I live about 3/4 of a mile from the Arlington Park train station, and about 1 mile from the Arlington Heights one. I'm interviewing for a job where I'll need to take the train to work and am planning on using the bike when the weather permits instead of walking or buying a parking permit.
However, I recall 20 years ago when I was at NIU (I transferred as a junior) I put more wear & tear on the bike I got when I was 12 than I had in the 8 years I'd had it before that. At the time I was thinking that I'd outgrown the bike, but I wouldn't replace it until 2014 for various reasons as I struggled financially after graduation and I hadn't used my bike much after graduating until 2013. The people at the bike shop said it was definitely a couple inches too small, ironic because when I moved from a children's dirt bike to that it was a couple inches too big and I had some painful encounters with the bar on the frame or the seat and my balls trying to stop at stop signs.
However, as an adult buying the new, bigger bike did make a great difference in comfort and increased my riding endurance and speed.
I still have that bike in storage even though it is an inch or so too small and is in fair condition. The handlebars need new padding.
However it is still functional (or it was when I hung it in the attic).
I'm not keen on putting my relatively new bike out at the train station where it will be exposed to the elements all day, especially unexpected rain. How bad would it be to use my old bicycle that is only an inch to an inch and a half too small for this commute of about 1 mile each way to get to the train station so I save weather wear & tear on the new bike?