I was pretty excited about my commuter but I will admit it's fairly non-descript, especially with the bikes that followed.
Originally Posted by
Sonoma76
cheap Nashbar panniers that work great
Personally, I like the thought of cheap panniers. You don't have to worry if they get caught in the spokes once in a while or whatever. I think I paid less than $50 for the pair I have (SunLite LBS house brand cheapies). An extremely handsome looking build, Sonoma.
Originally Posted by
rodar y rodar
it sat abandoned behind the shed for a few years until I had an uncontrollable urge to try out an IG hub/dyno combination and resurected it to mount the new wheels under. It`s been a fun and ongoing experiment, evolving for about three years now.
I love the "evolving" part. I tend to buy my bikes on the cheap (my hybrid upstream was only $100), but that leaves a lot of room to play with different configurations and such.
The wheels are Redband 8 and 3N71 with Mavic 317s (my first wheel build and still doing fine)... I built both racks myself, then later modified them to suit other changes... I think my favorite special feature is the theft resistant pump bracket- it`s mounted to the water bottle bosses and clamps onto the pump body and needs a special key (3mm Allen wrench) to open.
I just love that you built the wheels and the rack yourself. I'm trying to work up the cojones to try a wheel build. Maybe this year.... And the pump bracket is cool. I have an old English 3-speed roadster with the original frame pump and I'm always paranoid when I leave the bike that it will be gone when I get back.
I`m not a weight weenie, especially for a commuter, but this thing is really a beast at a tad over 40#. The weight, in combination with relatively limited gear range, hilly area, and a good amount of wind mean that I rarely ride it for any kind of distances.
That is a little heavy, but the English 3-speed I mentioned comes in at a beefy 52 pounds
so you could be doing worse. The hybrid a little higher up on this page weighs 38 pounds with all its gear (minus my expendables like clothes and lunch). Between the gearing and the fact that it's so much lighter than the other bike, it feels light as a feather when I'm riding it.
Originally Posted by
-holiday76
this is really a full out touring bike, but it makes a great commuter as well. It's a 80's Lotus Eclair. Tange tubing, old deore deraileurs , a newer ultegra touring triple, on- One dirt drops, bar ends, 32c panaracers, ortlieb office bag, and some other stuff. Oh and it's giant, 65cm. I normally ride a 63 and I can just make this frame work. I like a larger frame for touring anyway.
A gorgeous, gorgeous bike. Being 6'-2", I love a big frame bike, and that one comes in just under the "freakishly big" line. I would love to own a bike like that. Very nice!