Need to figure out the best way to strap things to the ghetto front rack.

Swapped over my daily ride to a spring/summer configuration, plus added some new bits for the first time in 19 years.

Pulled off the winter fenders and marathon plus tires. Cleaned and lubed everything. Put on some new Creme Fat Franks, swapped out the old cantilever brakes and cables for new direct pull brakes and cables, and added a few other items to really pull off some heavy FRED-like bling. Got a few new head shakes on the way into work this morning (people just taking in my coolness factor )





Next up this summer.... a big dummy build. Can't wait.

Dr. Joe

My 2008 Felt Curbside, with a few modifications. Might throw a rear rack on it soon, backpack has been getting a little hot lately.

Also going to change the pedals soon.

Looking like a real commuter now and got a chance to test those fenders on the ride home from the shop tonight...

This is what happened after one too many beers. I covered the frame in Camoflauge Tape. Looks pretty good I think.
Gives me some ideas for a new paint job.

Old blue, Giant Rincon bought at a thrift store for 25 dollars. I added the big earl saddle Schwinn tires that were laying around the shop and some super thick tubes (to deal with the deadly goat heads), oh and a lot of seat post.

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This is beautiful! What brand of fenders and chainguard do you have on there? I am hoping to build something like this in the future for myself. Great bike!

Here's my stable:


^^My fair weather commuter, an early 80's Celeste Bianchi road bike. Super light for a steel frame, and on those 23mm tires, I feel like I can really fly.


^^My foul weather commuter, a 2000 Raleigh Inferno mountain bike, refitted with drop bars, bar-end shifters, a road cassette and rear derailleur, fenders, and 1.5" semi-slick tires. All it needs is a rack, and its transformation to the ultimate commuter bike will be be complete.


^^I commuted on this 2009 Kona Jake the Snake several times last year, but haven't yet this year. It has become my long-distance bike, taking me on my first 200 km brevet this year.

Any kudos regarding the Bianchi and the Raleigh conversion should be directed to Sixty Fiver, as he was the one who put all the work into making those bikes look like they do. He did a really awesome job making both those bikes run smooth as silk.

Gotta love those thrift store bikes.

That really is a pretty bike... am happy you are enjoying it so much and you will probably get to put the Raleigh to work before the week is over as the weather is supposed to suck.

They're stock, so Gary Fisher I guess. By the way, the saddle & grips are not leather, but "pleather." I like this bike more each time I ride it, so I'm thinking of investing in a Brooks saddle for it and maybe the Brooks stacked leather grips too.

Friday is supposed to suck weather-wise, but I have Friday off this week Rode the Raleigh last Friday, though, in the rain. Love the drops, the barcons are still growing on me, and I have to relearn my gearing with that new cassette, especially on climbs. But I'm totally happy with it.

I just picked this Schwinn up last week, officially making it my main commuter;



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And this is my work-horse for heavier loads and bad weather;



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Latest version of the bike, a Raleigh Police F500:









Went from a rack with single Wald folding basket to a dual Wald basket to a Viva saddlebag support and Zimbale 11L saddle bag.

Swapped the sprung Brooks for an unsprung Velo Orange touring saddle.

Had trekking bars, spent a lot of time on the sides but had to constantly move back and forth to get at the brakes and shifter. So I grabbed the drop bars from my Schwinn Le Tour to do drop bars on the cheap. Waiting for Niagra to ship out my brake levers. Need to comb through the box at the co-op for a bar end shifter.

Took off the triple and had the LBS install a single speed crankset I bought of CL. Really loving the 1x8 set up. Also installed a set of MKS GR-9 pedals and VO half clips. Liking it and found it pretty natural to get in and out of the clips. May eventually put these on the utility bike build and go for full toe clips and straps or clipless.

Suspended fork was swapped for a rigid Surly fork. Taking off the suspension parts really made the ride better.

Front tire is 26 x 1.5 and the back is 26 x 1.75 (?-pretty sure)

Need some fenders. Picked up a set at Performance but I need longer V-brake arms. The disc tab on the fork was also causing some issues. Fenders went on the utility bike. Looking for suggestions on the brake clearance and some solid fenders.

