mzk4lyfe101

Hey, I have a Fuji Newest (the red and white model).
I am about to go to college and I will bring the bike along for everyday commute around campus.

I was thinking of putting cyclocross type tires for reliability and comfort (also for the occasional grass field shortcut run through :])

I have a Performance bicycle shop down the street from my house. Any suggestions on tires that I would be able to buy from them?

Any tips on using a bike in college would be really helpful. Thanks

bighitboy

how about a nice pink basket for the front, get the girls going

mzk4lyfe101

lol...thanks for the advice but ill pass.
too easy to steal anyhow :]

georgiaboy

Most persons advise a messenger bag to carry your laptop. Shock is better absorbed through your body. You can use a rear rack. But the padded cell and pannier to carry a laptop are nice, but pricey.

Keep checking the forum alot more posts will continue to be added.

mrkott3r

from a person at uni

Dont leave it anywhere. buy a decent u-lock and chain.

Buy some maintennance tools and do the work yourself.

Make sure you travel with the necessary emergency gear (spare tube, levers, pump) nothing worse than failing an end of semester exam because you got a puncture.

Messenger bags are great but buy a decent one. Too many textbooks in a cheap bag equals bag breaking. Make sure the bag is waterproof.

If you go clipless go SPD, at least you can buy some ok looking casual shoes to wear, beats having to take another set of footwear.

Im currently researching what light set to buy for commuting at night. Thinking niteflux vision stick at the moment.

Take some deodorant with ya.

MichaelW

CX knobblies are designed for mud and grass. Touring/commuting tyres are generally a bit more durable on the road. You need a little tread if you want to ride tracks but knobbles are not compusory.
I find that Schwalbe Marathon are tough and puncture resistant. Armadillos are also a good option.

mrkott3r

tyres eh? the advice above +
make sure field is thorn free. Over here in the country we have cat eyes. These huge big thorns that are like big bindies, no tyre would be able to survive them. Many people wearing sandles get stabbed by them. Very painful!

Outside of that 700x28 would probably work great. On my bike I run a specialized armidillo on the back and a Michelin Pro Race on the Front. (both 700x23, no fields for me) I get more rear punctures but not many front. The better gripping front gives way better grip, handling and braking though. It saved me a crash the other day, when I had to stop suddenly at 35-40kmh. Definately worth thinking about if you are on main roads and can avoid the off road short cut.

mzk4lyfe101

wow, my first post ever and great responses thankyou!

keep the advice coming, especially the ones about suggested cyclocross tires.

max-a-mill

showing up for class dripping wet on a rainy day is fun...

most people won't understand; but those who do will make better friends anyhow!

jyossarian

Buy a good Kryptonite or Abus U-lock and chain to lock up your bike. Superglue ball bearings into all the hex nuts (seatpost, handlebars, pedals, spider) so all that stuff doesn't get swiped. Use some old bike chain wrapped in an old inner tube to lock the saddle down to the rear triangle. Colleges seem to be a great place to get yourself a new bike and new bike parts even if they're not the greatest parts around.

CliftonGK1

I rode my '91 Stumpjumper for all 4 years of college... then for 5 more years of commuting to work in the same town, another 7 years of commuting and errand running in Cincinnati, and now I use it to commute to work out here in Seattle.
I've ridden primarily 1.5" center-ridged tires. Little bit of tread at the outside in case I wanna cut through some grass or gravel, but a low-resistance center line for the road.

If you go the messenger bag route, get something with a padded shoulder strap, a cross belt to keep the bag in place, and make sure that it's waterproof. Cheap-o bags will hurt your shoulder, slip around, and generally fall apart and spill your stuff all over.
If you go the backpack route, consider something without an internal framesheet, since they tend to restrict your range of motion. Newer bags are available that are built to be fully waterproof, but they're wicked expensive. I use a Sea-to-Summit ultralight sil-nylon drybag as a liner in my backpack. (Around $20, so relatively student friendly pricing.)

With Performance right down the street, you can sometimes find in-store deals on closeout and last year's models of stuff. Look into some good raingear (trust me on this, I'm in the PNW) to make your commute comfortable.
Depending on where you're going to school, base your choice of lock appropriately. No real big problems with bike theft on campus? Go with a heavy cable integrated lock that you can run through the frame and both wheels. A little sketchy? U-lock the frame/rear wheel and take your front and seat with you (or get a non-QR axle and seat bolt) Big problems? Go for the NYC-style anchor chain solution, get a locking headset bolt, and take everything with you that someone might steal.

I had someone steal my rack back in college. Yeah, my rack... as in: Had to take out 4 allen bolts to get it. Not my wheel, not my seat. Just my rack.

