Commuting - Newbie thinking about commuting :)

Hey! I'm brand new to this forum, but i've read some of the threads off and on for a few months as I've toyed with the idea of getting a bike

I own a Jeep Wrangler, and although i love it, the gas is killing me. I'm pretty athletic, I've played soccer most of my life, and run pretty regularly, so biking to work (which is a physical outdoor job) doesn't bother me that much. And it should save me 150-200 dollars a month in gas, which is pretty sweet

Now that I've started toying with the idea of biking to work, I have a BUNCH of questions and dont really know where to get started - if anyone can chime in and inform me just to get things started, I'd appreciate it! And P.S - If anyone is from Louisville, Ky....that would be awesome.

1.) Road rules - I found a route that gets me to work decently safely...I know thats a relative term, but the suggested way on Google has me travelling on some really busy streets, two of which take me past interstate onramps and offramps - no thanks. But I'm leery of driving everywhere in the street, as to whats legal and whats not. When I went to UK, I biked to class on the sidewalks because no sane person would ride in the street. So...whats legal?

2.) A bike - I'm brand new to bikes. The old one I used to ride is with my brother now and is HEAVY. I've been thinking about getting a new one....I'll primarily be commuting in it, but I'd like to take it on some trails every now and then - is there a crossover bike? If there isn't its cool, I can live with just trail running or something and buy the bike I NEED, not the one I want. Whats a good commuting bike?

ok well I really thought I had more questions, I guess they will come later - I guess these are my main two!

1.) Usually, cyclists are expected to ride on the roads and observe the same traffic laws as they would in a motor vehicle. Check w/ your local jurisdiction.

2.) That's a loaded question. A cyclocross bike can handle the trail use and the commuting, but the best way to figure out what's best for you is also the funnest way. Go to the LBS and ride every bike that strikes your fancy.

1.) Road rules - I found a route that gets me to work decently safely...I know thats a relative term, but the suggested way on Google has me travelling on some really busy streets, two of which take me past interstate onramps and offramps - no thanks. But I'm leery of driving everywhere in the street, as to whats legal and whats not. When I went to UK, I biked to class on the sidewalks because no sane person would ride in the street. So...whats legal?

As to whats legal --in almost every state there is some sort of law regarding what bicycles must be on a sidewalk and what must not be. most say 18 inch or larger must not be on a side walk. almost every state also specifies the use of both reflectors and lights. that being said common sense will keep you safe more often than not. when you approach intersections, take the lane, ride in the middle of the lane. use a mirror always never assume you will hear the car approaching. always assume the other guy has not seen you and proceed accordingly. I ride home on a busy 4 lane road and have to make a left hand turn, I signal, get in the turn lane just like a car and turn with the arrow. cyclists are safer when they behave the same as a motor vehicle. you have a smaller vehicle so make it up with attitude

2.) A bike - I'm brand new to bikes. The old one I used to ride is with my brother now and is HEAVY. I've been thinking about getting a new one....I'll primarily be commuting in it, but I'd like to take it on some trails every now and then - is there a crossover bike? If there isn't its cool, I can live with just trail running or something and buy the bike I NEED, not the one I want. Whats a good commuting bike?

the bike is a very personal choice, i ride a hybrid, but everyone prefers something different. Rules to follow it MUST MUST fit you. you must be comfortable with the bike IE the balance and feel.what accessories you buy and use will vary as well everyone is different some people do not feel the need for a pump for example, personally I do not want to carry the bike i want it to carry me :) so i carry the pump and flat kit with me. some people love fenders... i don't think i commute far enough to justify them.

ok well I really thought I had more questions, I guess they will come later - I guess these are my main two!




ok I am done

How long would your commute be? Besides getting an appropriate bike & gear, you might consider alternative routes that differ from what you usually drive. On a day off, take your "old" bike out, with a map of your area, and explore. You might discover hidden trails, back-ways, small, low-traffic streets and all sorts of other things. These are things you'll never see driving a car at 40 mph. Also, once you get the "new" bike & gear (lights, fenders, patch kit, spare tube, small toolkit, etc) take a practice run before your actual commute, so you have an idea of what time you need.

Hey! I'm brand new to this forum, but i've read some of the threads off and on for a few months as I've toyed with the idea of getting a bike

I own a Jeep Wrangler, and although i love it, the gas is killing me. I'm pretty athletic, I've played soccer most of my life, and run pretty regularly, so biking to work (which is a physical outdoor job) doesn't bother me that much. And it should save me 150-200 dollars a month in gas, which is pretty sweet

Now that I've started toying with the idea of biking to work, I have a BUNCH of questions and dont really know where to get started - if anyone can chime in and inform me just to get things started, I'd appreciate it! And P.S - If anyone is from Louisville, Ky....that would be awesome.

1.) Road rules - I found a route that gets me to work decently safely...I know thats a relative term, but the suggested way on Google has me travelling on some really busy streets, two of which take me past interstate onramps and offramps - no thanks. But I'm leery of driving everywhere in the street, as to whats legal and whats not. When I went to UK, I biked to class on the sidewalks because no sane person would ride in the street. So...whats legal?

