Cycle or drive to work

[Robert060379]

I had to cycle to work 30 miles each way due to a short ban from driving. Now if my journey is less than 30 miles I ride my bike instead of driving whatever the weather. On most occaisions cycling is quicker than driving anyway. I would never go road bike or hybrid round here due to the piss poor state of the roads and have a full suspension ATB with cut slick tyres for local stuff (one of my favorite short cuts involves jumping over a ten foot gap) and a recumbent for longer journeys. Got the 30 mile commute down to an hour and twelve minutes on the ATB and fifty six minutes on the recumbent. It's an between fifty one minute or hour and twenty minutes drive depending on traffic.

[macp]

Deluded said:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FUJI-NEVADA-3-0-GENTS-MOUNTA...

Get some road slicks on that and it will be spot on. Pretty much the bike I have except that has disks all round where as mine came with v-brakes (mines a 4.0). I've converted mine to disk on the rear but kept the front as Vs. Nice and lightweight and good gearing for offroad and onroad with a nice long top gear for fast cruising.

edit -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FUJI-ABSOLUTE-LX-GENTS-HYBRI...

spotted that too from the same seller. Might be better for you as it comes ready for the road and is fixed front suspension.

The bikes in places like Halfords are only as good as the numpty that built it. If you insist on buying from a shop, get it from a proper independent retailer. Might be a bit more expensive but will ultimately be a better bike.

Edited by Deluded on Sunday 16th May 15:21

Superb bikes and cracking prices too

Cheers

[Merlot]

ewenm said:

Merlot said:

I'm tempted to cycle, but my route includes a 1:10 hill a mile long which would kill me!

Or get you fit.

Hmm. True enough.

[t84]

I'm 4.7 miles from work, getting a £1000 road bike from the Ride2Work scheme.

Overkill, schmoverkill!

[AnotherClarkey]

Merlot said:

ewenm said:

Merlot said:

I'm tempted to cycle, but my route includes a 1:10 hill a mile long which would kill me!

Or get you fit.

Hmm. True enough.

Of course you could also push the bike up the hill - I have never been one to discount walking when being on the bike is the less pleasant option.

[marcosgt]

I live 25 miles+ from work, so (for me) that's too far to cycle, but when I live 5 miles away in Germany I used to love cycling to work.

However, 90%+ of the route was on dedicated cycle paths or mixed pedestrian/cycle paths which did make it much more pleasant than battling with UK A road or town centre traffic, so I'm not sure I'd be so enthusiastic here.

Got a broken leg at the moment, so neither cycling nor driving is currently possible - even walking's a bit of a challenge...

M.

[bazking69]

Once in a blue moon I might risk my life and cycle to work!

What does concern me is having a pushbike worth more than my car. Very unPH!

[RB Will]

I have been riding to work most days for a couple of years now. I bought a Kona MTB off a mate for £50 and it has now done over 3200miles combined business and pleasure use. It has gone through 2 sets of brake pads 3 inner tubes and a chain. Even survived when dosy bint in a CRV pulled out on me and I left an RB Will shaped dent in her rear drivers side door.

If you do it just make sure its a route you know well and if you can try to stick to quieter roads, it is bloody dangerous out there.

[Parrot of Doom]

heebeegeetee said:

Yes I tried it once, and when I discovered how car drivers treat cyclists i gave up after 2 days and got back in my car and clogged the roads up along with everyone else.

Having said that, i have changed jobs and i only work 2.9 miles from home and would like to cycle for the exercise, and i think i've managed to find a route (albeit a bit longer) that takes in quiet roads and a park.

So I might give it another go.

Seriously, why not just walk? 3 miles is nothing on foot, and you'll get more time to think about...well, whatever really.

[darkyoung1000]

I do about 8 miles each way (for fun - it's only 2 miles door to door) and depending on what you're route is like, I'd say that you're more likely to make decent progress on a road bike than on a mountain bike. Even top end full carbon road bikes on skinny tyres can cope with the odd rough stuff (Strada Bianchi in the current Giro D'Italia is a good example)!

You're also more likely to find a 'cheap' steel framed road bike which is perfectly servicable on Freecycle/small ads/local tip/cycle rescue place. My wife's current commuter was rescued from the local tip, new tyres, a tweak to the brakes and good to go! That way if it turns out you hate it, you haven't lost anything.

Cheers,
Tom

[BlueEyedBoy]

If you cycle 4 miles at a steady pace then no need for a shower. Just get out and do some training before you start. Get a cheap, basic (less to go wrong) good quality mountain bike and stick some road tyres on it (make it less work for you, or just keep the MTB tyres if you fancy more leg work).

All you need to worry about are a set of lights and a pair of light weight waterproof trousers and jacket. Also wear a helmet as it actually keeps your hair from developing that wind swept look, and in all but the heaviest of rain, will keep your hair pretty dry.

If you are worried about your initial outlay, maybe get a loan for the first year, as come year 2 it will be free. I think you should be good all in for around £300.

