Linus bikes for commuting--why not?
 

About a month ago I bought a Linus mixte 8 because I hadn't ridden a bike regularly since I was a kid, I wanted something moderately upright, I liked the style, and I liked that it had a chromoly steel frame and 8 speed hub that I could shift while stopped at intersections. Oh, and it was on sale. ;)

Since getting it I've commuted a hilly 7 miles each way to work a few times. I feel a little silly on it sometimes because it does tend to stand out with its sea green paint and fenders. Most commuters in DC seem to be on road bikes. And they are much faster than me, naturally, because they're in better shape, they know what they're doing, and their bikes are probably faster/lighter. But the Linus bike itself is fun to ride, feels smooth and fast when I try to make it go fast (which isn't that often).

Yesterday I got right hooked by a car while I was riding in DC. I was forced off the road, and no damage to the bike except the stem was pushed to the side and the wheel was put out of true. No scratches even, even though we collided with the car. The bike shop fixed it for me and I rode home. The bike shop guy told me he wasn't really a fan of Linus bikes bc they are more for just around town riding, not really for commuting.

This seems to be a common mindset from what I've read about Linus. Maybe part of it is that the marketing is geared more toward relaxed short trips. But am I really missing out on something by commuting on it and not on a different bike? I don't see why it wouldn't be able to handle commutes and longer rides. It weighs about 33 pounds. Is that freakishly heavy? What am I missing.

I think that's a really good looking bike and I see no reason why it wouldn't be just fine for commuting. The gearing seems fine and while it is a little heavy it's not excessive. DC is relatively flat and it's not exactly the biggest city, so it seems like the right tool for the job. I have a buddy with a Linus and his only complaint is some of DC's hills are a little tough. But his is only a 3-speed. The 8-speed gearing is much more efficient.

I don't see why they can't be. I've seen a lot of people recently using bikeshare to commute and Linus bikes look like they would be better than those. And I got passed by Arlington Cemetery hill yesterday by someone who was riding a Linus bike and it looked like it was a fixie. So no worries there. Personal fitness would definitely be a bigger factor than your bike. And besides, you should ride what you want/have.

I think it's all marketing that leads to the bike shop guy's attitude. Linus definitely pushes fashion over performance, giving him the impression that they're not Serious Bikes.

What's the difference between riding around town and commuting? If a bike can carry everything you want to carry and adapts well to fenders if you want them then it's a fine bike for your commute. Maybe the mindset is different in DC since so many commuters (in the general sense, not necessarily bike commuters) live so far from where they work. I commute on a road bike because it's what I enjoy riding. If you enjoy riding your Linus, it's a good choice for you.

Given your reason for visiting the LBS, perhaps the guy was picturing a bike messenger type rider darting in and out of traffic. I'm guessing you don't ride like that. If you did, you'd likely find that the Linus isn't nimble enough. But sometimes a car just right hooks you no matter how you ride and a nimble bike wouldn't help.

Also, 33 pounds is toward the heavy end of the range of newer bikes, but it's by no means unreasonable. In the 70's Schwinn called 30 pound bikes lightweights.

This is what I was going to say.

Bike shop guy just wants to sell more bikes. Your bike is just fine for commuting.

I would ride that bike, and I'm a dude. /shrug

I've ridden both a Linus mixte and the dutchie. Both are fine for commuting.

That's a sweet looking bike. People have ther own ideas of what is "right" to them. I use a Dahon folder to commute. It fits in my work car and rides w/me during the day to protect against theft or vandalism. 27 lbs empty and feels light to me. Looks like a pack mule some days. Another commuter saw me and said "That's a tank!". Funny, I thought his bike was way too high end for a commuter, and would worry about it all day long if it were mine. I can climb the same hills he does and am quite happy with my folder bike choice. He's been trying to talk me into a higher end road bike ever since! I agree w/the others, ride what you like. Another thing I've experienced is lotsa people talk bikes but don't seem to ever ride'm.

Nothing wrong with a Linus! If we're talking weight, a few of us here have you beat. Will Arnette rides a Linus in the Netflix series Flaked and I'm envious every time they have it on screen.
You wanna talk heavy, lemme tell you about my English 3 speed. That thing is a tank!

Always thought Linus bikes looked good.. my 8spd igh is fine for commuting i've got one and do 36km round trip. 33lb isn't really heavy. As above people mentioned LBS guy wants to sell bikes.. nothing wrong with what you're riding.

The notion that commuting should only be done on racing or off-road mountain/hybrid bikes only exists in the U.S. Outside of the U.S. you'll find that nearly 100% of people commute on upright city bikes similar to your Linus and distances much longer than yours are not unusual on them. I've ridden 70-80 miles in a day on my upright Workcycles Opa that weighs more than yours and 30 mile days aren't unusual.

