Recipe for ultimate commuter?

PatC said:

I've been thinking about either buying, building new or hacking old, an
"ultimate commuter". Here are the qualities I think a commuter should
have:

1. My ride to work is a hilly 4 miles near downtown Nashville TN (pretty
urban).

Read: wide gear ratio.

Quoted message said:

2. We wear business casual at work, so a chain guard would be good to keep
my pants clean.

Yep.

Quoted message said:

3. It needs to be tough enough to jump curbs and such, but light enough to
pedal fast and easy.

This is where 26" wheels would be a good idea, though it's not really
necessary.

Quoted message said:

4. It should have lightweight fenders for wet roads.
5. It should have a lightweight rear rack for carrying "stuff".

There's almost no disadvantage to some of the racks that are capable
of carrying 50 pounds or so... no need to go too lightweight on the
rack, IMHO.

Quoted message said:

6. Pedals need to accommodate plain shoes, and preferably flip over to
SPD's if desired.

What we REALLY need is SPD-compatible dress shoes!

Quoted message said:

7. Shifting should be very uncomplicated and reliable, as I don't ever
want the chain to come off while wearing "real" clothes.

The Rohloff hub is the obvious choice, but that's gonna break the
budget of all but the most die-hard bike junkies.

SRAM makes an interesting "Dual Drive" internally geared hub. It
still takes a 9-speed cassette, but eliminates the need for a front
derailleur (allowing the chain guard as long as it is adjusted to
accommodate the shifting range).

The Shimano Nexus is an interesting option, but with only seven gears
would require a front derailleur to deal with a hilly commute.

Quoted message said:

8. Tires should be nearly puncture proof, and handle well on wet roads.
Fixing a flat in "real" clothes is a lousy situation.

I've been loving the Panaracer T-Serv tires. They come in a 26 x
1.75" or 700 x 35mm format that's just the ticket for the kind of
riding you're talking about.

Quoted message said:

I'm thinking about hacking a Raleigh Twenty, which could have a cool factor
(at least to people who understand that sort of thing). Or, possibly buy
an old Raleigh antique with fenders and chain guard, and modernizing the
drive train.

I'm thinking "Flying Pigeon"... had one of those in Beijing - some of
the most fun I've had on a bike (though I'd have truly hates the thing
if I had a hilly commute).

Quoted message said:

I also thought about buying a Jamis Nova or Bianchi Axis, and building it
out as a commuter. I'm not sure how to do a chain guard on a modern frame.

You could use an E-type front derailleur mount as a front mounting
point (bolts onto the bottom bracket shell).

Quoted message said:

A Nexus hub would allow the use of a chain guard, and the gearing would be
good for the hills. But, a single speed flip flop rear wheel would also be
neat.

I can't imagine a single speed for a real hilly commute (unless it's
so short that spinning in at a crawl wouldn't be a problem).

Quoted message said:

Disc brakes would be really neat, and would make fenders work out nicely.

It would kind of mess up the retro thing though... but it would make
fenders easy.

Quoted message said:

Just for fun, one of those bike horns you fill with a bike pump would be
nice for honking at those big heavy things with 4 wheels.

Better if the frame could serve as the air tank. ;-)

Quoted message said:

Anyone have a good recipe for the "ultimate commuter"?

It varies somewhat by region, but I've built several similar
bikes/frames for people with similar mission statements. It all comes
down to what compromises you're willing to accept for utility.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

In message <[email hidden]>, PatC
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I've been thinking about either buying, building new or hacking old, an
"ultimate commuter". Here are the qualities I think a commuter should
have:

1. My ride to work is a hilly 4 miles near downtown Nashville TN (pretty
urban).
2. We wear business casual at work, so a chain guard would be good to keep
my pants clean.
3. It needs to be tough enough to jump curbs and such, but light enough to
pedal fast and easy.
4. It should have lightweight fenders for wet roads.
5. It should have a lightweight rear rack for carrying "stuff".
6. Pedals need to accommodate plain shoes, and preferably flip over to
SPD's if desired.
7. Shifting should be very uncomplicated and reliable, as I don't ever
want the chain to come off while wearing "real" clothes.
8. Tires should be nearly puncture proof, and handle well on wet roads.
Fixing a flat in "real" clothes is a lousy situation.

If your hills are modest enough to pedal without sweating much (which is
presumably a requirement as you plan to cycle in you work wear) then a
hub gear bike should suit you provided you sort out the gear range
against the steepest hill you plan to climb. This is just a matter of
swapping the sprocket. You may have to coast all the downhill but so
what over just 4 miles?

If you can't do it all under your own power without spoiling you clothes
for work, how about considering some electrical assistance?

