well its allways all road, but i go out riding on weekends on towpaths and tracks etc, it has been 9.5K for the last three weeks but is normally just a couple of kms. what is a beater bike?

Here's my brand new '07 Trek 7.2FX:

http://www.rorymisener.com/journal/images/bike.jpg

It's my all-purpose bike. My commutes are really short (no longer than 3 miles one-way) so I make do with a backpack. I'll probably put a rack on eventually. That photo was taken the day after I brought it home; I've since added a bottle cage, lights, a frame pump, a seatpost bag and a computer, and I've lowered the adjustable stem and jacked the seatpost up. I'll be adding the Nashbar trekking bars and another bottle cage soon enough, and might dump that suspension seatpost.

I just use a backpack and or courier bag, i dont really like racks and panniers

read my post again, if you dont get it after that, ill tell you what a beater is...

Here's my trusty Cannondale. Had it since the early 90s. I think the only original parts are the frame and fork...

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/500...Commuter_6.jpg
http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/500...Commuter_7.jpg

whoa flashback.....
 

....chameleon lime splatter! I had an SM800 I bought new in 89....ended up becoming a trials bike and after uber abuse ended up probably being recycled back into beer cans:beer:

I thought that baby was so cool with that paint back in the day.

I haven't seen one in a while...I think Grinder Bikes has a 700 like that they made a fixie.

Thanks for the nostalgia...

Okay I got this bad boy last week, and will be doing my first commute ever tomorrow so wish me luck. I got this baby slightly used for 280 with shipping off of e-bay. She is a beautiful!!!!
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/P7160001.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/P7160002.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/P7160003.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/P7160006.jpg

Here's my daily driver.
A '99-'00 Trek 800 Sport MTB.
Brought back from the grave several months ago with a little bit of elbow grease and a hundred bucks.
The rack is an Avenir, the light is a Cateye 5 LED Opticube, and the computer is a Velo 5.
There's also a mirror on a single bar-end extension.
And, yes. Those are white-wall, beach cruiser tires.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../Trek800-3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../Trek800-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../Trek800-1.jpg

These were taken with a phone camera at 6:30 AM this morning.
I don't have all the fancy stuff yet.

I still dont get what a beater is, blame it on the fact Im a Limey.

Look at my bike above your post.
That is a light "beater".
A beater is basically a bike someone uses that isn't usually up to par with something off the showroom floor. It could be missing a few parts, or made up of a hodge-podge of different pieces.
Aside from that, the bike is still rideable and comfortable for what they're doing.

heres my frankenbike.

http://static.flickr.com/75/192461440_3ab9e96857_o.jpg

I've doubled its cost by putting the fenders on and replacing the front skewer and bearings.
Back wheels cactus as I put a small split in the rim trying to remove a dent with a pair of vice grips, seemed like a good idea at the time.
Its a bit rusty as it lives outside in rainy Wellington at the moment.
I plan to replace bits and eventually repaint it as I get some spare cash.
New back wheel first up. Apart from the back wheel it runs okay.
Enough for the 15 minute ride to work.
This is a beater :D

My contribution to the thread
 

This is my commuter bike. And my excersise bike. And my road bike. And my trail bike.
I need to get a bike better suited for commuting, but until I can afford that, this'll do. She's a 2004 Cannondale F300, a gift to myself for my 30th birthday two years ago (The place where I lived at the time was right across the street from 36 miles of pipeline trails, very very sweet). It might not seem like much, but its the 'fanciest' bike I've ever owned.


http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/23c3d5a5a2.jpg

The only changes to it are the pedals and a stem extender for the handlebars (I slipped a disk a month ago and I'm doing what I can to ease the strain on my back and neck). The rear rack and panniers I bought at a local store. They're simple, water resistant (not water proof, but that's alright). They hold my days clothes, lunch, and emergency stuff.
You can't see it, but it does have a reflector in the back, though I'm planning on getting some blinkies. In the meanwhile, I either wear a reflective vest (I actually got it while biking through areas where hunters are.) or an extremly bright yellow biking top. Cars see me :)

