🚴 Why Don't You Ride to Work or for Everyday Commitments?

[Oxon]

I do ride occasionally but hand picked days.

12hr shifts, 6am to 6pm and 34km each way means up at 4:30am and home after 7:30pm due to living at 310m and working at sea level.
Downhill for the first 10km, reverse on the way home.
It also makes me cringe to run my expensive supersoft tyres on tarmac. Ideally a dedicated commuter would be perfect.

Velduro (Who make the Rogue emtb) Phantom is a DJI powered e-gravel bike, that would make a super-commuter with fat slicks.

Very similar here.
12h shift and 5am starts mean the bike is a non-starter for my 34 mile commute. I ride is some days but only one way and drive the other leg.

I'd looked at the flat bar Velduro Phantom and it would be a perfect commuter if it weren't for the 15.5mph restriction. If I ride my gravel bike to work I can average 17mph so the limited bike just wouldn't cut it for me.

 

[ozzybmx]

Very similar here.
12h shift and 5am starts mean the bike is a non-starter for my 34 mile commute. I ride is some days but only one way and drive the other leg.

I'd looked at the flat bar Velduro Phantom and it would be a perfect commuter if it weren't for the 15.5mph restriction. If I ride my gravel bike to work I can average 17mph so the limited bike just wouldn't cut it for me.

Limit ? My Amflow was VPN'd to NZ back in July 2025, I have not connected it to the app since, its unlimited, no 45kph limit, actually completely unlimited.

So my bike can still power me over the 45kph stop, a commute on a flat road in turbo can get me up to 50kph. MTB lucky to see over 35kph.

At the end of the day, my bike does not ever hit a limit.

 

[pagheca]

Where is the "I work from home full time and if I left it anywhere when popping to the shops it would get stolen" option?

I think the last option says that, aka you don't use it for other commitments because of the risk of it being stolen.

 

[simonali19]

I used to be a hardcore cycle commuter, though. Rode my 1993 Marin Eldridge Grade 20 miles each way to work, rain or shine, dark or light and never owned a car at all. Still got the old girl as I can't bear to part with it after tens of thousands of miles. Don't recall riding it in the last 20 years! Probably bike commuted more than a lot of people and no longer feel the need or desire.

 

[mm1985]

I was gifted a Levo by my Lbs so I can document our local trail network. Was not sure about the e-bikes, but learned to love the ride. A great bike to film and take photos from.

 

[Mario Antony]

Most of us here are emtb'ers that have moved to electric bikes from many other riding experiences.

I have rode and raced (on regular bikes) XC, Road, CX, done 24 solo, done 5 day endurance events, done many single day 100km-200km+ races, still bikepacking, commuted and just ridden my bike to get that 1 hour a day freedom.

The good headspace that riding, whether MTB on dirt or maybe a commute on bike paths is pretty much the same.

It doesn't matter what bike you ride.

if you raced bikes, you should understand what I meant.
I own a Brompton, and for me, it's one of the best commuters out there.
I won't or even think about using any of my other bikes (be it road bike, trail, enduro, road, ebike) as a commuter for several reasons:
- It has specific parts, that don't make it suitable for commute
- It lacks specific commute items, such as baggage or racks, mudguards, chain guards, etc...
- It's not comfortable: be it component specific or riding position
- If you usually commute, you better of buying a specific commuter and leave alone your specific eMTB - unless it's a "chitty" ebike, with "chitty" components

You say it doesn't matter what bike you ride, I say, it makes all the difference.

 

[Weeksy]

Not been to the office for 5 years.

 

[Gila Man]

I'm retired now so there's no commute. When I was single and only lived 5 miles from work, I commuted on my mtb almost every day. When I got married, I moved into my wife's house which was 20 miles from work. We lived in the Seattle area, which is very hilly and the weather/darkness is not pleasant for a good part of the year plus, I would have to ride through an unsafe neighborhood.

Now I'm in the desert southwest where virtually no one commutes by bike (or motorcycle) due to the summer heat.

