Back when I was naive (oh...about 6 months ago ) I thought it would be fun to ride my fancy tri bike to work once in a while instead of my old steel beater. After I put a few hundred miles on my tri bike I realized that I will likely never commute on it. Here's why (keep in mind this is city commuting):

o In traffic, your hands need to be on the brakes all the time. Not feasible on a tri bike.

o Potholes abound on busy city streets. Tri bikes do not like potholes.

o I often alternate driving and riding, leaving my bike at work overnight. Not going to do that with a fancy bike.

o Commuting requires lots of reflectors, lights, bells, and other handlebar attachments. I am NOT putting a bell on my tri bike.

o Who the heck wants to ride through inner-city neighborhoods on a bike that looks like it's worth a lot of money?

If your commute route is friendly and gentle (bike path style) and you only plan to do it in nice weather once in a while, I think you're fine. Otherwise I'd pick up an old used beater. Commuting is tough on bikes, why trash your fancy race bike?


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Running To My Future
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I'm getting ready to start commuting on Monday on my 400 pound hybrid (at least it seems like 400 pounds).... I just added a rack to the back and a pannier....

NOT riding my road bike anywhere near the University.... I've seen bikes bent almost in half over there...(I can't even imagined what happened...)

The other problem would be that you'd have to bring different shoes and all... on my hybrid I can just wear regular shoes and not have to change when I get to class.... it's really freaky riding on platform pedals after riding with clips all the time. My knees keep flying up to my chin and I can't keep my feet on the darn pedals... (I guess that means I'm pulling up plenty when I ride normally, but it's pretty funny looking..)

Can I could this as a strength workout since it's so freakin' heavy?

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Crazy1:
You don't really need a compact crank unless you are doing some ride with really big hills or a hillclimb or something like that. 39-23 is a pretty big rollout but since you are going to be riding on a bike path which are generally not really steep it should be fine and I doubt that you will get into your 23 while racing.

Go ultegra<HR>

Not to be a hair splitter, but I think the compact crank is the best win-win to come along for women and new riders, the old solution was specing bikes with a triple crank, which was really a less than elegant solution to the need for low range gears, while the compact offers nice low gears with few real downsides for the target audience.

I'm a real fan of the compact, I may even get one myself for cyclocross.

Psst. Hijack. Ella, Sister Madonna Buder (SP?) is still out on the course at IM Canada! You might be the only other tri-peep up to watch. (There's also another 77 year old out there... a guy. I think it's his birthday today.)

Bummer about the dentist! Chrome is meant for dropouts, not molars.