[44gnats]

here's my new commuter; it is only short on fenders (waiting on order - to be installed this weekend). trek 3.1 frame/fork with force group and race x lite wheels. 19lbs exactly with rack and bottle cages. had been commuting on a rocky mountain solo cxd (mechanical discs, drop bars, weird 130mm spacing).
i have a madone 6.2 with dura ace - same exact geometry; stiffer carbon and nearly 5lbs lighter. stoked to replicate the race bike with this steed.
my commute is 29.9 miles, each way - roughly 2000ft of climbing. 1hr.30min hard; 1hr.40min moderate; 1hr.50min soft(ish) pedal.
dang i love riding bikes!
gas prices went up? :thumbsup:

 

[vaultbrad]

Beautiful country. Location?

 

[44gnats]

Beautiful country. Location?

a bit provincial, i am, and thus am reticent to let others know about our southern hamlet. then again, folks like me weren't here first and moreover, this is the commuter thread on mtbr - not an advertisement on fox news. okay... i'll tell:
my morning ride starts in west asheville, nc and heads east, ultimately ending in a small river valley, roughly 4 miles north of old fort, nc.

 

[rodar y rodar]

Wow, that is pretty! And 30 miles each way is an awfully long bike commute. Thumbs up to you for that! Do you ride it most every day?

 

[BrianMc]

Nice. Very Nice. I'm not fast enough for such a bike. Likely too heavy for those wheels on my roads. How's the Bontrager Trunk bag work for you? I like the reflective bits.

 

[44gnats]

Wow, that is pretty! And 30 miles each way is an awfully long bike commute. Thumbs up to you for that! Do you ride it most every day?

thanks for the props. in truth, my commuting schedule generally goes something like this:
drive in monday morning with bike on rack. ride home. ride in tuesday morning. drive home. drive in wednesday morning. ride home. ride in thursday morning. drive home. drive both ways friday (rest day) so i can ride my mountain or road bike on the weekend. i don't quite have the legs (or time) for commuting everyday, but i still get roughly 120 miles of commuting in each week. i don't mind riding in the dark, but anything below 32deg i usually punk out, especially b/c the wind - plus 20mph - makes it pretty unbearable for me. therefore i tend to not commute december, january and february and instead try to carpool and ride in the woods to stay on 2 wheels.

 

[44gnats]

Nice. Very Nice. I'm not fast enough for such a bike. Likely too heavy for those wheels on my roads. How's the Bontrager Trunk bag work for you? I like the reflective bits.

i hear ya' on the wheels; they aren't bombproof but i had them laying around (they came stock on my other madone) and they're pretty sweet - hopefully they'll hold up. i'd really like a set of tubeless road wheels for commuting but haven't seen any that are very strong. as for the trunk bag... it's great. somewhat heavy, but tons of nice features/touches (lots of reflective bits, as you said; built in rain cover; fold in/out panniers; tool pouch). when the weather warms and/or i don't need to haul much, i tend to ditch the bag and just strap junk on the rack itself. thanks for the props - i am a lucky guy!

 

[vaultbrad]

reticent to let others know about our southern hamlet.

Understood. I thought it looked familiar. I'm just down I-40 from you. Great bike and great ride. One of these days I may have to have one of those high zoot skinny wheelers. Until then the rough and ready X-Check will more than suffice.