Discussion
I am currently considering commuting to work on me bike in an effort to save money and get fit. I also really enjoy riding after taking it up again about 8 weeks ago. I live in north Manchester and commute every day to Leeds via the good old M62 which is 42 miles each way. I reckon its costing me approximately £45 a week for the fuel plus the wear and tear to the car when doing over 400 miles a week, it all adds up.
Now, there is no chance in hell I could commute that sort of distance yet plus do a day’s work in between! I am therefore looking to ride to my local train station (about 5.5 miles), hop on the train to Leeds and then ride from Leeds station to the office (about 3.5 miles).
I have priced up a weekly season ticket at about £40 a week for the train so it is not that much cheaper, but it will save me servicing the car every 8 months etc so in the long run I will save.
Does anyone commute via the train? Looking on the web, the operators that do the route have 2 spaces for bikes on the trains but will need to be booked a day in advanced! Are these likely to be taken up if I just turn up?
Thanks,
Matt.
Now, there is no chance in hell I could commute that sort of distance yet plus do a day’s work in between! I am therefore looking to ride to my local train station (about 5.5 miles), hop on the train to Leeds and then ride from Leeds station to the office (about 3.5 miles).
I have priced up a weekly season ticket at about £40 a week for the train so it is not that much cheaper, but it will save me servicing the car every 8 months etc so in the long run I will save.
Does anyone commute via the train? Looking on the web, the operators that do the route have 2 spaces for bikes on the trains but will need to be booked a day in advanced! Are these likely to be taken up if I just turn up?
Thanks,
Matt.
Get two bikes then. You don't need anything very special for 3.5 miles in the middle of town, just make sure it's well locked up over night 
I don't recall ever having been to Leeds station, but if it's like any other big mainline station I've been to there will be a few hundred bikes chained up there at any given time - my in-town clunker lived at Paddington for a good 6 years.
I don't recall ever having been to Leeds station, but if it's like any other big mainline station I've been to there will be a few hundred bikes chained up there at any given time - my in-town clunker lived at Paddington for a good 6 years.deckster said:
Get two bikes then. You don't need anything very special for 3.5 miles in the middle of town, just make sure it's well locked up over night I don't recall ever having been to Leeds station, but if it's like any other big mainline station I've been to there will be a few hundred bikes chained up there at any given time - my in-town clunker lived at Paddington for a good 6 years.
what this man says. you wont need anything special for such a small distance, a mtb with semi/slicks would be fine. the plus side being as you can keep the lock secured to railings etc when you are not there they can be big b*stard heavy duty things that you wouldnt normally want to lug around.... I don't recall ever having been to Leeds station, but if it's like any other big mainline station I've been to there will be a few hundred bikes chained up there at any given time - my in-town clunker lived at Paddington for a good 6 years.try to find a dull ish looking bike, that wont tempt thieves even having a go...you will need to keep them both well lubed if you are keeping them outside, replace things like seat q/rs with bolts etc but other than that htey should be fine. the bike you keep at leeds can always be serviced at leeds if required thus you wouldnt ever need to take it home!
pablo said:
deckster said:
Get two bikes then. You don't need anything very special for 3.5 miles in the middle of town, just make sure it's well locked up over night I don't recall ever having been to Leeds station, but if it's like any other big mainline station I've been to there will be a few hundred bikes chained up there at any given time - my in-town clunker lived at Paddington for a good 6 years.
what this man says. you wont need anything special for such a small distance, a mtb with semi/slicks would be fine. the plus side being as you can keep the lock secured to railings etc when you are not there they can be big b*stard heavy duty things that you wouldnt normally want to lug around.... I don't recall ever having been to Leeds station, but if it's like any other big mainline station I've been to there will be a few hundred bikes chained up there at any given time - my in-town clunker lived at Paddington for a good 6 years.try to find a dull ish looking bike, that wont tempt thieves even having a go...you will need to keep them both well lubed if you are keeping them outside, replace things like seat q/rs with bolts etc but other than that htey should be fine. the bike you keep at leeds can always be serviced at leeds if required thus you wouldnt ever need to take it home!
This is exactly what I do and it works really well. Nice-ish bike from home to local station (4.5 miles) and old beater from Waterloo into the city (1 and a bit miles I think). The London bike spends most of its life chained up on platform 6 alongside 50 or so other workhorses and has never been touched. It's probably worth about £35 if you factor in the £30 I just spent on new tyres!
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