Doing it All

The fenders aren't OE spec...just part and parcel of living in a soggy part of the U.S.

WHAT: Schwinn Super Sport DBX WHERE: www.schwinnbike.com HOW MUCH: $1,199.99

Commuting isn’t sexy. In fact, I don’t think commuting even qualifies as cool in most people’s book. Which is kind of odd when you consider just how much dedication is required to slog your ass to work day in and out—dodging errant SUVs and potholes, only to arrive at the office slathered in a thick mucous-y slop. That, in my book, is pretty damn hardcore..

Maybe one of the reasons commuting isn’t deemed terribly hip is that your average commuter bike is about as sexy as Laura Bush. Sure, you can commute on a Kona Stinky or a LeMond Poprad (both alluring in their own niche-y way), but most folks tend to ride to work on more mule-like machines.

Lately, companies seem to have realized that there’s a market in giving commuter bikes a “pimp my ride” make over. The Schwinn Super Sport DBX is an excellent example. The sleek, charcoal/bronze paint job draws your eye for a second before you notice that big carbon fork, the racey cockpit components, the Avid disc brakes—hoo-damn! This is a commuter bike?

Day-amn! Look at all that tire clearance! Perfect for mounting cyclocross tires.

Actually, the Super Sport DBX is a do-just-about-any-damn-thing-you-want-to kind of bike. Schwinn laid the frame out with a slightly slack head angle (72.5 degrees on the medium/55-centimeter model) and a longish wheelbase (1005 millimeters). This translates into a sedate, predictable ride quality that makes long fire-road jaunts manageable. Fire roads on a road bike? Yup. With the excellent Avid mechanical discs and enough tire clearance to slap on 700X33 cyclocross tires, this bike takes to fire roads surprisingly well. The Super Sport DBX also comes equipped with cantilever bosses, should you have a hankering to slap those on (and I imaging serious ‘crossers would opt to do so). The bottom bracket isn’t particularly high, so you’ve got to watch your pedaling when it comes to rocks and roots, but for fairly sedate offroadin’, the bike does pretty darn well.

Most people will never take the DBX off-road and that’s just fine. It’s not a terribly snappy or lively road machine, but it handles asphalt with few concessions. On long commutes, I appreciated the upright cockpit (particularly after I’d been cooped up in my cubicle all day). If you’re looking for a razor-sharp handlin’ racer, the DBX will probably leave you a bit unsatisified. It’s simply not that kind of bike. It’s an all-purpose bike and rides accordingly. Weight weenies will probably also be less than pleased with the bike’s heft. It’s not a boat anchor, by any means, but the steel steerer tube, stout wheels, disc breaks and assorted mid-range components add up to a bike that can feel a bit sluggish on climbs.

I thought the OE spec seatpost head was set back a bit too far, but that's a personal preference thing.

Speaking of climbing….the Super Sport DBX comes equipped with a compact crank (Truvativ Elita—50/36 compact crankset (spinning on an Truvativ ISIS SL, external- bearing bottom bracket) that makes most hills plenty manageable. There’s zero flex out of the bottom bracket—and the resulting efficiency is also a boon here. If you live somewhere that is mildly hilly and/or you just happen to be a monster climber, the compact will probably be all you need. Personally, I found that I was really dying for a triple—the ride back from work includes a monster hill (several miles long) with grades of up to 20 percent. Given the bike’s heft, the compact gearing just didn’t feel low enough on the heart-attack climbs. There were days when I was really wishing for a triple.

By and large, the component mix is surprisingly swank given the suggested retail price. The only component I swapped out was the Schwinn Reflex carbon fiber seatpost—its micro-adjust aluminum head is set pretty far back and I just couldn’t get my knee aligned over the pedal spindle correctly without shoving the seat all the way forward. Other than that, I felt no need to modify the bike.

Most bikes fit into very narrow niches—downhill bike, time trial bike, freeride machine—the Super Sport DBX bucks the trend and aims to do a whole lot more than just commute. If you crave a road racing rocket or a dedicated cyclo-cross racer, there are better options out there. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a bike that can do a little bit of everything, this is your pony. The fact that you get this much bike for this little cash? That’s just icing on the cake.