The Commute

[sreten]

One thing I did feel was the wasted energy going through the front suspension.
Hopefully I'll get hooked on this cycling malarkey and give this one back to my mum and get a 'hogg of my own!

Hi,

As you've already noticed suspension is not good on the road. Also typical MTB tyres
are pretty poor on the road too, they don't roll half as well as tyres designed for the road.

If you are going to commute 10 miles every day, don't mess about, get a basic budget bike
suitable for purpose and learn the ropes about getting it running well and maintaining it.

If the bike bug hits you'll get a proper MTB or a proper road bike for the weekends.

You could look for a used bike to treat as a commuter / beater but IMO you'd be
better off buying a cheap commuter much sooner rather than later, so a new bike.

IMO http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3324202.htm
is a good basic budget commuting bike. You have gone straight into
the deep end for commutting every day, but a bike like that should
be fine for a 5 miles each way commute, and better than the
Apollo MTB, which will make it somewhat easier at first.

rgds, sreten.

 

[TheMooseler]

I

Hi,

As you've already noticed suspension is not good on the road. Also typical MTB tyres
are pretty poor on the road too, they don't roll half as well as tyres designed for the road.

If you are going to commute 10 miles every day, don't mess about, get a basic budget bike
suitable for purpose and learn the ropes about getting it running well and maintaining it.

If the bike bug hits you'll get a proper MTB or a proper road bike for the weekends.

You could look for a used bike to treat as a commuter / beater but IMO you'd be
better off buying a cheap commuter much sooner rather than later, so a new bike.

IMO http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3324202.htm
is a good basic budget commuting bike. You have gone straight into
the deep end for commutting every day, but a bike like that should
be fine for a 5 miles each way commute, and better than the
Apollo MTB, which will make it somewhat easier at first.

rgds, sreten.

When I get paid i'll invest as that suspension is very "bouncy" (soft?!) and it feels like I lose so much power when I try and beat the cars at the lights.

Got absolutely soaked on the journey today but enjoyed it! I have a Garmin Forerunner from my running days and that clocked 4.59 miles in 22:59 and avg speed of 11.98mph. Not sure if that is good or not - I did ease off towards the end. Even then it's only five minutes slower than the car. I particularly enjoyd jumping to the front at traffic lights. Now I know why you all cycle rather than drive!

No burn in the legs with the higher seat position too so happy with that.

I also need a better jacket and those clear glasses because it HAMMERED it down. Looking forward to a more leisurely ride home tonight (hopefully drier!)

 

[hoski]

You might be able to adjust the suspension, or lock it completely, to alleviate the wasted power issue. I've never had to do this though so Google, or another forum member might be your friend here...

 

[HLaB]

I

Got absolutely soaked on the journey today but enjoyed it! I have a Garmin Forerunner from my running days and that clocked 4.59 miles in 22:59 and avg speed of 11.98mph. Not sure if that is good or not - I did ease off towards the end. Even then it's only five minutes slower than the car. I particularly enjoyd jumping to the front at traffic lights. Now I know why you all cycle rather than drive!

Forget about average speed on the commute arriving safe is more practical

Speaking of arriving safe think (which you probably do) before squeezing through to the front of traffic, could the lights change before I get there, is it a paricullarly heavy left turn, is a hgv making it, etc

 

[Pale Rider]

Forget about average speed on the commute arriving safe is more practical

Top advice.

Reminds me of a phrase in a police driving manual: 'Drive to arrive' which we could change to: 'Ride to arrive'.

 

[Sittingduck]

Don't take stupid risks.
Check tyre pressures regularly.
Dress suitably.
Don't try to race against other commuters.

 

[TheMooseler]

One of the reasons that my ex gave when I got the elbow was my competitive nature.

I will always want to go faster. That said, I'm not stupid either, for example on the morning ride there were two lanes of queuing traffic at some lights, with a HGV at the front in Lane 2, which I also wanted as I needed the right turn 100m down the road. I decided to stay behind it in the smoke as I thought if there a fight between it and me then the odds don't look to good!

My running jacket was not up to standard at all, I. Was drenched when I got to work everybody laughing at me but to be fair I felt good so they can kiss my ass.

I need to practice looking behind as every time I look over my right shoulder I veer to the left and slow down.

The gears are a bit of a game, I tended to only use the left hand gear (the big cogs) so had easy, medium and hard. Which seemed to do me okay. I did quickly learn to anticipate junctions and lights etc... Luckily the route I cycle is the same as the one I have driven for the last 8 years so at least I know the signal patterns!

