First off, wow! I was not expecting this many people to actually reply to my question.
I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot here. Now... to replying to everyone at once:
Originally Posted by
scroca
Start by reading the Advice for New Commuters thread.
It used to be easy to find when it was a sticky. Now you have to look in Commuters Useful Threads...
Ah, thank you! Totally skipped over that when I made the initial post on my phone, now that I'm back from work (Swing shift) now that I've gone through it I've kind of got a feel for what I'm going to need.
Originally Posted by
jdswitters
and then come back.
In the meanwhile, you will need to answer some questions.
Budget?
Flat or hilly, (prob hilly, eh?)
What do you carry to work with you, and do you think you want racks or messenger/back pack?
does speed matter to you or comfort?
Do you have an interest in working on your bike, how much maintenance do you want to put into it?
I am a cheap, lazy comfortable slow old man with a flat commute who rides in work clothes and doesn't like to sweat. See signature.
Okay! I'm back.
Budget is up to $500, I may be willing to go over that but any more than that and it's going to have to be a "Save for a little bit" affair.
The commute is actually going to mainly be flat! Definitely should be a much easier ride than having to go through something like SF on a day to day basis.
Stuff that I carry to work can go into a backpack like my tools, notes, and lunch/dinner, so I don't think I'll need a rack. However, I will be biking at 2:30PM to work and then 11:30PM back home so I'll need LED flashers so I don't get a ticket.
Maintenance?! Isn't that the fun part of owning a bike?
I'm a huge car junkie and am always tinkering on it so how much harder could I bike be?
Speed over comfort? I don't know yet actually, I guess I'd have to check the roads a little better to see how bad they are but comfort might be the way to go.
Originally Posted by
green427
The best bike for you is the one you are most comfortable on. The only way to find out which one is comfortable is to take them for a spin.
If your commute is only 3 miles on mostly flat terrain, any bike will do. Go to your local bike shop and get advice on what size is best, then check them all out.
Noted! There's a local bike shop that I ventured into and then directly out of when I saw that the prices on most of the bikes in the store were upwards of $2000... D: I might need to look around for some other bike shops or need help scrounging around craigslist for a good deal.
Originally Posted by
sauerwald
Which 3 miles on E.C.R. do you ride? In a lot of areas there are much nicer parallel routes. I commute from Downtown San Jose to Sunnyvale. Much of my route runs parallel to El Camino Real.
My opinion is that for 3 miles, you can probably commute on most any bike you want. My wife rides a pink cruiser bike 2 miles to the library and it works fine for her.
A few things that you might want to think about:
One really nice thing about the bay area is that you can take your bike on any of the public transit modes - light rail, caltrain, bus etc - but in some cases it will involve lifting your bike, and it looks like you may not be the beefiest of men, so a really heavy bike may not be the best option.
As far as local clubs for recreational rides, I like ACTC.ORG - they have organized rides for everything from a fast double century or long tour to a leisurely ride to a place known for it's pancakes.
I'm going to be going from around Rengstorff Ave in Mountain View up to Page Mill Rd in Palo Alto, so there are a couple different ways to get there. If I want to avoid El Camino the commute can is another mile which isn't that big of a deal. The girlfriend is extremely worried about me being hit by a car if I take ECR, so I'll probably take backroads.
An added plus is my company actually gave me a pass on my badge that allows me to use all public transportation on the entire Peninsula from SF all the way down to SJ.