Nice, if you are commuting that looks like a good option (pun intended). Did it have those cool handlebars when you started? What all did you do in the overhaul? I wish I had a co-op near me to take classes like that.

It is a nice back up bike to my regular commuter (a Dutch-style Omafiets). This bike originally had flat bars, which I swapped out for these Northroad style bars. I flipped them to get a more aggressive position. We redid the cup and cone hubs and trued the wheels. We re-cabled and adjusted the shifters and brakes, also replaced brake pads, swapped out the rear sprockets, and replaced the stem. We have one more class this Thursday to do the headsets and bottom brackets. I found adjusting the rear derailleur and the canti brakes the most challenging.

The class has been so much fun. Now I just need to keep practicing to gain confidence. Fortunately, the co-op has tons of old, donated bikes that need to be overhauled, so I should have plenty of chances to practice. I'm happy that I'll be a more useful volunteer now that I've had the chance to work through all of the major systems on a bike.

That's a cool looking chainring, what is it? I recently went up to ~80" on my fixie and am enjoying it. But, I like to suffer a little when I ride that bike.

It's the original outer chainring for the bike, Viscount brand, made by Lambert. I love the look of the round cutouts. It also gives the look of a bigger ratio than it really is.

Hello,

Here's my commuter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFXFE_HWoAEH40p.jpg

Sorry about the grainy cell phone snap, but midnight and new wheelset.

My dad was throwing this bike to landfill until I did an intervention about 1½ years and +3500km ago. It's an old DBS manufactured trekking bike from 1996, originally with "Tähtipyörä Moxie Trekking" -stickers and purple-white paint scheme, but I like how it rides. This bike is my main ride and it's constantly evolving to some direction.

After too many hours with rattle-can & elbow grease, it's now IMHO a somewhat decent bike. I do my 21km commute (round trip is a marathon) 2-3 times/week. At summertime I drive with drop bar and during winter I'm using moustache bar & good pair of studded tyres.

First post, greetings from Finland!

-Mikko(N)

Looks very nice! Good job saving that from the dump and turning trash into treasure!

http://www.gazellebikes.com/~/media/...mate_S2_H.ashx
Wonder what the thinking is for putting the front brake behind the fork?

nice picture. I wonder where you are in the great north state!

I wish that I had a co-op to do that kind of training with me. It looks to be pretty comprehensive.

Yeah, I'm with RubeRad: there's nothing more satisfying than getting a bike that's just taking up space and making it useful again!

How do you like the Linus? Is it the 8 speed hub? I've been considering this bike for my next commuter and would love some insight. Thanks.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=452631
Waiting for a chance to take some proper pics, either tomorrow or Friday. Minus a VERY puncture-friendly rear tire I'll replace stat, I really like this thing.

Looks like you need some instruction in proper U-Lock technique...;)

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=453198http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=453199http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=453200
Greetings All,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I somehow found this website a few months ago when I was looking at mixing up my fitness training / cardio. The bike idea intrigued me (as somebody who almost exclusively ran on the treadmill for the cardio component of my fitness regimen). I had not ridden a bike for more than a decade, due to my job demands, and living in a busy / bike unfriendly city (Toronto). Now I am in Edmonton (as you can see on the sign in the pic), which is still a big city, but the corner I'm in is quite bikeable.

Unfortunately, I work at 4 different job sites, and only one of these is relatively close to home (12 km), and accessible via paths and sidewalks and lesser roads (the others would require driving on major highways). So my commuting plan is just two times per week. It takes me 30 to 35 minutes each way. I'm ectomorphic to begin with, so 48 km per week of cycling is actually more than anything cardio to keep me at a reasonable body composition.

As you can see from the pics, I've had a lot of fun with this "new chapter." I decided to go with a "touring bike" ... and was fortunate enough that the local bike shop actually had them. I wanted something "multipurpose" that I could tool around on, drive back and forth to work, and possibly use in a zombie apocalypse, if necessary.

I'm not particularly mechanically inclined, but I've had fun doing a bunch of little projects / upgrades:

- SKS chromoplastic fenders. I couldn't get the front one to work without rubbing, so I took it off and taking an idea from "Dave's Mud Shovels" style of fenders, used a sheet of plastic cannibalized from a storage bin lid to make a pseudo front fender on the ? down tube (not sure if that terminology is correct).
- pedals. I bought some kind of no-name brand platform style pedal that had metal cleaty things that work well with my beat up cross trainers. I'd never consider going clipless with this kind of setup ... seems way to dangerous if I needed to do an emergency dismount
- random kick stand. I'll have to replace this with a double because the bike in its current configuration is unstable when stopped and at low speeds
- Planet Bike cheapie front light. I'm replacing this with a set from "Fortified Bike Lights" but it takes like a month or two for the product to be delivered. I had a matching Planet Bike rear light, but it fell off one time (without me noticing) during a curb jump on the way to work. I lost a few squinkie characters this way too, and had to regrettably retire those from service.
- Tubus Carbo rear rack with black milk crate ziptied onto it. I carry heavy / dense loads (e.g. messenger bag, sling bag) there.
- Cetma 5-rail "Porteur style" front rack with another milk crate ziptied onto it. I carry light / bulky loads (e.g. fleece, jacket, load cell with change of clothes) there. I elected to rotate the milk crate 45 degrees to give more room with the drop handlebars, and because the cables would have been obstructed otherwise.
- Garmin Edge Touring (not shown).
- Air Zound style bike horn (front bottle cage)
- The two bottle cages where from Blackburn? I like them because they have adjustable straps. You could easily carry a 2 L pop bottle size of load, or even a non-beverage load (e.g. small sleeping bag?) if you wanted.
- The bottom / third cage braze-ons are being used for my lock (Abus 6500)
- One the wheels / spokes are M232 Monkey Lights. They are a blast. Too bad I accidentally slashed my rear tire when using a utility knife to cut excess zip tie when installing these. Fortunately, I had some spare tubes. I watched a few Youtube videos, and proudly changed my first flat. I drove to work the next day, confident in my success. The tire was totally flat when I went to get on my bike to drive home. Apparently, the slash in the tire itself was so large that any replacement tube would not be protected upon use and I so I had to go to the LBS to get a new tube AND a new tire. I learned my lesson though (no knives around the bicycle).

Oh, BTW, the bike is a Specialized AWOL.

Anyway, it's been a blast so far. My ambition is to get studded tires and continue my commuting throughout the infamous Edmonton winter also, but I'll have to see if that is attainable for me.

Oh, I almost forgot - I also got a cheap yellow "safety flag" and drew on a biohazard symbol with Sharpie marker to "Zombify" my steed.

Comments / tips welcome. I hope you find this to be an interesting addition.

Take care.

just sold my car, so im going to be riding this and my motorcycle for the forseeable future, very excited :)
more pics: here

http://40.media.tumblr.com/de43885c5...k8uo1_1280.jpg

^ Damn!! Not only that bike, but your whole signature collection is drool-worthy. Pics of your Firefly anywhere?

Mine got to hang out in the cubes yesterday when everyone else was off from work.

1984 Trek 420, single-speeded for my short commute. VO cockpit & bell, Suntour Superbe Pro to 700c Mavic Rims with 32mm Paselas, Brooks B72, MKS lambda pedals, Blackburn rear rack (from my 620), Soma Mini Front Rack + Wald basket, SKS fenders and Plestcher double legged kickstand.

http://i.imgur.com/BjkX5gY.jpg

thanks! i have a lot of fun on all of em
firefly pics can be found here

The welds around the bottom bracket are nice and pretty. Looks like quite the bike!

Firefly makes my Lynskey look sloppy. They are absolutely the best of the best in Titanium.

The comfy cruiser, my 83 Nishiki Cresta:
http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/...pstz1hqzff.jpg

My no-time-for-coasting Surly Steamroller:
http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/...psp3rxuovc.jpg

i like both of your bikes.
awesome pictures! thanks

I just built new wheels for my 2013 Kona Jake. It seemed like as good a reason as any to post new pics.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8889/...eb6efd70_b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7775/...7c4d20a3_c.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7741/...7afc6eb3_c.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7739/...d1465cd6_c.jpg

Pictures just can't do justice to how beautiful these rims are. I normally use silver spokes to save a buck or two, but in this case I had to go with black. I might even need to get some tires without the reflective sidewall for the summer months when I rarely ride after dark.

BTW, I switched from a 180mm rotor up front to a 160mm. I'm not sure I even feel a difference.

Gorgeous wheels for a gorgeous bike. Super nice... approaching ideal super-commuter status.

And black cranks? brake calipers/levers? fender struts? do they make black rotors?

Well, you have to leave some contrast. ;)

that kona jake is wonderful. :thumb:

Surly Straggler as almost perfected commuter:

Shimano 105 groupset
Brooks Cambium seat
40cm Salsa Cowbell bars
Velo Orange Zepplin fenders
Gamoh rear rack
Cygolites front and rear

http://oi57.tinypic.com/v80m5x.jpg

http://oi59.tinypic.com/24nl7up.jpg

http://oi61.tinypic.com/2nbshvp.jpg

http://oi59.tinypic.com/67v7eg.jpg

A few tweaks away from the ideal. As always is the case! :lol:

On days that I don't need to bring lunch, I will commute with the other Huffy I got...........

http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...psjhosivmi.jpg


Otherwise, this is Huffy still my primary commuter..........

http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...pseznxf8bx.jpg

That's a sleek commuting machine. If I was a year later on building my commuter, I'd be on a straggler instead of a crosscheck.

(Andy_K, notice the black cranks, calipers/levers, fender struts?)

That rack is pretty cool. Nice for tossing a backpack into with a bungee net maybe.

Great looking rig. I have a Cross-Check myself - but I don't use it for commuting.
Doesn't your load in the back block the rear light? I had to move mine to attach to the rack itself.