Quoted message said:

I'm thinking about hacking a Raleigh Twenty, which could have a cool factor
(at least to people who understand that sort of thing). Or, possibly buy
an old Raleigh antique with fenders and chain guard, and modernizing the
drive train.

You can easily put a new five speed hub into an old narrow Raleigh frame
keeping whatever chain guard it has. Then cost in some decent alloy rims
that will give you useful brakes in the rain and the wheel build. The
Twenty is great fun and useful if the kind of folding it does is what
you need. The lack of a proper headset can be a serious problem. (If you
find an old one that has not be used for a long while the steering can
get dangerously stiff due to rust build up between the steerer and the
nylon bushing.) Efforts to reduce bike weight can be complicated but
there is plenty of advice on the web thought not a lot have
costings..... Phil Wood bottom brackets do not come cheap.

What is modernisation for? Some of these old bikes have been modernised
into something worse than the standard by hanging on DR gears without
thinking it all the way through. Suggest you plan with Sheldon Brown's
gear calculator to hand.

Quoted message said:

I also thought about buying a Jamis Nova or Bianchi Axis, and building it
out as a commuter. I'm not sure how to do a chain guard on a modern frame.

A Nexus hub would allow the use of a chain guard, and the gearing would be
good for the hills. But, a single speed flip flop rear wheel would also be
neat.

Not my choice for regular commuting in office wear in a hilly town
unless you can shower at work but that depends on your fitness too.

There are modern bikes using modern hub gears, such as the Nexus or the
Spectro, sold in big numbers is Germany, Holland and Denmark and a few
in the UK such as:

http://www.orbit-cycles.co.uk/orion.shtml

Quoted message said:

Disc brakes would be really neat, and would make fenders work out nicely.

Some are demanding of adjustment and other tiresome attention. The
fender question is more to do with the space provided above the tyre not
the type of brake. That is to say, if your road frame has too little
space for a medium sized tyre and a fender that's that. It is true that
some wide fenders do interact with brakes intended for narrow tyre
bikes.

Quoted message said:

Just for fun, one of those bike horns you fill with a bike pump would be
nice for honking at those big heavy things with 4 wheels.

Look under bells and horns here:

http://www.sjscycles.com/store/vIndex.htm

Quoted message said:

Anyone have a good recipe for the "ultimate commuter"?

Depends how far the worker lives from their place of work, on the local
land form and ultimately on their attitude to cycling, commuting, style
and so on and on.

--

Martyn Aldis, e-mail [email hidden]
==============================================================================

PatC said:

I've been thinking about either buying, building new or hacking old, an
"ultimate commuter". Here are the qualities I think a commuter should
have:

1. My ride to work is a hilly 4 miles near downtown Nashville TN (pretty
urban).
2. We wear business casual at work, so a chain guard would be good to keep
my pants clean.
3. It needs to be tough enough to jump curbs and such, but light enough to
pedal fast and easy.
4. It should have lightweight fenders for wet roads.
5. It should have a lightweight rear rack for carrying "stuff".
6. Pedals need to accommodate plain shoes, and preferably flip over to
SPD's if desired.
7. Shifting should be very uncomplicated and reliable, as I don't ever
want the chain to come off while wearing "real" clothes.
8. Tires should be nearly puncture proof, and handle well on wet roads.
Fixing a flat in "real" clothes is a lousy situation.

Don't really know if you want a new bike but Mikado Bicycles in Canada
make some excellent commuting and leisure bicycles:
http://www.mikadobicycles.com

With the rate of exchange you should get a good deal. Very strong, quality
bikes.

Larry Gagnon

I have a Bianchi Axis. With the amount of slop that flys up even with
full coverage fenders, the Axis and its ilk are not suited to street
clothes. Also its short chainstays make panniers are a bit awkward. The
Bianchi Bergamo or Castro Valley would seem to be a good match. The
Bergamo in particular seems designed like a Raleigh antique to protect
riders from puddles and such and at $650 it would be tough to build for
less.

Quoted message said:

I have a Bianchi Axis. With the amount of slop that flys up even with
full coverage fenders, the Axis and its ilk are not suited to street
clothes. Also its short chainstays make panniers are a bit awkward.

I never understood commuting on a 'cross bike unless you dismount and
run part of the way to work.

Quoted message said:

The
Bianchi Bergamo or Castro Valley would seem to be a good match.

I don't get the 3-speed hub with derailer. That's pretty much the worst
of both worlds.

Quoted message said:

The
Bergamo in particular seems designed like a Raleigh antique to

protect

Quoted message said:

riders from puddles and such and at $650 it would be tough to build

for

Quoted message said:

less.

