# Do you have a bike just for commuting?



## trek7100 (Jan 1, 2008)

Those of you that commute, do you have a bike just for commuting? I want to buy a new bike and would like to commute to work, but I would have to lock it up outside. I wouldn't be able to bring it into work with me. I work at a hospital. I'm not going to be able to afford a new bike, plus buy at commuter at this time. I have a hybrid, but wanted something faster. My commute will be 35 miles round trip(unless I change employers).


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Nope.


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

I have a bike that I use primarily for commuting, camping/touring, and rainy day rides.

It has a rack and panniers along with fenders.


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## wooglin (Feb 22, 2002)

I only commute on one bike, but I can use it for other things as well. I have other bikes that I would never commute on. Those are specialty bikes. A commuter is, by definition IMO, an all rounder.


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## gowencm (Mar 4, 2007)

I've got two bikes: road and mtn, so I don't think i could say that I've got one specially dedicated to commuting, even though I always (except in icy weather) ride my road bike. However, since my commute is only 4 mi RT, it doesn't put many miles on it compared to rec riding, and I'm lucky enough to have safe (enough, knock on wood) bike parking outside my building. 

I think if you were to buy a new bike, it would be worth your money to invest in a heavy duty chain lock that you could keep outside the hospital. Combine that with a U-lock that you carry, and I would think it would be fine, especially if you don't leave it over night. I guess that depends on the type of new bike you're looking at, though...

Good luck and congrats on having the motivation to consider commuting that distance.


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## trek7100 (Jan 1, 2008)

I was thinking about a 2007 Giant OCR3W leftover for a great price of $520 or maybe a Diamondback Insight(flat bar road bike) - $350.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Yes. I have a dedicated commuter that also does double duty as a tourer. I'm kind of "locked in to" two types of riding. Year 'round commuting (18 mi. one way), and spirited club rides of up to 150 mi. day. The commuter doesn't get used for the latter. I have done credit card tours - lightly loaded trips of 300-700 miles. They can be fun, but to be honest, my heart isn't in touring. I love looking at everyone's pics, but I'd much rather be riding my race bike with the "A" riders in my club.


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## Ape0r (Oct 2, 2007)

Well... I sure do!

Raleigh Grand Prix - bought it off of Craigslist for $50, put a set of $20 tires on it, didn't bother to lube the chain, and started rocking! Shifts like crap. Tends to slip when I go to stand on the pedals. I don't even have to stand to flex the bottom bracket enough to get chain rub regardless of FD position.

Oh, and the rear triangle is bent, rear wheel sits about 1cm to the right where the brake mounts. Classy. Works for me, but my commute is only 2 miles each way =).










...and the obligatory living room shot. Sorry, didn't feel like bringing the MTB out of my bedroom to pose with the roadies =).


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## orlin03 (Dec 11, 2007)

I bought a bike just for commuting a few months ago to save my Fuji from the winter crud. I didn't splurge at all; I went to WalMart, found a Denali with scratches on it, and picked it up for $120. I removed the badges, and mounted fenders, cross tires, and lights: instant commuter! The bike REALLY makes me appreciate my Team, but it gets the job done, and if it ever gets stolen, oh well. The twist grips, by the way, are a plus on single digit days, when your gloves wouldn't shift integrated levers very well.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

Yes and no. My commuter bike is not that different from my other two road bikes in size and geometry, but I've got it set up differently. I originally bought it to make fixe/SS, but decided to make it my dedicated commuter instead. So I added a large seatbag w/rack (Carradice Barley), changed the pedals to SPDS, put on larger flat-resistant tires, and fitted it with more lights. However, if I needed to, I could easily switch a few things (mainly tires) and take it on a fast group ride.

If I had it to do over again, I would have bought a frame more suited for commuted. The main problem with my commuter bike is it lacks eyelets and braze-ons for fenders and racks. I've worked around those shortcomings by using the Carradice bag and clip-on fenders (SKS Raceblades) and avoiding riding in the rain when I've got the choice. There are plenty of nice frames that have eyelets/braze-ons but are light enough for faster group rides as well -- such as Gunnar, Soma, Salsa.

