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Commuter

7K views 28 replies 19 participants last post by  jason124 
#1 ·
I commute to work the majority of the time (unless work or the kids dictate otherwise), I have a nice bike path for 50% of the trip, but crappy side streets/sidewalks or what have you for the remainder. I bought a Domane thinking that would be a good commuter, but it mostly sits because I feel like I'm beating the crap out of it for no reason. So mainly I've been riding my Fargo, and in general I've been happy with it as a commuter. Curious what others are using for a commuter bike, and what you like or dislike about it.

Thanks,
 
#5 ·
I’m an occasional bike commuter, mostly as it’s 27 miles each way. I typically leave clothes and my car at work, bike home in the afternoon than back in the AM. For those trips I use my Soma Smoothie, steel road bike, which has 28mm Conti GP4S tires. It’s fast enough and comfortable but I don’t feel like I’m beating it up.

If I do a park-and-ride round trip, I’ll use my Miayata touring bike as it has a rear rack and I can se panniers to carry shoes, clothes, lunch, etc....

My 2 commuter bikes have durable and flat resistant tires, as I hate getting flats while commuting.

I don’t use my weekend racer, carbon thing. No point to going fast and I like wider tires (than 25mm) for commuting.

My commute is about 10 miles of bike path (that the City of NY doesn’t maintain), a lot of bike lanes, and some suburban streets.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I'd love to ride my 23 mile commute but about 8 miles are to unsafe to consider. Also I don't have much time between 12 hour shifts. I still built a commuter just to get around the city.

It's mostly an assembly of leftover parts.
Frame is a 2012 GT Avalanche with the paint stripped off so it's naked brushed aluminum. It had a spring suspension fork. I removed the spring and put a solid shaft tightly in it's place with a rubber bumper in one end. 26x1.5" Bontrager slick on the rear, 2.2 Conti X-King on the front for the trail sections. Pretty sure I can tow a truck with the 3x10 drive tran I have on it which has been great for hauling groceries up the hills in our city.

I would probably choose a quicker road bike if commuting over 10ish miles. 10 miles or less I'd use my frankenbike every day (if I could commute by bike).
 
#7 · (Edited)
I just put a Dura Ace 7800 (due-rah-chi) chain ring and Ultegra 6700 11-28 cassette on my 1500 SLR. I ride that. Its got 23mm wide tyres on it so they're plenty wide enough. I don't go off road while commuting so I don't have any need for much else. Now everyone thinks my training bike is an expensive bike.

Bicycle frame Tire Bicycle tire Wheel Bicycle wheel rim
 
#8 ·
My commuter bike is an old Cinelli mountain bike, non-suspension steel frame (beautiful fillet-brazed Columbus EL tubing), set up with Conti Town & Country tires.

I used to use an old Raleigh touring bike, but a sun-blinded driver turning left in front of me one morning took care of that bike. :(

I've also used my old road bike, a steel crit bike now set up with wider tires and a more forgiving rider position, and it does just fine.

My commute rides are 'burbs-and-urban streets. Potholes and sewer grates are the most common road hazards I encounter.
 
#16 ·
My commuter bike is an old Cinelli mountain bike, non-suspension steel frame (beautiful fillet-brazed Columbus EL tubing), set up with Conti Town & Country tires.
Ohhhh, fancy!

Here is my commute beast, an early 90s cromo mtb, with a rattle can paint job and stick on reflectors:


Bicycle tire Wheel Bicycle wheel rim Bicycle wheel Mode of transport


(older pic, it ain't that bad out... yet)

Please note the fancy rear fender. :) Yep, duct tape and a K-mart fender held down by the pannier strap.

The only changes would be tires (1.5s and 2.2s depending), and a thumb shifter for the rear to replace the alivio shifter that finally stopped ratcheting. Short commute, sometimes heavy loads, thus the panniers.
 
#9 ·
I believe most of us understand. A Domane is a very nice bike and commuting can take its toll. I personally believe a Well's Fargo is a great choice. You can also carry passengers as fare to offset maintenance cost. Win/Win. No ride quality isn't the same as with modern bikes.

Keep in mind how the name Fargo evolved. Go Far in reverse is its genesis. A clever and catchy name.

Pic below of a nicely tarted one in pristine shape.
 

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#10 ·
Keep them coming guys, with pics is great. I'd especially like to see Fajita Dave's interesting collection of parts. :)

I had to park the Fargo and started riding my fatbike this week. I needed the pogies real bad to keep my fingers semi-thawed and usable, nobody makes a decent drop-bar pogie that I've seen. The Garmin said 2F on my way to work this morning. Ugh.
 
#11 ·
My commuter is my first "real" MTB, a 1994 Cannondale M600, with fenders and studded Nokians for winter use and 2.1" slicks for other seasons. My commute is only 5 miles each way so it gets the job done.

Someday I might retire it and get something with a more upright seating position and 29" wheels but I'm too cheap to do that anytime soon.
 
#14 ·
29" wheels shrug off potholes and debris. 9-speed mountain triple flattens hills and is inexpensive to maintain. Hydro discs work well in all weather. Sturdy, smooth riding, albeit heavy steel frame. No Lance/poser vibes.


View attachment 324258
Sweet rig. Whats in the box? :)
 
#15 ·
My commute is 33 miles round trip almost all on a MUT. I have maybe a mile on the street/sidewalk. I ride whatever bike I feel l like riding. Life's to short to ride a big clunky 'commuter' bike. If the OP wants to ride his shiny new Trek, he should ride it. What are you saving it for? You're not getting any younger.

Bicycle frame Bicycle tire Tire Wheel Bicycle wheel rim


Bicycle frame Tire Bicycle tire Wheel Bicycle wheel


Bicycle tire Bicycle frame Tire Wheel Bicycle wheel


Bicycle frame Bicycle tire Tire Wheel Bicycle wheel
 
#25 ·
My commute is ten miles, one way. I only do it 1/2x week because of needing to travel during the workday and needing to wear a suit. I don't have a shower at work.

I've tried specialty "commuting" bikes but just didn't like riding slow, heavy bikes, especially when a backpack or panniers made them even slower.

So I just ride my three road bikes for commuting. In summer I'll even use the carbon road race bike. In the winter, I've been using my fyxation quiver disc, with 32mm heavy cheap wire bead tires that so far have been bombproof.

I've considered using studs, since I live in Minnesota, but if the roads aren't clean and free of ice, I wouldn't ride anyway. If there's lots of snow, then I just xc ski and zwift more.

I've had no problem commuting and staying warm on negative 15-20F rides though. It's all about having the right gear. And the right mindset.
 
#27 ·
I'm a near every day commuter. My ride is my older Cannondale Synapse. Depending on the office I need to report to it's 6.5 or 9.5 mi one way. I had 28 Contis on it for a while and recently moved to 25 Vittorias and haven't noticed a difference. When there's snow/ice I'll fall back to asking the Mrs. to give me a ride or borrow my parents' truck. But I've slowly built up a fairly decent set of cold weather gear and good lights so I still roll through quite a bit of winter.
 
#29 ·
When I had a 11 mile round trip commute, I used my Surly Cross Check. When the office moved and it became a 21 mile commute, I used my KHS Flite 800.

My commute is now 3 miles in the morning and 24 miles in the evening (Bike > train station in the morning). I was using the KHS but wanted a commuter specific bike. Bought a Vaya and realized I didn't enjoy it much (crashing it didn't help). I now have a GT Grade X with 700x32's. Not nearly as fast an the KHS, but sufficient.

Both the Surly and KHS had 700x28 Vittoria Randonneurs and I've covered 3k miles with each.
 
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