Commuters! Opinions Please!

[Ashgarth]

I would LOVE to commute to work on a bike. It is about 6-7 miles along Lake Michigan shoreline and double wide roads so plenty of room. The only thing I am nervous about it locking my bike up and not being able to keep an eye on it in the parking lot, and then there is the fact that there is no shower at work or anything like that. I work in marketing so I have to look presentable etc....I am a little nervous about clothes with wrinkles, makeup etc. Stupid I know, but my work environment seems to limit me....not the fact that I don't want to. :/

[DeniseGoldberg]

I use my road bike for my commutes. Its tires may not be quite as skinny as some of your bikes - my roadie is a Bike Friday Pocket Rocket - but the roads I'm riding on for the most part are in decent condition. There are some bad sections, but I'd need to be pretty careful on my touring bike in those sections too.

The recommendation about using a beater bike? My question is really why... my commute at it's shortest is 18 miles each way. I usually ride the 18 in the morning but I ride home a slightly different way to avoid some afternoon traffic conditions I don't like, and I often add some extra loops as I head home too. So my commute is generally 40 to 43 miles round trip. I wouldn't be happy riding anything but a bike that is perfectly fit to me. (OK, maybe you've been careful and your beater bike is a perfect fit.)

You should ride whatever bike you're most comfortable on given the riding conditions and distance.

I commute only in good weather - although I have been caught in the rain. If I do get caught in wet conditions, the first thing that gets cleaned when I arrive home is my bike. And if I were commuting year round, perhaps I'd ride a bike that I didn't care about as much in the bad weather... and I'd probably use something with fatter tires then. Again, I believe it's based on the riding conditions...

--- Denise

[betagirl]

I commute in Chicago, where the roads are good but my route has a lot of glass, sometimes gravel if they're doing construction, and other various things in the bike lane. I ride my Trek 1200 road bike with 700x25 tires. I have continental ultragator skins on the front tire and michelin erilium on the rear. The erilium has a kevlar tread, which after 3 flats in a week I was all over that I've had good luck with them so far. I've ridden in rain also, and my traction was still good. I don't think you need knobby or wider tires for what you're going to be riding on persay.

[snapdragen]

Another good "bomb proof" tire is Panaracer Pasela TG (Tour Guard) I've used them for years, I've only had three flats since 2000.

[Kori]

I just started commuting to work on my MTN bike. It's 14 miles each way but both times I've done it I worked past dark so my hubby picked me up. I need to stop doing that though or we won't be saving gas money.

Anyway, I thought I needed a road bike but now I'm not sure. I'm not going for speed or making a sport of riding. I just want to get some exercise and save on gas. I also like the option of riding in the gravel and dirt along the busy road when the shoulder is small. I rode a beautiful trail today that was part gravel.

I'm also lucky that I work at a fire department so I can shower at work and dress casually. Almost everyone there ride bikes often too.

[Geonz]

I really prefer my hybrid with fatter tires for commuting. There are a lot of advantages to ahving a "beater" bike for commuting, including that when you get back on the light bike, it's FAST :-) I picked up my Schwinn Racer for $32 on e-bay (plus about that much for shipping, plus about $50 to overhaul it)... it's got about 8,000 more miles on it now.


The only way to get past the "oh, it's not that I don't want to!" stuff is to decide that you want to do it anyway, aiming, say, for *one* trip just to say you did it (to shut people like me up :-)) .
Have a friend who drives who'd let you stick your bike in his/her car? Or... find others who might want to too, pool together to buy a bike rack... or... cruise the whole building...pretend that on X date, well, you *have* to ride the bike (because the car is not available)... and make the necessary arrangements.
There is travel attire designed to help people be sharp and presentable despite challenges...
If you really *do* want to, you just m
ayh be able to find a way.

[vj_pdx]

I've been a fairweather commuter for the last two years, but in the last couple months, I've been more consistent, commuting every day. It makes a huge difference in my mood at work.

My problem is: it's downhill, mostly, going into work, so I get there reasonably unsweaty... and uphill on the way home. I hate the going home part.

The biggest part of the issue is that I'm 260#, but I can more easily change the bike (though I'm working on the weight. But I gotta be realistic about this).

I've been alternating between my Townie 3-speed, which is adorable but makes me hate the day I was born while riding up the hills, and my sweetheart's Townie 24-speed (which is better. But still). Rising up to hammer on the pedals feels icky. Neither of the Townies fit on our bus racks either.

I've heard great things about the Breezers, but I'm not ready to pay that kinda money for a commuter. And then at my LBS, I saw the Trek T80 Navigator. Actually, I wouldn't have noticed it except a Dutch woman had spotted it and very excitedly kept exclaiming that it was like a Dutch bike.

I did a test ride last night. It comes with everything you could need for commuting, it's tremendously light and feels very solid, I could stand on the pedals and hammer away and feel totally balanced. The price is right, and it has road tires, which makes me hopeful I won't be such a slow poke. But.... I feel like I have to totally lean the bike over to put my feet on the ground. I don't think I can even tippy-toe.

I am so spoiled by the Townie that I'm unsure now what I should do. Is this something that I'll just get used to? Or am I looking at the wrong bike? Help please!