Commute setup ?

[Dagget]

Warning : Noob Question's follow ....

I've just got myself a nice Specialized Stumpjumper .
I'm really happy with it ... It's nice at Stromlo and Sparrow Hill
However, I still like to commute about 26km each way to/from work .

Would it be more efficient to buy a second wheelset fitted with slicks or similar or buy a cheap(ish) roadie ?

If I go with a second wheelset , what should I get , and what will a decent set of rotors etc set me back ?

I have no idea about this stuff ...

 

[top_oz_bloke]

My commuter wheelset probably ended up setting me back $500 ish. Wheels $200 ish, rotors $80, cassette $90, tyres and tubes $100. You could probably do it cheaper but I stuck with XT to match the rest of the bike and I put good tyres on.

Is it worth it compared to riding on knobblies - hell yes. I am back on my off road wheels after busting some spokes and it sucks, not to mention chews the tyres up pretty quick.

One thing I've found is that the smaller OD of the slicks is equivalent to losing a gear off the top end. So in effect you basically end up with about 4 useful gears (all in the big ring). Due to having so few gears it can be annoying in some situations where comfortable pedalling sits somewhere in between gears.

Another small annoyance is that gears, brakes need slight adjustment every time the wheels get swapped. It might sound trivial but it means you no longer have the ability to just jump on and go for a ride.

Is it worth it compared to sticking the cash into a roadie - probably not. But then again the roadie i'm now building is sucking up a hell of a lot of more money than $500 and the commuter wheelset has been an excellent stop gap.

In reality I'll likely still do most of my commuting on the mtb as I detour via the gym on most nights and i'm not prepared to leave a bling looking carbon thing locked up outside whereas the mtb is very unobtrusive looking.

I guess the question you really need to ask yourself is how much money you are prepared to put into a roadie and what sort of thing would you want to buy into?

 

[harmonix1234]

Do it! I run two sets just like you are saying.
I used specialised fatboy 26x1.25 slicks for commuting. They are super fast and tough as guts.
2900kms and not one puncture.
You won't ever want to take them off.

 

[Carlin]

Either just get a pair of slicks and a track pump and swap the tyres depending for the ride (you'll get it down to a sub 10 minute job). Or commit yourself a dedicated commuter.

 

[top_oz_bloke]

TBH that would be the last option I'd choose.

The gator skins I've got are incredibly tight. I simply cannot imagine removing and reinstalling them once a week.

 

[madridingengineer]

what about a cheap new bike???

Ive turned my $400 giant rock into a commuterish bike after i got my dualie---- it took a set of schwalbe city jet 26x1.50 tyres, one flashing red tail light, one cheap $20 computer.

I ride roughly a 30km round trip to work everyday for 20 weeks of the year(non uni time).

its not disc brake or anything, but on a commute you dont really need anything better than vee-brakes. Plus the computer helps me keep track of speed/distance etc etc.

so for under $500 you could have a dedicated commuter, and being new you know that the gears/bearings are sweeeet. I dont really care that its not super dooper road bike light/fast etc etc if anything im getting better fitness out of it being 13kg.

 

[Wellsey]

I have an 07 Stumpjumper and commute about the same distance. I bought a second wheelset and run Maxxis Overdrive Elite 1.75 slicks. Expensive tyre, but the dual compound really works and they are fast.

Pay a few hundred (2 or 3) and get a secondhand wheelset off here. You should be able to get rotors for ~ 100.

Definitely run slicks; you can sometimes pick up Innova 1.75 or 1.5 slicks of Torpedo7.com for 8 bucks each on special. Even when they aren't on sale they are still only 18 bucks or so. I ran these for ages and they are fine, can be a bit tight on some rims though.

 

[miko]

If your ride is paved and flat all the way, the roadie is going to be so many times faster. I find on the MTB I begin to run out of gears on flat or slight downhill.

If you're happy with the extra time on the bike then go the second wheelset.

 

[Carlin]

TBH that would be the last option I'd choose.

The gator skins I've got are incredibly tight. I simply cannot imagine removing and reinstalling them once a week.

I'd rather change my tyres than fiddle with my gears.

Each to their own though.

 

[Dagget]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys ...

I think I'll keep the Stumpy for the dirty stuff and head to a hybrid or roadie ....
I'd rather do that than have to muck with brakes and gears all the time

Although I did the commute this morning and found a bit of single track near Aranda Ridge that was fun for about 3 minutes ....

 

[niftydog]

I got jack of swapping tires pretty quickly - even though my rim/tyre combo was an easy fit. A second wheelset was definitely on my list... but it morphed into a second bike!

Having one bike for the commute and one for the trails is well worth it. Eventually you'll put your MTB out of action for a little while (bust a spoke or even just a fork service) and you'll really appreciate having the ol' faithful commuter still operational.

 

[Knopey]

Not to mention being able to commute on a bike that's not filthy

 

[maxwolfie]

Get a cheap roadie

I've been down that track before

 

[Tomas]

52kms x 5 = 260kms ish per week on one casette. 20kms a week on the MTB casette.

Sounds like an expensive solution when cassettes, chains and rings are wearing at different rates.

Id go the cheapie 2nd bike.

 

[niftydog]

Not to mention being able to commute on a bike that's not filthy

Though there's nothing quite like riding squeakily past a bunch or roadie-snobs after a lunch-runch with your drivetrain full of sand and mud and drawing those "oohhh, what a piece of shit, doesn't he know how to lube a chain" looks.

 

[top_oz_bloke]

52kms x 5 = 260kms ish per week on one casette. 20kms a week on the MTB casette.

Sounds like an expensive solution when cassettes, chains and rings are wearing at different rates.

Id go the cheapie 2nd bike.

It'd be an interesting comparison to make. Lots of km in a relatively clean environment vs not many in the dirt.

 

[disfocus]

Security...

The other thing you might want to consider is security. Where do you leave your bike? If there's a fairish chance of getting it nicked, that's another argument in favour of a cheapish commuter. I'm lucky enough to have an office where I keep my commuter, but even so I'm not confident enough to leave my 'nice' bike there. Too many pesky students floating around, and too many incidences of theft from offices left accidentally unlocked.
And if you do get a dedicated commuter, steer clear of bling, try to desticker or resticker it, and just generally do what you can to make it look like a POS to the untrained eye without compromising performance or longevity.

 

[craigl]

I have a Giant with 2 sets of wheels they swap with out changing a thing, the hubs are DT370 rear and a hope pro2 up front. I needed a spacer to get the disc to line up but it is a simple 5 minute job to swap them over. If you keep the same hubs, cassette etc it should be pretty straight forward if you go down this path.
I have done a heap of km's and I am finding the MTB is wearing out pretty quickly with the commute to work. It's costing a bomb to replace all the parts I am wearing out!
I am looking at getting a second bike with lower end parts as to not cost an arm and a leg every time I need a new chain or cassette etc. GO THE SECOND BIKE!! it will cost less in the long run.

Cheers Craig

 

[mudmav]

Just by my rigid commuter from the for sale section LOL

 

[rone]

Get a cheap SS 29er and slap hybrid tyres on it. Experiment with gearing and then watch your fitness increase.