My Daily Commute Is Only 1.7 Miles, And Only Uphill Coming Home

[Kennah]

I roll in, and ride home. Kicks my butt, or more correctly thighs, but I'm not giving in or giving up.

Debating whether I'll buy an über-lightweight carbon fiber racer like a Specialized Roubaix, an electric assist bike, or get an electric assist conversion for my commuter.

Right now, I'm riding my older Schwinn racer, but I'm not sure the gearing is really ideal for the hills. Need to get the fenders on my commuter, Kona Dew, and it is a better hill climber.

It was pretty wet this morning, but I've got rainpants so I won't be dissuaded by weather.

[happyslug]

1. Only 1.7 miles? I do about 2.4 miles one way.

Last edited Wed May 2, 2012, 06:37 PM - Edit history (1)

To work it is almost all down hill, but from work I go up 120 feet up a grade that peaks out at its end at 6.9%. 4/5th of the trip is fairly level, most of the hill climb is on the last 1/5. I climb a whole 15 feet in attitude for the first 4/5 of the trip, then 40 feet for the next 10% then 65 feet for the final 10%. Easy biking to work, more difficult on the way back (In the Summer I rarely work up a sweat going to work, but on the way home I always do).




Please ignore the two dips and one spike in the first 4/5 of the above chart, the two dips reflect the river level below the bridge I cross the rivers on. The spike seems to be the Cliff side the road I bike on cuts through, cliff side on the river side, steep hill side on the other. The road I bike on stays at about the same level as the road before and afterward. The two dips and the Spike are just errors in how Google earth does its elevation charts.

Every so often I do a longer trip, one to the local mall, only 6.29 miles away:


It is only a gain of 1274 feet, I know that is low compared to the Mountains out west but it is one of the highest hill climbs in the east. I walk my bike over the steepest parts. Now in the first 1/2 of the trip, the route only goes up in elevation about 350 in elevation. At that point I dismount and walk most of the rest of the way of the Mountain. I do bike the the two short downhill sections AND the last 10% of the trip on top of the Mountain. On the way back to my home or my office, I ride all the way.

[tinrobot]

2. Start with gearing

Lightness of the bike doesn't matter as much as the gearing.

A compact double or triple in the front will help as will a mountain cassette in the back.

I have an 11-34t mountain cassette on my road bike and it'll climb almost anything.

[Kennah]

3. What's involved in swapping to a triple in front?

Would I need to swap out the bottom bracket?

Is that 11-34 a 5 sprocket? Mine is a 14-28

[tinrobot]

4. Depends on the bike

If the shifters are friction, you can probably just swap the crank, though it might not shift perfectly. A new bottom bracket would help line things up better, and the front derailleur may have to be swapped to prevent chain drop.

If you have indexed shifters, you'll need to change out the front shifter from double to triple as well.

If it's only 5 cogs in the back, not much you can do beyond 14-28. Get a triple with a 28 or smaller chainring up front and you should have enough range.

[Lizzie Poppet]

5. I'd go with the Kona.

As tinrobot points out, re-equipping your Schwinn is a do-able thing, but your Kona is already really well set up for that climb. I don't know what model year yours is, but the latest ones have an 11-34 cassette out back, and the small chainring is a 28...so you've got a nice, low "granny gear" to use. And a pair of fenders would almost certainly be cheaper than reworking your Schwinn, particularly if you don't do the parts swap yourself...

If you do decide to splurge on a new lightweight carbon bike (and there's nothing like a new bike!), I'd suggest taking a look at one of the various options that come with SRAM's Apex group. It has a wide-range cassette (32-tooth big cog) paired with a 34-tooth small chainring, so you get pretty close to a triple's range, but with a double's better shifting and lighter weight. And although Apex is SRAM's entry road group, it works really well...equivalent to Shimano 105, imo.

[Kennah]

6. I have gone back to the Kona for commuting ...

... but I've been out on a couple of 30+ mile road rides, and it's a bear on my wrists with a commuter.

I guess I'm now weighing if it's worthwhile to drop a few hundred dollars into my Schwinn--triple crank, 8 sprocket freewheel--for the road. Price of a new road bike is a little daunting. I might wait until fall and see if a bunch of used road bikes show up on Craigslist cheap.

[Lizzie Poppet]

7. Craigslist can be a treasure trove for bikes.

I live in Portland, a really bike-friendly place. I browse Craigslist even when I'm not remotely in the market just because cool stuff always shows up.