Is your commuter a beauty or a beast?
05-04-15, 12:17 PM
#1
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Is your commuter a beauty or a beast?
I'm guessing more than half of us on the forum have two or more bikes. The designated/de facto commuter is often one of them. I see a number of posters who run a commuter that can be stolen or weather abused without it ruining their day. Others, like myself, put time (and, yes, money) into turning a commuter into a bike that's enjoyable for beginning and ending the workday. The point of this post is not to tell people what they're commuter SHOULD be. Rather, I'm just wondering what it IS.
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Don't complain about the weather and cower in fear. It's all good weather. Just different.
Don't complain about the weather and cower in fear. It's all good weather. Just different.
05-04-15, 12:37 PM
#2
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My main commuting bike is definitely a beast. My brother gave this beat-up Diamondback to me for free a few years ago, I did the conversion to fixed-gear and drop bars, and it has gone through a steady procession of parts and setup tweaks. Since it is also set up for my heaviest hauling, I call it The Mule:
05-04-15, 01:09 PM
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More beast than beauty but it depends on the context, and whether or not I can borrow a matching wheel from my son's bike.
05-04-15, 01:37 PM
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I commute on all my bikes. One is a beauty (Ridley Excalibur), one's a beast (craptastic Specialized Rock Hopper), and one's just fun (fixed gear Gazelle Champion Mondial).
05-04-15, 01:47 PM
#5
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Mine is a beauty and a beast. Steel touring bike, drop bars, sti shifters, fenders, rack, dynamo hub, brooks saddle. It has an electric bionx 350 watt motor. Load it up with anything I care to take and I'm not going to worry about the effort it takes to haul a really heavy load.
05-04-15, 03:01 PM
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Both. I've got it so loaded up with racks, panniers, fenders, lights, bell, etc., it's hard to see the inner beauty. It definitely has a beautiful soul.
Plus, it's almost always dirty.
Plus, it's almost always dirty.
05-04-15, 03:24 PM
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05-04-15, 03:31 PM
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It's a beauty, because it's taken me all kinds of places in all kinds of weather. Sometimes even to work or home!
Other people might think it's a beast of random parts, dirty, not at all fashionable. But my bike exists to be ridden, not to be looked at.
Other people might think it's a beast of random parts, dirty, not at all fashionable. But my bike exists to be ridden, not to be looked at.
05-04-15, 03:53 PM
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I have two commuters. Both are Huffy Bicycles.
Beauty............
The Beast.......
Beauty............
The Beast.......
05-04-15, 03:58 PM
#11
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I have three expensive bikes and all of them are beasts. I keep them rough and beat up so they don't attract attention.
Black frames with a lot of dings and scratches, black rims... all the logos, brand labels and stickers have been removed...What's the point of commuting on a bike which is so beautiful that it attracts everybody's attention and you're afraid to lock it up ??
Black frames with a lot of dings and scratches, black rims... all the logos, brand labels and stickers have been removed...What's the point of commuting on a bike which is so beautiful that it attracts everybody's attention and you're afraid to lock it up ??
05-04-15, 04:01 PM
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Why can't it be a little of both? I lean towards it being a beauty, but that's just me
05-04-15, 04:09 PM
#13
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Amélie est belle. Sure she has a few blemishes, but they make her even more beautiful. 
05-04-15, 04:12 PM
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I'm taken aback when people call mine a beauty. I have always seen it as utilitarian. I guess the result isn't terribly bad looking. Or maybe familiarity breeds contempt?
1995-ish Bianchi Volpe
1995-ish Bianchi Volpe
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
05-04-15, 04:29 PM
#15
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There is beauty in being utilitarian. Being a Volpe owner myself, I thought mine was pretty. That shade of green, the lugs (fake?) the thin tubes. A nice example of a great 90s bicycle
05-04-15, 04:32 PM
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I have three expensive bikes and all of them are beasts. I keep them rough and beat up so they don't attract attention.
Black frames with a lot of dings and scratches, black rims... all the logos, brand labels and stickers have been removed...What's the point of commuting on a bike which is so beautiful that it attracts everybody's attention and you're afraid to lock it up ??
Black frames with a lot of dings and scratches, black rims... all the logos, brand labels and stickers have been removed...What's the point of commuting on a bike which is so beautiful that it attracts everybody's attention and you're afraid to lock it up ??
05-04-15, 04:38 PM
#17
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I have two commuters. Both are almost completely parts bins builds. I like recycling stuff when building a commuter. I think they're beautiful but both have battle scars:
05-04-15, 04:47 PM
#18
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I think mine is a beauty; it's really a Curtlo road bike built flat-bar style...
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05-04-15, 07:26 PM
#19
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"Huffles" is a beast.
05-04-15, 09:44 PM
#21
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Mine is purely utilitarian but most people find it to be an ugly commuter. In fact, it's amazing how much **** I get about my commuter.
(18 lbs, disc brakes, race-blade fenders, carbon frame and carbon wheels.)
(18 lbs, disc brakes, race-blade fenders, carbon frame and carbon wheels.)
05-04-15, 10:09 PM
#22
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If my bikes were cars, the S-Works would be a Lamborghini, and the Cannondale a Humvee, both beautiful in their own way and well-suited for their own particular conditions.
05-04-15, 10:43 PM
#23
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My Gazelle isn't either, being a timeless classic setup to be practical utility transportation.
05-05-15, 04:53 AM
#24
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I have a few bikes I commute with depending on my mood and the needs of the day.
Definite beast:
This might be debateable, but I think a beauty:
Definite beast:
This might be debateable, but I think a beauty:
05-05-15, 05:06 AM
#25
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Well, I've already posted shots of my two main workhorses. My commuter and my tourer. I'll let you decide which of these (if any) is beauty or beast.