My old Peugeot has bitten the dust - what next: road or mountain for daily commute?

[Scouse]

My 1975 Peugeot UO-8 has finally been beaten by a combination (I suspect) of rough Sydney roads & the fat bastard who rides it.
The RH chain stay has broken near the BB end. Luckily, a nice big cable tie fixed it for the trip home.

I realise I could get this fixed but the bike is 35 years old & isn't a 'quality' bike to start with so it's probably not practical/worthwhile repairing.
I'm going to swap my good bits over onto my Dad's UE-8 to get me out of trouble for the short term but I really think I might need to update.

I called into my LBS last night &, after talking to them about a new road bike, have some concerns about their longevity with the riding I do.

Do I stick with a road type bike or should I be using something a bit more robust? I'm mainly on raods & cycleways but I do approx 2km on a very rough & potholed road & there are several sections where I transfer from road to path (& vice versa) that jolt the bike around a bit too.

Would a mountain bike running road tyres be a better option? Would front and/or rear suspension help? I'm not up on MTBs but some have no suspension, others have front and/or rear so I assume these are built for different purposes.


Over to the Brains Trust........

[JohnR]

I say go mountain bike with slicks. I run a hard tail with front forks locked out most of the time. On the road any suspension just wastes energy. But it is nice to be able to open up the front forks when you hit something bumpy.

The big advantage in a bike set up like this (In My Opinion!) is that you are not stuck to roads when they get narrow, you can jump up the gutter to safety and keep riding.

When looking for a bike don't go for the lightest u-bute speed machine. Go for something that will take a punishing and keep going. If you can afford it around to $2k mark will get you something that will take the punishment and last for years.

This is of course only my opinion and I am just talking about my weekday ride

Cheers,

[big guy]

May I suggest a Merida Speeder.
Not sure what the budget is but iots my commute bike and its brilliant.
Get the shimano 105 with it and under $1k you have a brilliant ride that will handle potholes and fast down hills plus some good climbs.

Try and stay away from anything with suspension unless you are doing some serious off-roading as the suspension just robes all the energy from the drive train. Even when locked out, why have the extra weight to lug around when not needed, much like disc brakes.

Going for a slimmer tyre with less resistance will also help your average speed.

Good luck.

Oh, Scott also make a similar one which I think is just a tad cheaper.

[Grants]

I've got a 29er - no suspension- I can slip 700c tyres on if I find I am doing lots of road work or just leave the 2.1s on with a bit more pressure and it winds up reasonably well on the road. it ticks the boxes re road work, round town, or trail. It got me through Tour de Timor last year and hopefully will this year as well. Just a bit slower on the downhills, but maybe that is just me being cautious

[bee utey]

I love the front suspension on my MTB, would never bother with rear for general riding. Magnesium sus forks are really light. Makes kerb hopping much more pleasant.
Discs are cool if you plan to swim through mud, again they don't weigh much. I like them because you can wear out discs instead of thinning rim walls and throwing out the whole wheel. Much better in the rain too.
My hard tail MTB has about 24K kms on it using 26 x 2.1 inch road tyres, currently Schwalbe Hurricanes.

[Grants]

yeah bee utey, I like disks- generally you still have stopping power if the rim gets out of whack on a bush track, or in wet conditions. Bit more fiddly and $$ to replace the pads but the advantages come out trumps.
I got a set of cheap CST Critters ( $35 for 2 tyres and tubes from Cell) to try, and they are up there with my more expensive replaced tyres.

[Scouse]

The big advantage in a bike set up like this (In My Opinion!) is that you are not stuck to roads when they get narrow, you can jump up the gutter to safety and keep riding.

Are you saying I shouldn't be doing that now?
Maybe that's why it only lasted 35 years .

I really don't know if I could see myself riding a MTB or a flat bar for 45km each day. I have enough wind resistance built into my body without having to add more with a more upright stance.


However, after looking at some of the repairs on www.gripsport.com.au I'm keen to have a go at fixing this myself. I'll post up the results on the weekend .

[Rayngie]

What ever you do....get a 29er, preferably single speed., you will never go back, do a google seacrh for 29ers, pretty sure Avanti have a half decent one for around a grand, 27spd with a front fork etc.

29er or nothing Scott!!!

[Scouse]

I hadn't heard of 29ers until they were mentioned here .
Are they just a big wheeled MTB or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

[Rayngie]

They are justa big wheeled Mountain bike yes....it's the future!

they ride very well, take rough tracks etc like they don't exist, i've just built a 29er single speed, pretty much retired the other two bikes now, they go bloody well when up to speed...big wheels keep on turnin!

depending on budget, i'd think you'd start at a grand at least, ebay has them pop up every now and then.

Ray