Commuting - My mountain bike turned commuter bike

K so I built a new mountain bike over the winter in hopes of blasting some of the many local trails around my area.

However, with all the rain, the trails are a mess so I have been using the bike primarily for commuting and short tours (50 miles or less)

As such I have decided to equip the bike to make it more commuter friendly.

This included adding fenders, Lights and a decent bag set up.
All of which can be removed at a moments notice when I want to hit the trails.

The bag is a Carradice Nelson and I have to say it is easily one of the best bags I have ever owned.
With the belt latching and securing system on this bag it might not be the thing for the rush-rush type but it all works and should not wear out for a long time.

I built the bag support myself in about 30 minutes using some scrap materials I scrounged at work.
You can buy a bag support for $50 to $80 depending on what you need or want.
by the time I realized I needed it it was too late to order one so I had to whip something up.

The "quick release" for the bag is a coupler one might use on a dog chain or something like that.
I simply hose clamped it to the seat rails.

All in all it is a much lighter and much more reliable system than the seatpost-mounted rack and bag I used for all of a day before deciding it sucked.
Anyway here are the pics.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/vwhammer/2010%20Haro%20Mary%20XC/IMG_3162.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/vwhammer/2010%20Haro%20Mary%20XC/IMG_3163.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/vwhammer/2010%20Haro%20Mary%20XC/IMG_3164.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/vwhammer/2010%20Haro%20Mary%20XC/IMG_3166.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/vwhammer/2010%20Haro%20Mary%20XC/IMG_3168.jpg

I have a set of 700c x 40 Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tires on the way that I will put on some cheap-ish wheels so I don't wear down my Kenda Small Block 8s before I get to hit the trails.
The smoother road tires should also make the bike roll a little better for my 18.2 mile round trip commute

Looking good!

Good job. The bike looks great and I'm sure functions the same.

I have done my 15 mile ride in to work on a modified MTB 204659 -- 26x1.25 smooth tires, 11 small cog on the rear cassette -- and achieved an average MPH for the trip within 6% of my best road bike time. Its nice having to be less paranoid about potholes.

(Off topic -- That's an old picture, can't believe how much core strength I seem to have gained allowing me to ditch the stem extender!)

Your bike looks good!

Don in Austin

Awesome!

Very creative. :)

that is coooool

Nice job on that rack. The bike looks great.

Just a little update.

I got my new tires all mounted up and will be testing them out tomorrow.
I have a feeling they are going to be a lot faster than the big ol' Kendas.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/vwhammer/2010%20Haro%20Mary%20XC/IMG_3180.jpg

They will be like night and day... enjoy!

Very nice!

Nice job on the rack. I just ordered a tubing bender, and that will likely be my first project.

The Bag support (AKA "rack") is a little cobbled together but it's solid, does what it needs to do and most of the time it's hidden under the bag so no one sees it.

I may build a more refined updated version once I get my dedicated commuter bike rolling.

As for the tires I have still not made a decision as to weather or not they are awesome.
They are better, especially at maintaining speed while coasting, but I don't think they are as free rolling as I expected them to be.

The Kendas that were on it were pretty good on the street for an "off road" tire so maybe a real road tire on a real road or touring bike is the only way to go.

Honestly I think the Schwalbes are a good compromise between a lot of tires.
They are skinny-ish and smooth enough to roll well yet are fat enough to really corner and have enough volume to soak up some bumps and avoid pinch flats.
Then to top it all off they are pretty light as well.

Stay tuned for more updates.