BTW, my wife and I have a number of road, touring, mountain, and hybrid bikes to choose from as well as a closet full of lycra. These only get used for recreational stuff. All of our daily riding and transportation is on uprights wearing whatever we'd wear if we drove our cars.

Bike shops in the U.S. sell bikes for recreation, bike shops elsewhere sell bikes for transportation and utility. You've got the nearly perfect bike for commenting. Enjoy it.

More: City Bikes | LocalMile

Fashion: Cycle Chic®

True. Also I suspect much of the chatter on BF about the need to spend more at an LBS for upgrades and "better" equipment in order to be "serious" about commuting comes from posters affiliated financially or emotionally with bike shops. Probably a lot of the "N+1" refrains are from the same source.

no reason, ride what-ever makes you want to ride it daily. Look out ! , be safe..

DC was built on a Swamp , it's not that hilly..

Looking up the Bike : http://www.linusbike.com/products/mixte-8

NB: you can or have a shop change the Hub Cog Bigger, and/or the Crank Chainring smaller, and lower all 8 gears of the hub as a Whole.
+ Chain length adjusted for the new combination..

Normal way of making the gear range of an IGH Better suited , for your needs.

BTW a Few years ago 2 guys from Sweden passed thru town on an adventure tour from Anchorage Alaska , To Miami Florida.

They were on step thru commuter bikes with that same Shimano Nexus 8 speed IGH.

haha, very cool!

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and encouragement! I'll just continue on it and not worry about being on a Not Serious Enough Bike. I want to get a vintage road bike at some point to experience what riding a road bike is all about, but for now I'll keep on going with this.

I think it's really interesting the differing opinions the brand seems to bring out. I didn't know much about the "fashion-y" marketing before buying but now I see they really do push that fashionable angle.

Andy_K, the bike shop guy actually was a bike messenger, he said, so you're exactly right that zipping through traffic like a bike messenger might be what he was thinking of! No I don't ride like that and most likely never will.

Charles Schultz' Linus (Peanuts Comics) had his security blanket .

Linus Pauling won 2 Nobel Prizes, 1 for Chemistry 1954, and the Nobel Peace prize in 1962.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Pauling





;)

No reason not to commute on that bike if you are happy with it. Linus bikes have great style and 33lbs isn't too heavy. If you want more speed, you can certainly find a bike to do it.

I ride a porky LHT trucker every day with big hills on my commute. It generally tips the scales at well over 30 pounds and once in a while it hits a touch over 82 pounds. I don't wish for a sub-20#CF road bike. Ride what you have, and what is comfortable. Comfort is more important to me. I can get stronger.

I would ride that Linus. It's similar to my Electra, and I love it.

I'm not really a fan of unsolicited opinions by bike shop guys bc they are more for just bolstering their own opinion, and not really interested in yours. Here's a blog you may enjoy by a serious bike commuter who is more interested in fun and style than speed and snobbery.
Lovely Bicycle!

I'll add a late comment agreeing that the Linus looks fine for commuting, and don't worry about someone trying to sell you another bike, or being paid by the delivery. I commuted 7 miles for years on 35 lb English 3 speeds, so I haven't bought a Linus, but have seen many of them ridden in Philadelphia and the riders were all happy with them.

If you've only been riding the Linus for a month, you will likely get stronger and a little faster, but if you're commuting in Washington DC I don't think anyone (including the motorists) is really going to go fast.

I'm glad you weren't hurt in the right hook. In most cities, this can usually be avoided by merging from the curb into the lane before intersections, but there will still be drivers that turn right from the left lane. Also, from WABA posts, Washington DC may hold bicyclists liable for not anticipating motorists' traffic violations (https://medium.com/@ShaneFarthing/th...n-561c4c2ea191), so maintain enough space to compensate for aggressive or careless motorists. (I see no reason they can't apply the same standard to motorists that are careless to be hit by other motorists,but they don't.)

Thanks for sharing that info about cycling and the law in DC. Scary.

I bought one of those loud airhorns for my bike, will wear a reflective vest, use a mirror, and try to be more vigilant. Not sure if there was anything I could have done in this case because the car came up so quickly and turned in front of me before I could react. But maybe if I were more experienced and paying more attention I could have anticipated it. I'm not sure. I was on a fairly narrow one-way street (with a bike lane) that has a lot of cross streets in quick succession. I find it hard to keep track of everything in a situation like that but I will have to try harder if I want to be riding around downtown.

Cool to know that you commuted on English 3 speeds. Thanks for the encouragement!

Bravo!

I'm another person that commutes on a vintage Raleigh 3-speed. I choose it over my other (Faster! Lighter! Sleeker!) bikes for its utility, comfort, and I find it affords me a more relaxed and enjoyable commute, to the extent that's possible in midtown Manhattan. It's true that when I get on my racing bike I feel like I can fly. That makes it all the more fun!

