Originally Posted by
Silverexpress
For a commuter you'll want a bike that can accomodate a rear rack, and full fenders. Don't hesitate to try out the Hybrids. They have a bit more aggressive seating posture, and are more efficient than comfort bikes...and also try out the bikes that are already marketed as commuter/urban/city bikes.
For example, see
www.rei.com, and take notice of the handlebar height vs seat height of the bikes in the various categories. For comfort bikes the handlebars tend to be higher than the seat. This effectively places you in an upright seating postion. The gain is comfort, and the loss is speed. Your body is in an inefficient position to pedal fast - you'll tend to bob up and down at high cadences.
Now look at the hybrids/urban bikes, and note how the handlebars are near or at level with the seat. This tends to place your body weight over both wheels, and places you in a more forward leaning seating posture - and this translates to speed.
Just think of walking as compared to a sprint - you lean forward.
For fun click on the road bikes, and take note of the handlebar and seat heights. You'll find the handlebars lower than the seat. This is a very aggressive posture and often translates to neck, lower back, and hand pain. However for racing, it is a very fast posture.
There are other attributes of course. Is it comfort your looking for?
I can't say I agree with this. I have commuted comfortably for about 3 years now 25 miles a day on either a road bike (Kuwahara UL) or my new Raleigh (Rush Hour). There is a movement out there for the comfort-ride cyclists and that's fine I guess. But everytime I see a bike with a sofa sized saddle and 3 inch springed shock absorbers I suspect the rider doesn't really want to be on a bike at all.
I do have an ideal situation though. My lab has an attached shower/bathroom so I don't worry about what condition I'm in when I arrive at work. I know I'm going to shower anyway. I keep supplies at work like soaps and towels so that I only need to carry the clean change clothes with me on my commute.
Aggressive is as aggressive does. Posture on the saddle, the manner in which you ride and the duration etc all factor in. Just because a bike has "aggressive geometry" does no exclude it from practical commuting options.
I only use a rear clip on fender when its actually raining. Why have a frame giddied up with fenders all the time? Why a a rear rack? How much are you hauling? In my case a small sized messenger bag is often more than sufficient (like today).
Do people feel more secure/comfortable if their bike is kitted out with every possible product?
Some suggestions:
1) When possible, create a route that takes you near to your LBS. Most incidents and accidents I have suffered are taken care of by simply rolling or walking to the LBS. In this way I don't have the need to carry any maintenance gear with me (except for the crank bros mini pump I basically got for free and which stashes nicely in my bag).
2) Consider undecorating your bike with crap. A clean unencumbered frame is a happy frame. Accidents can happen when something gets snagged or something snags you or some piece of crap you've attached to your bike. Also less to steal and less to go wrong.
3) Vary your riding style. I suppose I am one of those "aggressive" bikers here, but I vary my style so that I'm not caught in some dilemma. There are some hills I am particularly fond of attacking. I detour through the park to decrease the amount of car traffic I have to deal with and at those times I sit up and chill out. Inevitably on my last ascent on a false flat 2 miles from home I catch sight of a FRED and the cranks really start hammering down into a thrilling competitive sprint.
Uh-oh, tiny rant...