It is National Cycle to Work Day here in the UK so we decided to focus on what the ultimate commuter bike is!
Additionally, SRAM releases a new gravel groupset alongside, possibly, the widest gravel wheelset by Zipp!
All that and more in this week’s GCN Tech Show!
00:00 It’s National Cycle to Work Day!
00:37 What is the ultimate commuter bike?
08:47 Benefits of cycle to work schemes
11:32 Hot and spicy tech – Olympics Time Trial
15:17 Mathieu Van de Poel’s Canyon Aeroad
15:57 Olympic cycling equipment costs
16:50 Orbea bikes – Olympics edition
17:18 #AD SRAM XPLR Groupset and Zipp Wheels
22:30 Silca and Visma-Lease-A-Bike partnership
24:51 GCN Bike Insurance
25:47 The most dangerous Olympic sport
27:00 Comments of the week
29:51 The Bike vault
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What do you think is the best commuter bike? 🚲
Watch more on GCN Tech…
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#gcntech #gcn #cycling #roadcycling #roadbike #bike #bikes #bikelife #biketech #commute #cycletowork #commuterbike #groupset #wheels
📸 Photos – © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sprint Cycling Agency
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38 Comments
What do you think is the ultimate commuter bike? 🚲
A slope style bike on slicks with a dropper and giant front chainring.
i think it depends a lot on where you live, what are the weather and road conditions, distance and elevation.
my main commuter bike for the not so hilly side of budapest is an aluminium fixed gear with front rim brake, mudguards running on tubulars for many years.
my second choice is my cromo hybrid/adventure bike. shimano v-brakes with avid fr5 levers are good enough. also 3×8 speed. mostly for getting supplies and/or longer distances and not so good road conditions.
if i go with my road bikes, i get speedfreak, so i rather not.
my other bikes are totally not suitable for commuting.
Secondhand € 50 Dutch style bike: upright, mudguards, roller brakes, dynamo lights. Low price because if/when it gets stolen it doesn't matter too much. 😉
Is the GCN Bike Insurance available in Germany?
Would like to see a longrange commuter episode for all us folks in the countryside that are 50 miles from the office and have to carry all their gear in daily.
I currently go to work by bike and train, since 50 km eaach way is a bit much for a daily commute. The bike I use is a Bixs Campus something. An aluminium frame with suspension forks (was the only option they had back then) and with fixed lights, hub dynamo and pannier racks. I usually have my panniers on, even if their empty, because i'm doing my shopping on the way.
My optimal bike would probably be a road oriented gravel bike or what ever they are called now. Mudguards, hub dynamo, fixed lights, pannier racks are a must. I probably would go for something like a pinion with belt drive or effygear with belt drive aswell. The amount of chains you need to swap in a region like the flats of Switzerland with salted roads in the winter is astonishing.
For me it's endurance bike all the way.
Commuting with a safe storage – gravel bike with mudguards and 32-40mm slick or semi-slick tyres – fast, comfortable and otherwise awesome in the rain / bad roads etc.
If leaving it outside – something old, steel and tatty looking (but secretly in good shape).
I'm with Si, nice road bike, nice wheels, NO mudguards! Fly to work. 😊
Now diskbreaks look good? 😂
Electric motorscooter for me !!
I've never ridden my bike to work and never plan to. Riding to work takes all of the joy/fun out of cycling for me. Even if I lived close to where I work I would rather walk.
My ideal commuter bike would a drop bar & aluminium framed e-bike, with mid mount gearbox motor, belt drive, rack & mudguards, suspension fork & seat post and of course disc brakes.
I've had enough of hearing my brake pads dissolving in the rain thanks!
Bike Friday Pak It
My commute is about 25 km each way, and mostly flat. So for me the ideal commuting bike is a Fixed Gear road bike with flat handlebars. Because 1- fast enough to get me to work fairly quickly, 2- fun to ride so I get to work in a good mood, 3- it is a very reliable and durable bike, 4- I can slow down by slowing my pedling instead of wearing down the braking surface on my rims.
If you ride with no mudguards in heavy rain… close your mouth when you ride through any ‘water’ that you see leaking from surcharging manholes. It is probably not just water.
When I work from home I really miss my cycle commute to work.
We know Manon has left here lads but it looks like the light has gone with her whoever is filming might of gone with her too😂 side lighting doesn't do you lads any justice😂 standard lighting standard light 👍 x pro talking here.