BTW, I occasionally ride my other road bikes to work. The main problem is carrying my gear since my Carradice bag won't easily fit them. Also, they've got Look pedals, which can be a pain riding in a lot of traffic where you have to clip in and out a lot.


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## hankbrandenburg (Aug 3, 2007)

I have a Specialized Sirrus dedicated to commuting - fenders, rack, panniers, lights. I don't use it for anything else.


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## djg (Nov 27, 2001)

Nope, not really. OTOH, I don't just have one bike. For commuting, I mostly use either my fixed gear bike or my cross bike (backup wheels are clinchers with hard ground tires) instead of the pretty new road bike, but they're not dedicated commuter bikes -- also, I have secure (and warm and dry) parking at work, so the motivation for having a beater is really not there.

For outside parking concerns, I'd go with a combination of really good locks and an older, used bike. You can get things that are very good road bikes, but a little out-of-date, for a song -- clean up the working parts and leave the frame less-than-pristine and you're good to go.


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## fmbp (Apr 23, 2003)

bigrider said:


> I have a bike that I use primarily for commuting, camping/touring, and rainy day rides.
> 
> It has a rack and panniers along with fenders.


This is precisely the same situation that I have. The bike I use for commuting is my Cross Check, now decked out with fenders, racks, panniers, and kevlar belted semi-slick tires.


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## Thommy (Sep 23, 2003)

Hell yes! Everyone should. There's no way in hell I'll take a "good" bike to work with me. The roads eat up my wheels, the bikes get knocked over "accidently" at work from time to time once resulting in a tacoed rear wheel. If you want to show your bike off wait until you go for your club rides. You'll save wear and tear on your "bling bikes" and you'll appreciate them more. It's bad enough my road bikes are trying to bankrupt me.


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## singlecross (Nov 1, 2006)

I think it depends on a person's bike storage situation once they get to where they are going. I can bring my bikes into my office/store so its very secure and I ride whichever bike/route I feel like riding that day. My bikes are more set up for different weather conditions (rain bike, winter bike w/studs, fast roadie, SS 'cross bike...). Almost all of my riding is commuting (especially with my wife & two little kids in my life not leaving alot of "free" time for recreational rides) so I like to commute/ride on nice bikes. I would choose to own a cheaper dedicated commuter if I had to lock my bike outside and lived in a more theft prone area.

singlecross


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## oarsman (Nov 6, 2005)

fmbp said:


> This is precisely the same situation that I have. The bike I use for commuting is my Cross Check, now decked out with fenders, racks, panniers, and kevlar belted semi-slick tires.


Exactly the same here. I have a "racy" bike, a "brevet" bike and a touring/commuting bike. I sometimes use the racing bike or the brevet bike to ride to work, but only if I am not carrying much (my commute is about 25 km each way).


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## RoadLoad (Jan 18, 2005)

I commute on my cross bike except when the roads are crap with winter sand, snow melt, etc, then I use a Univega touring bike that I grabbed from a guy dropping it off at the dump. The only thing I did was swap in some flat bars with grip shifters and throw on my fenders. The beast isn't fast, but its great for what it does and around town for errands. 

And then I have my spiffy bike that probably got less than 500 miles last year. I wouldn't get rid of Spiffy for anything. I just love looking at it and it rides like a dream. But the number of times I can get out on the weekends with a young family is limited. I would never commute on it. That would be asking for trouble.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

I have a commute that is 15 miles each way. I have a nice road bike (Gios), a fixie (Bianchi), and a mountian bike (29er). I rotate according to feel. Commuting is bike riding.


