InTheRain

I love the Dinotte lights. I have a 200L that I use on my helmet. And you are absolutely right... the are EXPENSIVE (I think the 600L goes for about $400.) I would recommend Dinotte headlights if you have the money to burn, however, I think the the DealExtreme P7 emitter flashlights (not a cheesy little one) are every bit as bright as Dinotte headlights at a fraction of the price ($40-$50 + $15-$20 for a few batteries and charger.) The P7 is rated at 900 lumens... I doubt that it is that much, but no question that it is at least 500 lumens on one lithium battery. There are several discussions about these flashlights in the electronics and gadget forums. I haven't found a rear light that is as bright as the Dinotte... so it remains my recommendation for a rear light.

rumrunn6

lotta miles on a hybrid, change the tires to some really hard smooth ones - keep them a little bigger than road bike tires but some hybrid tires just suck up too much energy and when you stop pedaling you stop rolling ...

Timber_8

I am also considering a park and ride location that will reduce my ride to 10 miles one way. I am exploring all my options & planning this out well. Must be the manager in me. I actualy thought a hybrid would be a perfect commuter to be honest. Never the less it is what I have. As near as I can figure it will be $500 hundred bucks just to outfit the bike for night commuting. I am sure it will pay itself back withing a short period of time.

InTheRain

Well how did you come up with that figure? Seems pretty pricey to me. Other than lights, what is different about a night commuting bicycle vs. a day commuting bicycle? I'm not sure I would put "lights" as a difference either since I run flashing headlight during the day as well as several blinking tail lights.

rumrunn6

Commuting by bike does not save any $$ regardless of the cost of gas, unless you sell your car.

dwilbur3

Nonsense. If you drive less you spend less on gas, spend less on oil changes, if you contact your insurance company you can lower your premiums, you have less expenses on maintaining the car, you don't have to pay for parking, etc.

The money I've spent on my bike doesn't come close to that.

rumrunn6

Umm .. OK. I used my bike last year and I did not have a net gain. I did a poll and 12 out of 15 responders said they didn't save any money. It was very surprising.

SSfreak

I'm a more of a car nut then a bike nut. A bike really does save money. Every time you turn that ignition, it's wear and tear on the car. Just imagine all that stop and go traffic damage your doing to your internals and also every single time you start your car in the morning. You might not see the savings now but at the end, you’re saving your car major life from wear and tear. You might not see the benefits for years to come but at the end of the road, you save tons of money.

Another big thing for me is parking in downtown Sacramento. Parking’s about $100 a month. Parking in the bike locker with cage, free.

The main reason why I don't commute in car to work, oil companies stealing my money.



Anyways, I commute 17 miles one way also. Good luck on your commute.

dwilbur3

That's the most obvious saving for me too. $100 a month is nice.

I could take the bus but its schedules don't accommodate very well. By cycling instead of the bus I save $3 a day for bus fare, plus $200 a month on day care.

Timber_8

My inbound commute is 2am till when I arrive at work. It will always be night for my inbound commute. to be honest I think $500 is a modest speculation. We are talking about country roads with little or no lighting. Outfitting a bike for regular night riding is not the same as being caught out after nightfall once in a while. I spend at least $40 a week in gas and $70 + when it was highest. I have a lot of reasons why I want to commute by bike. Money I save will only be a bonus.

Timber_8

I have been running all my possible routes all week in my pickup & some of my options are quite good. I am not just looking at traffic and width of the road but condition of the surface. I still have some more exploring to do as well. ! option I think I will do at least initially is to drive 6 miles to a park & ride and commute 10 miles by bike in and 12 miles back. This seems to be an excellent option for me.

The other thing I am doing that most people do not have the option of is I have decided to ride in at my regular time of 2 am but leave work at 11:30 am to be home at 1pm. I will then work from my home office the rest of the day. It will actually work out better than what I am doing now. My thought is that I can get off the busiest road before the lunch window and be on the country roads during the lunch hour. I will be in my home office around 1 pm. I have been setting all my employees up to coordinate the information I need. Technology is a wonderful thing.

It is good to be the King

Scheherezade 

Definitely get a mirror (I prefer the glasses mounted style on the rim of my helmet visor). It will be extremely valuable on 2 lane rural roads with 55mph+ speeds. Instead of being paranoid someone will run you over, you can just glance at your mirror every 10-20 seconds and ride at ease. This will be especially useful when you ride during the day with higher traffic volumes and no visible warning of a car (headlights).

zeppinger

I ride very late at night on a MUP in Sacramento that follows the American river through down town, then out into the less urban area where I live. I see tones of rabbits and Deer. Deer scare me more than I scare them I am afraid. I almost hit a large buck that I thought would move off the path but decided to stand its ground! I was going pretty fast though. We do have mountain loins around here but I have never seen one on the trail. What does worry me more is crazy homeless people. I have heard stories of them setting up fishing line between trees on the path and such.. Oh well never had a problem!