The elementary (primary) school where I work does a "Bike to School Day" every year, and it changed my life. I missed it 3 years in a row, but then finally remembered and was shocked how awake I felt walking in the door. I did it again the next day. A year later I got rid of my car and never looked back. I ride 10,000 miles a year now, most of it commuting.
Is a waxed chain really that much more time consuming? I find that my bike is now always very clean with only a minimal amount of rinse and wipe down after each ride. No degreaser and scrubbing. Have you thought about doing a video comparing the total amount of time it takes to setup and maintain a bike with waxed chains versus how much cleaning it takes to keep an "oiled" drivetrain bike in good condition?
reading books instead of waxing: love it!
Part of me died while watching you relax your standards 😢
Brompton have categorically nailed the commuter bike standard. it’s not even worth looking at anything but a Brompton. ride to work. fold your bike up and keep it safe under your desk all day… not on a bike rack waiting to be stolen… don’t fancy riding home?…. No bother. Fold it up and take it on the train or in a taxi.. need luggage? yeah they do that… lazy and need a motor… yeah they do that too…
The perfect bike for a commute is the one that you will actually ride in weather without whining.
The ultimate commuter bike is something like a Batavus Mambo (aluminium frame, upright seating position, adjustable stem, hydraulic disc brakes, closed chain guard, 7-8 speed internal Shimano hub, decent lighting (daytime running lights, led), usable with a bicycle trailer, and child seats, safe to ride in the rain or in bad weather, with dress guards and mud guards (one should be able to wear regular clothes), 37-622 tires (Schwalbe Marathon, CST Sensamo), hub dynamo, extra strong wheels and (Sapim) spokes, low maintenance and close to indestructable) or a velomobile (Quattrovelo, Flevobike Orca).
I always wonder about the Orbea frame on the wall. What's wrong with it?
I have a steel single speed cyclocross bike with disc brakes that I converted to flat bars and installed permanent fenders. Perfect for commuting, a workhorse.
I’ve ridden several commuting bikes. A lovely fixed gear Mercian with mudguards, an old rigid steel MTB with chunky slicks and a rack. On nice days, one of my favourite road bikes. I’m a sweaty sort, so never liked a bag on my back, but I got good at fitting everything into a baggy old Carradice saddlebag. Only when I found myself needing to carry a laptop every day did it necessitate changing to a pannier and rack. I loved it all, riding in all weathers, dawns and dusks, the wildlife, especially the bridge over the motorway where I got to watch them all queueing beneath me. 😂
Although I mostly used rim brakes, I agree that discs are the way to go now. But, what about drum brakes? Could they be perfect for all weather commuting? I retired before getting a chance to investigate properly. Is anything decent available? Drum brakes, dynamo, hub gears, belt drive. How much can be hidden away? I agree with Si though, I wouldn’t want to pursue ultimate utility so far that the joy of a simple, nimble, lightweight bike is lost.
Ok Si: you dont like mudguards, yet you also dont like the grinding sound of your brakes (rim or disc frankly) that mudguards prevent😂
E bike
When I did cycle to work, I didn't use a commuter bike. I used one of my road bikes. I still needed to get whatever workout I had scheduled for the day done. Since my commute was 13+ miles each way, it was easy to get it done either on the way to work or on the way home. I would only do this in good weather. I was not allowed to bring a wet bike into the office, nor leave it overnight.
Loved the banter on commuting. I 100% agree with the notion that the best bike for ANY situation / circumstance is the one you actually use.
The blockages to commuting on a bike are not to do with bike selection but are more about:
1) faffing – time to get ready
2) infrastucture – access to uninterrupted and/or segregated cycleways
3) "accommodation" – can I have a shower at work? Where can i store my bike while I am at work? Can i keep spare clothes, towel , etc at work?
Maybe GCN can show us some businesses that encourage and accomodate commuting via bike successfully.
I don’t get what Simon says about rimbrakes on aluminum rim in rainy weather. They just work fine in my experience!!
As much as I love Si on the tech show, please bring back Sir Ollie and stick to the rules for the bike vault! Shame Rupert, shame!
That bianchi from JOMO is in Japan? That pipe looks super familiar.
I noticed My stuff is nicer than the backmarkers in the Olympics. The stand out may be whoever ordered the skin suit for the woman from Rwanda, it looked two sizes to big with flappy folds all over.
Si: “I prefer food”
Truer words have never been spoken.