What Is The Ultimate Commuter Bike? | GCN Tech Show Ep. 345

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? 🚲

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📸 Photos - © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sprint Cycling Agency

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[gcntech]

What do you think is the ultimate commuter bike? 🚲

[KorbensBum]

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.

[slowkite]

Perfect commuterbike for me: mudguards, hub-dynamo including led lights and reflectors for the darker season, 8speed internal gear hub with chain (less powerloss on climbs and still easy to maintain), wide handelbars, hydraulic disc brakes, aluminium frame, wheels that do not have a quick release….what i forgot…rear rack for panniers, specific commuter tires (marathon, etc…), btw. my bike is a diamant 247 - which i adapted to my needs. not fast, quite heavy (15kg), but it does the job all year round and it can also cope with my hilly commute…

[steveyankou]

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.

[eddjcaine]

My touring bike got superniced!! That has made my week 😀 sorry you don’t like the bar tape Alex - I was super proud that I installed it myself with the help of a great GCN video. Thanks guys ❤

[tonyjennison]

The way to buy a bike if you think you can't afford one is: calculate the cost of your commute over a year, take this figure and use it as your budget, get an interest free deal on a bike or do the CTWS, then actually ride it to work. Technically it's a free bike, all future rides make you cash. I have a Spa Cycles Elan titanium with Ultegra (yes full guards and the timeless but unbeatable Carradice with a bagman support) . It's fast and limo smooth, if it was a car it would be a Bentley. Near my work in Newcastle the council built secure cycle cages in a multi-story car park, a deposit got me a security fob for a CCTV'd steel cage. Well Done Newcastle Council, you rock.

[KennyBellau]

In most cities, New Orleans for example, your commuter bike MUST be a bike that you're not going to be gutted if it gets stolen. Also, depending on the city, finding your bike stolen might have nothing to do with where you park it or the quality of your lock. The $100 bike with a bad paint job and empty pockets should be your choice while traveling in some neighborhoods.

[robbchastain]

Truly, cycling to high school on a 10-speed department-store Rixie with a front-tire generator in darkness remains a great memory and accomplishment of my high school years in the mid-'70s as an American teen military dependent in Frankfurt, West Germany. And all those mopeds were great fun to chase and sometimes catch, with a cheery "Guten Tag" so its rider didn't think I was actually dying inside from the effort. And a mind-bending moment was in May '75 when all vehicles were swept off the road by a squadron of police vehicles and whoa, it was the peloton in the early kilometers of the Henninger-Turm pro race, now known as Eshborn-Frankfurt. And I started commuting by bike as an 11-year-old in Fresno in '71 on my Schwinn Sting-Ray and the bike rack at Tioga Junior High was packed with lots of other Sting-Rays, too. Back when high-rise handlebars and banana seats made us all cool. 😀

[stephenmelville]

The ultimate commuter bike depends on your commute and where your at with cycling.
I'm fairly late to cycling and have a 25km commute. I started with an old steely road bike with friction shifters and found the hills too hard. Bought an ebike and have used it for a few years until my fitness was better. Now I switch between a focus Cayo ag2r team bike (probably a replica) and the steely as a training bike for fun. With a long ride on the weekend I can do over 300km in a week and I'm looking to do my first 160km race later this year. Loving it!!!

[Avocado]

I have been bike commuting for over a decade, and unlike my road bikes my commuter has gotten heavier, and more relaxed.

I have steel frame, gates belt Drive, rohloff hub and Dynamo with flat bars, 44c tires, fenders and it’s a beast.

Also, I’m at work for 12 hours and Pack snacks, lunch and dinner in addition to coffee and water.

yep, you’re right. I have to leave 10 minutes earlier than same commute on my prev light endurance bike but love the comfort of the set up.

[fredjohnstone]

I recently retired but bicycle commuted to work for a number of years. The distance was not huge, a little over 5 miles, but I rode hell or high water regardless of the weather. I live in the Pacific Northwest so I had to deal with a lot of wet weather. My initial commuter bike was an upright aluminum framed with a belt drive and Nexus hub. I had a small bag on a rear rack with expandable panniers. It was definitely slower than my road bike but I used the half an hour ride to generally go all out. Fortunately I had a shower at work and cloths there as well. I had a touring bike built, which was more upright as well, and switched to that for commuting🎉. I converted my original commuter bike to more of a cargo bike and use that for store runs. The more traditional commuter bikes can have more than one purpose. I completely agree with disc breaks. I do find the internal hubs much more durable in foul weather.

[Daniel-wqw]

I’m using an Italian custom made titanium road bike equipped with a Campagnolo Super Record groupset for my daily commute. Therefore I’m enjoying my ride to work every single day.

[AnvilAirsoftTV]

Something a lot of people would need to consider with commuter bikes is security. Where is it being locked up and stored? A nice carbon road bike is going to get nicked and / or damaged if in public. I have an old beater MTB that I use to ride to the shops or swimming pool and gym as it’s locked to public bike storage.

[robincooney]

Yep, my commuter bike has to be enjoyable - so over years I progressed from commuting a hilly 11 miles each way on a naff bike to riding a much nicer bike to work. The must haves for me include the bigger picture though:
1) Security. I'm not riding a decent bike to work if there is a big risk of it being stolen. For a short time I started taking my bike into the office and chaining it to my desk. Decent locks weight a ton and are a big faff.
2) Changing and washing facilities at work.
3) Traffic free. I developed routes that weren't the shortest but were 70% quiet lanes.
4) Lights. Many lights - at least two bright rear lights - and tyres with reflective sidewalls.
5) Mudguards. Sorry Simon but mudguards don't ruin the ride of a nice bike at all.

[russellramey]

My commuter bike has a 7005 Aluminum frame, Shimano Alfine 11-speed internal hub drive train, DeOre rim brakes, Shimano dyno front hub with LED front light, and 2 rear red lights. Oh yes, mudguards because it might be nice starting out, but it can rain on the way home. A rear rack and flat bars with bar ends. Plus, 700c x 38 tyres. Oh, cannot forget the Bell!

[galenkehler]

The perfect commuter equipment is whatever is most efficient: aero, low rolling resistance, lightweight.
My commuter bike is a drop bar converted TT frame with a tri-spoke/disc wheelset.
Saves so much in fuel (food) it pays for itself over a couple years.

[BikeCoffee-Cake]

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).

[marcs]

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.

[martindirkzimmer]

I thoroughly enjoy Si's wit and perspectives! Happy to be a contemporary of his.

[PRH]

In rainy (and snowy) climates, for commuting drum brakes are the best. I'd expect that in the homeland of sturmey archer they would be more widely appreciated :)

Completely sealed from weather, no adjustment or maintenance required, replace pads like once every 5 years at most. Its a big enhancement for safety too to always have working brakes, no matter how little attention you've paid to maintenance.