UKC

Hi,

After some advice, I've recently started a new job and have been commuting on my heavy old hardtail mountain bike ( it has slicks on) but finding it hard work. Its a 19 mile round trip with 600ft of climbing. The last three miles involve pulling a childs trailer back home with the kids in. I am thinking about getting a lighter bike to make it bit easier and faster!! I have a road bike but don't really want to use it pulling the trailer back and want something that will get me through winter in Aberdeenshire so need some thing with a bit roughness to it.

Any recommendations?

In reply to Lynsety:

Get fitter.

Make sure you've got got an optimum gear set up if its a old cheap mountain bike.

New set of wheels.

If you just want a new bike then you don't need an excuse but I doubt 'a lighter bike' will make any difference on your timings especially if you are towing two kids for 6 miles a day.

D

In reply to Lynsety:

If your are too tall for it this looks a good buy... http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-540-road-bike-105-id_8331275.html

In reply to Lynsety:

The weight of the bike is minor in your setup. Stick with what you have, you'll get fitter and used to it.

In reply to Lynsety:

I'd probably look at a cyclocross bike....depends on how much ££ you want to spend?!
As others have said it won't make much difference in the overall weight but you can't have 'too many' bikes...

You guys haven't felt the weight of it ;p

Doesn't seem.to be many cyclocross bikes out there for women, does that matter? Can I get a small one and just set it up with some different handlebars etc.

In reply to Lynsety:

Fit a rigid carbon fork to the bike; you don't need that suspension, which is heavy and useless anyway. Carbon Components sell a brand called eXotic, which is good and the fork will reduce the weight of the bike by a couple of kilos and make pedalling more efficient. Unfortunately there's quite a range of forks available so you might need advice in the selection.

In reply to Lynsety:

Not entirely sure that a CX bike is what you want for towing kids, tbh anything will feel heavy with that lot on it! However, a cross bike would be fun for a normal commute. My husband has just put one together for me from an alloy SAB frame he found on offer Planet X, and I've got road wheels in it. Great for hills and zipping about. I'm going to get a second set of tougher wheels with knobbly tires that I can drop in it for rougher terrain. The frame I have is a mans (always had mens frames, I'm quite tall) but its got a set of small Bontrager bars that are kinder on the hands and makes braking a little easier.

Kid towing is only a very small part of the commute to be honest. Only three miles of the day. Changing the forks is a good idea actually!

In reply to Lynsety:

A (relatively) light weight steel fork might cope better with the rigours of commuting, with the various bumps and knocks which can take place, and even the occasional spill (but hopefully not). I'm certainly not anti-carbon, but it's easier to tell at a glance if metal forks are still okay after any knocks or spills.

If you swap to to some lighter weight wheels as well, they'd both make a difference. I don't know what breaks you're currently running, but if you have 'V' brakes - switching to a disc fork and a disc front wheel would be a good plan to stop the winter grit and gunk from wearing away your front rim, and there's adaptors you can buy to fit to the back of your bike to run a disc at the back too.

Have you thought about a gravel bike? Similar to cycle cross in disc brakes etc but set up to take more weight and for covering long distances, becoming very popular for touring. I do not have one yet but have been speaking to a few people who do. I am very interested. Little in the way of female specific but there are small frames.

In reply to Lynsety:

I'd echo what others have said, weight probably hasn't got a lot to do with it.

However I imagine if you are riding an older bike that possibly hasn't had the nicest life the drivetrain is probably shagged and the bearings in the wheels are also likely to be working against you.

Getting a new bike is a good shout as the components will roll much more smoothly making life a lot easier. Light bikes tend to be carbon or aluminium. Carbon is expensive and I wouldn't want to put the stress of towing a trailer on either an alu or carbon frame)

I'd go for a steel frame. Something can take whatever you throw at it, smooths out the bumps and is easy to repair.

I've got a soft spot for genesis bikes. Their Day One 20 would be a good shout, sealed hub gears (good for Scotland) aforementioned steel frame and disc brakes to deal with the extra weight of the trailer.

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/urban/cross-utility/day-one-20

Nows about the time that last years stock goes on sale, so keep you eyes peeled or set up an automatic alert (theres some website somewhere that does this and emails you when it finds a price drop)

In reply to Lynsety:
If it's an alu mountain bike frame, it'll probably be okay for towing a trailer with. If you don't know how already, it's a good opportunity to learn how to service your hubs and drive train so they spin and work more freely again, which is always a satisfying thing to do.

In reply to Lynsety:

There a few women specific cross bikes or gravel bikes with 650b wheels on the smaller frame sizes, Surly also do cargo bike, you might need a beard and tattoo sleeve ride it though.

D

In reply to Lynsety:
I'd start with fiddling with the gearing on your MTB - I take it you've had the hubs and/or bottom bracket checked/re-built/replaced? Secondly, switching to rigid forks is a very good suggestion.

After that, I'd suggest considering a hybrid with 700c wheels that have decent clearance for up to 32mm tyres. I picked up a barely used Whyte hybrid on eBay for less than half price for putting my daughter's bike seat on. Has disk brakes, compact chainset and wide range cassette, so handles hills, and eyelets for mudguards. I've used it on my 22-mile round trip commute and it's great for that - probably ideal for what you're looking for.

In reply to Lynsety:

Have you ditched the Norco then?

In reply to Tonybhoy:

Nah, that one was for my husband. Worked out for him. I'm too tight in a way to buy 'another' bike as really there is nothing wrong with this one, still it's always tempting!

Some good ideas though and its nearly ten years old and from memory I think the hubs have been done once...maybe!

In reply to Lynsety:

ten year old bike - sounds like one of mine

I did similar commute in sunny Ayrshire, initially changed forks on hardtail over to rigid, made a huge difference - get the gearing sorted, slick tyres and you will be fine

Once kids grow out of the trailer buy yourself a second hand roadbike, I got one for £80 and its great for the commute

Or man up and get yourself a single speed, that will stop all the gear problems (once grit/salt get in the gears every day over winter wrecks havoc on them) and will also get you fitter - perhaps wait until you not got the trailer though

If the cost of changing forks to rigid is high look at getting a second hand rigid fork bike - sometimes cheaper to buy replacement bike than it is to change specific parts on a bike unfortunately, especially if there is a bike recycle place nearby

In reply to Lynsety:

Don't underestimate the value of a good service on your existing bike. Make sure the BB and hub bearings are all running smooth and that the entire transmission is operating as it should and that everything is adequately lubed. Possibly see if you can upgrade the wheels via fleabay. Make sure the slicks are at optimal pressure. All these are 'marginal gains' but can make a difference on how the bike rides. I can swap out the wheels of my XC racer hardtail MTB for slicks, and over my local 30k evening road ride is only 8 mins slower than my carbon road bike!

N

Question is - how the heck do I go about figuring out which rigid fork to change to?!

In reply to Lynsety:

I'm intrigued about the comments saying a new bike won't make any difference. If that was true, why are Road bikes and mountain bikes different? climbing the same hills on both bikes, I smash my mtb time every time on the road bike for the same effort. Bigger wheels, lighter weight, no suspension and faster roling tyres will definitely make a difference. One thing to watch would be the gearing on a commuter- I assume you'll need something low to tow the children.

In reply to Lynsety:

As a recommendation for a do everything gravel bashing, cyclocross, capable of easy mtb terrain quiver of one bike, take a look at the Cotic Escapade. You can mount mtb gearing, disc 19mm mtb wheels, 28-45mm tyres, and it is simply the single most fun bike I've ever owned. It's not as quick as a road bike, but it's tough and versatile. I'm 1000km in on mine and know that I'll have it for a very long time...