What type of bike do you commute to work on

deejbah

I ride a Mongoose Randonneur EX with a rear pannier rack to work and also for most other trips. It is a great bike for a relatively quick and responsive ride with a relatively heavy load on the back. I previously rode a Mongoose Switchback which survived two car accidents and still sits in our garage.

ncb

Please let me know what works for you for protecting the groin area in freezing temperatures.

I would also love to hear your impressions of the tire change as I am about to consider the opposite change...moving from a 700x27 to a 23, and running tube protectors. Thoughts?

ncb

My current ride is a gem I cobbled together last weekend. I found an Apollo Club Sport at a local shop, threw on my OLD mtb bars with "Moose Horns" and now have (for me) the perfect commuter 700x27c's on Araya wheels with Shimano 600 sealed hubs, 54/38 gears up front, 13/25 on the rear, Shimano Ultegra rear derailleur the rest is all 600, fenders, Jim Blackburn alloy rack...cost so far, $189.

I ride 16 kilometers each way to and from work with weekend and evening rides with the wifey. I try to get in 250K each week to keep trim. RHR is 66 and I like to hammer to 160 (I'm 49) using interval training all the way to work. Cruising HR is 120. I usually cover my total commute in 38 minutes with heavy traffic and as quick as 26 minutes if I make all the lights and breaks. I also find that sitting upright with my new bars, does not slow me down! For the trade off in back pain between upright and drop bars...I can push harder sitting upright.

My route is nice with 6k of total on a nice dedicated multi-use trail off of which I jump onto a dedicated bus/taxi/bike lane all the way downtown. Had my last ride stolen a few weeks ago from my office towers secure inside bicycle "compound" and was forced to ride my wife's Raleigh "Sprite GS" until I got this baby sorted.

If you want to see the ULTIMATE bike for snow...check out the Surly Pugsley!
http://www.surlybikes.com/pugsley.html Totally awesome, gotta' have one for up here in Edmonton, Ab. 4-inch tires whoo hooo!

I saw a bike like this once in Grande Prairie, AB where they get lots of snow. That particular bike had clearly been custom built using tires and wheels from an ATV. The tires were at least 6 inches wide...very cool to watch him just motor up and over snow piles.

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biodiesel

Xtracycle on a Buzz frame with slick 26"s.

I can haul 4-6 bags of groceries and out manuver any street bike with panniers. Faster than the drag of a trailer and can hook up a passenger easily.

I should have bought one a few years ago!

Don Shipp

Old steel framed touring bike with mudguards, all year round.

__________________
"Boudreaux pissed me off, what should I do?"
"Nothing, just shut up and take his advice."

pspurr

I ride a Rivendell Atlantis (at least I did till a wreck last weekend). Good ride, I probably needed a little smaller frame than the 56 CM bike I bought. 3x9, XT up front with a mountain triple, Ultegra in back, XTR hubs, 36 spoke wheels with Conti TT 1.9" tires, Paul Cantis, and SPD pedals. Down tube shifters, and drop bars, conventional road layout of controls.

Plusses: Ride quality of the steel frame, plenty of gears, and rolls forever.

Negative: While I was used to downtube shifters, and conventional brakes, I probably would be better off with everything on the bar like a mountain bike, maybe with moustache bars, thumbies, and MTB brake levers.

Frame top and down tubes are now buckled, and the fork is bent, but all other components survived. I will be looking to build another commuter/weekend raider.

biodiesel

My Xtracycle. Built on a Novarra Buzz with 26" slicks.

The pic in front of the grass is with a xl duffel with a full load of laundry and a bag of groceries on the other side.

Loving this rig! Able to carry huge payloads and a passenger and stable fast and slow speeds.

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chazak

I alternate between using my road bike when I make the full 19 mile (one way) trip into work from home. I do that one once or twice a week depending on my schedule at work. Trek1000

On other days, I drive to the half way point and used my mountain bike. Trek 200. On these alternate days, I ride with another rider who has less road experience and cannot ride as fast as I can. I use these rides to just enjoy riding.

I try to use my bike for transportation rather than throw money away on gasoline.

reddust

just got a new fuji cross pro im using to commute.
put some urbanmax tires on it to be a little smoother on the roads.
it's only 3 miles round trip, so i do it as may days as the schedule allows.

__________________
some day we will look back on all this...
and plow into a parked car.

tp72

05' Specialized Sirrus on a 32 mile round trip. It works well on this big hill.

http://www.billmallin.com/motorcycl...84/IMG_0347.jpg

JTE83

If I biked to work I would use my 2005 Kestrel Talon and change the Eurus wheels to HED 3s. I would like to go fast so this would be it!

I am amazed at how some people (on this thread) are biking far distances with crappy bikes.

FELTF10

The crappy bike thing was out of line, these are people who like what they're doing and maybe they love their bikes and you come along and want to dis them. Maybe to some your Talon is mere crap.

__________________
RIDE FAST, RIDE HARD, JUST RIDE!

LindaNo1

Absolutely! I simply cannot afford anything better than what I've got anyway ... and it does me fine.

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riptide

I switched from 10 speeds to 3 speeds 6 years ago, find the 3 speeds more comfortable and pleasing to ride.I have 4 at present, a 1969 Robin Hood (6700 miles), a 1983 Peugeot with aluminum 27 inch rims, aluminum stem, seat post, a Huffy Baypointe (5700 miles) and the most recent, A Schwinn suburban (700 miles). All have brooks B-66 saddles with sheepskin saddle covers, generator lights, Pletscher racks with flashers on the rear. The Huffy has the Shimano 333
hubs, the Robin Hood and Peugot the Sturmey Archer AW , the Schwinn has the
Sturmey Archer S3C-came that way. My daily commute is about 15 miles round trip. I have the SRAM 24 tooth cog on all 4 bikes, I live at the top of a good size hill so top gear is 66-68, the other gears are for hill climbing. I commute year round, I live a Snow Belt state but I do not feel the cold. I have 2 cars, they run fine, but they are both big old V-8s, at $3/gallon, The bikes save me
quite a bit, and I really do enjoy cycling. At 4980 I put the Huffy into drydock.
built new wheels with the old hubs, new aluminum rims and spokes, the Schwinn
came with an aluminum rear wheel, built a new front one to match it. Anyone
contemplating getting their old 3 speed back on the road, I definitely recommend new aluminum rims. I build my own wheels, check with your local
bike shop if you don't feel up to that. I used Sun AT-18 rims, I think they are
now out of production, I will try their CR-18 model next.