Considering a Road bike for commuting... good idea?

[Chalo]

"Suzy Jackson" <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Donny Harder Jr." <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Someone in this thread mentioned installing drop bars on a hybrid. Is there a link that suggests
> > how one sizes and chooses the bars? I imagine some modification is in order (brakes, shifters,
> > lights). Thanks.
>
> It's simple enough. Swap bars for bendy ones. Put on proper road bike brake levers (with shifters
> in them if you're of a mind). Buy some real 700C wheels so you can run proper narrow slicks
> (Michelin axial carbon are good IMHO) and throw away that silly mountain bike cranket in favour of
> a real roady one, with 39 and 53 tooth chainwheels, and no sissy "granny" gears.

Umm,... you don't need to do anything with your brakes, wheels, tires, or cranks. Lights? I don't
understand where they enter into it. If you're talking about a handlebar-mounted light, you can just
swap it over.

You will need special brake levers that fit drop bars but work with the brakes you've got (you are
much better off with those than with what passes for brakes on road bikes). That's Dia-Compe model
287 for cantilever brakes or 287-V for linear pull brakes. You'll need to switch to bar-end
shifters, stem shifters, or something improvised. Drop bars have never offered any really
satisfactory way to mount the shift lever(s), which is one reason most of the world's daily riders
don't use them.

If you want to keep your stem, you'll have to choose a drop bar with a
25.4mm ceter section rather than the common-but-wrong 26.0mm diameter. Somehow everything on two
wheels in the entire world uses handlebars in 22.2mm or 25.4mm, except road bikes. Gotta wonder.

After sorting out all the issues, you too can be like the hordes of johnny-come-lately road bike
riders who all sport drop bars but can never be seen riding in the drops! Gotta wonder about
that, too.

Cheers,

Chalo Colina

 

[aeon16]

I used a supermarket style mountain bike for commuting for the past few months. I have just, in the past fortnight, switched to a road bike.

I probably will never ever go back to the MTB again! For road riding at any rate.

A much smoother and yes, faster ride. I've halved my time, and hills are nothing now.

I'm doing 40 ks a day, and more distances on weekends just for fun.

As for the rough situation, I haven't really noticed. If anything, it's a lot LESS rough than the MTB was to ride. I'm forever wary of punctures, but as of yet, nothing.

Do it! Deffinitely!

 

[aeon16]

Or perhaps you've just not seen them ride in the drops?

It would be silly to ride permanently in dropped position, why not give your body a rest and change positions? One of the more effective postions I find, anyway, are to rest up in the nooks at the front, above the drops. Easy brake/gear change, climbing position AND cruising position all in one.

When you're doing long/ish distances a day, you want the most confortable and suitable position, not just the position that looks the 'coolest'. Well, apparently it does.

 

[Luigi De Guzman]

[email protected] (Chalo) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

> After sorting out all the issues, you too can be like the hordes of johnny-come-lately road bike
> riders who all sport drop bars but can never be seen riding in the drops! Gotta wonder about
> that, too.

hey....!

I ride drop bars, but mostly on the hoods. I go to the drops in headwinds, go-fast moments, or just
for the hell of it, occasionally.

I like riding on the hoods in traffic. why?

1) way more comfy than flats, for my wrists

2) still have the brakes handy.

What I wonder about is all those guys who ride in the drops *all* the time--even when they're out of
the saddle. what gives? It's not like they're cranking away a gran fondo, either--a lot of them are
wobbling and not moving particularly fast. OK, so I see a lot of old used road bikes ridden like
this, which suggests to me that people automatically think that because the drops are there, they
should be there all the time...

I dig dropped bars. They let me ride on the tops, behind the hoods, on the hoods, in the drops. I'd
be on the drops more often once this enormous gut of lard ceases to be such a problem.

-Luigi

 

[Chalo]

Tom Sherman <[email protected]> wrote:

> one would expect MTB components and frames to sell for less than the equivalent road bike
> components. This is even more apparent when one compares upright bike prices to the Dark Side,
> where a Cro-Moly frame bike with Deore/Tiagra level components will often sell for 2 to 3 times as
> much as the MTB and road bike equivalents.

You failed to mention the toothpasty, lawn mower quality welds and smashed-flat-&-bolted frame
details. That stuff ain't free, you know. ;-)

Chalo Colina

 

[Bruce Graham]

<<snip>>

> You will need special brake levers that fit drop bars but work with the brakes you've got (you are
> much better off with those than with what passes for brakes on road bikes). That's Dia-Compe model
> 287 for cantilever brakes or 287-V for linear pull brakes. You'll need to switch to bar-end
> shifters, stem shifters, or something improvised. Drop bars have never offered any really
> satisfactory way to mount the shift lever(s), which is one reason most of the world's daily riders
> don't use them.
>
<<snip>>

You can use road STI shifters with existing cantilevers or V brakes. BUT the road shifters pull less
cable and have no adjusters.