 

[venturavin]

Theres just nowhere to leave My bike close enough to me.
Theres a bike shed(with one side open) at our work but since we are quite big I would have no idea if it got stolen untill after work.
I dont trust people.

This is one of the many reasons why having a dedicated (and not fancy) commuter bike is the way to go.

 

[Plummet]

I didnt respond to the poll because it doesnt have my option.

Work is too far away at 53km.

Also I start ar 6am and do a 10 hour day.

 

[pagheca]

I didnt respond to the poll because it doesnt have my option.

Work is too far away at 53km.

Also I start ar 6am and do a 10 hour day.

Actually there is such an option: "the route is to hilly or too far". About the time I added the option at the end.

Can I ask what you do for work? Starting at 6 in the morning and working 10 hours is really a lot… Let me guess: do you work in a hospital? Or in catering / the restaurant industry?

 

[Mario Antony]

Actually there is such an option: "the route is to hilly or too far". About the time I added the option at the end.

Can I ask what you do for work? Starting at 6 in the morning and working 10 hours is really a lot… May I ask what kind of job to do? Let me guess: do you work in a hospital? Or in catering / the restaurant industry?

Check his bikes.
He's a dentist, of course!

 

[Maxi]

You work from home a few days ? Thats a fair commute.

I work from home unless I need to travel to office / client site but I have to be assigned a base location (silly HR rules).

 

[Stoffel]

Commuting on my emtb would add 2 (boring) hours to my work day.
It would cause wear and tear to my bike and driving my electric van to and from work costs about 60p a day so why bother.
I ride my bikes purely for fun, riding to and from work in all weathers and temperatures doesn’t sound like fun to me.
I also wouldn’t leave any of my bikes locked up anywhere if I was running errands because some scrote would probably steal them.

 

[Hob Nob]

My office is about 50m down the garden, so it’s a bit pointless

My physical offices are in London, Tokyo or California, so also not feasible, although I do still enjoy a C2W bike

 

[Plummet]

Actually there is such an option: "the route is to hilly or too far". About the time I added the option at the end.

Can I ask what you do for work? Starting at 6 in the morning and working 10 hours is really a lot… Let me guess: do you work in a hospital? Or in catering / the restaurant industry?

Ok, I missed that. I read too hilly and stopped reading... my route isnt too hilly. But its not practical. I'd have to leave a 4am and wouldnt get home till 6.30. Plus its a boring as hell and dangerous road.

To answer your question. I'm in engineering. The factory does 4 x 10 hour days starting 6am finishing at 4.30pm.
Its a hard week with effectively 12 hour days with the commute included, but i get fridays off.

 

[Marvin2Shoes]

Ride a bike to work? Why?

I rode my bike to work until I turned 16, got my driver's license, and bought a car.

And that is a truly sad thing about western culture. To think a person should stop exercising at any and every opportunity just to sit in traffic getting upset at every other person who is also losing their fitness and polluting the air we breathe while sitting in traffic. Unfortunately it took me 45 years of driving to understand this simple truth. Cars are killing great swathes of people in multiple ways and ppl seem too lazy or too ignorant to see it.

 

[Stihldog]

Well…I’m retired (retyered for you British folk). My house is only 2km from the trail entrance and half of that is pavement. Most of my riding buddies drive to the bottom of the riding trails where we meet up, every day, early in the morning. We’re like an EMTB gang. Nobody messes with us…except for a couple of crazy squirrels .

My last EMTB commute, a few years ago, was to a doctors appointment. 5km away and a place to lock up the bike. I got there early

Even though I locked up my EMTB, my anxiety levels were through the roof. I kept checking on my bike every few minutes while I waited for my appointment. In retrospect that was a bad idea.

I never considered commuting while I was working. Too far, too dangerous, too risky.

 

[Pauliemon]

I'm retired and have no daily commitments.

 

[Plummet]

And that is a truly sad thing about western culture. To think a person should stop exercising at any and every opportunity just to sit in traffic getting upset at every other person who is also losing their fitness and polluting the air we breathe while sitting in traffic. Unfortunately it took me 45 years of driving to understand this simple truth. Cars are killing great swathes of people in multiple ways and ppl seem too lazy or too ignorant to see it.

