Marylandnewbie, great looking bike. Can you give me some details about your your light set-up?

The lights and toolbox combo are really a cobbling together of two ideas I found on the web. The idea for the lights came from this website: http://nordicgroup.us/s78/. He provides a ton of info on lights as well as sources for parts. I bought the battery, charger, lights and bulbs from sources he lists. To keep the price down I used a 5amp hour SLA battery that cost like $13. My switch, a fuse and some connectors came from Radio Shack. All the parts to make the lights cost me maybe $45.

The two light housing are auto driving lights that come with 55w bulbs, but they can be switched to MR16 bulbs. In one light I have a 10w narrow flood which provides enough light to be seen and to see in twilight. The other has a 20w narrow spot for riding in total darkness and is really wonderful. The lights are mounted on a piece of 1/4 UHMW plastic which is connected to the tool box with 4 nylon bolts. I think they're 1/4 in.

The toolbox is made up of corrugated plastic (sometimes called Coroplast). At this website: http://www.mile43.com/peterson/Kents_Tailbox.html you'll see some of the inspiration for my design. I worked out a pattern on some cardboard (actually 2 patterns since the first one didn't work). Once I had a working pattern I cut it out of the plastic, folded it properly and the glued things together with Superglue and then used some more nylon bolts to make sure everything stays together.

The box's lid fits pretty snugly to keep rain and spray out. Two nylon straps go around the box and the UHMW plastic base to hold the lid down and keep everything together should a glue joint or bolt fail. I mounted some velcro strips to the straps and use those to hold my minipump on top. The minpump serves as a carrying handle when I take it off the bike.

The whole rig is held on the bike with hooks bent from 3/8 PVC rods. To keep the box from swinging I bolted a strip of metal to my front brake bridge that sticks up through a slot in the back of the UHMW sheet on the bottom of the box. It takes me about 20 secs to lift it off my bike and go. I ordered the corrugated plastic, UHMW and PVC rod online through Modern Plastics. I am guessing that all of the plastic, glue, straps, etc for the box cost about $40. So for about $80 bucks I have a very bright, durable, portable light/toolbox. I haven't weighed the whole box loaded, but I would guess it is in the 7 - 9 lbs range.

Here's the latest in my search for the perfect commuter. It started out with drop bars and an internally geared hub. Then I made it a single speed with mustache bars. Now I've added a second chain ring up front for just a bit of variety without resorting to a dished rear wheel with a cassette full of cogs.

Here are my commuters. The Motobecane Cafe Latte is my preferred ride, it is a cromoly flat bar road bike. It has 700x28 tires, the panniers are nashbar grocery panniers, I just put my backpack in one of them. I like how they fold flat when not in use. The light is a DIY halogen 20W wired to a homemade lithium battery. It is also wired to the 1.5W amber strobe on the back, that thing is awesome and was $5 from ebay. The switch and fuse are in the bottle. The battery is made for DVD players, it has a built in gauge. Best of all is a switch to change from 12V to 9V output, so I can dim my light if I want to.

The second bike is a 1985 (estimated) Fuji Espree I just picked up for 25 bucks. It has 27" tires. All I did was flip and chop the bar and add zefal fenders and new tires. I use a big fanny pack mounted with pedal straps as a sadlebag. This is my foul weather ride. It has a mount for the same homebrew lighting system.

Here's my highly modified Surly Crosscheck commuter. Hope you enjoy the pic.

http://img11.exs.cx/img11/6528/dsc006430uq.jpg

namaste that crosscheck is beautiful.. Did you buy it complete from surly, or just get
the frame and part it up yourself? What components did you use?

Thanks,
It's actually a stock '03 crosscheck. I had a framebuilder friend of mine fabricate the disc mount and move the top cable stops over to the other side for a smoother lines. It's built up with a Winwood carbon disc fork, Paul SS disc hubs with disc 700c rims, FSA Gossamer Mega EXO cranks, Avid road disc calipers, and the rest is pretty much normal. It's been a long work in progress!

here's mine

my new bike

Frame – Condor Cycles custom EM2 Baracchi Cyclocross with disc tab option
Fork – Kona Project 2 disc
Headset – Cane Creek S6
Stem – Deda Big Logo 10cm
Handlebars – Deda Big Piega 44cm
Shifters – Campagnolo Chorus carbon
Derailleurs – Campagnolo Chorus
Hubset – DT Swiss 240S disc 32 hole
Cassette – Campagnolo Chorus 10 13-26
Skewers - Shimano
Spokes – stainless straight gauge
Rims – Mavic CXP33 black 32 hole
Tyres – Specialized All Condition Armadillo 700x25
Crankset – Deda Dpower 172.5 36/46
BB – Deda Dpower Ti
Seat post – Deda Metal Stick
Saddle – Selle Italia Prolink Gel Flow
Brakes – Avid Ball Bearing Road disc brake and disc
Pedals – Time Atac XS

Just built up this early 90's cro-mo Mongoose IBOC Comp for my sister-in-law.
This photo is the stripped-down version (no rack, fenders, lights, yet)

Very Nice! The Condor frame is pretty bad a$$. I like the dual stay supports! Great build also.

thanks dude - it's sweet although you'd laugh at the caliper/v-brake/disc/hub brake debate that's kicked off.

