Commuting - Shopping

Hi,

My commute is begging for a bike. I'm in S. Florida, which means no hills or cold. The worst to contend with is occasional heavy rain and wind. As for the route, I'll start out riding through my neighborhood and then will get into just a little city traffic. About half of the ride will be over these really wide, usually deserted, paved jogging trails, and most of the rest of the route is four lane highway with light traffic and a decent shoulder. It takes me 20 minutes to drive. I don't know how long it will take to ride, but that doesn't matter.

My real issue is my bike. I do know that I do not want a road bike, a hybrid, or a mountain. A touring bike makes the most sense from what I've read. I'm going to need tough tires, which makes me think of getting airless tires. I don't need a whole bunch of gears. I really like the "Rohloff" hub, but I don't think I could justify the price. Looks don't really matter.

I've commuted by bike before (14 miles a day) when I lived in S. Texas. That route was different, no hills, but lousy surfaces, narrow shoulders, bad traffic, dogs, mud, and I did it on a K-Mart mountain bike.

This time, it'll be a touring bike for me! Waahhoo!

If I go to Pawn shops or Ebay, what shold I look for? Fiji, Schwinn, Bianchi... what? Sorry so long winded. If there is some other post that addresses a topic like mine, please advise.

Thanks,
-Dave

I think an older type road bike 2nd hand maybe , as it would be inexpensive & as you get a few 100 mls behind you, you will get a better idea of what you realy need & can take it from there . How far is your ride to work & back going to be ?
:beer: welcome to the bike forums :thumbup:
cheers greywolf

Hey, E,

Where are you in S.Fla? There's a ton of pretty good bike shops down here...

Some of the folks in my club are into touring, and could probably give you some good tips on where to find a good touring bike.

ChipR

My commute is 16 miles / 26km. I started to do this in June 2001 and worked up to 2 to 3 times per week. I first started out on a mountain bike - a Kona that I put fenders on, rack, lights, etc. Last summer I started to ride in on a '83 Apollo Prestige 12-speed that came with fenders and rack. This bike was given to me last year. I really started to like the riding style of the road bike and found it to be easier and quicker than the mtb.

My commute by car is about 30 minutes, by bike is 1 hour 15 minutes or less depending on routes. My main route is all on blacktop, part bike lane, part road paved shoulder which is not always clean - dirt, sand, pebbles, etc.

I like the road bike. However, the bike needed some modifications to make it more for commuting purposes. I have only 1 bottle rack attached by clamps to the downtube and it is used for my light battery (soon will not be needed until the late fall), water bottle behind the seat which I find unsafe to use and inconvenient and hides part of the rear light, fenders with tight clearance, 27 inch wheels (still in great shape and true), narrow handlebars, downtube shifters which requires me to leave my riding position several times (I know others do it with no problem but I have a road bike with STI's and I have to adjust), etc. etc. and the bike shop says I should leave the bike as is as it is vintage.

This past weekend I purchased a touring frame and fork (last year's model) and spec'd out components and kit to complete a commuter bike for myself. Pick it up next weekend.

I wanted reliable equipment to get me to work. Hybrid and mtb suggestions were okay for shorter distances and may offer some comfort over the roadbike but I wanted to make the time on the commute as short as possible.

So, that's my take on what to get for the commute. I hope it helps. Let us know.

Thanks for the replies! Actually I still have the mountain bike that I used in Houston years ago for 14 mile-a-day commutes. Maybe changing to a tire with less surface area and smoother tread would be the best interim solution until I know more about what's available now. I'm sure that many improvements have been made since I got my bike from K-Mart back in '96 or so. The only thing is the upright posture. Wind can be a real factor here.

As for where here is, I live in N. Palm Beach, and my commute is down the Beeline highway some ways past the North County General Aviation Airport. In miles I've never paid attention to how far it actually is. I'll try to remember to do that when I go home.

By the way, there's no way I'm getting a cheap bike or cheap gear again. That served its purpose at the time, but I know that the compromises in price are more costly in the long run in performance and durability. I'm looking to spend maybe 600 to $800 when I eventually spec. out my real mount.

Thanks again for your replies. In the meantime, I'll continue to read posts with relevant appearing subjects.

-Dave

Unless there is a theft problem, I think the idea of commuting on a quality bike (rather than a beater) is a good one. You are going to spend a lot of time on it, so you had better really like your bike.

Some of the Rohloff advantages (wide gear range, more reliable in environments full of road sand) may not be relevant to you in South Florida. Being able to have a chainguard may matter to you.

Airfree tires are quite controversial. My local bike shop says that they can cause rim damage because of the harder ride. However, some people who ride only on smooth surfaces have had good results.

A good light is essential if you ride after dark. Some prefer a generator, others rechargable batteries.