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## Henry Chinaski (Feb 3, 2004)

Yep, dedicated commuter that I built up last summer.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=78173&highlight=my+surly+commuter


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## slowrider (Mar 12, 2004)

I have 3 bikes that I set up for commuting. Old road, rigid mtb, old hybrid. I converted all 3 into singlespeed (44x18). Each has a role: (Road, fast commute) (Hybrid, Comfort) (Rigid MTB, Bad weather). The best thing about having 3 commuter bikes is I can put off fixing problems until the weekend. 

I'm the Supervisor of Security where I work, and had a person try to steal my bike from a bike rack next to my building. I caught the guy on the second attempt, he tried two days in a row. It took everything I had not to punch that idiot. Now I lock my bike in my office. The idiot jammed my u-lock with a ink pen. He broke my u-lock, but did not get my bike. This happen when they first put that video on the internet about opening u-locks with an ink pen.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

Yup.

I have 3 working bikes. A MTB, my fast, geared roadie, and my SS commuter. I used to commute on my good road bike, but this winter, decided to get a cheap SS as a dedicated commuter because I was going to have to ride more surface streets than I had in the past (previously, my commute was almost entirely on an MUT). It's a little slower, and when I'm tired, not having gears sort of sucks, but it's got fender mounts and needs/gets just about no maintenance. That was the point of the SS.


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## Muaythaibike (Oct 26, 2007)

For a commuting bike. Buy used. You can get a pretty good bike for 100 on craigs list. I bought an old mercier. I added lights back and front, and a read fender. It make for a good commuter. If you buy something old most people with think it i scomplete trash and not mess with it. Just keep it tuned but ugly and you will be OK.

Also, have a new Trek 1600 for my real rides. This one I hate to lock up even when I stop for a beer and shot of vodka on my way home...


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## majura (Apr 21, 2007)

Yes sir.

I bought a second hand flat-bar road bike, the drivetrain was shot, so i kept the middle ring of the triple and made it single-speed with the aid of a DMR Tension Seeker. I've since put drop bars and a V-brake on the front for kicks. 

It's just far to risky to ride my mid-range road or super pricey MTB no matter how many Kryptonite locks I buy!


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## Guest (Feb 5, 2008)

I have steel SS CX bike which I use for winter training & commuting, plus any misc stuff.

I have a main road bike for 'proper' road rides...

...and I have an MTB for...mountain biking.


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## kiwisimon (Oct 30, 2002)

trek7100 said:


> T. I have a hybrid, but wanted something faster. .


Go skinny tires and pedal faster. Buying a bike purely for commuting seems a waste unless it's really cheap.


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## Richard (Feb 17, 2006)

*Yep!*

I was commuting a little over two miles on one of my geared road bikes. A fixed gear seemed like a good idea. Simple, reliable, easy to maintain and keep clean, and as I work in a bike shop, had safe inside storage.

So I built this. Even with the fenders, though, I don't ride it in the rain. Too much leather, and it just doesn't rain much here in SoCal.


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## Doggity (Mar 10, 2006)

My converted-to-SS MTB gets that duty. But I have a very short commute. I like it 'cause, short of purely iced roads (which we have right now), nothing at all bothers it. I think you should use your hybrid for your commute. That seems to be what they're best for.


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## superjohnny (May 16, 2006)

99% of my riding is commuting so I just have bikes. Maybe one day I'll buy a dedicated roadie, but that's not a luxury I can afford right now.


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## MIN in PDX (Nov 29, 2007)

I commute on all of my bikes because I have a storage room for my stuff (in the office.) It's quite nice to be able to park my bike indoors.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*yup*

Yes, and I would not have it any other way.

I love having a dedicated commuter. It's a Soma Extra Smooth, with bull horn bars, full fenders, rear rack and bag, a 1x10 drive train, mountain bike pedals, and a bar end shifter on the right side end of the bull horns. I have tons of reflective tape and some super duper bright head lights and tail lights on it. I run 25 mm Armidillo's with reflective sidewalls.

