Re: Trek 1500 for commuting?

"theophanc_yahoo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Lee,

I ride a '95 Trek 1200 (Racing Geometry - entry level componants) with a
Rack to work 2-3 days (16mi 1-way) a week and LOVE it.

Have you test "driven" a Road Bike yet?

The reason I ask is I had a couple year layoff from commuting but
occasionally rode my mountain Bike. The day I took the Trek off the rack
and took it for a spin I could not believe the difference in feel. Lighter,
faster & ready to Rock and Roll !

I could not commute without my back Rack though and cannot tell if the 1500
has the eyelets.

Your time estimates sound right on. When I restarted my commuting it took
me 75 minutes to go the 16 miles but that dropped in a couple weeks to 60-65
and now I can do it in 52-55.

_theophan

Quoted message said:

Hi,

I'm thinking on picking up a good road bike to start riding
back and forth to work (10miles each way) on city streets. I am not
in the best of shape (37 years old, 195 pounds}, last worked out about
1 1/2 years ago when I used to ride to and from work (6miles then). I
love to ride, but all I have is a mountain bike now. I don't think
I'd like to ride it everyday as it is really slow and not very
comfortable.

Here are the things I am looking for.

1) Speed, I don't want to take all night getting home.
2) Durability of the bike, I hate do maintenance every other day.
Minor upkeep every month or so I can deal with.
3) Comfort. I'm hoping that within a couple of months I can get the
one way trip time down to around 1/2 hour.

If anyone has a trek 1500, and thinks it would be good or not good for
this type of situation could you post your comments here.

Thanks
Lee

PS About what speed can an average person expect to cruise along on a
good road bike today (I haven't had a road bike since HS) I was
figuring right now with the shape I am in I could still hold a 12-15
mph pace on flat terrain, does that sound reasonable? And then once I
get in better shape I should be able to get about 16-18 for that 10
mile stretch.

Yes the 1500 has rear eyelets...

as far as commuting speed, I'd say you'd be putting in an intensive couple
of months to get the 10 mile commute home down to a 1/2 hour, unless the
terrain is very flat or slightly downhill and you have few stop
lights/signs...averaging 20 mph for 10 miles is not something you're going
to be able to do simply by commuting every day for a couple months.