Originally Posted by
DerekU2
I'm all for being a contrarian, but let it go. When someone says "commuter bike" you instantly get an image in your head and it isn't of your Dura Ace Equipped, Titanium, Seven. Yes, you're free to commute on whatever you like and it may even work better for you than a "commuter bike".
The fact is that "commuter" is a category of bike that is manufactured just as "racing bike" and "touring bike" are categories. That's not to say those bikes are only good at those tasks or that you must have those bikes to perform those tasks. Sheesh.
Most road bikes I see aren't titanium, they're steel. New ones tend to be aluminum but of course they're are still steel models as well as carbon and titantium. Many of them that I see day to day are single speeds and fixies. Since I'm a commuter myself, I see a lot of other bikes used for commuting. I'd say it's about 60% MTB/hybird, 30% road bike, and
maybe 10% cruiser/comfort bikes.
So forgive me if my image of a "commuter" bike didn't include bikes that I see almost no one actually commute on.
Prior to this thread I didn't even realize there was a category bikes known as "commuter" bikes so I had no instant image. I've heard of hybrids and city bikes which sort of overlap in my mind. The mental image I would have had might actually been of a fixie since that's what I see a lot of people riding around town.
There are 3 people I actually know who have Dutch style cruisers. Two bought them for their retro/Euro appeal and rarely ride them (even though one lives less than 2 miles from where he works). The 3rd does commute once in a while but it wouldn't surprise me if it was the appearance of the bike that appealed to her vs. the inherent utility of the style.
The "regular clothes" thing for me has nothing to do with the style of bike. Whether or not I wear regular clothes on my commute depends on how far I'm going, the temp, if I'm going to have an opportunity to change, and whether or not I want the commute to double as a work out. It doesn't matter whether I choose to ride my mountain bike or road bike. I have the option of shortening by commute by taking the train part of the way. When I do that, I usually wear regular clothes. Partially rolling up my pants or putting a little strap around the bottom keeps them clean and out of the chain.
I do understand the appeal of bikes like the Breezer that has fenders, lights and a rack right out of the box, but I would imagine that a salesman at an LBS that didn't sell "commuter" bikes could still manage to hook someone up with a bike and accessories that would work as well if not better. Even if an LBS does have "commuter" bikes, I would hope that if someone asked for a bike they could commute one, the salesperson wouldn't just point to these bikes and leave it at that.