It's an 17 mile round trip ride to work, pretty much all on roads, except for a one mile stretch of bike trail and another mile stretch of sidewalk (which is the prefered method over a round with 55 mph and no shoulders. Much safer :) )

Mr H: In fact, that's a very nice bike that is, with one change, PERFECTLY suited to commuting, imho. The one change (well two, perhaps, but the main one)? Tires: if you're riding mainly on paved/smooth hard-packed surfaces, switch out the knobbies for a pair of slicks or inverted tread tires, 1.5 or 1.75". There's tons of these around, at all price levels, many with very good puncture resistance built in. You'll notice an immediate and obvious benefit in increased average speeds combined with noticeably lower pedalling effort. The other change, if you were to stick with one bike for now and if you don't do a lot of true off-road riding: switch out the susp. fork for a decent, suspension-corrected rigid fork. But -- tires are the main thing: changing them in effect creates a durable/bombproof 26" wheeled hybrid bike really well suited to all weather/multi/rough surface use as a commuter/fitness/road bike.

Thanks for the suggestions badger. I have actually been thinking about the tires recently, figured I could get a second set of rims and smoother tires for quick changes.
:)

People in these forums have some niiiiice bikes.

Great idea to have a second set of wheels. Be very aware of spacing on your rear hub and cassette. For a quick change it has to be identical, or your shifting will be less than ideal. Nice bike! Looks like a great do-it-all to me.

Here is my commuter. It's a '97 Fisher Tassajara that I bought last year NOS for $200. I've ridden it on the local trail exactly once, which is how I learned that I much prefer my road bike. ;)

All stock hardware, with the exception of the CrankBros Mallet Cs, Freddy Fenders, Performance Elite Trunk/Rack combo, and Forte City Slick tires (26x1.5). I know I'm losing style points for not having it in the right gear or the crank arms aligned with the stays for the picture, and it's a tad out of focus (stupid little Nikon camera), but...<shrug>

http://www.shermonster.org/images/Fisher_Commuter.jpg

You're ok; this isn't the road bike forum. :D

10 point deduction for not having your valve stem centered on the logo on the tires sidewall.:p

Nice ride!

100 point deduction: that's not just stylish, it's practical for finding the hole in the tube when you flat.

Another 10 point deduction for not having the lables on the same side of both tires. Also a further 10 point deduction for letting the weeds grow in the expansion joint of the driveway. But you do get a bonus 100 points for having the garage clean enough to fit two vehicles. I haven't seen that in a long time.

Whew! ;)

That's funny, because when I was installing the rear tire I thought, "Hrmm, another couple inches and I could line it up on the label." But, I didn't figure it was a big deal.

And now I know better. ;)

Actually, the rear tire is on the rim backwards. I even thought it out before I mounted it, considering which side the cassette was on and direction of rotation, etc. But, Littleman (our 4 year old) was 'assisting' and, well, next thing I know, I've got it on backwards. You have no idea how disappointed I am. I figured I'd flip it after the first flat.

As to the weeds, well, this year I hired a lawn maintenance company. I got tired of trying to goad/coerce/bribe the 16 year old and 13 year old boys in to mowing, edging and stuff. It was easier to hire it out and it only cost me $5 more. Feh. Unfortunately, now I don't even think about lawn stuff, hence the weeds. :D The garage isn't all that clean. It's taken four years to engineer the layout so all the crap, er, everything fits.

Beater = Hack, as far as I could tell as a former ex-pat.

here's a pic of my commuter: team fuji SS, mid 80's...fun as hell to ride to work

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...e/800fuji2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...ge/800fuji.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...e/800fuji3.jpg

Now all you gotta do is to get that thing 'fixed'...

Dead sexy! The blue + yellow look sets my heart aflutter.

I second aadhils about making that thing into a fixie, maybe a flip-flop hub?