As Duke Ellington once said of music, "If it sounds good, it is good." The same goes for bikes -- if you like to ride it and it performs the required mission, it's good. As for the bike shop guy -- you typically don't ask the grocer for nutrition advice, so why ask the bike shop guy what you should ride.

I've been commuting year-round in the DC area on a 7 speed internal hub bike with a drop frame. That was 25 miles roundtrip before I moved my office closer to home. Many days, I towed a trailer and took my daughter to school or daycare on the way. Road bikes are fun for weekends, but on weekdays, I need a drop frame, fenders, chainguard, and dynamo lights for convenient, practical transportation. As they say, "Horses for courses."

I think the Linus' are great. A friend of mine has been coming on a Public mixte for years (the NorCal Linus). He doesn't drive so that is his vehicle.

You should reach out to your local bike coalition and do an urban cycling class. I found it really helpful. Once in awhile an annoying driver will try to tell you to hug the curb, and I just ignore them. ;). I had a roadie swear to me that it was way safer to ride at the curb through the bus stop and next to driveways. Back when I did that I nearly got hit! And ran into a car. No thanks. The urban cycling class helps you figure out when to take the lane. P

Now that I've been actually commuting on this bike, let me post an update, for people who might be interested in this either now or in the future.

I think the Linus mixte is a really nice bike. It is comfortable. The 8 speed hub works well and is convenient for me for switching gears, for example at a stop light at the bottom of a hill and before going up another hill. I've ridden it all over DC, including 13 mile rides from Georgetown to Silver Spring. On a side note, I've never seen another person actually riding a Linus mixte anywhere, especially not on the Capital Crescent Trail where I see mostly hybrids and road bikes. I've seen a few Linuses parked around in DC and seen one or two people on the Linus roadsters in downtown.

The bike has been a reliable vehicle that has taken me to the grocery store, to work and back, farmer's market, etc, and over gravel, mud, pavement, potholes, sticks, and even random broken glass I couldn't avoid, with no problems or complaints. I feel I can get on it and it will take me where I need to go. I can ride it for hours without discomfort besides normal backside pains from being a new rider. :) It has reliably carried a pretty heavy, full bag of groceries or of commuting stuff on the back rack with no problems at all.

However--it is difficult for me to get up steep hills on my surprisingly hilly commute from downtown DC to Silver Spring. I can do it, but it's hard, and it's also hard on my hip and knee joints after a while because my leg muscles aren't really strong enough yet to push me and the bike up that 10th hill. The gearing also seems high.

I don't have much to compare it to but I think the bike is fairly slow. And something that I don't love about it is that it's a magnet for attention. It doesn't blend in at all. It's beautiful but that has a bad side when I don't want to talk to five different people every time I lock it up or draw looks from people as I pass in okay but not familiar-to-me neighborhoods. It sticks out like a beacon and I can't imagine compounding that by putting a Brooks saddle on it, not without people trying to steal the bike. Not a strike against the bike, but just something I've discovered that I never thought of.

Another thing I've discovered is that the mechanics at the chain of bike shops where I bought the bike don't seem to enjoy working on it or view it with much respect, which is a shame and is annoying. I guess this is because it's seen as a leisurely, fashion-y bike for poseurs, despite the fact that mine is a nice steel frame (not hi ten) bike that has been very dependable to ride. For people who want a "new vintage" style steel bike there are very few options, and this is one. I've felt that the mechanics haven't taken the bike seriously or me seriously, and that's been both a disappointment and a big push for me to learn to work on bikes myself to avoid depending on others. Again, not a reflection on the bike but still something to think about when purchasing one for commuting or anything else.

Because of the hills issue, I've decided to get a road bike and try that out too. I have a different post on bike forums about it. It's a 1987 Schwinn Voyageur that I got on CL. It is noticeably lighter than the Linus (which is understandable of course, bc it's a completely different kind of bike) and I want to see how riding it on the commute compares. I think I will end up alternating between both bikes for commuting. Once I'm in better shape I'll have an easier time with the Linus on hills.

Basically, what I've found is that the Linus is good for commuting, with a few caveats that could be dealbreakers depending on what a person wants out of a bike. It is dependable, fun, and resilient, but at the same time fairly heavy, can be difficult on steep hills, and draws attention to itself in an urban setting.

This has turned into more of a review of Linus in general but I thought I'd share.

It's good data either way, [MENTION=438556]missmixte[/MENTION]. :thumb:


Your comment about your knees hurting makes me wonder if your saddle is too low. While a low saddle makes it easier to mount and dismount the bike, it robs leverage from your legs and can lead to knee strain -- my left knee is particularly sensitive to saddle height.