Originally Posted by
noglider
I agree it doesn't need to be scientifically designed before you buy or build a bike for commuting. But eventually, science enters the picture when you decide you need to carry cargo, have a bell, or whatever you need.
downtube42, I'm disappointed to hear about the fiddliness of the Priority. All of those features are to prevent fiddliness. Did they use low quality materials?
Any bike can carry a bell and or lights, personally I find bells to be completely useless.
Cargo could be a different story depending on how much cargo you need to carry. Most commuters do not need to carry much, a handlebar bag can carry what most commuters would ever need, and those will fit on any bike. Just as strap on top tube bags can fit on any bike, you might have to measure your top tube length to get a correct size, but otherwise that's it. Obviously if you need to carry a lot of stuff, then panniers are in order and that will limit a person as to what bike they need. I for years just put whatever I needed to take to work in a backpack and wore that, the stuff I needed wasn't heavy, so it was no strain on my back; so I could ride my racing bike into work without attaching handlebar bags, or frame bag, just put it on my back and go. My lights fastened onto the bar, and the taillight onto the seat tube or seat post depending on the bike and if the saddle bag got in the way of it. I also had another taillight on my helmet and ran two headlights on the bars which was dependent upon the season, in daylight savings time I didn't take any front lights and just one rear light on the helmet.
There is no need to make this complicated, because it's not.