I finally broke down and bought a bike that would suit me well for my commute (17.2 miles each way, fairly flat). The GT Zaskar is great, but weekend rides with roadies makes it not so great. I picked up a Jamis Nova cyclocross bike. Has what I need for a bike (minus the lower end groupo) and I think it will serve me well for many years. Just need to get some painners to put my work clothes in. I am tired of stretching out my jersey pockets.

Even with the knobbie tires, the bike feels a lot better than my Zaskar. If there were more legal trails in my area I would keep the MTB, but there are not, so it is up for sale next week.

I hope everyone had an uneventful ride into work today.

Edit: Sorry, no pics yet on my site of the new one.

I have a 2001 Nova I got new, a year old as my commuter bike. I like it, for it's purpose, it's a great bike. I put "planet bike" brand fenders on it, and got my NiteRider hooked up. Awesome.

Instead of panniers, I go with a larger messenger bag, that way the bike works well as a winter trainer.

Good luck.

Thank you for the suggestion. I will check out the fenders. Another commuter here at work was thinking of a messanger bag. He still has not made up his mind yet. Although if he gets one I am curious to what his thoughts are on it. He has a Trek 5200 so panniers is not an option for him at all.

When you have to keep slowing down and accelerating at intersections, a lightweight bike and tires provide great benefits. To save weight keep as much of your work clothes as possible, and a good bike lock, at work. Just carry a lightweight lock on the bike in case you have to stop for something on your way.

i've got the jamis nova, too. great commuter. i've fitted racks to mine because i hate to have stuff hanging from my body, especially so because my commute is pretty long. i prefer to have the bike hold my stuff.

i'd love to find brake pads that attenuate the avid shorty brake squeal. if anyone knows a pad that does this (or a canti brake that squeals less), i'd be very grateful.

Kool-Stop Salmon or Kool-Stop Dual (half salmon, half black) are the best.

However, the way to remove squeal is to toe in the brake pads.

Loosen the bolt, place a dime behind the rear end of the pad, then adjust.

Regards,

I am kind of with Bandit in not having things on my back. I carry my Blowfish camelback when I need to bring a lot of stuff to work and I hate it. My back gets super sweaty and we do not have showers here at our office (I can only dream). That is the main reason for putting stuff on the back of the bike.

Plus three days a week I extend my route and extra 45 miles and would never want to do that ride with stuff on my back.

I have a lock at home that I still have not opened yet. I have been commuting for 8 months now and have had no use for it. Detours into stores are accompanied by my bike at my side (especially when I was riding my Zaskar worth 3 times my Nova). At the office we a have locked storage room that only certain people have access to (and barely anyone knows where it is).

I definitely need some new tires. The ones that came on the bike are super soft and I already got a flat from running over a head of a nail (I think). Armadillos with some liners seems to be a good choice other suggestions welcome for commuting through an industrial area (flats happen within 1 mile from work).

Oh, about the light, I have a Lights and Motion ARC light for my commuting. So no worries there at all.

Those brakes seem to like to squell. I fixed mine last night, but still a bit of noise coming from them. I have an extra set of Avid 7 digit V-brakes I was thinking of throwing on there. Why do they have cantilever brakes and not vbrakes?

styke ... a couple of things to consider:

1) if you're running armadillos, there probably is no need for an additional tire liner. in about five years i have had one flat with the 'dillos. they are great. and i don't use the liner.

2) i have been told that v-brakes require an amount of hand lever travel that cannot be accomplished by road bike levers. only mountain bike levers, with their longer travel, can pull the cable far enough to activate v-brakes.

mgagnonlv ... i've toed in my avids and they squeak less, but they still squeak. instead of a screaming banshee i know have a stuck pig.

I believe Avid Shorties are designed to work with road levers. I have tried EVERYTHING to stop my Shorties from squeaking to no avail. The question I would like to ask "Is anyone using Shorties that DON'T squeal?

Styke, sierratradingpost.com had some Ortlieb Mini Biker panniers for $70, sometimes on sale for as little as $50. Ortliebs are considered among the best panniers in the world, and they are waterproof. These are smallish panniers, but one holds more than enough for normal commutes.

RainmanP, thank you for the great suggestion on the panniers. They look like what I believe I need. All the panniers I have been looking at all hold enough clothes for a week. Which would be great for my 2005 cross country trip, but not for the day-to-day commute.

I just took off my vbrakes off my Zaskar, so this weekend I will try the brakes and see how bad it is. I know the brakes I have now are not all that great.

Thank you everyone for all your help so far, within this post and the forum.