Me:
38y/o male, 205 lbs, 5'11", moderate-poor endurance and BMI but looking to change that by bike commuting!
The Commute:
4 miles
lots of hills, per google maps it's 144ft up and 220ft down to get to work
virtually zero infrastructure like bike lanes or paths, but sidewalks almost the whole way
stop-and-go traffic on 4-lane 35mph speed limit roads
The Road Bike:
2001 Torelli Corsa Strada steel frame
Ultegra drivetrain, geared tall
19lbs
The Mountain Bike:
2008 Jamis Dakar full suspension 26er
X-9 Drivetrain, geared low
2.25" knobby tires
31 lbs
Saturday Trial Runs:
I did a couple of trial runs this year to determine how much time I should allot and how sweaty I would get (at least until I got into shape and didn't sweat any more). The road bike and mountain bike were tested in virtually ideal conditions on Saturdays with temperatures in the mid-70s, similar humidity, and partly cloudy. I live in a mid-sized city in the southern U.S. One test was in February, the other in June. Results are:
Bike/Style Time Sweatiness Weather
Road/street 19 min significant 74F, 69% humidity, partly cloudy
Mountain/sidewalks 25 min slight 78F, 60% humidity, partly cloudy
Notes
I had a hard time keeping up with traffic on the road bike, sprinting from stoplight to stoplight. The traffic pressured me to push hard, and as a result, I was quite sweaty and would have needed a shower at work. This is despite the much better rolling resistance and efficiency of the road bike and street. The traffic might also be downright scary/risky during rush hour.
On the mountain bike, I used the narrow old sidewalks, which I'm not sure is even technically legal. However, here in car country these sidewalks are generally deserted during rush hour. This involved jumping across curbs and dodging carelessly placed light posts and signs. The road bike would have broke with this type of abuse. My time was not much different, even though it was a much more leisurely ride. I was not too sweaty to walk straight into work and get going.
The real problem is that the road bike is geared so high, I was unable to climb the big hill on the way home. I had to get off and push. On the mountain bike, I was able to slowly spin my way up the hill, but with great aerobic effort and not much faster than walking.
The Questions
Does anyone else have a dilemma about using the road vs. going off-road or using a road bike vs. mountain bike? Is screaming down the sidewalk past all the cars lined up during rush hour rude/illegal? On the other hand, is casually pedaling along at 10mph during rush hour just being an ass whisker and causing traffic jams? Finally, which option do you think would be better for a newbie to bike commuting, in terms of being able to routinely do it and sticking with it?