[djt100]

Get a second hand bike, but not a Racer, get a City bike ( i think thats what they are called), Like a racer but with bigger tyres on and mointain bike riding position, much more comfy and easier to ride if you've not been on one in a while.

Look on guntree for 2nd hand ones, I got mine Gary Fisher for £200 second hand, £900 new...just got to be quick

[Highway Star]

darkyoung1000 said:

Strada Bianchi in the current Giro D'Italia is a good example)!

O/T I know, but that stage was f*cking epic.

[Chris71]

macp said:

SWMBO and I need a car each no doubt about it but I started to think maybe I should get a cycle and a car within my meagre 1200 quid budget.Its only about 4mls to work and I am becoming more rotund as I get into my early 40`s.I know I can do that no prob on something fast and light so thinking of a road bike maybe like a Claud Butler Echelon but we are looking at a minimum of 500 quid for a relatively decent road bike.Means the car budget is slashed to around 700 though and there are no feckin showers in our building.

Anybody else doing this or had similar thoughts.

Is it going to be your only car? £700 doesn't give you a huge amount of choice in 'PH' type machinery and something into four figures would open up a few more options on the car side. That said, you can get secondhand bikes virtually for free and you don't need much for a four mile trip to work if you're happy to take your time.

Also, what's your commute like? I reckon cycling makes most sense in suburbia - where cars will be boring and uneconomical, but there's still enough space for you to get round on a bike without having to filter in and out of traffic constantly.

As for general observations on cycling, go for it! Four miles is a nice distance - far enough to start to give you a bit of a workout, but not far enough to knacker any vaguely healthy individual. Outside of peak summer you could maybe even get away with it without washing or changing if you pace yourself. What I'd recommend, however, is to leave some smart clothes at work and some cycling kit to ride in (you can wear normal stuff - tracksuit, shorts or whatever over the top of the usual Lycra ensemble so you don't look like a lentilist...) and some baby wipes at work. Nip into the gents when you get in and clean up with the baby wipes, the sink if you need to, and a shed load of deoderant, then put the work clothes on. It's fine once you get into a routine.

Cold weather isn't really an issue, you just dress for it. Wet weather isn't too bad in terms of clothing, but rain getting in your eyes - particularly if it's hot and you're also sweating - can be really unpleasant. Personally I ride in if it looks reasonably dry and I'll take the car if there's a significant chance of heavy rain or snow. Even in the UK that leaves you cycling for the vast majority of the time.

Lastly, if you're at all into cycling, it becomes addictive. On quieter roads you can push yourself and your bike in ways you'd never be able to interact with a car in typical 30mph-limit suburbia. You can actually get to the stage where you look forward to commuting. Plus, the workout is good for fitness and a great stress buster that'll help you unwind.

Edited by Chris71 on Monday 17th May 13:22

[macp]

Thanks for all the suggestions I think a 2nd hand road bike is the way to go.Have got my eye on a couple of decent looking Specialized Allez.

Walking is out as far as I am concerned as I live in the country and the main road out is NSL without footpaths or anything like that.On a pushbike I can do it in about 40mins walking would take considerably longer I assume.

[Galsia]

I'm considering cycling to work because fuel is getting expensive plus I don't really live far enough from work for my car to get warmed up properly.

Problem is though, my present bike is rubbish. It weighs a ton and I can't even cycle a mile on it without getting knackered.

I'm thinking of getting this one on the cycle to work scheme:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/fitness-2-54-57-6956...

Does this look like a good bike? It will cost me about £230 under the scheme.

Are road bikes much easier than mountain bikes to make good road progress on?

[Amateurish]

macp said:

Walking is out as far as I am concerned as I live in the country and the main road out is NSL without footpaths or anything like that.On a pushbike I can do it in about 40mins walking would take considerably longer I assume.

You should be able to do it in 15 min on a MTB, probably even quicker on a road bike.

4 miles will be a breeze for you, especially after you've been doing it daily for a couple of weeks.

[tylerama]

If you have the option, do it. I work 34 miles away and I so wish there was another alternative to driving EVERY day.

[macp]

Amateurish said:

macp said:

Walking is out as far as I am concerned as I live in the country and the main road out is NSL without footpaths or anything like that.On a pushbike I can do it in about 40mins walking would take considerably longer I assume.

You should be able to do it in 15 min on a MTB, probably even quicker on a road bike.

4 miles will be a breeze for you, especially after you've been doing it daily for a couple of weeks.

15 mins maybe pushing it as I have a fairly long but steady climb out of my village.But yeah on the right machinery and fitness up I should be able to improve vastly.

[Amateurish]

macp said:

Amateurish said:

macp said:

Walking is out as far as I am concerned as I live in the country and the main road out is NSL without footpaths or anything like that.On a pushbike I can do it in about 40mins walking would take considerably longer I assume.

You should be able to do it in 15 min on a MTB, probably even quicker on a road bike.

4 miles will be a breeze for you, especially after you've been doing it daily for a couple of weeks.

15 mins maybe pushing it as I have a fairly long but steady climb out of my village.But yeah on the right machinery and fitness up I should be able to improve vastly.

Maybe 20 min there and 10 min back