This is my first post here; great site and so many great commuting resources.

I've been riding to work for about three months now. I've only had three bad commutes and none of them involve drivers, rather they involve equipment failures.

The first was in March- a tooth on the rear cassette snapped and the chain fell off at an intersection as I was starting off
The second was in May - my right pedal broke in half while starting off at an intersection. Again with the chain falling off
The third was today- again at an intersection and this time the chain just snapped and fell to the ground. I had to walk 2 miles home, put my bike in the car, and drive to work with it.

Thank goodness none of these have resulted in me being killed. I was surrounded by cars and a dump truck in all three cases, but no one ran me over.

Anyway, I think it's time for a new bike, one perhaps with an internal hub. Maybe I should check out the Clydesdale area of this forum.