Fenders are good for your clothing and good for your bike. The bike will require a lot less maintenance if it is not being sprayed with grit everytime it rains.

A rack or panniers allow you to cary clothing. They also make it possible to smake a grocery run on the way home.

Many of the above items are much easier to fit to touring bikes than to road or mountain bikes.

Paul

You might also think about having a read of this thread:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?threadid=23889

Oh no not Airfree tires again! If Vlad shows up someone please stake him. I don't want to go through that again. Blasted Spampire.
http://www.bikeforums.net/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=200621&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

Ah, planning a bike commute. A cheerful topic.

I have only two reservations about using a quality bike for a commute: theft, and snow/snow melter damage.

You don't have to worry about the latter down in Fla. The former can be avoided if you bring the bike inside, or lock the bike in a guarded or secure area. The risk of theft is also reduced somewhat if you have a touring bike. The sort of guy who appreciates a good touring bike is an older guy with a good job. Probably a guy like this isn't going to rush home and grab his hydraulic jack to pop your luck.

If it were possible to carry significant loads comfortably without breaking the bike, a road bike would be an ideal commuter because of its speed. We live in the real world, though. So a touring bike is a good compromise. You lose some of a road bike's performance, but you gain enormously in the ability to carry loads.

A touring bike is better than a mountain bike for commuting, I think, because it's faster on the roads for much the same reasons a road bike is. I like the narrower, drop bars for negotiating traffic, too, compared to wider bars on a mountain bike.

In my opinion, you're likely to value significant carrying capacity on a commuter over time, compared to speed gains from a lighter bike. It's nice to have bags large enough to carry any of your work materials, to permit stops at the market on the way home, or to carry rain gear or goof-off clothes. So, a touring bike is likely to prove satisfactory for these reasons, too. But you'll have to think about a good rack or racks, and good panniers. These are not cheap.

I'd pay special attention to the wheels when you buy any commuting bike. Broken spokes or truing problems are time sinks.

Another important point whichever bike you buy. Don't skimp on lights, front and back, or reflective materials. They're worth their weight in some precious metal, if not gold, because of their contribution to your peace of mind. You'll be fully night capable, and thus free to schedule your day without special worries about nighttime travel.

I use an old touring bike for my commute, riding on bike trails as well as road, and find it just about ideal. You can have high quality that is not very stealable, and can handle hills, groceries and wet weather.
Before you start to customise the bike for your ride, use it for a few weeks. My bike has mutated as I move to handle the different terrain.
For a flatish ride, the transmission options are:
3x8 which most touring bikes have.
1x8: switch to a single chainring. You will notice the reduced weight in the chainset.
singlespeed. Not too good if you move between road and trail.
hub gears. The Rohloff is overkill, but the Shimano Nexus or Sachs 7 speed are excellent.
For the latter 2 choices you need horizontal dropouts at the rear axle, which is easy to find on older tourers.
For reliability, fit some good kevlar banded tyres like Specialised Armadillo, in 28 or 32mm width. 700c wheels have a better choice of modern tyresthan 27" .

Now I'm getting smart thanks to all the replys. Thanks millions. You've given me so much to keep in mind. I'm going to use part of my tax refund to get set up. I'll be sure to keep posting. Thanks again, everyone. As I draw nearer to settling on my setup, I'll post some more.

-Dave

I just saw this thread.Like Chip I live in Broward but I ride up to PBC alot on longer rides.I just did a 100 mile ride to Palm Beach yesterday .In the past I have ridden on up to Jupiter alot and as I build my endurance back up I intend to in the near future as well.I have ridden Beeline all the way from Military clear out to the city of Okeechobie in the center of the state and I agree it is no concern from a commuting standpoint. As for commuting bikes you can't go wrong with a touring bike .I use an old steel 80's Fuji sports tourer.Many people also use mtn. bikes with road slicks.

Thanks for the reply. I've got an old Wal-Mart mountain bike that I could fix up, but I'm not sure I will because of how much better a designed-for-touring bike setup would be. It's in bad shape. I'd basically have to redo it all. I think it might not be worth the trade off.

I agree with that.I basically have the same dilemna with my sports tourer as it needs new gearing and I am contemplating just getting a new touring bike .In any event it looks like you have gotten plenty of good advice (probably better than I could give you)above.

Honestly a old walmart bike would not be worth fixing up. Figure total value of the bike is less then a $100, and you will get alot better ride and everything out of a good used bike and not spend near as much.

It's so reassuring to get all this excellent advice. What'd be really great too is actually to get in touch with some of the members of this board in real life, so those of you in the WPB, FL area, you're welcome to PM me. It'd be really great to meet you in real life. I've been PM'ing one other member. I'd like to do so with every other interested person in south FL.