I doubt that. I built my wife something very similar for ~$200. If you
use MTB components, it's much cheaper, and they're a better match to a
commuter bike typically. With entry-level MTB's @ $250, you can loose
the POS fork and add some other commuting [censored] with the $$ saved. What
the world needs is an inexpensive (<$100) source of pragmatic frames
(rigid fork, canti/V studs, good clearances, long chainstays,
braze-ons) for 26" wheels. I was lucky enough to find one in the trash,
but it's gas pipe, a nice welded Al one would be sweet.

Larry Gagnon <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

http://www.mikadobicycles.com

Now, that's what I'm talking about. Fenders, thicker tires, generator for
the lights, cushy seatpost. Add a rear rack, and that's pretty dang good.
It has derailleur gears, but it looks like trigger shifters which are
pretty reliable.

I just don't know what $999 Canadian translates to in US. Do you have to
pay import fees, or where do you get them in the USA? I didn't get a good
google hit searching for them in USA.

Larry, have you ever owned one of these Mikado's?

Martyn Aldis said:

Quoted message said:

Anyone have a good recipe for the "ultimate commuter"?

Sorry, I haven't been following this thread. Has this one been
mentioned??

http://www.breezerbikes.com/bikes.html

"[email hidden]" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I have a Bianchi Axis. With the amount of slop that flys up even with
full coverage fenders, the Axis and its ilk are not suited to street
clothes. Also its short chainstays make panniers are a bit awkward. The
Bianchi Bergamo or Castro Valley would seem to be a good match. The
Bergamo in particular seems designed like a Raleigh antique to protect
riders from puddles and such and at $650 it would be tough to build for
less.

Yeah! I like the Bergamo - I think the geared hub and the 7sp derailleur
are the best of BOTH worlds! You put on the brakes to stop quickly, and
you can downshift without pedaling with the internal hub. How cool!

The Castro Valley looks a little clunky. I guess I could add the Volpe
with fenders to my consideration list.

Thanks!

PatC wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Anyone have a good recipe for the "ultimate commuter"?

Look at http://commutebike.com/ . Every bicycle on that site includes a
chain guard.

The impossible thing to do, at least in the U.S., is to find a chain
guard that you can add on to an existing bicycle. This is where
converting an existing bicycle to a commute bicycle falls apart; it's
very important to have a chain guard on a commute bicycle if you want
to ride with your regular clothes on.

Here is a source in Taiwan for an after-market chain guard, but you
must order 200 pieces,
"http://www.allproducts.com.tw/manufacture6/sunnywheel/sw-771.html"

The Specialized Globe goes on sale for around $630. Or one of the
bicycles with an internal rear hub combined with a freewheel, that
lacks a front derailleur, would be good too.

PatC (Fri said:

I've been thinking about either buying, building new or hacking old,
an "ultimate commuter". Here are the qualities I think a commuter
should have:

Quoted message said:

1. My ride to work is a hilly 4 miles near downtown Nashville TN
(pretty urban).
2. We wear business casual at work, so a chain guard would be good to
keep my pants clean.
7. Shifting should be very uncomplicated and reliable, as I don't
ever want the chain to come off while wearing "real" clothes.

Quoted message said:

A Nexus hub would allow the use of a chain guard, and the gearing
would be good for the hills.

I suggest you look at the SRAM internal gear hub. It would have the
advantages you want, and a slightly wider gear ratio than the Shimano.
I've had a 7 speed SRAM for several hundred miles and while it's not
perfect, I sure like it for commuting and general purpose riding.

--
Dave

Quoted message said:

The impossible thing to do, at least in the U.S., is to find a chain
guard that you can add on to an existing bicycle. This is where
converting an existing bicycle to a commute bicycle falls apart; it's
very important to have a chain guard on a commute bicycle if you want
to ride with your regular clothes on.

I don't know what makes a chain guard such a deal breaker. It's trivial
to put a velcro strap around a pant leg.

[email hidden] wrote in news:1112676001.092056.217800
@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

Quoted message said:

PatC wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Anyone have a good recipe for the "ultimate commuter"?

Look at http://commutebike.com/ . Every bicycle on that site includes a
chain guard.

The impossible thing to do, at least in the U.S., is to find a chain
guard that you can add on to an existing bicycle. This is where
converting an existing bicycle to a commute bicycle falls apart; it's
very important to have a chain guard on a commute bicycle if you want
to ride with your regular clothes on.

Here is a source in Taiwan for an after-market chain guard, but you
must order 200 pieces,
"http://www.allproducts.com.tw/manufacture6/sunnywheel/sw-771.html"

The Specialized Globe goes on sale for around $630. Or one of the
bicycles with an internal rear hub combined with a freewheel, that
lacks a front derailleur, would be good too.