2.) A bike - I'm brand new to bikes. The old one I used to ride is with my brother now and is HEAVY. I've been thinking about getting a new one....I'll primarily be commuting in it, but I'd like to take it on some trails every now and then - is there a crossover bike? If there isn't its cool, I can live with just trail running or something and buy the bike I NEED, not the one I want. Whats a good commuting bike?

ok well I really thought I had more questions, I guess they will come later - I guess these are my main two!

1) It is illegal to ride on any road that has an "Interstate" designation. Beyond that it can vary from state to state, and sometimes local to state. You are entitled to sharing the road. That being said, most cops will look the other way if you decide that being on the sidewalk is more prudent (especially if there are no pedistrians about). 2) As for the bike, the only thing that I would recommend AGAINST are full suspension mtb's, or anything with a front shock as well.

1) Look here: http://www.bikeleague.org/action/bikelaws/ky.php

2) At this point, you should think about that "150-200 dollars a month in gas" and decide on your budget. Once you have figured out how much you're willing to spend, how long your commute will be and what kind of bike you want, people here can give you more specific suggestions. Rule 1 is, don't buy a bike from a department store.

Based purely on your gas savings I'm guessing your commute is between 15 and 20 miles. Anywhere close? At that distance, I would definitely consider a cyclocross bike. That would give you a low end price of about $850 for a new one and you can spend much more if you want. But that's a lot to spend on a bike just to see if you like bike commuting. You might be better off getting something you'd enjoy riding on trails and then buying a second bike down the road if you end up loving the bike commute. A couple of bikes to look at in this respect are the Kona Jake (one of the cheaper cyclocros bikes) and the Kona Dew (one of the cheaper city/trail bikes). But jyossarian's advice about riding a lot of bikes and seeing what you like is good.

A lot of people here advocate buying used on Craig's List, especially for a first bike, but for a bike newbie, it can be hard to judge the quality of a used bike.

Don't forget to budget for things like helmet and lock to start with and probably rack, fenders and more down the road.

hey guys, thanks everyone for your input! Just to clarify no1mad, I wouldnt be riding on the interstate, just that my typical route takes me past the ramps that would take me to the interstate, and people seem more distracted by getting on that than looking out for bikers

as for distance, andy_k - you are just about right on the money! It's a 13 mile commute going on the interstate, and the shortest route just using streets that I could find was around 13-14 miles. My Wrangler gets frighteningly low mpg's

The distance is one of my initial concerns, but the route is straightforward, and I have plenty of time before and after work, so I can take my time. It's certainly not the 3 miles to class that I did in college.

Pardon the greenhorn question - I looked at the Kona bikes, they look pretty sweet! Granted, I'm new, and alot of stuff will probably look sweet - but is there a bike where you can swap components? Like "hey, I'm goin trail riding, I'll swap out the fork and put in one with shocks" or "hey, I'll be on the road for a while, I'll put some road tires on this bad boy"

Thanks again for everyones input, it really is appreciated :)

hey guys, thanks everyone for your input! Just to clarify no1mad, I wouldnt be riding on the interstate, just that my typical route takes me past the ramps that would take me to the interstate, and people seem more distracted by getting on that than looking out for bikers

as for distance, andy_k - you are just about right on the money! It's a 13 mile commute going on the interstate, and the shortest route just using streets that I could find was around 13-14 miles. My Wrangler gets frighteningly low mpg's

The distance is one of my initial concerns, but the route is straightforward, and I have plenty of time before and after work, so I can take my time. It's certainly not the 3 miles to class that I did in college.

Pardon the greenhorn question - I looked at the Kona bikes, they look pretty sweet! Granted, I'm new, and alot of stuff will probably look sweet - but is there a bike where you can swap components? Like "hey, I'm goin trail riding, I'll swap out the fork and put in one with shocks" or "hey, I'll be on the road for a while, I'll put some road tires on this bad boy"

Thanks again for everyones input, it really is appreciated :)

You drive a Jeep, me thinks off roading is in your blood, so I would consider a 29'er. These are mountain bikes with bigger than the standard 26" wheel. They use 700C wheels like on road bikes, just wider rims and knobby tires. This also means you can swap in slick hybrid/touring tires to get to work and still be stout enough to handle single track on the weekend.

These are geared like rock-crawling jeeps, while road bikes are geared like sports cars. This will help with hills.

Some 29'er complete bikes are:

Diamondback Overdrive
Kona Kula
Specialized Rockhopper Disc 29
GT Peace 9'er
Fuji Tahoe 29

As for suspension, most if not all the forks have a lockout feature to make them behave like rigid forks by turning a lever.

hey guys, thanks everyone for your input! Just to clarify no1mad, I wouldnt be riding on the interstate, just that my typical route takes me past the ramps that would take me to the interstate, and people seem more distracted by getting on that than looking out for bikers

as for distance, andy_k - you are just about right on the money! It's a 13 mile commute going on the interstate, and the shortest route just using streets that I could find was around 13-14 miles. My Wrangler gets frighteningly low mpg's

The distance is one of my initial concerns, but the route is straightforward, and I have plenty of time before and after work, so I can take my time. It's certainly not the 3 miles to class that I did in college.

