Townies are pretty damn sexy bikes. If your commute is pretty flat, it should be great. I wish my commute was less like a rollarcoaster, I'd be rocking a townie too.

I'll echo others here in starting off easy. When I first started commuting(around 26 miles round trip), I rode to work and got a friend to drive me home. I'd drive in the next day and if the weather was good and I was feeling good, I'd ride my bike home. I did several one way trips in this fashion for 2 weeks and I'm pretty much riding to and from work 4 days a week now(1 month later). I can't get enough now.

[QUOTE=andrelam]Have fun commuting. 8 miles is not bad. I found that the first few weeks I was going pretty slow and I could realy feel my legs. After about 2 months I noticed that I was averaging much higher speeds without any extra effort. Your body will get stronger.

Thanks for the great advice, Andre! Any suggestions on how I should "train" to get my body in shape to start commuting?

I love accessories!

Commuting is it's own training, really.

If you feel like you need to build up to that distance, put in some miles on weekends & evenings, carrying the things that you'll be taking on your commute. Start out with short rides & build up to it.

eh...I was in such a rush to help out it seems I opened a completely different "can of worms" by mentioning "accessories".

Seriously, though, buying of the internet is better. You can find exactly what you want and it's cheaper.

There is a shipping charge but it is minimal and pays off better if you order several things at once.

We have all outfitted our bikes while shopping to the ends of the earth to save a nickel.

Unless you feel like supporting your local bike shop, that is...

I both buy from "brick and mortar" stores and off the 'net. But I manage to come across a lot of coupons for the former, so I don't really lose much money doing it.

Man, the townie is classy. And of course it's a fine commuter...isn't that basically what everyone uses to commute on in Europe? Unfortunately I couldn't really justify buying one, but I know a girl who has one, and it is beautiful. is yours black and gold?

Man, the townie is classy. And of course it's a fine commuter...isn't that basically what everyone uses to commute on in Europe? Unfortunately I couldn't really justify buying one, but I know a girl who has one, and it is beautiful. is yours black and gold?[/QUOTE]

I know I sure do love it.

Mine is actually silver with a red seat and grips. It's cool.

Now I just need to get it ready for commuting. It doesn't have fenders or anything. I bought it without any accessories.

What do you have?

Seriously, though, buying of the internet is better. You can find exactly what you want and it's cheaper.

I'm with you -- I pretty much buy everything off the Internet.

So, to get my bike ready, I am going to need fenders, some lights, a rack and maybe a pack, and I'd like to get a little computer to tell me the time, mph, etc. And according to other posts, I'll need tools and a spare tire kit.

And then there's clothes. Yikes! I'm going to go broke.

What are your favorite sites for shopping?

Nashbar.com is where I buy all of my stuff from. Great prices on pretty much everything, shipping isn't exorbitant, and there are usually coupon codes available here

Absolutely! The Townie is a nice bike, comfortable and surprisingly quick. I see you're in Orlando---how are you planning to handle the inevitable afternoon rainshowers? Even if you don't have to ride home in the rain, you will have to ride home on wet gritty roads. Fenders, ahem.

Mike

8.5 miles is a long way with a stiff headwind the whole way. Drops are wonderful in headwinds.

Everything's a trade off. But I agree that this is a perfectly fine bike for commuting. It's just that after riding for awhile, she might discover that she'd prefer a different tradeoff. She also might not.

Hello, my favorite by far is Alfred E. Bike, yeah, like the Mad Magazine.

They are consistently low on their prices. Also, they are a real bikeshop and give customer service. I ordered a bike pump once and did not like it and they accepted the return no questions asked. A nice feature is you can access the Quality Bike Parts catalog directly through their site. All LBS have this catalog as well but most people don't know it. There are a wide variety of products they never see. Check here for fenders, racks, panniers, clothing, bicycle locks, water bottle, bicycle parts and tools, etc, and a multitude of other things...

Otherwise, Nashbar mentioned above is good as well. Also, you can trace parts and prices through Google. With Google you want to buy from a reputable internet site which is not necessarily the lowest priced site. All in all, if you are not able to find what you need from Alfred E. Bike or Nashbar ask others for suggestions.

Also, there are some specialty companies for various bags and panniers designed for a particular purpose or size with better aesthetics. Just give us a description and we will try to point you in the right direction.

