In article <[email hidden]>,
rsquared said:All of my bike experience is in the area of competition. I am very
comfortable evaluating a road or tri-bike to my own tastes or
requirements.
However, I know nada about commuter bikes. I was hoping someone
experienced in this area might be of assistance, so I can better direct
the LBS.
* I am a heavy (but fit) rider, 230 pounds.
* My road bike is 62cm c-2-c. I don't desire a responsive/twitchy feel
on a commuter.
* The terrain on my commute is rolling, to short & steep hills.
* It will be a short commute (15mi.), so no exotic lighting or
hydration system required.
* I prefer to not have a backpack, but I want to quickly remove my
stuff from the bike to carry inside for a shower & change.
* Is a "non-clickity-click" shifter available for commuter-type bikes?
The less maintenenance, the better. My large frame size requires
regular tweaks to the cable tension in order to keep the shifting
precise; I have used friction when I could get away with it.
* Is there a prevailing wheel/tire size. I want something I can find
in any shop.
I can share with you my solution to a similar commute. It meets all of
your goals: get a 70s or 80s road bike, a mid-range one with eyelets for
racks and fenders.
Such machinery is cheap as chips: at garage sales, $10, at bike shops
that sell used bikes, maybe $100. They generally have 6-speed friction
shift drivetrains, though the newer ones would have indexed downtube
shifting, which in that era can be switched to friction by moving a
little lever on the shifter.
They have fairly relaxed geometry compared to your road bike, so less
twitchy. They're tough, not very desireable to thieves, and they use
either 700c wheels (same as virtually all road bikes) or 27" wheels
(earlier American road bike standard; tires and wheels still widely
available, but not as common as 700c).
The only notable downside for a big guy like you is that the freewheel
rear hubs on these bikes provide less effective bearing support for the
rear axle, which is to say that newer freehub designs are a bit
stronger. For most people this is not an issue. I would recommend trying
it: if you end up breaking an axle, it's easy to upgrade.
When I acquire one of these bicycles, I replace the front brake with a
modern dual-pivot caliper, typically a Nashbar/Tektro model or whatever
Shimano part I have around (Campy would be fine, too), and I like to
replace the brake levers with Shimano SLR (or similar Tektro or other
levers) because the modern "aero" (hidden cable) designs seem to have a
lever and pivot design which works better. When the rear cogs wear out,
I replace them with a Shimano Mega-7 freewheel, which gives you one more
gear in a design Sheldon Brown says is really good.
Add a tail rack, fenders if you will ever ride in the rain. For
laptop-shaped loads, I use a single saddlebag and pad it with my change
of clothing. Crashing is not recommended.
All these changes will cost you about $60, plus the cost of saddlebags.
You might want to add "cyclocross levers" which allow you to brake from
the top of the bars, which is nice.
A rigid mountain bike from the same era, upgraded with slick tires
(available at most bike shops) is another option: tougher bike and
wheels, cushier tires, you might like the more upright seating position,
and it's just a bit slower and heavier.
Among new bikes, I agree that a hub-gear bike, ideally with an enclosed
chain, is a Cadillac solution, especially for low maintenance. The fast
solution would be a touring bike (Trek 520?) or a low-end cyclocross
bicycle. A "comfort," "trekking," or entry level mountain bike would be
flat-bar solutions to the same problem.
--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos
