Commuters! Opinions Please!

[DeniseGoldberg]

I use my road bike for my commutes. Its tires may not be quite as skinny as some of your bikes - my roadie is a Bike Friday Pocket Rocket - but the roads I'm riding on for the most part are in decent condition. There are some bad sections, but I'd need to be pretty careful on my touring bike in those sections too.

The recommendation about using a beater bike? My question is really why... my commute at it's shortest is 18 miles each way. I usually ride the 18 in the morning but I ride home a slightly different way to avoid some afternoon traffic conditions I don't like, and I often add some extra loops as I head home too. So my commute is generally 40 to 43 miles round trip. I wouldn't be happy riding anything but a bike that is perfectly fit to me. (OK, maybe you've been careful and your beater bike is a perfect fit.)

You should ride whatever bike you're most comfortable on given the riding conditions and distance.

I commute only in good weather - although I have been caught in the rain. If I do get caught in wet conditions, the first thing that gets cleaned when I arrive home is my bike. And if I were commuting year round, perhaps I'd ride a bike that I didn't care about as much in the bad weather... and I'd probably use something with fatter tires then. Again, I believe it's based on the riding conditions...

--- Denise