Reflective Tape

Alert Shirts Visibility Wear -

As long as it's a bike you like, your Townie is a fine commuter. Out of five bikes to choose from it's not at all unusual for me to select my Townie3. Particularly if I'm going to be towing the canoe.

I added lights, a Cateye HL-EL530 mounted on the handlbars, and a Cateye TL-LD1000 on the seatpost, a Townie rack on the rear (the rack has to come off when I'm towing the canoe because of the way the trailer connects to the seatpost), with a Cateye TL-LD500 taillight on the rack, panniers, DOT C-2 reflective tape on the frame, forks and seatstays and a GPS on the handlebars.

On the flip side, I haven't bought anything bike-related online yet (although I plan to, eventually.) Most of the stuff I've bought has either been from the LBS or (don't hit me) Wal-Mart. See, a lot of it's been impulse buys, and I don't want to wait on shipping. Either that, or I've only got the funds to buy one thing at a time, and gradually make my bike more and more commute-ready.

Anyway, for a computer... I just got a Schwinn 12-function computer from Wal-Mart for $10 the other day. Seems to work fine, and I've heard it's just as good as a $35 Cateye. Perfectly fine if you don't need cadence functions or multiple bike setup. Just refer to Sheldon Brown's site for the calibration (it's group F,) not the manual, because it's inaccurate in places.

Awesome! You have a Townie, too.

You mentioned you have a Townie rack. Which kind did you get? Would you recommend that I buy the Electra brand rather than a generic brand? Also, I don't have fenders on mine. Do you think buying the ones from Electra specifically made for my Townie would be a waste of money? What kind of panniers do you use?

The Townie has such a weird geometry, and to me, such personality (yeah, I know, that sounds dumb) that I would be hesitant to buy any major accessories, i.e. racks, fenders, etc., other than Townie.

Looks like this:



The thing on the trailer that looks like a corpse in a trash bag is my golf bag. The course I play is only 6 miles from here.

Also looks like this:



And like this:



That ramp is about 11 miles from the house. 20 is doable.

As you can see, I don't have fenders on mine, but I don't mind getting wet and dirty.

In panniers, look for some with a good positive attachment system. Stay away from the ones with a pair of simple hooks at the top of the bag, like I have. They like to bounce off at random intervals. Sure you can rig up something like a rubber band cut out of an old innertube to secure each hook, but it's a hassle.

When I first got this bike, my Dad, in his 70s, test flew it and was so impressed he went out and got himself one. He got the rear rack on his, attached a milk crate on the top of the rack, and that's all he uses errands around town. His full size pick/up stays home.

He says it really changes the dynamics of a bike when you put a 50 lb. sack of dog food on the rear rack.

Your bike is AMAZING! Wow, you have quite the setup. Thanks for sharing the photos. I really enjoyed them.

I agree regarding the rack and fenders. I was considering buying the Townie brand, but it's good to know that someone else thinks it's a good idea. It's kind-of like the dilemma about whether or not you should buy generic Pop Tarts.

Thanks again for the advice. Oh, but regarding the panniers, would you recommend a particular brand?

Here is a favorite of many here great for a laptop and more..

These are nice but are tight for a laptop.

Here is a set.

A selection of varying prices and sizes.

Double post.

It's early and I haven't finished my first cup of coffee.

Thanks. Honestly, I don't know much about panniers. The ones I have, I was given last year for Christmas. Before that, I towed that Burley Flatbed everywhere. Maybe one of our forum brethren or sistren can chime in here with advice. The ones Georgiaboy posted the links to look good. You could also try doing a search of the forum. There have been some dicussions of panniers that seem to be very good.

Excellent! Thanks for the tips.

If you are planning on getting a rack like the one pictured above I don't think it will work well with panniers due to the angle of he bars as they approach the bottom. The pannier must fasten at the bottom to stabilize it. Anyway, just check this out before buying a $100 pannier then finding the rack and the pannier are not matching up. CommuterRun may have some suggestions or use a bag instead of a pannier.

https://aebike.com/page.cfm?PageID=30...gory=10&type=T

Seriously...
Unless you smoke like three packs a day and eat all 3 meals at the Golden Corral...you shouldn't have any problems no matter what bike you take at your fitness level.

Georgiaboy just popped two other ideas into my head that might work depending on how much space you need and how you want to carry.

Electra makes Townie frame bags and handlebar baskets.
A trunk bag on top of the rack should work.

That's an excellent suggestion! Do you think just any trunk bag would work?