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Currently rocking a MTB frame with 50 mm 650b slicks and Velo Orange alu fenders, 1x10 40x11 drivetrain. Comfy and versatile, but not terribly fast.
What's the fastest (used) commuter option for sub £500? A TT bike? An aero road bike with tt bars attached (I have a pair lying around). A track bike with front brakes? More concerned with top end than fast acceleration, so can be a single speed.
Find yourself a massive chain ring and turn your bike into one of these 🙂
But with flat bars? Heeh
What’s your commute like? Would a TT bike be any fun on a miserable sleety Tuesday morning in February? I’d be looking toward something a little more comfy, unless you have a really short commute. A TT bike isn’t gonna be that much faster than a road bike, due to traffic, junctions etc
Flat, straight roads for most part. Not too many stop lights. Cars moving at around 30-50 kmh so you could share the road without getting overtaken on a fast bike.
My concern with an aggressive TT position is that I use backpack (sometimes loaded w groceries).
I can hold 35 kmh on my MTB, I reckon a TT bike would be around 25-30% faster based on what people have reported, so we're up at 45 kmh.
GCN made a..canyon advertorial on this
If you're about 6ft or so, buy my Dolan FXE and have loads of change left over.
6ft4!
I'll DM you 😉
In that price range: track bike. Definitely 🙂
Sounds a weirdish specific requirements. TT bike only really allows you to get into an aero position, given that you'll have a back pack on the advantages will be reduced dramatically. Doubt there is much data on a TT bike with backpack! I'd be tempted to work on the MTB. Thinner faster tyres, close ratio cassette, bigger chainring, fit the aero bars to the MTB and get the position sorted.
I can hold 35 kmh on my MTB, I reckon a TT bike would be around 25-30% faster based on what people have reported, so we’re up at 45 kmh.
Ah, so this whole thread was leading up to a humblebrag! Anyway, from your own chart, you obviously need a Tandem Vector recumbent with your rucksack in the passenger seat.
You plan on holding 28mph? Fair play if you are.
GCN did the Wind Tunnel analysis on the best position to locate your luggage (backpack/panniers or saddle bag I think)
I don’t think I’d want to do a commute on a TT bike, unless the roads were very rider friendly.
A track bike with a large gear and a clip on bar would for me be the fastest. Obviously with both brakes. But think we all vary, if you’re comfortable with the TT position and can hold it all ride, your roads are as straightforward as you say, then TT would be it. For me (not averaging 27 or 28mph), I reckon I’d be fastest on a track bike with the option to use the TT bars.
TT bars on a commute: it's a no from me
Sounds like this really doe sneed some practical experimentation. Can anyone lend me a selection of expensive bikes, a wind tunnel and a collection of commuter-style bags?
A track bike with proper aero bars (i.e. the bullhorns and the extensions). I quite often run just the bullhorns on my track bike and they are great for control and for climbing (drops are good to but I don't run brakes so have no hoods making standed climbing rubbish)
Depending on how flat you get your back and what shape of rucksack you use it may not be much of a hindrance.
I used to commute on a SS with bull horns, don't think I was any faster but it looked cool as (at least in my head anyway!)
Also had ridiculously heavy wheels and poor braking so was probably slower than my normal bike.
That Planet X is my old TT bike! Built up as a student, not for £500 but still relatively cheap.
I did my 45 mile commute on another fixed TT bike once (no aero wheels), was probably ~1mph faster than my steel road bike with deep carbon - but that wasn't taking into account tailwinds.
Fixed TT is great for making progress on the flat, but it can be frustrating when much gradient comes into play or if you have a head/tail wind.
My money would go on a Dolan Precursa with a big gear, low spoke count wheels and some fast rubber.
Just get a cheap road bike. Don't piss about with a TT bike, they're murder. You can get most of the advantage by slamming the front end, if you can still pedal like that.
Wear lycra, and fit one of those seatpost racks with a rack-top bag for your stuff, to keep it all in the slipstream. Or a large bumbag or something.
Full on TT position might be too extreme yes, am not super flexible - so a road bike with fast tires and TT clip-ons might get me most of the way there. Also it might even be better to be a bit more upright if the backpack is huge? Hypothesis:
Anyhoo, mounting the TT bars to the MTB now, tried to get the 52mm wide (jikes) fenders closer to the tires, and ordering a tighter fitting jacket (the one I have is way too big, XXL).
Got dropped by a gravel biker the other day..
Could you order another set of fenders and completely shroud up the wheels, or at least as much as possible? That and some aero wheels might make a difference.
Would need narrower tires then, current ones are 48 mm wide
BTW, here's one commuter dedicated to speed
The OP and Geex need to have a race.
Not sure theres any advantage in a track bike, they're just a heavy* road bike with twitchy geometry and no gears or rear brake.
Even an aero road bike isnt night and day over round tubes. At most youre gaining low single figure percentages.
Slammed stem, yes, but like a tt position its hard (actually harder than a tt position) to hold if done properly. You need the saddle higher and forwards compared to a normal fit to rotate your whole body forwards till your backs flat and your elbows are at 90deg. The optimum is actually a sphinx position with the hands on the inside of the hoods, not in the drops.
TT bikes are quick, but not sure Id want to play in traffic on one. Tt races are on a known course, left turns only, risk assessed and called off for shit weather.
*subject to the same uci weight limits so generally quite overbuilt.
Cars moving at around 30-50 kmh so you could share the road without getting overtaken on a fast bike.
Even if you're knocking out 50km/h on your commute (which would put you in the elite racing category) you'll find that 50km/h is strangely always faster in a car than it is on a bike, and the motor traffic will still be overtaking you.
The advantage of a TT bike over a road bike on a commute will only be a few minutes (even if you manage to spend most of the ride on the extensions). The convenience of a road bike with proper mudguards and a pannier rack will easily outweigh that. Fitting tri bars to a commuter bike will narrow the straight line speed gap even more.
Just get a cheap road bike. Don’t piss about with a TT bike, they’re murder. You can get most of the advantage by slamming the front end,
Talking pish again aye.
Tested the TT bars on my commuter/mtb and was reminded how much the TT position sucks the joy out of cycling, i'll just stick to holding my riser bars close to the stem.
Maybe some 28 mm slicks and matching narrow fenders would help considerably? Or maybe not? Time for an unlocked ebike? :p
Opened thread anticipating another yohandsome artistic triumph. Was not disappoint.
Opened thread anticipating another yohandsome artistic triumph. Was not disappoint.
The joy of mobile browsing, opening threads is like a game of pass the parcel. Sometimes you open one and find yohandsome/geex/chewk.
Highly relevant wind tunnel testing https://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/aerodynamics-of-real-world-bicycles/