The ride home was a LOT harder, not rain thankfully but in the dark and a headwind the whole way and it's more up hill.

Still, I survived D-Day, legs are feeling okay so preparing for D-Day +1 tomorrow.

I appreciate that this is most likely the most boring post ever.

EDIT: Thanks again for the valuable advice that can only really come with your experiences. Particularly with the technicalities of cycling.

As you may be able to tell I always love to pay a lot of attention to the smallest detail with new 'stuff'. Once I Get a proper road bike, if there is even the slightest change I can make to make the journey more efficient then it will be done.

 

[TheMooseler]

Don't take stupid risks.
Check tyre pressures regularly.
Dress suitably.
Don't try to race against other commuters.

How do I find out what the correct pressure should be? It's a fairly old bike (actually it's my mums and her sisters before that! I can't afford one until I get paid).

It's an Apollo Corona - with tyres filled up until the felt hard. The tyres are weird. They are almost slick in the middle with very minimal tread (like road tyres I imagine) with wide mountain bike style nobbles on the outside. I guess this is one of these hybrid bikes I've been hearing about?

I won't be racing other commuters, they'll have my pants down!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

It's an Apollo Corona - with tyres filled up until the felt hard. The tyres are weird. They are almost slick in the middle with very minimal tread (like road tyres I imagine) with wide mountain bike style nobbles on the outside. I guess this is one of these hybrid bikes I've been hearing about?

Those sound like Continental Travel Contact tyres. Are they? If so, recommended pressure is around the 45 to 50 psi mark depending on size.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Whereabouts are you travelling from? If coming from the South, then using the Great Central Way (Starts in Blaby) is a great and safe way to get into the city.

 

[TheMooseler]

A quick nip downstairs (I live in a small block of flats full of old people, it's safe under the stairs!) reveal that the recommended PSI is 40-50 they are made by IRC and that they were made in Indonesia. There was a code; "C-16" but I can't find them on the IRC website.

I travel from Wigston to Leicester City Centre via Welford Road, University Road and London Road if you know it.

On the way back I went Via Pocklingtons Walk, and Welford Road.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

A quick nip downstairs (I live in a small block of flats full of old people, it's safe under the stairs!) reveal that the recommended PSI is 40-50 they are made by IRC and that they were made in Indonesia. There was a code; "C-16" but I can't find them on the IRC website.

I travel from Wigston to Leicester City Centre via Welford Road, University Road and London Road if you know it.

On the way back I went Via Pocklingtons Walk, and Welford Road.

If you didn't know, you can get pinched for riding down Pocklingtons Walk.

If you want a safer route, I would miss out University Road and go across Victoria Park by going down Victoria Park Road (turn right at the homebase lights on Welford Road)

If you are going down Welford Road when the bus lane is active it is quite safe, if not, then I would go down Queens Road (runs parrallel to Welford Road)

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

A quick nip downstairs (I live in a small block of flats full of old people, it's safe under the stairs!) reveal that the recommended PSI is 40-50 they are made by IRC and that they were made in Indonesia. There was a code; "C-16" but I can't find them on the IRC website.

That's fine. If you pump them up to 50 psi that'll give the least rolling resistance on the road. (I expect it's a car type valve so a car foot pump with a gauge will do the job.)

 

[MikeW-71]

The gears are a bit of a game, I tended to only use the left hand gear (the big cogs) so had easy, medium and hard. Which seemed to do me okay.

Next time, try staying in the middle front ring and change the rear up and down to suit, there is less of a jump between gears that way. If you get to the smallest rear cog and it's still too easy, go to the large front ring and knock it back a couple of gears at the back.

Otherwise, well done for personifying Rule 9

 

[TheMooseler]

Cheers guys.

Didn't know about Pocklingtons Walk, I went the wrong way down there too. I tend to travel at about 6:00am or when the bus lanes are active and used the on Welford Road. My HGV event was at the Homebase lights too so I'll give Vikky Park road a go tomorrow.

I'll also get those bad boys up to 50psi in the morning too, and try and concentrate with the gears a bit too.

As for the Rule 9 thing. I kinda have no choice, I scrapped my car last week and the busses are so unreliable it's untrue. My initial plan was to get one of those folding commuter bike and cycle the 1mile to South Wigston Station and get a 5min train to town and then the 1mile into work. But I quite like the idea of cycling all the way. A damn sight cheaper anyway