I will commute again when ever I get a job back in town. But not when my job is 4 towns away.....

 

[cream]

I own a Brompton, and for me, it's one of the best commuters out there.
I won't or even think about using any of my other bikes (be it road bike, trail, enduro, road, ebike) as a commuter for several reasons:
- It has specific parts, that don't make it suitable for commute
- It lacks specific commute items, such as baggage or racks, mudguards, chain guards, etc...
- It's not comfortable: be it component specific or riding position
- If you usually commute, you better of buying a specific commuter and leave alone your specific eMTB - unless it's a "chitty" ebike, with "chitty" components

Guess it depends on where you live, how friendly that place is to "especially" designed commuting (e)bikes.

To me, commuting in Bucharest with a road/city bike is way more dangerous than doing it with a (e)MTB.

-Thare are no bike lanes on my itinerary but plenty of crazy/frustrated drivers, road pot holes, cracks etc. Most of the commuting ride, I have to go along with the cars. I'm way more confident in brakes and how the bike reacts in an emergency situation. Also, it's way more fun I can also practice some other features that won't work on a Brompton...like jumping some stairs, track stand at a stop light, etc. I can also pedal with 90-95rpm average cadence and 120-130rpm peak.

In any case, commuting by bike was a really big change for me. I really loved driving and was hooked on using my car every day. Also loved bikes but was too scared to bike in city traffic.
Look at me now, completely cured I rarely use my car these days.

 

[Amber Valley Guy]

Have you seen the absolute lunacy of car and truck drivers in the UK before 6.00 am? Normal road rules DO NOT APPLY, I'd be dead within a fortnight.

 

[Brawwp]

People who ride their bike in the road during rush hour in the morning make me so mad haha. Specifically roads where they simply aren’t keeping up and creating insane traffic behind them. Every once in a while I get behind a group leaving my neighborhood and I swear it adds a solid 10-15min to my commute to work. Completely robs my morning time before actually starting work

I’m all for people riding bikes, but man some people are just so unaware of themselves it’s insane. I understand it’s your legal right to use the road, but come on dude, you can use the sidewalk to let traffic by then pop back over

 

[Marvin2Shoes]

People who ride their bike in the road during rush hour in the morning make me so mad haha. Specifically roads where they simply aren’t keeping up and creating insane traffic behind them. Every once in a while I get behind a group leaving my neighborhood and I swear it adds a solid 10-15min to my commute to work. Completely robs my morning time before actually starting work

I’m all for people riding bikes, but man some people are just so unaware of themselves it’s insane. I understand it’s your legal right to use the road, but come on dude, you can use the sidewalk to let traffic by then pop back over

At some point you will realise that the money you gained by spending all your best years making someone else a fortune was time spent very poorly. When you realise, probably after retiring, that all your pain-free energetic years have gone and you have a miniscule time left to enjoy life... the you'll see why all those people on bicycles 'dared to inconvenience you'. You need a serious reality check before you end up killing someone who's 'just out to make your life more difficult'. Do you not see how car-brain makes it all about you?

 

[Brawwp]

At some point you will realise that the money you gained by spending all your best years making someone else a fortune was time spent very poorly. When you realise, probably after retiring, that all your pain-free energetic years have gone and you have a miniscule time left to enjoy life... the you'll see why all those people on bicycles 'dared to inconvenience you'. You need a serious reality check before you end up killing someone who's 'just out to make your life more difficult'. Do you not see how car-brain makes it all about you?

I am very respectful to bikers and would never put life in danger first off. One guy on a bike holding up 40 cars with an empty sidewalk is straight up selfish.

My work helps others immensely but I won’t get into what I do. Would you say a surgeon on their way to save a human beings life time spent poorly? A nurse on their way to care for your grandparents.. I could go on. To be holding up cars with the mindset that all these people are on their way to a mindless job so they can wait is crazy. Some roadways put more thought into cyclists, a lot don’t. Be safe out there though! People saying 1500 watts is unsafe, bro riding on a road is way more dangerous to everyone involved.

