Yep.

My commute has been hard on my bike... he's looking like he's been set on fire and beaten with a hammer.

...Which pretty much describes what happened to it, I'll bet.

That's a beautiful build! Love those Soma frames. Nice glamour shot, BTW... you should send a copy to Soma!

I have a Trek mountain bike that I was riding to work. My commute is only a mile. I found this Electra for $150. I took the basket off and put low rise handlebars on it. The result is a hybrid beach cruiser/old-style 3-speed. Greta is a great beater/daily driver. I was going to put a rack on the back, but I think I'll just get a large messenger bag for grocery runs.

I don't ride this bike at night (yet). When I add lights, it will be safe for evening errands.

I did the same thing with my Townie. It's a great daily commuter.

I've looked at this bike a few times, in my thus-far-only-window shopping, and it seemed to be a really nice value. Now 2.5-or-so months later, are you still as chuffed about it as before, or have you found some of its hidden deficits? In sum: would you recommend this for a budget-minded commuter?

Well i got her converted back to my commuter got the new kwests on lost a fender on the camping trip so im gonna have to buy a new set. Pics are after fixing most the damage from the mountains and a much needed bath.

I am almost done with the brazing work and then I'll be sandblasting and baking the little guy... figure that I'll have one of the most tricked out Twentys on the planet and it has been a good learning project as I work toward becoming a frame builder.

Will probably make a new fork too.

1st bike I've owned in 15 years. Got it a month ago. 2nd commute today 13 miles down SART to the metrolink station. Resting on the train.

Work in progress.

It is a bit experimental, so we've had a few part spec issues.
LynskeyCrosstownBelt..jpg
Here it is at the LBS. Waiting on a couple of exchange/replacement parts.

JonnyHK
Beautiful! Is that an internally geared rear hub? I'm getting ready to build up a Carbondrive/Rohloff commuter and would love to share notes.

my new jamis commuter 2.

Nice! I'm loving my Alfine/Belt Drive setup... I'm sure you'll love yours, too!

Henry (The Eighth Dammit)'s frame is on it's way to the recycling bin. Now introducing his successor...


2008 GT Transeo 1.0 outfitted w/disk brakes. Not the original frame

Ludwig Van Dammit (Dammit's 9th)

Ludwig has already joined the family in the quest to eliminate unsafe grates...


Ludwig poses with an unsafe grate at Cedar Hills Crossing, Beaverton

Encore! Encore! Encore!
K'Tesh

At the moment I'm sharing notes with Lynskey as they are keen to see how it all works.

I've had to order a different (ie longer) belt. We did a guess based on chainstay length and the belt used by another bike. The Trek Soho/Portland belt drive bikes used the same 55/24 rings and listed the same length chainstay, so we went with the same 122t belt. Trek must measure differently, so I'm having to get the 125t belt.

Next issue is the cable routing. Cable stop on chainstay is for regular derailleur, so is too close for the IGH with the current wheel position. Perhaps it is going to be ok when the longer belt moves the wheel back, or we'll have to get a clamp on cable stop.

Specs of main items:
Lynskey Crosstown frame.
Nexus 8 speed 'red band' rear hub, Versa VRS8 shifter.
Gates belt drive, chainring 55, cog 24.
Rims - Velocity Dyad (front hub Ultegra)
Tyres - Schwalbe Marathon 28mm with reflective sidewall

Awesome ride!

I would totally recommend this to anyone looking for a nice, budget-minded road bike. One of my favorite things about it is that it's a modern bike with classic styling. I get compliments on it from college kids riding older 70s and 80s road bikes or cruisers (the heart of Gainesville is University of Florida, so there's a large cycling community here and tons of kids ride bikes), to the spandexed-out A-riders riding Carbon/DuraAce bikes. It's a great bike to ride. I think of it as kind of a sport-tourer. I wouldn't take it to a semi-pro group ride and I wouldn't take it on a multi-day tour. However, it's perfectly in between both of those.

The one thing I dislike about is the tire-size options. The bike comes with 700x23c tires and the frame clearance doesn't allow for anything much bigger. I was barely (and I mean BARELY) able to squeeze full-coverage fenders on it and not without 3+ hours of work/fine tuning. Without the fenders, the biggest you *might* be able to go is 25c. If commuting on thinner tires isn't suitable to your area then I'd pass this bike for something that allows for some fatter meats. The other thing is the bike feels a bit awkward when loaded down. I had the same rack and carried the same daily load (one pannier, >10lbs) on my old mountain bike and the bike loaded versus unloaded wasn't as significant as it feels on this bike. I noticed a difference in bike feel by just bolting up the empty rack with nothing on it. The frame has rack/fender eyelets but I don't think the bike was designed with these things in mind. You can make them work, but other bikes handle these things better. I've included current pics taken just today.







Please pardon the image quality. It's from my Palm Pre.

Just sold this guy:



Took off the lights and computer first... also kept my favorite pedals. He cleaned up pretty nice for a 17 year old.


Special thanks to Nutcase and SSX for their product reviews - helped me with my decision on a replacement!

Masi Speciale Commuter
Got some VO hammered fenders and lights I'll be putting on in October.

So nice when a "new" bike comes with fenders and a chain guard and an internal hub gear...

Love it, love it! IMHO the sexiest machine in the Masi lineup (and they make a lot of sexy bikes).

I have 3 bikes I regularly use for commuting depending on the weather, my cargo needs, my moods and astrology...

Surly Karate Monkey, 9sp IGH SRAM and SRAM generator hub:




Raleigh International, 1973...Original Campagnolo NR, 28c Paselas, Honjos...the only thing I changed from the original parts are the cooler drops.

[IMG]file:///C:/Users/KEYSTO%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-3.png[/IMG]

Finally...1991 Koga-Miyata Traveler, 28c (I forget what's on there now, I think Continentals), mostly a Shimano 9 sp 105 triple group, Dia Compe GC cantis (the coolest cantis EVER, they even have quick release), tubus racks and Honjos...

Finished my Nashbar build. Full Ultegra grouppo except the crank which is a Bontrager Race Lite. It's more of a road bike with lights