I'm also going to eventually add a front rack with platform and pannier rails. Something to give me a bit more capacity than just the saddle bag and a place to carry my chain lock when I need it. Liking the Jannd Extreme. Also want to figure out a way to mount my new Niterider light. Have a 0 rise stem I could add and have a small hacked off section of bar to clamp the light on.

Double post by accident. :/

DJConspicuous, I have the same panniers. Do you have any issues with them swinging into your rear wheel a bit?

I've never posted pics before, so lets see how this goes. Sorry in advance if these are to big, I re-read the how-to's.


My bike: 2010 Kona ***** Inc. with a few swaped parts. I just changed out the stock 160mm avid disc rotor for a 203mm downhill. Yea it might be overkill, but looks pretty cool. The shock drop bar has been changed out for the WTB dirt drop bar. It's comfortable and I like the wider grip position. The original Selle-Italia saddle was kinda junky so I started using my old WTB Laser again.

I've been rinding this since December and have about 800 miles on it plus a 108 mile "century" ride from Long Beach to San Diego. I ride about 8 miles daily, sometimes more.

The ***** seems to come up a lot on "possible commuter lists", but I haven't seen too many on the forum. I thought it would be a good idea to post my own. I ride in Long Beach, CA. The goal with this bike was to create something fun and safe to ride on the busy streets of the city which consists of quick stops, fast sprints and generally trying say off cars and out from under buses.

On a side note, I feel that commuting is most often a solitary endevour. This forum/thread is great because it gives us all an opportunity to check each others bikes, which all seem to be very personalised machines.

Bigger pix are nice, the better to see details with.

Looks like a really nice bike. Carbon fork & disc brakes, wow. I thought about discs, but was scared off by some comments about how they may be less durable than rim brakes, as far as getting hit from the side at the bike rack. Well, that and the extra cost, hehehe.

Dual rear blinkies? What's the rationale? Two points --> better depth perception for drivers or just twice the rearward light? When I'm driving behind a cyclist with even a basic LED blinky, I NEVER have any problem seeing him, even in pitch dark. They're visible for miles.

What all can you fit in the small seat bag? Can you get a tube & basic tools in there?

How do you carry your commuting luggage? Messenger bag?

DJ - Nice Varsity. They're re-using that name from the 60s or so, but they still look like nice bikes.

Last year I met this rider named Dave, who commutes between Anaheim and Long Beach, on major urban streets. He has been using duel lights for a while. His argument has really been about maximum visibilty. After that, I started to. It seems like every knucklehead in Southern California is either on a cell phone, texting or distracted in a hundred different ways. I often ride at night and am pretty paranoid about getting hit. I feel like the alternating stobes will draw a drivers attention toward me, therfore acknowledgement I exist as a human being. I'm not dead yet, so I guess they're working ok.

About the saddle bag, I carry a multi tool, patch kit, tire levers, a shop towel and $5 in $1's. My ride mostly follows a bus route so if I flat out mid-ride, I'll just take public transit. If I flat out at work or school, I can spend the time and fix it there.

I carry everything in a backpack. I've tried shoulder bags, they slip around to much. I have a set of panniers but removing them to carry stuff around during the day has not proven to be practical. I've worked to cut weight down, my best idea has just been to just leave a lock chained to the rack at school and one at work. That helped alot.

As for the discs, no problem at all. They are a little finicky to set up and to keep tuned but their stoping ability is second to none.

Is that fork rated for a disc that large? I highly doubt that it is. Discs put huge stress on the fork, I would swap back to the 160. YMMV, but I wouldn't do the swap for the bigger rotor.

Yea, I thought about that. I did the swap 2 days ago and am just having fun with it right now. I'll probably switch it out at some point down the road. Who knows, maybe the fork will shatter into a million pieces and I'll be forced into finding another one.

Here's my Sirrus commuter.

well i finished sort of i forgot to buy some bar tape but quite a big change ill see how she does on sunday before and after pics(note ive been running it in the first pic for a few years so its gonna be like a whole new bike)

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hi,

I recently bought a new bike to commute to work, its about 7km each way.


Frame:Tommazini-Mundito in Aluminium
wheels Shimano WR500 28''
tyres Continental Sport contact




Shimano Nexus Inter-8 Geared Hub:




I love my rides

Pedro