In both our work and our home lives we’re now expected to do so much. At home we’re expected to be an administrator, a plumber, a chef who can cook healthy food, but also get enough rest to start the next day. In our workplace we’re expected to respond to countless emails, do our work, turn up at often fruitless meetings and then work overtime to show our bosses that we work hard. This leaves us with less time to worry about fitness and leisure. Commuting by bike can take care of some of these worries. The link between our work life and home life when commuted by bike can be a nice bit of time to ourselves, where we challenge ourselves athletically and gain other benefits too.
It saves you money.
Sure, shelling out on a new bike and kit can seem expensive, but using less fuel, depreciation and maintenance costs on a car can save you money. Public transport isn’t the cost effective choice of the people it once was either.
Reliable, and often quicker journey times.
With traffic, journey times can be unreliable, but often the case is that it’s just plain slow in a car through a city or suburban area. With a bike in a built up area it’s often just faster, using bike lanes, bus lanes, cut-throughs designed for bikes, and the fact that you can overtake long lines of people in cars means that you don’t get stuck in traffic like cars do. Even if it’s not that fast, your journey will often take the same amount of time on a bike, compared with having to guess the traffic issues ahead.
You’ll get fitter!
It’ll happen quicker than you think, but soon after a few weeks of riding to work you’ll notice you’ll be quicker and less out of breath. Soon, hills which were once a challenge become easier and you’ll recover quicker at the end of your commute too.
You can do your hobby in the time you’d usually be sat in the car, on the bus or train.
If you don’t already love cycling, you will after a spell of commuting. You’ll get the bug. Soon you’ll be timing yourself or using Strava to shave seconds off of your commuting time, and getting great satisfaction from it! This means that you are killing two birds with one stone, by doing something you love whilst others are feeling stressed about standing stationary.
You leave when you want to.
With commuting by bike there’s no timetable made by someone else, so you leave work when you want, or leave home after breakfast, at a time you want to leave. There’s no running for the 07:57 bus or making that 08:14 train anymore. At the other end, there’s no hanging around at work for the 18:46 back home, you leave when you’ve finished your work.
Our favorite commuter bikes
There are different types of commuter bikes for different types of commute. Some people like to gently pedal through the city a bit more than walking pace and not break any king of sweat. Others like to move as fast a safely possible on carbon-framed race bikes. We’ve got bikes for both, and everything inbetween.
Specialized Roubaix. This is a race bike, no doubt about it. It’s used in the tough one day spring races by the likes of Mark Cavendish, but it’s got comfort geometry built in. That’s to say that you won’t be hunched over like a pro at the end of a Tour de France stage. It’s also got space for wider, grippier and more comfortable tyres. It’s also got the option of disc brakes, which will stop you more easily in the wet and require less maintenance. It also has tabs for mudguards.
The Specialized Diverge is an adventure road bike and has even more room for bigger tyres. The geometry is even more relaxed for comfort and the frame is burlier for more off-road fun. It can carry panniers and mudguards to boot.
The Specialized Sirrus comes with disc brakes or rim brakes, in either carbon or aluminium, but always has flat bars for comfort and control. The range extends from £425 upto £1700, but is perfect for an efficient commute to the office.
Whatever your commuting questions or needs, head into one of our Specialized Concept Stores. We’re all cyclists and can let you try bikes and clothing out for the perfect fit.
