Here is my Kettler bicycle, used for my 10-12 mile daily commute. The Union sidewall dynamo is no longer functional since I converted to a front hub generator. I'll probably remove it in a few weeks.
My commuter bike is a 94 Diamond Back Sorrento.
It has served me well and is very nice to ride, my
commute will be 35 miles a day - right now I ride
in the morning and take a bus home in the
evening. Soon we will be doing round-trip
Here's a pic of my commuter/tourer/only bike as it's currently setup. Took this on a beach on Whidbey Island last Saturday from a tour training ride, hence the full pannier setup. Currently though I am riding everyday with all four panniers as part of my training regimen. However my rear panniers are an Arkel briefcase and an old Jandd instead of the shown Arkels.
Here's my Novara Randonee 04 I use to commute about 15 miles each day. I added Topeak rack and matching trunk bag. I like them because it's easy to slide the bag in and out of the rack. Handlebar mirror and cordless computer are also added on. Since it's mostly dry most of the year here in Utah, I'm hoping to get by without fenders. Sorry for the mess in the picture background.
Last edited by Wasatch_commute; 04-20-04 at 09:15 PM.
Here is my baby just after I got home from work today. Its an Raleigh Rampar R1027 circa 1978. 27" 10 speed with Sun Tour HONOR components. The feneders I got off a bike I paid $4.99 for at a local thrift store. The panniers are Nashbar. The bike is all original and in great shape. I like the simplicity of friction shifters on the commuter bike. I'll add my lighting system when I have to start commuting in the dark again. I paid $15.95 for the bike at the Salvation Army Thrift store a month or so ago.
FYI - I found that Cinelli Lux tape at REI online. It runs about $30.....a bit steep for me, but looks cool!
Yeah. Actually, I just retaped those bars with plain old red cork tape. There was a sale at the LBS and they didn't have the reflective stuff. Don't really need it until October or November anyway since my commute's in the light now.
Cyclists of the world, unite! You have nothing to lube but your chains!
Here is my baby just after I got home from work today. Its an Raleigh Rampar R1027 circa 1978. 27" 10 speed with Sun Tour HONOR components. The feneders I got off a bike I paid $4.99 for at a local thrift store. The panniers are Nashbar. The bike is all original and in great shape. I like the simplicity of friction shifters on the commuter bike. I'll add my lighting system when I have to start commuting in the dark again. I paid $15.95 for the bike at the Salvation Army Thrift store a month or so ago.
Nice looking bike! What goes in that seat post bag?
Sorry, I do not have my pics here yet. I was thinking that in the other forums, there are pages and pages of bike pics. It would be nice to have pics of the bikes people commute on. I know around here I like checking out people commuting rides to see how they have modified them for comfort, visibility, utility, and style. Has this been started on this forum before? Could we lobby for a sticky?
I'll post some pics after the weekend when I can get some pics.
Finally, here is a picture.
I have been enjoying seeing everyone elses bikes.
Mine is a 2003 allez sport. I do not have many modifications.
A specialized PVO road pump, a lock attached to the seat post.
A cateye blinky
a trail rat II lighting system
SPD pedals
I use a messenger bag to commute with, as I have outgrwon my backpack ( I am in graduate school and a new class started recently).
Here is a bike I just finished building up. It is an old Cannondale R400. I wanted bullhorns, but I did not have any. Instead I put on some Scott MTB bars (AT2 I think), and found a different solution for the brake levers. I will post more details later.
Greenfix, I love the bikes and the dog. His/Her eyes appear to reflect almost as well as the material on the back of your shoes! I have a yellow and a black lab here they find their way into many of our pictures.
How do you like your brake setup on the C-dale? It looks nice and clean, just wondering how it feels with the levers mounted backwards?
Here is a bike I just finished building up. It is an old Cannondale R400.
Be sure to check it for cracks regularly. Mine, of the same model and vintage (2.4?), developed a crack at the crease which is for chain clearance just above the drive-side dropout.
Luckily Cannondale replaced it for free with a new model (CAAD 3 I think).
"The more you tighten your grip . . . the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
Greenfix, I love the bikes and the dog. His/Her eyes appear to reflect almost as well as the material on the back of your shoes! I have a yellow and a black lab here they find their way into many of our pictures.
How do you like your brake setup on the C-dale? It looks nice and clean, just wondering how it feels with the levers mounted backwards?
Thanks,
Mulligan (the dog), pretty much wants to insert herself between me and whatever I am working on, it is one of things that I enjoy about her.
It took me a while to get those brakes worked out. The Scott bars are mountain bars, and are thinner than the bars I pulled the levers off. They are also not designed to have the brakes mounted out on the bends, which is where I wanted to mount them. It took me a while to figure out where I could put them, and still have enough clearance so that when I pull the levers, I wasn't hitting the bars before the brakes fully engaged. There were 1 or 2 spots where I could place the brake levers, and where they ended up is the most comfortable. It actually rides pretty nice. The bars are comfortably wide, and the lever pull is natural when my hands are on the ends of the bars. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I rarely ride int he drops, so bullhors, make sense to me. On the few test rides I have taken I have also found that a natural position for my hands is on the section of the brake levers attached to the bars, again pretty confortable on short rides. Unfortunately, I have developed some pretty serious knee pain, so my cycling has slowed down, and I have not been able to put many miles on this bike yet. I'll probably post an edit after my first long ride on this bike.
