. We’re in Austin, btw, & he’s in Dallas quite a bit. Sooo…
He says he wouldn’t get the road bike, because of traveling on rough patches, road holes, etc., the bike would take a bit of a beating. He said he’d get the Rockhopper (which was his first “real” bike, incidentally) and put on low rolling resistance tires (“small knobbies”).
He also said never put anything but water in a camelbak, the added sugars will quickly turn rancid in the tubes, etc.
I Like my Specialized Sirrus . I rigged it up for touring last summer and did about an 800 mile ride. It is a tuff bike for what you get . However I don’t like it for commuting as it’s tires are prone to flats on rough roads. I would second Miss Parker’s husband. Go with the mountain bike and put some mini knobbies or some thick slicks on it.
He says he wouldn’t get the road bike, because of traveling on rough patches, road holes, etc., the bike would take a bit of a beating. He said he’d get the Rockhopper (which was his first “real” bike, incidentally) and put on low rolling resistance tires (“small knobbies”).
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I was talking to a coworker a few years ago and he advised against a road bike as well, he said the thin tires were always going flat because you have to ride on the side of the road, besides with a mountain bike you can cut through gravel, fields, up/down curbs etc.
[quote]Miss Parker wrote:
He says he wouldn’t get the road bike, because of traveling on rough patches, road holes, etc., the bike would take a bit of a beating. He said he’d get the Rockhopper (which was his first “real” bike, incidentally) and put on low rolling resistance tires (“small knobbies”).
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Exactly what I was going to say. My primary form of transportation until I got out of college was a mountain bike.
A mountain bike will be much more flexible and for $650 you should be able to get a good, fairly lightweight one. Put some street friendly tires on it you’ll be fine. A mountain bike will be better able to handle gravel, potholes, bad sidewalks, dodging pedestrians, etc.
Got a couple of friends that work at a bike shop, so i hear this shit all the time.
I have a Trek 1.2 myself and an older Gary Fisher X-Caliber (mountain).
Agree with all the comments on camelbaks, hear that problem alot.
Would advise maybe taking a good look at the roads you plan on traveling, because thats a pretty long commute, and in my opinion I would prefer to be on a roadbike for that. My 1.2 can be kind of hairy sometimes, but usually not a problem and these are ohio roads. Never fallen or gotten a flat personally. If you think the roads/trail youre traveling will be too dodgy for a roadbike I would reccomend a hybrid, preferably maybe even a tricross if you can afford one (used). I dont really care for the rock hopper idea but Ive seen it done a couple times.
At most, I’ll start off riding 20-25 miles a day, broken up into 2/3 chunks. I would like to work up to 50 or so a day, but that won’t be for a while (I’ve got 2.5 years left at UTD, so I’m in no rush to hit that mileage).
A good friend of mine has been riding for years, and we’re going to go look at bikes on Monday. He’s echoed the sentiment of getting a hybrid or a mountain bike and putting different tires on it so I can have the flexibility or trail riding if I want it.
I would like to have both kinds of bikes eventually (as I learn more about riding and get my mileage up).
I definitely appreciate the model suggestions as that gives me (and my friend) some more ideas to work with.
@Null-I’ll definitely be getting some lights for my bike. I’ll be riding home at night from work.
To clarify, the 55 miles is my estimated weekly totals for now. At most, I’ll be doing 15-20 miles a day. Once I get used to riding, I’ll slowly work my mileage up.
I’d eventually like to have both a road bike and a MTB, but don’t know which to start with.
I am going to look at bikes again on Monday with a friend who’s been riding for years. He has echoed the idea of doing the MTB with more road friendly tires so I can swap 'em out if I want to try my hand at trail riding, but he’s also thinking about hybrids or a straight road bike (he’s a fan of their efficiency at longer rides, which I’ll be doing eventually).
@ Null-If by lights, you mean a head/tail light, that’s is a definite since I’ll be riding home from work at night.
For everyone else, please keep the suggestions (specific models, or ways to make a MTB more commuter friendly, or a road bike more resilient) coming. I’m going to get my buddy to take a look at the thread before we go look at bikes in case y’all have mentioned something he hasn’t thought of.