I just recently joined this forum and would like to share my commuting tips. My daily commute is 10KM one way, mostly on bike lane, with a bit of trail and I've been doing it for 2 years now. I ride year round except in slippery conditions (i.e., snow/sleet). Living on the wet coast, I bike a lot in rain and developed some techniques to stay dry.
My routine is to always have a day's set of clothing (underwear, socks, shirt) in my locker. Every day, I bring in the next day's clothing, thus constantly cycling the clothing in the locker, while having a spare set in case I spill my tea. After work, I bring home that day's used clothing. Monday's are a bit different in that I also bring in fresh pants and towels for the week, and return home every Friday.
Some rainy weather tips:
- My panniers are old and leak like crazy. I looked at waterproof panniers, but they cost over $180. Since I keep my panniers on the bike and carry everything in bags, a friend suggested buying lightweight kayaking dry bags for about $22 for my clothing. Works brilliantly!
- Even though it looks a bit dorky, I mounted a rear view mirror. Makes me much more aware of approaching traffic and I avoid the swerve I do whenever I look over my shoulder.
- I use RainX water repellent on my mirror and glasses to bead the water and keep it visible
- I wear Gore Tex socks and shoe covers to keep my feet warm and dry
- I just bought Cannondale LE gloves. So far so good in keeping my hands warm and dry
- I carry a helmet cover for the real downpours
- I use an LED headlight as a daytime running light in all weather
- I've added cable boots to my BB7 brakes to keep them from sticking
- I'm switching to Teflon cables to prevent my brakes from sticking
- I've added o-rings to the Presta valve stems to keep water out of my rim (jury is still out on this one.)
- I've replaced my headset with one that has grease fittings
Keeping your drivetrain clean is essential. I hose my bike down every night and do a more thorough clean of the bike and the drivetrain on the weekends. I've also switched to heavy synthetic oil for the chains.
Hope some of these tips are useful to you.