Happy riding
Edit: I forgot to mention, my next project is to try to relocate the shifting on this bike. I have discovered I am not a fan of the downtube shifters. I do not think bar end shifters will fit in these bars, so I was considering thumb shifters mounted under the bars toward the ends. That way I would have the brakes and shifting all at my finger tips. Any ideas or experiences with this would be greatly appreciated.
Be sure to check it for cracks regularly. Mine, of the same model and vintage (2.4?), developed a crack at the crease which is for chain clearance just above the drive-side dropout.
Luckily Cannondale replaced it for free with a new model (CAAD 3 I think).
Thanks for the warning. This bike (in its original configuration) was actually a gift from a good friend of mine that is riding recumbents now. I think he rode it quite a bit before he switched to recumbents. I have noticed one thing about the frame. The rear triangle seems to have some "spring" in it. I notice it when I install and remove teh rear wheel. Th dropouts appear to move laterally. I did not think that aluminum frameswere meant to do this so I checked it over for cracks or fatigue marks in the paint, but I could not find any. Do you have any experience with this? What was it like when your frame failed? Did it happen catastrophically like some people describe with aluminum frames, or could you catch the crack as it developed?
The bars are comfortably wide, and the lever pull is natural when my hands are on the ends of the bars. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I rarely ride int he drops, so bullhors, make sense to me.
I forgot to mention, my next project is to try to relocate the shifting on this bike. I have discovered I am not a fan of the downtube shifters. I do not think bar end shifters will fit in these bars, so I was considering thumb shifters mounted under the bars toward the ends. That way I would have the brakes and shifting all at my finger tips. Any ideas or experiences with this would be greatly appreciated.
I decided to equip my commuter with the bullhorn bars. Like you I like the wideness and never rode the drops. I went with a "stoker 26" bar from profile design, it allowed me to put my bar end shifters in the ends of the bar and conventional road brake levers on the curve at the very tip of the horn. I've been riding that setup for a couple of months and I really like it. I think you saw it when I originally posted a picture of the whole rig on the first page of this thread. Good luck with the modifications, I really enjoy the tinkering.
Hey, Montana, I've been using the same paniers as these for years, they a very durable and they hold everything perfectly! Great choice!
Hey mtessmer,
I really like them. I got a set for my wife's commuter bike as well. We both really like them. They made it through the snow and yuck of winter commuting in really good shape. I can't imagine being without them now. We even put a rack on our tandem so we can have the panniers along.
Hey mtessmer,
I really like them. I got a set for my wife's commuter bike as well. We both really like them. They made it through the snow and yuck of winter commuting in really good shape. I can't imagine being without them now. We even put a rack on our tandem so we can have the panniers along.
Yep, I got a set for my wife's bike and we use them on our tandem too! Hmmmm... we must think alike.
Good luck with the modifications, I really enjoy the tinkering.
Me too. We had a long off season this year, and I was able to tinker with a build three bikes. It is a pretty relaxing way to wind down the day.
I really like the set up of your bars, and that is what I originally wanted to do with the Cannondale, but I wanted to get by with what I had in the garage. Road style bullhorns are probably still in my future, it depends on how the current set up works out.
Thanks for the warning. This bike (in its original configuration) was actually a gift from a good friend of mine that is riding recumbents now. I think he rode it quite a bit before he switched to recumbents. I have noticed one thing about the frame. The rear triangle seems to have some "spring" in it. I notice it when I install and remove teh rear wheel. Th dropouts appear to move laterally. I did not think that aluminum frames meant to do this so I checked it over for cracks or fatigue marks in the paint, but I could not find any. Do you have any experience with this? What was it like when your frame failed? Did it happen catastrophically like some people describe with aluminum frames, or could you catch the crack as it developed?
Thanks again
I didn't notice any of the "spring" you mention above. It could be that the bike was originally designed for a seven speed (126 mm between the dropouts) and now it's using an eight or nine speed (130 mm) hub. For an aluminum frame that would scare me a little, but only a little.
When I noticed the crack, I had felt like something was odd about the bike during a ride in the rain, but I couldn't isolate anything. Later when cleaning and inspecting the bike, I noticed that water was leaking out of the seat stay. I mean, I would wipe off the spot on the frame, then it would get wet again. It was not something I expected at all. Kind of like one of those "miraculous" statues.
If you look at a 2.4 series frame, there is a purposeful looking dent on the inside of the seatstay just above where it meets the chainstay. Watch that spot for cracks; might be hard to see on a black bike.
"The more you tighten your grip . . . the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
[QUOTE=SchreiberBike]I didn't notice any of the "spring" you mention above. It could be that the bike was originally designed for a seven speed (126 mm between the dropouts) and now it's using an eight or nine speed (130 mm) hub. For an aluminum frame that would scare me a little, but only a little./QUOTE]
The spring is actually in the other direction. It has a seven speed whell on the back, and the frame seems to spring apart when I take the wheel off, and it gets pulled in when I put the wheel on. I know the wheel is original equipment. The spring is just someting odd that I noticed, and I will definitely keep an eye on the frame. I like the frame, but some parts of it I thought the frame were kind of odd. It almost looks like their solution for clearance issues was a rubber mallet, and some carefully aimed blows. Regardless I am psyched to have it, and have had fun tinkering with it.
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