It works OK if you swap the brakes for short arm BMX Vbrakes (like Tektro 917A). You may have to
shorten the nose of the cable pipe bend using a grinder ( or attach a washer) to allow you to
release the brakes as the pads need to be adjusted a bit closer to the rim than usual. You also need
to keep your wheel reasonably true to prevent rubbing. Mudguards have to quite close to the tyre,
but still leave room for a 37mm tire on my bike (have 32's fitted now).

If you use cartridge pads you won't have to mess with the cable adjustment - just slip in a new
set of pads.

I have seen people use a little roller to reduce the mechanical advantage of the brake but that
looks a bit clumsy to me. They also cost about the same as a short arm Vbrake. They do provide a
brake adjuster however.

A caveat - I have just changed my touring brakes over to short arm V's from cantis, so I may be
unaware of longer term issues. My initial impressions are extremely good. Much more brake power and
a neater installation.

Bruce Graham

 

[Van Bagnol]

In article <[email protected]>, Rick Onanian <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Thu, 07 Aug 2003 15:44:51 GMT, Dan Musicant <[email protected]> wrote:
> > This fitting is fine but I'm American and converting to Kg and cm I can do, but European shoe
> > size is beyond me. Is there a site that won't require these conversions?
>
> For shoe sizes, look at sizing charts on bike product sites like nashbar and performance.
> Unfortunately, biking shoes are sized that way.
>
> For general conversions, try http://www.isaedmonton.ca/AlbertaDirectory/Technical/ConvertM.htm

A quick check on the inside of my Reebok and Nike shoes shows that both brands are labeled with US,
UK, EUR, and CM sizes.

Van

--
Van Bagnol / v a n at wco dot com / c r l at bagnol dot com ...enjoys - Theatre / Windsurfing /
Skydiving / Mountain Biking ...feels - "Parang lumalakad ako sa loob ng paniginip" ...thinks - "An
Error is Not a Mistake ... Unless You Refuse to Correct It"

 

[reset]

One advantage of a road bike over a MTB or hybrid:

Drop handlebar bikes are easier to carry thru narrow doorways and stairways.

 

[Trg]

Advantage of a MTB over a road bike- smaller frame/wheels and straight bars make it easier to carry
up flights of stairs (especially with a frame pack).

<[email protected]> a écrit dans le message news: [email protected]...
> One advantage of a road bike over a MTB or hybrid:
>
> Drop handlebar bikes are easier to carry thru narrow doorways and stairways.

 

[Steven Scharf]

"Mike Beauchamp" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Hey all, I'm considering purchasing a new bicycle (Maybe $800 CDN total) to replace my nearly 8
> year old Mongoose IBOC Pro mountain bike. I used to use it mainy for offroad but a knee injury
> stopped that, and in the past few years I've used it purely for commuting (10K's to school and
> back, 30-40K rides on weekends, stuff like that).
>
> I'm just wondering if purchasing a road bike would be more appropriate than a mountain bike. I
> most certainly don't want to be one of those kids riding on the side of the road with a fully
> suspended downhill mountain bike with the seat all the way down bouncing up and down on each
> pedal stroke.

I commute on a road bike, but if I were buying a bike strictly for commuting then I'd buy something
like the Trek T300.

Unfortunately it is sold at only one store in all of North America.
"http://bikegallery.com/site/intro.cfm"

If you're in Vancouver then it wouldn't be too much of a drive.

 

[Harpie]

I'd like to add another suggestion, and I hope I'm not repeating someone else (I've been on vacation
for the past week):

You might want to check your local police department for a bike auction. You can sometimes find a
very good road bike for half of its original cost, or even less.

I also would suggest that you carefully examine where you're going to keep your bike at work. Is
there a secured area where only you have the key? A bike locker?

Where I work (at a university) we have had nearly a dozen bicycles stolen this summer, six of them
worth close to $10,000. The bikes were kept in a locked bicycle cage, but the thieves just lifted
the door off its hinges and off they went. The second round of thefts they just blasted through the
door with a cart or other motorized vehicle. The building management responded by forbidding people
from bringing their bikes to work (asshats!). I now keep my bicycle in my office, which brings the
security guards a runnin' but until they provide a safe place for my bike that's the solution.

Good luck. I'd be cautious about spending a lot of money on a bike to ride to work. Thieves can spot
quality a long way off and it's a pain in the rear to lose something you've spent a lot of money on.
I ride a 20-year old trek and have not had any problems (and I use a U-lock). Marianne

"Mike Beauchamp" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks for the help... I think definately trying one out is in order!
>
> Mike http://mikebeauchamp.com