Originally Posted by
viplala
Hi and greetings from the Netherlands!
I was reading some of the posts in "Tips for new commuters" thread and couldn't help laughing
What a difference in biking culture: wear this, always carry that, that brand bike/messenger bag etc.
Here are some commuting tips from the country where just about everyone is born with a bicycle between his/her legs
Any 10-15 year old bike will be just fine. It should be not flashy/expensive or this will happen:
Maintenance. What maintenance? Yer ol' Batavus will cope with daily abuse just fine, squirt some WD40 or whatever happens to lie around when the creaking of the chain becomes too annoying and thats it, good enough for a decade or two.
Might work for you. Won't work for me.
My chainring, cassette, and chain will not survive my 150 mile-per-week Atlanta commute following your advice.
Laugh if you want, but you don't know much about many American commuting scenarios. You should not laugh at things you don't understand.
(I hope you're not suggesting a chain will last 10 - 20 years...
)
Special biking clothes? Sorry, here in the southern US, the heat and humidity demand wicking fabric. Not like your northern European climate. I'd be one chaffed SOB wearing anything on my crotch but Lycra.
Happy trails!