Pardon the greenhorn question - I looked at the Kona bikes, they look pretty sweet! Granted, I'm new, and alot of stuff will probably look sweet - but is there a bike where you can swap components? Like "hey, I'm goin trail riding, I'll swap out the fork and put in one with shocks" or "hey, I'll be on the road for a while, I'll put some road tires on this bad boy"

Thanks again for everyones input, it really is appreciated :)

You can swap components, - some people in order to avoid the hassles of changing tires just have two sets of wheels. I don't think many people swap forks on a whim though. Modern forks with threadless headsets come off easy enough but the brakes are usually attached to the fork too so you'd have those to worry about.

Do you need a suspension (shocks) on the trails you'd be riding? If not then I think a cyclocross bike would work well for you. It depends if you like "drop style" handle bars (the kind you see on Tour de France bikes) or not. If not then you're looking at a hybrid or perhaps a rigid (suspensionless) mountain bike with flat bars, but since you said you wanted something light, those may not be what you're after. It depends on how much money you want to spend. There are some pretty light mountain bikes out there if you've got the cash.

Of course two bikes is always an option. Mountain bikes aren't all that expensive, especially used ones so you could spend the bulk of your money on a good touring style road bike and save a bit for a used mountain bike.

Whats a good commuting bike?

The one you find most comfortable, that can handle all the accessories you desire (including the additional accessories you find out you desire after the first month of riding it). By "trails", did you mean paved trails, unpaved smooth trails, or something potentially a bit rough?

marginally ot, here's my un-requested advice list i hand out to all new commuters:

- practice shoulder checking without swerving to the left.
- get accustomed to how wide the average car door is so you can stay out of the "door zone" when riding past parked vehicles
- use those hand signals they taught in drivers' ed (well, except for the "slowing down" one... really, if you're signaling with your left hand, how much can you really be braking?)
- remember that the law is all well and nice, but common sense is a way better guide
- get some lights and maybe reflective tape and stuff. visibility is your number one safety tactic.
- wear the damn helmet. it's dorky. it's hot. we all hate them. wear it anyway.
- learn some basic roadside repair and buy the right tools and carry them with you. if you only carry one tool with you though, make sure it's a cellphone or a bank card :)
- check the weather every morning. prepare for both the ride to and from work.
- don't skip breakfast
- learn to love riding in traffic. really, it can be fun.

I'd say 13 miles isn't a bad distance. I ride 11 miles each way every day. When I first started I was obscenely out of shape and couldn't make it even three miles to the light rail station. Within a week I could do that, and within a month I could do the whole 11 miles.

If you're worried about the distance to start out with, throw the bike in the Jeep and drive part way then park and bike the rest. You'll be covering the whole distance before you know it. It'll take you about an hour, depending on how many stop signs and traffic signals you have to deal with.

As to component swapping, I've got road tires and knobbies for my Kona Jake. Swapping them is pretty easy, but I'm thinking about a spare set of wheels to make it even easier. I wouldn't even think about swapping forks, but I don't like suspension forks anyway. A possible alternative might be to get a Surly Cross Check. Its steel frame will give you some extra flex (though at the expense of weight), and with the right tires it should be good fun on trails. Lots of people here seem to have Cross Checks, so I'm sure you could get lots of opinions.

I own a Jeep Wrangler aswell. As far as riding on the road just read up on how to properly do it. The more you appear to know what you are doing the better cars are with you. My other advice is to just do it. Once you start riding on the road you will never go back to the sidewalk.

As far as what bicycle you should get I am by no means an expert. I bought a Surly Cross-Check and love it. Just find a bicycle that is comfortable and you like and go do it.

Riding past interstate onramps and offramps isn't necessarily a big deal -- it kind of depends on the ramp. I merge with an offramp of I-90 in Boston every morning and drive by an on-ramp every evening, and it's quite doable. Each ramp is a little different, though. What you'd want to avoid is a high-speed-road-to-a-high-speed-road merge, where motorists coming off the ramp feel that they've got no need to slow down or be aware of other traffic.

As for a bike, why does everyone want something they can take on trails? Never mind, I suppose it's the instinct to believe there's a piece of gear out there that does it all. Realistically, you need to ask yourself how much you'll really be riding on trails. I think that choosing a bike (or a car, or a boat, or an anything) to accommodate a need that you don't currently have and may never have, usually turns out to be a mistake. I'd try commuting with the bike you have, and learn by doing. There's nothing like an actual commute to teach you about what you really need and what you won't use. Eventually you'll probably want to buy a new bike, but you'll have a better idea of what you really need.