Your website is pretty cool! Specialized Globe, huh? I may stop by our
Specialized dealer this afternoon and see if they have one to look at.
THANKS!

Quoted message said:

i commute and i'm not sure i follow the design trend-
most commutes are down the long straight-speed and power efficiency
rules
that's not the idea found on the commute website or is it? they look
geriatrick.
where's the $ appalachin?

I commute too. I end up stopping and waiting for cars at lights a lot.
I consider fenders essential for riding in the wet, also panniers for
tools, tubes, tire, and clothes. Got to have lights too. Sure, it
ends up looking a bit geriatric, but I make up for it by not wearing a
helmet.

"PatC" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] wrote in news:1112676001.092056.217800

Quoted message said:

Your website is pretty cool! Specialized Globe, huh? I may stop by our
Specialized dealer this afternoon and see if they have one to look at.
THANKS!

In the SF Bay Area, there is one shop in San Francisco that stocks them, but
for the other dealers it's all special order. The local bicycle club has a
10% off discount at one of the shops that can order them, and it's pretty
unique in that they give the discount on complete bikes, not just on
accessories, parts, and clothing.

It really is too bad that there are no after-market chain guards available
for existing hybrids. I'm almost tempted to order the chain guards from
Taiwan and sell them. It really is a pain to not have a chainguard on a
commute bike. OTOH, the commute bikes without the front triple, often lack a
sufficient gear range, depending on where you're riding.

Trek was showing off its line of commute bicycles at Interbike, but very few
shops carry them (like one in the entire country!). It's a Catch-22, they
are expensive because the demand is low, but the demand is so low because
they are so expensive and so hard to find. There are a lot of people that
don't want to cobble together a commute bicycle, and would love to have it
all done for them already, for around $500 or so.

Steve
http://commutebike.com/
http://bicycleshortlist.com
http://bicyclecoffeesystems.com

after i ride the Randonneur.
a shop in frisco! advanced thought
but ur all gonna die!

reading the equipment lists esp. the Randonneur on the
bicycleshortlist.com
is required.
a leather saddle? with a cover? frictionless?
all hail!

holy cow its gotta HODAKA chain guard!

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I've been thinking about either buying, building new or hacking old, an
"ultimate commuter". Here are the qualities I think a commuter should
have:

1. My ride to work is a hilly 4 miles near downtown Nashville TN (pretty
urban).
2. We wear business casual at work, so a chain guard would be good to keep
my pants clean.
3. It needs to be tough enough to jump curbs and such, but light enough to
pedal fast and easy.
4. It should have lightweight fenders for wet roads.
5. It should have a lightweight rear rack for carrying "stuff".
6. Pedals need to accommodate plain shoes, and preferably flip over to
SPD's if desired.
7. Shifting should be very uncomplicated and reliable, as I don't ever
want the chain to come off while wearing "real" clothes.
8. Tires should be nearly puncture proof, and handle well on wet roads.
Fixing a flat in "real" clothes is a lousy situation.

I'm thinking about hacking a Raleigh Twenty, which could have a cool factor
(at least to people who understand that sort of thing). Or, possibly buy
an old Raleigh antique with fenders and chain guard, and modernizing the
drive train.

I also thought about buying a Jamis Nova or Bianchi Axis, and building it
out as a commuter. I'm not sure how to do a chain guard on a modern frame.

A Nexus hub would allow the use of a chain guard, and the gearing would be
good for the hills. But, a single speed flip flop rear wheel would also be
neat.

Disc brakes would be really neat, and would make fenders work out nicely.

Just for fun, one of those bike horns you fill with a bike pump would be
nice for honking at those big heavy things with 4 wheels.

Anyone have a good recipe for the "ultimate commuter"?

I currently use a VanDessel Super Fly. I added fenders, light and a rack to it
and it has served me well. The only thing missing is the chain guard. I
picked up a full chain box in China a while back. I just need to modify it to
fit the Super Fly. The so called suspension the Super Fly really sucks and
just adds dead weight to the bike. You might also want to look at the
Bianchi Milano. It comes with fenders, a chain guard, and a Nexus 8 spd hub.
-------------
Alex

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

The Shimano Nexus is an interesting option, but with only seven gears
would require a front derailleur to deal with a hilly commute.

The Nexus has had 8 speeds for a couple of years.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Disc brakes would be really neat, and would make fenders work out nicely.

It would kind of mess up the retro thing though... but it would make
fenders easy.

On my Super Fly I had to bend the rods that hold the fender to go around
the disc brake linkage.

--------------
Alex