My Surly Crosscheck commuter.

Long over due. Surly Pacer

This is my commuter. Cleaned it up, added the bottle cages, clips, and Topeak saddle bag. According to my computer, I have put close to 600 miles on it since August 1st. Surprisingly, I have only gotten one flat tire (ended up being a staple of all things) and everything is running smooth. My daily commute is 32 miles round trip.

I'm in the process of doing a frame swap on my commuter, will post pics as soon as i have it back together.

And for some reason, I'm digging the Alfine belt conversions... I wish I could get a belt cog for my Sturmey 8-speed. Still, I'm still wanting to build a commuter with it, just to use it on group rides and make people go "What the...?"

Yeah, the Schwinn isn't a bad folder for the price and was actually kind of an improvement over an old classic Dahon I sold a few months ago for a couple of reasons, but it needed some upgrades to get the most out of it. Cranks were short armed and pretty cheap. The v-ish brakes were flexy etc. Its easy to fold and was nice to use to ride home if I went with my wife to work in the car and wanted to ride home. I haven't used my Bianchi folder yet for that purpose, but I will. I love the position of the cheap steel drop bars I put on it. Its a single speed with a coaster brake and is geared pretty low so it eats hills for breakfast. I love the thick integrated rear rack. What type of tires do you put on your folders and what width do you usually run?

I am running some 1.35 Primo Comets on my P20 @ 95-100 psi and even at this high pressure they give a pretty decent ride... and have only experienced one flat over the last 3000 or so km.

I installed the same tyres on my trailer which made quite a difference from the stock tyres and many times I forget there is a trailer behind me.

Thanks for the input. I can't believe it, but the rear tire I have on the Bianchi is a Primo Comet. I got it for $3 at a thrift store attached to a quick release rim and a fork. I still haven't figured out what that fork was for, but I figured even just for the tire $3 was a good deal. Of course the wheel will also come in handy someday too. I was pretty excited when I inspected the tire closer and saw it was a high pressure tire. I need to find a match for it and I also need to get a new set for the Dahon. I stole a tire from my trailer to get it rideable.

Haven't heard of Primo, so thank you.

While we're on the subject (sorry), do you have a 24" tire you can recommend? It seems to be the size with the worst choices available.

You mean ISO 507, or 520? If you mean 507, you're right, there's a pitiful selection of good tires for 507 wheels, most are for MTB or cruisers. I've found Schwalbe makes the Marathon in 24x1.75, which isn't bad, but not really a "skinny" tire either. Intense makes some, and a couple of others... Kenda and Chen Shin make semi-slick cruiser tires in 507.

The Primo Comet is a decent 406 and 451 tyre that is geared for performance as it is a lightweight high psi tyre and as such sacrifices some durability and mileage life compared to something like a Schwalbe Marathon.

On the flip side the ride nicer at higher psi than the 406 Marathon and are very fast.

Not really built for commuting, but it gets the job done over 6 miles each way

Mercier Kilo singlespeed....I want a basket or rack but a bookbag is working fine

My part-time commuter:


Actually, I ride this Bianchi most of the time, although with panniers instead of a basket (and I've given that helmet to a neighbor, too, who uses it now that his last bike & helmet got stolen ):

wow...that is nice

It shore is purty, ain't it?

What would make it a bona fide commuter, IMO, would be a dynohub wheel (Supernova even sells some with a Schmidt hub laced to carbon rims, and while they can't send one to me, I could have one made in the US if I really wanted to spend that much), fenders (Crud Roadracers Mk2 FTW), and a rack (I wonder if the rear brake mount is too far down for an Axiom Streamliner to work).

I'm still planning to convert the Bianchi to drop bars, though. I just haven't decided to stick with Shimano ($) or switch to Sram Apex ($$)... or put Sram on the BMC and move its group to the Bianchi ($$$)... or switch both bikes to Sram ($$$$)... or... or....

BarracksSi both of those are nice bikes.

How did you like that Topeak basket? I put one on my wife's commuter bike and except its hard for her to put it back on she seems to like it. I got a motorcycle net to go over the top of it to hold things in. I would be somewhat jealous of it if it wasn't kinda big and heavy. She gets alot of compliments on the basket, but its probably because she has any kind of basket on her bike. =)

trying to figure out what kind of basket to buy...it has to fit inside of the drop bars as i really like grabbing onto the bottom of the bars and pumping up hills...1 gear sucks in that situation

I've had a bit of a time putting it on sometimes, too, but as long as I line it up right and don't force it, it's fine.

The only thing I don't like about it is that it makes me wish I had bought a step-thru frame. It's a long ways for me to swing my leg over it, even when tilting the bike.

Yeah I would have a problem swinging my leg over it too. In fact I got my favorite shorts caught in the hooks of the motorcycle net swinging my leg over when I was riding her bike and ripped little holes in them. =( Fortunately for her she only does step through frames. She professes clumsiness and its reality. Step through frame are kinda underrated.

Finally finished the frame swap. The result:

My Commute machine, 1984 Miyata Street Runner.
A very nice riding bike.

After being inspired by Fizzaly and Sixty Fiver with their Mountain bikes with drop bars I decided to try one for myself.

So here is the project, its a Schwinn Paramont frame I have had for quite awhile and wanted to do something cool with it. Here are the pics of most of the pieces before I started.



Closer shot of the frame



How it looks so far



It has some junky components like the crank and bars, but I can add nicer stuff later if I like the setup. I like how its coming together. I was happy the suspension seatpost I had lying around fit in this frame. I was most worried I would get it together and not like the fit, but after throwing it on the trainer tonight when I got to a good stopping point if felt pretty good right away. Pretty much all I have to do now is run some cables and find a couple little items to finish it off. I am experimenting with thumbshifters placed by the brake levers on the road bars. Its been something I have thought about doing for a while but never tried it. It seems like it will work pretty good actually. I'll find out soon enough. Its got to be better than stem shifters.

Finally got my new panniers. Yes I bought the hybrid specifically to do my VERY short commute. But alas, I still have only ridden to work once this month.

eventually i put in fenders (planet bike cascadia 45mm hybrid) and loaded up the whole frame, rack, fenders, wheel, and spokes with black reflective tape (i love how its invisible on the black frame).



i loved it, but then there was a minor issue with the rack-braze on (it came loose) and it they tried to fix it (honestly I never planned to actually take off the rack on this commuter) and the braze on would not be salvaged.... so they ordered a replacement bike for me!

but the diabolical managers at the bike shop said that I could have store credit for the old bike and buy a new one if i wanted. they had a 09' Mendota in storage... and offered it at a price i couldn't refuse (well for NYC prices anyway). I watched a movie/did some errands walked back 3 hours later and it was ready:



I've bought a origin 8 space bar and a looong stem (to offset the bar) which are arriving this week. And white reflective tape is on the way.

Those are lovely.

Did you have those made?