Commuting on a road bike can be one of life’s genuine pleasures. If you’re just starting out with commuting by bike, there are a few essentials you should look into buying. But if you’re already a proven rider, with a race bike in the garage wanting to add to your training miles there are a few simple steps you can take to make the commute easier on you and your kit, ensuring it doesn’t end up costing you more in the long run.
Bearings: keep the grease in and the dirt out
Most modern race bike hubs use non-contact bearing seals for ultra-efficient running. That means, to reduce drag and save watts, road bike wheels rely on weather seals that don’t entirely seal your bearings from the elements. Instead, a layer of grease applied between the end cap and the seal keeps water, dirt, and grime out.
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Modern bike cleaners, pressure washers, and the daily abuse and corrosive crud from an urban commute dissolve this grease, leaving your hub bearings – especially exotic ceramic ones – open to the elements.
Some high-end Shimano wheels use a cup-and-cone bearing system. On these wheels, neglecting regular servicing can cause irreparable damage to the hub, so it’s a good idea to learn about the system you’re running and perhaps chat to your local bike shop about the best way to maintain it yourself, or with their help.
Luckily, most hub systems are now designed to be a doddle to service. With the wheel out, you can usually pop off the end caps on many popular hubs and add a layer of good-quality grease yourself, no bike shop needed.
Freehubs are similarly simple to remove, often with just an Allen key, or again, simply by popping them off with the wheel out. Sometimes with the cassette in place, so no further parts need removing to get at the greasy gubbins that needs your regular attention.
Pawl and ratchet type freehubs can look intimidating once apart, but they need little more than a clean and a fresh application of grease to keep them running smoothly and keep the worst of the weather out. Neglecting this can rot the ratchet plate and clog the pawls, leading to drive system failure until serviced. Commuting on road bike kit accelerates this issue, so it demands more attention.
Tyres: sacrifice your speed for few punctures
If you’re commuting regularly, take off your race day tyres and fit something (much) harder wearing. Yes, you might be shelving a marginal gain that feels relevant at the weekend, but on city streets where broken glass, grit and debris litter the cycle lanes and roadsides, you need something robust. Look for terms like ‘Vectran Breaker’ and ‘armour,’ which simply signify a puncture protection layer. Avoid any tyre with RACE in the name.
Ultra-strong tyres like Schwalbe’s Marathon range are really hardcore commuting tyres. They’re the ones you’ll find on the bike share bikes in urban areas. They aren’t necessary for commuting unless you need near 100% reliability, which they famously deliver.
Something like a Continental Gatorskin, however, doesn’t give much away to a road tyre in terms of compliance or road feel but will stand up to city streets far better than a GP5000. If you must have something racier than a gatorskin, Pirelli’s Cinturato is really good and stands up to lots of teddy. Go wider too, it will help with the potholes, but check how much room is in your bike first.
Commute-hardened tyres can also be cheaper than the ever-increasing premium we’re expected to pay for race tyres, and the fancy replacements of what are often ‘standard fitment’ on decent road bikes these days. You won’t notice the difference in speed much at all, certainly not with a Cinturato or similar, and a slightly more robust tyre with air in it is way faster than a completely flat one. Depending on the clearance you have in your frame, it’s worth looking at hardwearing gravel tyres too.
The heavier the tyre the better for the daily grind
(Image credit: Future)
Cleanliness wins every time
If you run your bike every day in all weathers, you’re going to have to get serious about regular cleaning, or you’ll suck up some horrendous bills and risk poor reliability. At the better end, you’ve got crunchy chains, and squeaky brakes, as everything gets clogged up with pretty inconspicuous but damaging road film.
Spray cleaners can help, as they’re super convenient, but just like road grime, some can harm your bike. Solvents strip grease from seals and allow dirt and water to penetrate your bearings and moving parts. Best advice with spray lubes is to apply them onto a rag so that overspray doesn’t drift to interfere with braking surfaces, and direct pressure from the aerosol doesn’t force the cleaner into your freehub or wheel bearings where it can cause havoc.
Keeping your bike clean is a priority for commuters
(Image credit: Simon Fellows)
Security and Storage
We’d recommend never locking your road bike up on the street. But if you must leave your bike, lock it to something substantial with one of the best angle grinder proof locks with a ‘Sold Secure’ rating.
If you only have on-street parking available, your road bike is probably not the right tool for your morning commute, owing to the frequency with which they get stolen and broken for parts, or the likelihood of damage from other bikes whilst parked. My advice is to take it into your office if you can, and if you can’t, press your company to make secure storage available.
It’s easier than ever to add muguards to your bike
(Image credit: Hannah Bussey)
Fenders work incredibly well
Mudguards or fenders do an amazing job of keeping the water off you and your bike. Commuting means riding on wet roads, even if it isn’t raining, and this is when they’re worth their weight in gold.
Salty water, polluted with brake dust, diesel, and clutch casings, can ruin your fancy paint job and eat away at the moving parts on your bike. Aftermarket mudguards, like SKS Raceblades, fit most road bikes, even those without modern tyre clearances and dedicated mudguard space, like Enve’s Melee.
Not only do they look pretty cool for a mudguard set-up, but they might save you a packet in the long run and fit most bikes with no hassle. Check out our guide to the best mudguards to add to your bike.
