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Old 01-11-19 | 06:03 PM
  #38  
madpogue
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Joined: Jan 2004
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From: Madison, WI USA
I assume by "work clothes", your target audience is office/professional workers. For a lot of folks, "work clothes" mean Carhartts. But I reckon you're referring to people who work indoors for the most part.

Dress here for gents is "business casual". Some guys will even wear polo type shirts, but I'm in a button-front shirt every day. Commute is 1.5mi / 2.5km each way. Unfortunately uphill on the way in (Capitol Hill is one of the highest points in the area). Not long enough of a commute to bother with changing clothes. The building does have a changing room in the basement, for facilities and other non-office staff who may need to change in and out of uniforms or the like. I even used the shower down there for a week many years ago when our hot water heater took an unannounced retirement. So this would always be an option if I ever had a longer commute.

Shoes - I used to run SPDs with some kind of recessed cleats (usu. called "mountain" shoes, but they'd be more appropriately called "commuter"). I even had a pair that looked like oxfords from above, but I walked in them too much and the soles cracked. The last year or so I've gone back to "street casual" shoes and conventional clips, or just flat MTB pedals. Not for any particular reason; I could go either way. Wintertime, if it's cold enough, I'll wear conventional (not bike-specific) winter boots I keep one pair of semi-nice looking oxfords under my desk, for those days when meetings, etc. might call for something more appropriate than sneakers or boots. What would seriously sway me toward SPD would be a shoe with a bottom that's stiff enough to allow snapping in and out quickly and safely, but flexible enough to allow walking without eventually cracking right at the mounting holes. And a cleat recessed enough that walking on it isn't going to ruin it. I don't need the sole to be super stiff for pedaling efficiency. Probably a "bird's milk" combination of properties, but one can wish....

Been riding a vintage MTB lately, swapping wheels studded/non based on conditions. I rode an MTB all summer/fall due to construction and flooding. Previously, either an old hybrid, or for several years, a RANS semi-recumbent. Only special kit would be some signaling device (horn/bell) and lighting, and fenders and studs for winter. One ongoing challenge, on every bike besides the RANS, is pannier heel clearance. Since I do typically ride the bus on rainy days, I like a convertible backpack/pannier. They all have a sort of "generic" fit that doesn't play well with my long legs and slightly big feet. Someone needs to make one with the lower left corner cut, for optiomal NDS mounting.

There are other bike commuters in our department; parking downtown is insanely expensive, so it's a pretty even split between bus, bike and car commuters. Most of the other bike commuters have a longer commute, anywhere from 3 to 10 miles. Some ride in their office kit, others change clothes in their offices or the changing room. Seems like the folks who live closer ride hybrids, and those with a longer commute opt for roadies. Small handful who ride in winter; I think there's only one other guy in this particular office with studded tires.

I have a locker similar to rhm's, wedge-shaped, only $60 a year. One of the few such facilitites downtown, and fortunately RIGHT outside the most convenient door to my building. I was on a waiting list for it for about 3-4 years. You basically have to wait until someone retires or dies to get one now.
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