Should I take my hybrid or my new road bike to work?

[teawoman]

I am thinking of commuting a couple of times a week. I have about a 12 mile (round trip) route to my work that is mostly bicycle paths and some road (except one bit where the path is rocky and not well maintained). I have ridden my hybrid there in the summers when I am just working in my office (not having to be dressed up for teaching), but the hills are horrible on my hybrid (river valley) and I'd love to try my road bike. I can change and shower at work (if I leave early enough ).

Questions: Will a short ride a couple of times a week get my road bike too beat up? Is it weird to get a rack for my road bike? I don't plan to ride in all weathers--just until the snow (maybe end of October)--so it may involve a bit of rain. Do I need a fender if it's mostly paths? In the summers, I want to use my bike for tris (we have a short four-month tri season here--May-August), so I'd be commuting Sep Oct and March April (depending).

[coyote]

I have a rack on my bike. It comes off with 4 screws when I don't want it on there. I do not use fenders. It really does not rain here much. Even during the rainy season I rarely get caught in a down pour. Make sure you have a safe place to keep it since you do use it for tris.

I do not know about wear and tear. I'm sure one of the racing women can answer that.

[Zen]

There are racks like this one that can be easily removed but have a weight limit of 25 pounds. The only caveat is that you shouldn't use them if you have a carbon seatpost. You'd need either an aluminum reinforced or all aluminum seat post.

[kelownagirl]

I ride my road bike to work, not worried about the wear and tear. I just love riding it so much more than my MT bike. Not sure what I'd do it I had a hybrid. I rode one in France and really liked it for touring so it might be great for commuting too. I don't have a rack and it doesn't rain enough here to have fenders so can't help you there. Guess I'm not help at all...

[lph]

I'm no help, but I'm wondering about the same thing.

For years I've commuted the same 8 or 9 miles to work on my mtb, sometimes stripped down with skinny tires, no fenders and no rack, sometimes with all the doodads, in winter with studded tires. I'm just trying out a new route to work which is almost twice as long, but a lot smoother pavement and with hardly any intersections, to use my road bike on. I don't think I'd want to ride there in rainy weather though, then I'll be back on the mtb and the "fast track". I'm worried about messing up my pretty new road bike

Mainly because all the parts still look weird to me and I haven't figured out yet where to lube and tighten and adjust and stuff...

[Torrilin]

On a road bike, the only components I'd worry about to start are the wheels. Everything else should be sturdy enough to handle around 20 miles a day. If you have very light or low spoke count wheels (say, for 23mm tires, or less than 32 spokes per wheel), they might not hold up to being a daily ride with a load. Fatter tires and more spokes help the wheel carry a load better.

The super-light top of the line components might start to wear out within a year, judging by what I'm seeing from experienced commuters. Midlevel stuff should hold up for years and years with good maintenance. A component that gets used a lot will wear faster than one that doesn't.

If the real issue is hills, poke at the gearing on both bikes. A lot of otherwise sensible bikes have gearing for TdF winners, not normal humans. It's kind of horrifying how many bikes don't have enough low gears. On a cassette, a range of 11-32 or something similar should give you Enough Low with a triple in front. Sheldon Brown's gear calculator is a lot of fun for this.

[crumpincommuter]

I agree with with everyone who recommends that you ride what makes you happy. But I'll add the caveat, happy....and keeps you safe!

I ride between 40-50 round trip, 50 if weather is super nice, and have found that more urban areas are more prone to heavy glass deposits. For that and other reasons I keep my road bike for weekends and toddle along to work on my "commuter bike", a gussied up, hybrid. I've found commuter bike more durable to withstand the added weight of gear required to commute.

Also sometimes, I've had such a "lounge chair" like ride on the way home that I want to jump on my road bike for a quick fix of ----FASSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTT!!!

Ride what makes you feel good and keeps you safe!Which ever you decide- remember REFLECTORS, REFLECTORS, REFLECTORS!