Originally Posted by
tjspiel
Agreed. But I think we tend to give advice for what they would need as dedicated, long term, all-weather commuters rather than beginning ones.
A first question should be along the lines of "How long is your commute one way and is it relatively flat or hilly?".
If it's under 5 miles and not that hilly, most any bike will do. If they have a longer, hillier commute, then something with gears might be in order. If they already have a bike they should start there unless they don't like it for whatever reason and want something different.
Beyond that, I say have them try the commute on the weekend first and bring a cell phone in case something happens.
That's it.
Unless they want more info.
I agree with this. All you have to do is look at the many threads where a newbie comes and asks a question about commuting, posters reply and go on and on, (sometimes even bickering about what's "best"
) even though the thread starter has stopped posting.
Here's a recent one where 47 replies were given, with nary another peep from the OP!
http://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...rformance.html