bmthom.gis

Any of your bikes would be terrific! Are you planNing on carrying anything with yiu, and how long is it?

jimmuller 

We are all required to wear appropriate attire.

noglider 

Congratulations! I'm so happy now that we moved to a place where I can bike-commute.

How long is the ride? I find I like upright bikes for short rides and drop bars for long ones.

I have a 13-mile one way commute, so I want drop bars. I find that the best equipped bike gets the most miles. It has fenders, a rack, a GPS mount, a bell, and a hub dynamo-powered lighting system. I just jump on and go. It also has commuter pedals so I can wear SPD shoes or plain shoes.

I ride other bikes, too, according to whim and circumstance.

Join the commuting forum and announce that you're in Rochester. There's a guy who has cycled his commute every day for several years now. He knows a lot about bike commuting in Rochester.

brianinc-ville

Obviously, comfort comes first, and comfort is totally subjective.

Beyond that, though, I'd say:

1. if your ride is in city traffic, on a daily basis, you'll be happier with upright bars than drop bars;

2. you'll definitely want fenders (even if it's not raining, you'll still get to work with a lot less road grit on you); and

3. you definitely want a rear rack, plus (depending on what you're carrying and where) Wald folding baskets or panniers. Me, I find it easier to toss my laptop bag into a basket and then grab it out when I get there, as opposed to trying to carry a pannier into the building. YMMV.

If you get serious about biking every day, in all weather, then you'll need to start thinking about waterproof bags. I've got waterproof panniers, but most of the time I don't use them; I put my stuff in a SeaLine waterproof kayaking duffel and bungee it to the rear rack/ Wald baskets. In Rochester, you'll definitely be thinking about studded tires, as well -- check out what Peter White Cycles has to offer.

If you wear dress pants to work, it's definitely worth looking into a fully enclosed chain. I haven't used a traditional chaincase, but I'm a big fan of the Hebie Chainglider. Gotta have hub gears for those, though.

GordoTrek

the commute is just over 5 miles one way, so its not too bad, the main stretch is a busy road with some bike lines. There is always another route to take, Google Maps gave me 3 when I originally plotted it out. i'm only going to commute on the nice days so a rain bike is not needed. i will need to figure out the logistics of everything after i start.

noglider 

5 miles is a fantastic length for a bike commute. It won't make you tired, and you won't dread it before you start. Even when I had a 7 mile commute, sometimes the length would get a little annoying. ("I want to be home now!")

I implore you to try fenders and dynamo lights. You may not see the point, but once you try them, you'll be glad you did. Fenders first, because they cost less.

Here is a blog post about the dynamo lights on my main commuter bike. The bike weighs 34 freaking pounds, but it's comfortable.

jetboy 

seems like your commute is average enough that any bike would do-

I go against conventional wisdom on this and my commute bike (ironman) has nothing other than tiny LED lights - no racks, no fenders. but my commute includes stairs (subway style so pretty long), crowded train cars, and is relatively short - about 7 miles of road with 2 miles of that on a pretty good incline (work on Lone Mountain which gives you an idea of the ride).

fenders and racks and bags just make it heaver and unbalanced for carrying, and get caught when stacked on other bikes.. are in the way of other commuters on the train etc. the last thing i'd want is a 34 lb bike for my particular situation!

Lascauxcaveman 

I agree, 5 miles is about right. Mine's just a tad under 5 miles, however... I lose 1000ft elevation on the way to work, then have to gain it all back on the way home. Not complaining too much about that; it can get you shape in a couple weeks. But the Daylight Savings change puts the kibosh on most of my fall/winter commuting, the last two miles of my trip home is just too twisty and shoulder-free to ride safely in the dark

old's'cool

That's generally my approach too; but here in the Great Lakes area at least there are many weeks with sketchy weather, rain-wise, so when the rain probability is 10-50% and I'm rained out on most other days in the week, I like to be able to gamble, with my rain bike, that is.

iab

I also go a little against the grain.

My commute is 30 minutes. Not sure of the exact length, probably in the 7-8 mile range as I do know the drive to work is 6.5 miles. Which gets to my point, you don't have to ride the most direct route, ride what's safe. I'd never ride the route I drive, so adding a mile or two to your route is really no big deal. I typically ride 60-90 minutes on the way home just because I can. Even with warm weather, I never get too sweaty on the 30 minutes in. I shower after the commute home.

I also don't use panniers. Just a messenger bag for a change of clothes and lunch. Fenders. Blinkies. Shoes, belt and chain & lock left at work. And I don't rotate.

Phloom

My commute is only 7 kilometres or 4.2 miles. My new old commuter, the Oryx mountain bike does not have fenders and I haven't so far been able to jury rig a fender solution. This riding season, it only rained once so I haven't missed the fenders. I replaced the front shock forks with a set of carbon forks from Nashbar. I upgraded the brakes to a brand new set of Avic BB7's and wow, did that ever make a difference. I really need good brakes because one of the MUPs is a narrow sidewalk along a 100 years old iron railway bride. One side, iron I-beams and the other side a 4 foot rail with a 150 foot drop to the mighty North Saskatchewan river. One side is under construction, building an enclosure to stop people from jumping to their death. The other side is crammed with pedestrians and bicycles going both ways. It is the most dangerous part of my commute.

Other goodies I put on my commuter were an air horn, a little bell (required by the city), a good front light and a really bright rear flasher. A transferred Brooks B17 from my previous commuter, a seat post rack and my Timbuk2 Hunchback Rack Trunk. I just got a notice in the mail to pick up my new Loaded Precision AMXC 1 1/8-in Headset from the local quicky-mart/post office. Just in time for the first snowfall. The Oryx is not a low end Walmart special. It is made of aluminium and with the new carbon forks, it is pretty light. I have other bikes I could commute with but the Oryx is pretty tough and I don't have much choice in my route. My Raleigh Competition GS is just too dainty to be a rough and tumble commuter.

nlerner

My commute is only 2.5 miles each way, but I will also add miles if I have the time and will also use my commuter for various sorts of errands. On Monday, I needed to go to a meeting 25 miles away and went by bike. My main commuter these days isn't very C&V: It's a Nashbar touring frame with a Soma chrome fork, V-brakes, 8-speed index bar ends, 35mm Soma tires, V-O fenders, gen hub, front and rear lamps, rear Topeak rack and bag. I had it set up with a drop bar and front basket until recently when I put Albatross bars on it, and like it much better with this configuration:



My other two primary commuters are a '69 Raleigh Superbe and a '50 Raleigh Lenton Tourist, but the Nashbar is seeing most of the miles these days.

jetboy 

one thing i do recommend is the Levis waterproof cycling jacket. not sure they still sell it but its great for rain and wind- and looks good to boot: I use it even when not cycling just for the fashion. one of my best birthday presents from my wife.

jimmuller 

What he said. And again what he said. Unless you are always starting late and in a hurry to get to work or get home, take a route that you are comfortable riding. Experiment. Study maps. You don't have to take the same route morning and evening.

My route covers much of the same route I would drive, but not totally. (I can drive most of the bike route, or I can drive a bigger highway. The bigger highway is longer but usually faster unless it has a traffic jam.) The morning and evening routes are different for subtle reasons like the roughness of the roads' shoulders and the complexity of certain intersections. It took me a year to settle on those particular routes.

Now about that rotation, @iab may not rotate but I bet his wheels do.

brianinc-ville

ThatswhatImtalkinabout, Neal! It's like my Peugeot, but nicer.