Been quite a while since I've posted here, I rebuilt an old Schwinn a couple years ago and this site helped provide a lot of great advice and guidance. Figured this was the place to come for tips on my newest bike. I recently acquired a used Diamondback Response MTB in a trade, and I have decided to make it my primary commuter. It seems like a solid bike, aluminum frame with suspension fork and disc brakes, and it is in good shape other than being left outside for nearly a year, so I'll have to give it a good teardown/rebuild to remove a little rust and re-grease everything.

Stock photo, but my bike is basically setup like this one:


My goal is to make this thing more practical for my 3 mile (one way) commute, without spending too much money. First on my list is definitely road-friendly tires, lights, and reflectors. My morning commute will be before dawn, and my evening commute at dusk.

Tires... I keep going back and forth between a less-knobby MTB tire, something with less rolling resistance but still functional for dirt, or a tougher city tire, something that could still handle a dirt trail if I needed to (had Schwalbe Marathons on my road bike and loved them, but I'm hoping for cheaper...) . My commute is all paved, but full of potholes, cracks, RR tracks, and debris. I will be keeping the front suspension fork for that reason. I would like to keep around a 1.75-2" width tire to compensate for the rough surfaces I'll be riding over. Does anyone have experience with Geax Evolution City tires? I like the price, and it seems like a road-friendly design that could handle a mild trail on the weekend. Kind of a cool tread design, too.

As far as lights go, I think I'll be going with a flashlight mount, and couple front/rear blinky lights. Seems like LEDs are the way to go for strobes? These Blackburn Voyager click lights caught my eye, seems slick with the lens/push switch combo. They make a red version for the taillight also.

One other thing I'm undecided on is grips/bar ends. My road bike had bullhorns, and I like the forward hand position, so I'm considering adding bar ends. Can anyone suggest a good, cheap, bar end option?

I'll probably add a rack, although that will be down the road. For now I'll most likely use a backpack with reflective belts strapped around it to add some visibility.

Looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say, and especially looking forward to some good-weather commuting now that winter is slowly on it's way out!