Originally Posted by
Buffalo Buff
After reading this forum for a few months and seeing a lot of the typical "Drop 500$ on x hybrid and spend 300$ on lights, racks, panniers, fenders, shorts etc." I sometimes wonder if we over complicate things.
My introduction to bike commuting was on a 40$ mountain bike from a garage sale and using my old high school backpack.
I had fun, I was comfortable, I never got hit or hit anyone, and I got to experience all of the pleasures of bike commuting with an entry barrier of 45$ (5$ on a lock).
Sometimes I get the impression folks here think that's impossible. That any used bike is going to need a tune-up, new tires, tubes, replace all the cables so on and so forth.
Want to know what maintenance I did to that bike? I pumped up the tires until they looked about right, didn't even measure the PSI. Aside from not being able to shift into the smallest chain ring, and the shifting feeling a bit clunky in general, it rode just fine. Rode dirt trails, did muddy off roading, got on the road, crushed limestone paths etc. All after it sat in a garage for an unknown number of years.
My current bike is definitely nicer, faster. Not using a backpack makes me more comfortable. Having lights is safer. But if someone told me to spend 800$ to bike commute I would of lost all interest.
What do you think?
It really all depends on your commute. 29% of the American population works within 5 miles of their home... if you commute during daylight only hours, it doesn't take much to cover 5 miles on any comfortable bike.
But as soon as you start riding at night, you need lighting... Anything beyond that... racks, clothing, fenders, better bike... is just to improve your comfort.
Consider this... while you consider $800 a steep price for a simple commute, bear in mind that people pay 10s of thousands for a 4 wheel moving "couch" to go that same 5 mile distance. Go figure.