I would never keep all that junk on my "normal" bikes (a top of the line Campy carbon Bianchi or a Cervelo with Zipp 999's and SRM). It's pretty heavy, but very utilitarian. It's darn near bombproof. Since it's flat in town here (while we are next to mountains), a simple 42 chainring and 11-23 cassette works great. I hate having to switch things around from bike to bike, so it has everything I need for commuting in the rain and darkness, so I don't have to worry. I'm always prepared.

But, in all fairness, I have 11 bikes now, with a fixed gear bike also set up for commuting. With that many, it's easy to specialize.

Don't let not having a special commuting bike stop you from commuting, but it sure is nice. If you simply wanted a second bike for commuting, it would be very easy to buy one or put something together for under $500. In the long run, I think it would pay off not having to put so much wear and tear on your nicer bike. Aside from that, though, I think this bike is actually *perfect* for my commute, actually better than any other configuration I could imagine. So, I would not want to ride another bike commuting, in the same sense that I'd would not want to ride a mountain bike in a time trial. It's special purpose and fits that purpose perfectly.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Fixed said:


> If you simply wanted a second bike for commuting, it would be very easy to buy one or put something together for under $500.


Second bike? If that were only the case.


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## pyrtwist (Feb 5, 2008)

I use an 08 Trek 7.5 FX hybrid with rear rack and Jand (sp) Commuter panniers. Those bags hold a great amount of stuff such as my weekly supply of work clothes. I purchased this bike in September 07 to replace my Trek 520. The 520 is in desparate need of a serious overhaul and I'd like to have it repainted. I looked at lower end, $300 Trek hybrids but the 7.5 had better wheels and components. LBS dude said I'd enjoy it more because of my affinity for road bikes. He was right! Good acceleration and 9 speed groupo is making my racing bike feeling old.

Have yet to send the 520 into dry dock. Rode it a few times when I had a flat and when I took the FX in for the free check up, brakes was the issue.

One recommendation, snag two lockers at work if possible. One for work clothes, the other for bike regalia.


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## dancrna (Sep 13, 2005)

*dedicate a commuter bike*

Your bike gets worked hard commuting. As it has been posted many times here, you need at least a sturdy bike with fenders and high pressure skinny tires. The hybrid bike might work fixed up but the distance you want to accomplish make you wonder if that bike by design is feasible. A good cheaper alternative is a old hard-tail fitted with the fenders and skinny tires, no wal-mart crap. If you want to spend the $, which for the distance you are doing may be the best choice, the bike listed in earlier posts is the way to go.

Parking your bike outside is the least of the barriers you have with this endeavor, its going to be in the weather. Also, as a fellow hospital worker, this job is the best for commuting, lots a flexibility ie scrubs ect to make the transition from the commute to the workplace.

My advice is to enjoy the adventure of commuting, gettng over the barriers that prevent you from commuting. You won't do it every day but over time you will WANT to do it everyday and get to the point where you CAN bike everyday. Then you will see what the other commuters reading in this forum already know about the joys of commuting to work.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

In the summer, spring and fall, I commute on all my bikes, but I do have a bike set up specifically for commuting in snow and ice.


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## Doggity (Mar 10, 2006)

Richard said:


> I was commuting a little over two miles on one of my geared road bikes. A fixed gear seemed like a good idea. Simple, reliable, easy to maintain and keep clean, and as I work in a bike shop, had safe inside storage.
> 
> So I built this. Even with the fenders, though, I don't ride it in the rain. Too much leather, and it just doesn't rain much here in SoCal.


Mmmm, boy.....I sure do like that build!:thumbsup:


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## Zero Signal (Feb 8, 2008)

I have a 12 year old Trek 930 mountain bike I'm using. It's crazy heavy when the panniers are loaded up but seems to cruise just fine once I'm up to speed. I just rebuilt the hubs and updated some drivetrain components. Once I make my 18 mile uphill (800ft of climbing) trip from the office to my house in under an hour, I'll pick up more road worthy bike! I'm still about 20 minutes off my goal. I'll post a picture of it this weekend, it basically looks like an old Trek you'd see for $150 on Craigslist  Very boring indeed.


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