CliftonGK1

d00d! I never heard of that one before, but that rocks!

In case anyone's wondering... Acetone will work when you need to get them back out to work on your gear

CBBaron

+1
Touring tires will be much more puncture resistant and roll better than a knobbie tire. One with a little bit of inverted tread like the Marathon or Marathon Plus will easily handle the occasional dirt path or grassy field.
Good suggestions for keeping your ride on a college campus is to make your bike look ugly and know how to lock your bike securely. This site rates locks https://www.soldsecure.com/Leisure.htm
Use a GOLD rate lock for a large or urban campus and a Silver or above for a smaller rural campus.
Also Sheldon Brown has some suggestions on how to properly lock a bike. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html
Make sure to lock both wheels and it is suggested that your seat also be secured or removed.
Craig

catatonic

Get some nice thick street tires...broken glass can really put a damper on your day. For inexpensive, look at the Serfas Drifter (one of my favorite "tank bike" tires of all time, rolls fast too), for pricier tires check out the conti gatorskin or specialized armadillos.

Rack vs bag...either way you will be using a bag to get books into the building, so get a good messenger bag. Spend on this, as it will pay itself off and then some. $80 is a good price for a Timbuk2 or similar (I have used one for over 2 years for car-free use, and have been loving it). You can get batter bags though, which have angled straps for comfort, and padded backs, etc.

RAINGEAR(OMFG U=WET NOODLE!): YES! buy raingear. All my tomfoolery aside, buy some before the sky decides to make you it's punk. Look around for specials at performancebike and such. Just be sure to ask them lots of questions about fit. Some rainpants are made for biks shorts, and not street clothes.

Lights: Buy bright. cateye TL-LD1000 is a fantastic taillight, water resistant as well. They also have a water resistant headlight that's worth buying. LED headlamps are not super visible, but for short distances they should suffice.

Helmet: I reccomend them, some people don't. It's your cranium, but I still think anything to keep it from getting beat up as badly in a crash is worth it. Buy what's comfortable (fit and ventilation) and affordable.

As for locks...get the best. Colleges are the single highest risk area I can think of for bike theft. Consider filling bolt heads with wax, or the superglue BB trick, and make sure EVERYTHING is locked down. I used to live near a university, and the hoodlums would steal anything. I even had my light mount bracket stolen.....who the heck steals that? I ended up supergluing my light brackets shut to prevent this. Replace your quick release skewers with nutted skewers, or kryptonite locking skewers (requires a special keyed lever to open...tip, use the lever as a keychain, and carry a set of cheap QR skewers just in case the krypto's threads strip (very common failure for these))

M3ta7h3ad

The person who had theres nicked the day before hehe

_dhan_

I've put a blob of epoxy in there. I can chip it out when I need to work on stuff. Thankfully, I haven't needed to yet. Also, loctite red is my friend.

I've also gotten locking skewers, though their effectiveness is debatable. I don't think they would stop a determined thief, but if there's another bike next to mine that has quick releases, which one do you think are going to get nicked? I would at least go to bolt ons if not some type of locking mechanism.

Basically, for campus, I would lock down *everything* that I would like to keep. Actually, I got myself a beater bike that nobody wants to steal. That way I don't have to worry about security.

twochins

get the cheapest bike you can, something from walmart maybe, seriously...campuses are hotspots for crime...if you bring a real nide ride down there's a good chance of getting stolen, then what, at least with the walmart type, you can just go get another one

moxfyre

First of all, having a bike in college is great I hope you'll enjoy it. I like these performance tires: https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5420. They are Kevlar belted for puncture resistance and cheap to boot.

The most important thing about having your bike in college is... SECURITY!!!! Get a GOOD U-lock and don't lock to anything like street signs which could be disassembled by a thief. College towns are magnets for bike thieves. Your bike will be one of the minority which AREN'T cheap mountain bikes or department store bikes, and therefore even more tempting. I had one bike stolen in college (got it back, heroicly!) and have had 2 stolen in grad school before I wised up.

I use Nashbar's Bolt-on-Skewers (https://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache...client=firefox, out of stock right now but should have them again soon). As pointed out above, they won't stop a determined thief, but they will stop an amateur like the crackhead who walked off with my wheels in broad daylight two years ago. I fill the heads of the skewers with silicone caulk, which makes it maddeningly impossible to get an Allen wrench into them unless you dissolve it with a solvent. Also, I always lock up the rear wheel with the U-lock. I never leave my bike outdoors overnight. Hopefully, your dorm will have a room to store bikes inside, and if they don't, make some noise to the dorm director about freeing up some space for this.