I'm bored at work: prepare for lots of words.
Originally Posted by
spare_wheel
I greatly enjoy reading the cognitive dissonance of dutch/dane-o-philes who suddenly realize that not everyone is interested in a sensible city bike with IGH, dyno hub, integrated lights/fenders/kickstand.
PS: The perfect commuting bike is the one you want to ride.
I dunno, I wouldn't mind dyno lights, fenders, and a kickstand. IGH's have their high points, too. If you don't get flats often.
But absolutely, a commuter bike is a bike you commute on. Ride what you enjoy.
Originally Posted by
CrankyOne
Great point.
I do think that a big issue is that most people in the U.S. end up with bikes that are not practical for daily transportation. They're not easy to ride for normal trips in normal clothes. They have an exposed chain, they're uncomfortable (leaning forward, saddle, etc.), unable to easily carry a purse or jacket, and no kickstand. These are the bikes that are predominant in LBS's and Wal-Mart. I think too that there's a macho element for some folks who will choose something that looks like a road or mountain bike even if good city bikes are available and would be better for their purposes.
So many regular riders swap out saddles, I dunno if that being uncomfortable is something to be criticized. Especially since people don't all seem to settle on the same saddle.
I ride a road bike with a rack in normal or gym clothes all the time.
A huge proportion of the bikes I see on MUPs(other than bike share stuff) are Electra Townie's, or stuff that with obvious resemblance to bike share bikes. And that's with the MUP having a MTB trail off of it, and good road cycling at the end of it.
Originally Posted by
AlmostTrick
If each position sucks, then yeah, you need to move around a lot.
I set up my position exactly where I like it.
This is the commuting forum. We're not riding a hundred miles at a time.
I've got mild carpal tunnel and tendinitis in my hands. If I had to stick to one hand position, I couldn't ride more than 30-40 minutes at a time. With drop bars I can do 60-80 miles at a time, with absolutely no issues. Hell, sometimes I do it after work.
Originally Posted by
wolfchild
That sounds like an ideal commuting/errands bike. Big shame on all the bike shops out there for not selling these types of bikes. I wonder why bike shops don't sell 3 speed bikes anymore ??.
When I was looking this time last year I found a fair number of 3/7/8 IGH bikes with a relaxed/cruiser geometry, and eyelets for racks and fenders.
Originally Posted by
noglider
If Renée Fleming were a truly good singer, she would sell more records than Taylor Swift.
To give Swift some credit, she's improved her singing a lot, and she's much better at engaging her audience to put on a show than Fleming(Yes, I've seen both). Swift is also a great songwriter. Plus, c'mon, opera to pop? Not a fair comparison in potential audience.
It is a valid point though-look at how many great artists(across all mediums-performers, composers, writers, visual arts) have died paupers.
Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
Right on the money when discussing bike commuting and applies almost everywhere. The people who are willing tobicycle commute very long distances (greater than maybe 15 miles each way) or lots of steep hills are a miniscule number of people. Yes there are some cyclists who do and this list attracts a relatively high number of such unrepresentative bicyclists. But don't fool yourself into thinking that the enthusiast commuters cycling up and down steep hills and mucho miles everyday found posting their exploits on BF or similar lists are typical bicycling commuters.
I think it's worth noting, that with decent infrastructure/route planning, it's faster for me to ride than it is to take a bus the 12 miles to work. Before I moved when it was 17/18 and two buses, it was still faster. That's just comparing travel time, not time spent waiting for buses, too.
Admittedly, even though I was pushing 300lbs when I got a bike last year and started commuting-I was a pretty quick cross country runner in high school, and grew up mtb'ing in Colorado with my dad, who was a cat 1 roadie in another life. So even fat and as far away from fit as you can be-I was more willing to approach this commute than a lot of people, not beings cared of miles or time spent in the heat. There's also a gym right across the street from my workplace with free towel service, so still showing up to work looking respectable is quite easy.
Originally Posted by
CrankyOne
I think that next to lack of infrastructure and perhaps even a bigger issue than lack of infrastructure is the big-boxing of so many things, especially grocery stores. In urban and suburban areas they use to almost always be within 2 or 3 miles of any house (approx 5 mile spacing max). Today they are reducing the number of neighborhood stores and going with big-box groceries that are 5 to 7 or more miles away (approx 10 to 14 mile spacing). Riding 2 miles to a local grocery is very doable, 5 to 7 miles not so practical.
Eh, I do 4. It's not such a big deal. Admittedly, I tend to do my grocery shopping right after work, and just cart it all back to my apartment(12 miles). Of course if I didn't commute 3x farther(before I tack on extra miles, which I often do), I'd probably find it a lot more onerous.
...you know how some counties have mandatory military service? We should have mandatory bike riding, no motorized vehicles for three years. More health, less pollution, people caring about intelligent urban planning more, etc etc-win win win win win win win.
Originally Posted by
wolfchild
I suppose a centerstand would be more useful then a kick stand. It could be used as a bike stand when removing a wheel to fix a flat or make some adjustments. Not that I ever plan on getting one.
I'd like a center stand for when I'm loading up groceries, but don't miss a kickstand.
[MENTION=349999]katsrevenge[/MENTION] when I was only riding 5 miles, I rode something very similar (jamis hudson), it was a great bike. I eventually found it inadequate as my needs/wants/expectations of a bike grew. But it's still a great bike.