bikemig 

Edit: so this my idea of a great old bike to repurpose as a commuter. I'll bet there are a lot of great old bikes there being used as commuters. What's yours?

Original post: OK so the title is a bit of a tease but I recently rebuilt a 1991 Specialized Team Stumpjumper and it is the best riding commuting bike I have ever used. The tubing is tange prestige and the parts are a suntour xc pro grease guard gruppo. The bike has seen some hard offroad use in the past. I was impressed with how well the suntour grease guard gruppo holds out over time. There is a lot to be said for being able to flush out the old grease from the hubs and BB. I switched out the saddle to a Brooks Team, the pedals to platform pedals since I like to ride with boots in the winter, and the handlebar to a trekking bar. I've never used one before and I think they're the bees knees so to speak. You can ride upright with your hands on the brake levers in traffic or dicey situations and spread out nicely when climbing or riding hard. I need to add fenders but I probably won't add a rack as I all I need is a messenger bag. Plus I really like the way the bike came out:

leaping_gnome

^^^ Very cool. I used to commute on my 1995 Trek 7000 ZX but now I ride my trusty 1984 Sequoia. BTW, I'm currently restoring / upgrading a 1991 Stumpjumper Comp. I am upgrading to Suntour XC Pro.

We'll be back out here next weekend - not my usual commute route!

bikemig 

The Sequoia is sweet. I think you'll like the stump comp as a commuter a lot.

The Golden Boy 

Hey Bikemig- I was hoping to see those trekking bars! That XC Pro stuff is the cat's pyjamas, isn't it?

I've kind of thought about trekking bars for this or my High Sierra- which I've changed to drops.

Since this seems to have a distinct Specialized flavor going on-

My first commuter is/was an 84 Stumpjumper Sport- before I got panniers. It is a bit on the "tank" side of heavy, but it rides quite nicely.

Pistard

You guys commute without fenders, guess you don't wear suits...

KonAaron Snake 

Really liking it bikemig! I have three I use for commuting depending on the day, weather and my mood...

- rain, when I take home stuff from the office or have to dress up.

Fast commuter:



Everyday...



This one is a fun build - Litespeed obed frame, rigid fork, deore DX and Xt, suntour commands and v-brake road levers. Origin 8 Gary bars and a Specialized Stem.

bikemig 

I like all three (and with vintage bikes, why not have two or more commuters, right?) but I'm really digging the Koga Miyata. My first touring bike was a KM and I thought it was such a great bike and I still own and love my team miyata. I see you opted for drops on all three of your commuters. I have drops on one:

bikemig 

I was surprised by how quickly I liked the trekking bars. They felt right immediately.

Really like your stumpjumper comp with the bull moose stem and old school thumb shifters. The older stumpjumpers were a bit slacker in terms of frame angles with a bit longer wheelbase which was pretty common I believe in the first generation MTBs; that also makes them great commuters and/or touring bikes. Your bike has one heck of a long wheelbase; I like it.

iab

I was commuting with this.



The seat clamp was cheap and always came loose. The Italian BB would get loose. The RD would ghost shift after a while. I snapped the drive side steel crank. Now much of my problems could have been fixed with better vintage parts. But that would have taken away form the "look" of the bike (please disregard the Reelights, I lost those pretty quick).

So I am doing about 3-4K miles a year commuting. I am not gentle on the bike. I cannot be held down by some aesthetic. So I went all in and got a modern bike. It doesn't have to maintain a certain look. I can ride it hard. And best of all, modern components don't require the amount of maintenance. I now just give it a once over at the end of the season. Other than that, air, and the occasional lubricant, this bike I don't have a second bother. I'd rather ride a bike than work on it.

So for me, the perfect vintage commuting bike is modern.

balindamood

1990 Trek 790, my favorite bike ever.

Bandera

'74 Raleigh International now set-up as a town bike.
The hybrid AW/Cyclo 3 cog derail set-up gives a reasonable range & the ability to shift when stopped.
Need to add a dynamo lighting system.

-Bandera

ijsbrand

Horses for courses. Considering the many shiny e-bikes parked around here in front of any supermarket, the main characteristic of any commuting bike locally is that it has to look a lot older than those and thus not that attractive to thieves.

Mine has very good LED-lights though, and a hub dynamo. Bomb-proof wheels and tyres. When I park it I often hide the Brooks under an old plastic bag.

ThermionicScott 

During this commuting season, I've thought more than once that it would be fun to have one of RobbieTunes's funny bikes.

Sixty Fiver

The Moulten is a 1966 F series... almost everything has been upgraded and this makes this a very contemporary bike in regard to performance and to this day few bicycles can deliver such a well balanced riding experience.

AZORCH

I'm using my 1971 International to commute on days when I don't have meetings. I thought about adding a bottle generator or dynohub for lighting, but the more pragmatic choice of a rechargeable NightRider light better fits the bill, especially since it's getting dark about 4.30 now. I can fit most anything I need in the Carradice, but I also run front panniers when the need calls for it. I've got a Carradice Super-C that can also get added in a jiffy, if I really needed the extra luggage - hasn't come to that yet, though.

bikemig 

I think the name on the frame and the front basket move this bike to classic and vintage land,

bikemig 

I like the set up on this. Old road bikes with 3 speed hubs make cool commuters; I like yours with the combo of a 3 spd hub and derailleur.

Italuminium

I really miss mine. Fantastic city bikes. One day I'll get another, took me over a year to find one in the first place. Originals are rare here.

John E

Another vote here for hybrid gearing --

As a UCLA student I enjoyed commuting on an old Armstrong 3-speed with drop bars and a 4-speed Cyclo conversion kit. The 40/14-16-18-20 derailleur gears coupled with the standard Sturmey Archer AW 0.75/1.0/1.33 progression gave me the ratiometric equivalent of 53-40-30/14-16-18-20, a 39 to 99 gear-inch range on 26" wheels. That was one of the most fun bike transmission I ever owned.

My current transportation bikes are the Schwinn Project KOM-10 mountain bike and the Peugeot UO-8. with its 45-42/13-26 12-speed half-step gearing, which has a very practical range of 43 to 93 gear-inches.

iab

I also use it when going to the grocery on the weekends. Its nice to just pop the basket and use it in the store.

tarwheel 

My perfect commuter keeps evolving. I started out riding a De Bernardi steel lugged bike because that's what I had available. I also used my Merckx Corsa on occasion. Soon I began to want a bike that could handle fenders, larger tires and a rack, so I got a Bob Jackson World Tour that I rode for a couple of years. The touring bike felt heavy and slow after a while, a bit of overkill for commuting, so I replaced it with a Salsa Casseroll. Rode the Casseroll for a couple of years and replaced it on whim with a Gunnar Sport. The Gunnar was great but I started missing the stopping power of canti brakes, so I just recently replaced it with a Gunnar Crosshairs. Maybe the Crosshairs will be my perfect commuter?

KonAaron Snake 

I've been casually looking for 2-3 years and haven't found me - there just aren't many here. I had the chance to buy one for $300 and thought I could do better as far as color - whoops!

Zinger

This is very nice with the drops. I'd like to get into a CX bike like this someday and yours is inspiring me to look for one of these in the future.

kroozer 

I commute fairly short distances on rough streets, so I need something tough and comfortable rather than fast and efficient. This is a late 80's Fisher Advance frame I bought for $20 and outfitted with Shimano Deore. It now has LED lights for night riding.