I finnaly got out and got some pictures of my new commuter that I got for Christmas. 2005 Gary Fisher Nirvana S.

I didn't know there was a difference. Different Schwinns in Wal Mart?

Not that I shop there, but every now and then its necessary.

Here's my commute bike: it's a Trek 7500FX. The upgrades I've added are: Cane Creek bar ends, fenders, Speedplay Frog pedals, Brooks B17 saddle, Carradice "Barley" saddle bag added today. The saddlebag may be a little small for commuting - they claim it holds 7 litres, but I plan to leave some items like spare shoes, towels, belt etc at the office in advance. Couldn't find my red blinky light today, but there is a strap on the bag for mounting one. Oh yeah - the tires are 700x32 Kevlar belted from Continental - never had a flat yet in approx 1700 Km. I now wish I had ordered 700x38 just to make the ride even more distinct from my road bike. Overall the bike is a nice mixture of modern and retro-grouch.

I used a similar setup with great results but only put a few stickers on. 3 opposite the valve and 2 on the stemside. Good balance and an off beat flashing effect that was a bit disorienting but very visible.
Neat effect

My $69.00 Commuter. :) :D
I picked this bike up that was rotting in a friend’s garage for many years for $20.00. I had the Michelin tires that I had found in another garage sale for $5 bucks and they were brand new. I added the rack and fenders and a longer lighter seat post and I'm still in it for less than $70.00!

I still need a good lock and a better bag but I'm just starting to commute. I still need some suggestions for a good low buck light and I'm still on the hunt for rain gear. Anything else I need? Suggestions will be appreciated.

Well my commuter is finally finished. Since the last time I posted it here Fenders have been added as well as Panniers. Also the wheels have been significantly upgraded from Xero XR-3s to Salsa Delgado Cross rims laced 3X to 32 spoke 105 hubs, much more durable. This bike is serving me VERY well and will get many many miles this year. Oh and what fantastic weather we have been having for the last week and are supposed to get for the next week. I love it. :D

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeej440/s...s/dscn3488.jpg

The bike's looking good there, Grasschopper. Where did you end up buying your wheelset from? I know you've mentioned Speedgoat before - did you buy from them? I'm getting very close to needing to purchase upgraded wheels, and Delgados laced to 105 or XT hubs (36 3X) are looking like the way to go.

I got my rear off of eBay new and cheap...had it for a while and was looking for a front. I got the front done at my LBS. Speedgoat is good for a set but their price was a bit screwy for just one wheel. Didn't make sense to me. If I was buying a pair I would have used them but I was just looking for the front. LBS price was a couple of dollars (not much) cheaper than Speedgoat for the single wheel.

Well here's my bike hanging out in the switchgear room at work. I realize it's no top of the line model but I'm pleased as punch with it. One more hour and I get to climb on and ride her home.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ish/mybike.jpg
How are you people posting those thumbnail pics. I'm missing something.

I've really enjoyed checking out all the bikes here. It would be awesome if one of you computer-savy folk could create a screen saver with all these bikes. Then I could sit back and waste even more time at work. :o

Hey there. :) When you click on reply or reply with quote you'll see some controls below the submit reply button. :) You'll see attach files - just click on the manage attachments button. That's all there is to it. :) See thumbnail. lol!

The main commuter, just arrived from work, with my cat about to rub against my calf as a greeting.

How do you like the road bars on your MTB? What persuaded you to try them out? I'm still debating that myself.

There's been quite a debate in other threads about this. Actually I couldn't properly say that I tried drops out, because I've been using them for years since my first bike, a roadie, back in times when the only decent bikes available were roadies. Five years ago I did give flats a try because a friend of mine advised me to do so, and found them tiring for my back in long trips and provided very poor slipstream against the wind (it gets quite windy at times over here). With the drops, my back is relaxed with my arms and hands supporting the upper trunk weight, and the wind just breezes around me. My whole commute is 6.5 miles one way (4 open road, 2.5 town), taking 19-22 minutes depending on wind and temperature and I ride all the time in the drops. On tour trips I go 75% drops and 25% hoods I'd say. Many people would tell you different experiences, but for the time being, drops are the only choice for me.

PS: That is not an MTB, but a hybrid, although also in the shed, an MTB-tourer, with drops as well. I'll post pictures of that one soon.

Here is my trusty BikeE. I don't own a car, so this in my only mode of transport. I had to add the electric power assist after my accident in October which left me with a weak right leg and a limp.
Hills were never a problem before the accident but now they're impossible without the assist. It's powered by lithium ion polymer, the same as your laptop, so it's not too heavy. If you'd like more information about this system, here is a link to the guys that made it. I'm looking into a trike with this same set up.

http://www.ecospeed.net/index.html