 

[pagheca]

Have you seen the absolute lunacy of car and truck drivers in the UK before 6.00 am? Normal road rules DO NOT APPLY, I'd be dead within a fortnight.

Actually I lived in Uk many years (Cardiff and Manchester). Long commuting by bike at the time, no problems. I commuted by bike or ebike in 5 different countries, and UK was the best.

Everything depends on your local and personal conditions. No general rules apply here.

And that's esactly why I created this poll...

 

[Mario Antony]

Guess it depends on where you live, how friendly that place is to "especially" designed commuting (e)bikes.

To me, commuting in Bucharest with a road/city bike is way more dangerous than doing it with a (e)MTB.

-Thare are no bike lanes on my itinerary but plenty of crazy/frustrated drivers, road pot holes, cracks etc. Most of the commuting ride, I have to go along with the cars. I'm way more confident in brakes and how the bike reacts in an emergency situation. Also, it's way more fun I can also practice some other features that won't work on a Brompton...like jumping some stairs, track stand at a stop light, etc. I can also pedal with 90-95rpm average cadence and 120-130rpm peak.

In any case, commuting by bike was a really big change for me. I really loved driving and was hooked on using my car every day. Also loved bikes but was too scared to bike in city traffic.
Look at me now, completely cured I rarely use my car these days.

Commute in Lisbon, with all things associated:
-Cobble roads
-Tram rails
-Holes and craters
So no, it's not that friendly...

So I like the Brompton, but wouldn't advice to anyone new to biking and being at Lisbon.


But I find Scooters much better in all the commute.
No need for taking trains - not affect by strikes nor delays.
No parking cost
Low fuel consumption
Lot of space
No traffic
And by far, the fastest commute.

 

[pagheca]

At some point you will realise that the money you gained by spending all your best years making someone else a fortune was time spent very poorly. When you realise, probably after retiring, that all your pain-free energetic years have gone and you have a miniscule time left to enjoy life... the you'll see why all those people on bicycles 'dared to inconvenience you'. You need a serious reality check before you end up killing someone who's 'just out to make your life more difficult'. Do you not see how car-brain makes it all about you?

The issue is actually more complex. In a way, @Brawwp does have a point. If I was living in the Netherlands at the time, I probably would have agreed with him myself back in the 1970s, when, after the first oil crisis, some people there started proposing major changes to urban road networks to make cycling practical, popular, and safe.

Since then, though, things have changed enormously. Sure, some people still complain, but the vast majority in a country where it rains constantly have seen their quality of life improve dramatically: better health, less pollution, less urban noise, safer streets, faster commuting, and so on.

A lot depends on where you live. I don’t know where he lives, but here in Bologna, for example, the local administration is making a huge effort to improve life for cyclists by building an extensive network of bike lanes and shared pedestrian/cycling paths everywhere. Not easy, and still a lot of work to be done in this old, beautiful city transformed in a parking lot for cars until now.

And many people complain here too. Some even honk angrily from their oversized cars because you’re “slowing them down.” But I hope that one day they’ll be the ones thanking you, because if they are still forced to drive, there will be far less traffic precisely thanks to people like me who choose to cycle whenever possible, leaving the roads and parking spaces free for them.

1. Roads improve to allow the use of bycicles and public transport for daily commuting ->
2. more people use them every day ->
3. Repeat...

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

As someone else said... this is an eMTB forum and I don't find the same joy in road riding as my mountain bike. Only commutes are during epic adventure and not work or errands. I want to get to the trails as quickly and safely as possible, plus with a vehicle I can change clothes at the trailhead, bring spares, etc...

So #1 reason not to commute is hazard from other road users (vehicles). Hence I don't road or gravel ride much anymore. Even on my motorcycle, as I've gotten older, I worry more and it takes some of the joy away. In the woods, I'm in control.

Then there's weather, changing clothes for work, parking, theft, limited capacity for hauling goods, can't haul kids around... not to mention wear to soft and expensive tires.

 

[Plummet]

Also, i will only commute when I can store my e safely. I have a very expensive and not easily replaceable e bike. So leaving it outside shops is not an option.