Head light is a great idea. Since I dont mingle with traffic too much on the MUP I dont use a helmet and just use a really bright camping headlight that cost me $15. If you dont use a helmet (I bet you do though) its a good savings.

My rides on the MUP at night are for social events downtown that go into the wee hours. My regular commute is 15-16 miles depending on route. On the weekends I take a commuter, non-stop bus about half the way. I dont really suggest park and rides, once you get into your car and then have to get out you may just get back in and drive the rest of the way! My commute takes about an hour depending on things.

Dont OVER PLAN! If you take a wrong turn or a new direction on the bike one day its not a deal breaker. Its great to have a good safe route planned out to optimize your chances of surviving and all but its only when you ride a REAL dangerous road every day that your chances of being hit go dramatically up. Dont be afraid to experiment while on the bike instead of just in the car. You may come to find that some of the "less safe" routes maybe faster and not nearly as bad as you thought

GOOD LUCK!

Neil_B

I don't commute regularly, but when I do it's a 17 mile one-way trip with the return at night. Like the OP, much of it is on country roads, although I do ride through a small city and have 5 miles of a MUP. I ride with a Night Rover 10 watt headlight and carry a couple of Planet Bike lights as backup, use a helmet light, two blinkers on the back, reflective tape on the frame and panniers, wear a reflective jacket - see my avatar - and wear reflective ankle bands. I'm getting a third blinker for the back of my helmet, and possibly adding a light to the bottom of my downtube - this is an idea I'm taking from another BF poster. I think the OP has gotten good advice, but I wanted to add my two cents.

Since I ride through rural areas, as well as Valley Forge National Historic Park, I see deer all the time. What I find helpful is to ring my bell. The noise seems to startle and scare them.

Timber_8

I will agree that over planning has its limitations, however not planning is a recipe for failure. I like to have multiple options. 3 options offer 9 alternatives, don't ask me to explain just my fuzzy math. I am extremely disciplined with everything I do so I am not concerned that I will not ride my bike from a park & ride. I will however avoid very poor weather. I don't like to be wet, to get caught in it is fine but to choose to ride in it makes little sense to me. My primary reason to ride is fitness, saving ware & tear on my pickup's is secondary. I have a horse farm so the option of dumping my pickup's is not possable. I also get some satisfaction sticking it to the oil industry where ever I can.

I always ware a helmet when I ride and the rural roads for the most part are 30 mph roads. I am real looking forward to meeting and talking to people along the way. Their are several horse farms along the way & people that clearly share some common interest with myself. I am also sure I may also encounter or inspire other commuters. I am looking forward to doing this, I have been wanting too for a long time

CommuterRun

I commute to work before daylight on rural highways. I run two headlights; one on the bike, one my helmet. A helmet mounted light is good in that it throws light in the direction you are looking, not just in the direction that the handlebars are facing. Three or more taillights; a Cateye TL-LD1000 on the seatpost, a Cateye TL-LD500 on the back of the rear rack, and a Mars 3.0 on the back of my helmet. If I'm towing a trailer I also run a Cateye TL-LD500 on each rear corner of the trailer. A handlebar mounted rearview mirror lets me see the headlights of approaching cars long before I can hear them. A reflective vest and reflective tape on the bike top off the ensemble for making me visible to motorists.

As for wildlife; I don't have wolves, but deer are so flighty I regard them as being more of a hazard. I speak to them so they know there is a human behind those strange, approaching lights. "Mornin', Deer. How ya'll doin' this mornin'?" They either run off or stand still, but I haven't had any close calls with them since I started speaking to them. I think they get confused by the lights.

As for the narrow shoulder, I think I would most likely ride that stretch in the lane as if the shoulder wasn't there. A lot of the roads around here have no paved shoulder. The right tire track of the road is a good guideline. I rarely ride further to the right than that. I have found that the further I ride to the right, the more I invite close passing. The more space I keep on my right, up to a point, being the middle of the lane, the more room I tend to be given on my left by passing motorists.

spiker

I commute on the cape. Happen upon coyotes from time to time. Noise gets thier attention. My brakes squeal & a quick appication has ,so far, sent them aflight. As mentioned , skunks are pretty common. They're quiet & so is a bike. Haven't hit one yet but been mighty close. When running at night I make a point of slapping my size 13's loudly so they can hear me comming.

Curves at night & visiblity from the rear would be/are my biggest issue. getting light projected to the side onto the middle of the road so it can be seen before they get right up on you an idea

Timber_8

I am beginning my transformation into a commuter

Bat22

A good spot to park your bike. Like the rest of us you will probably get a bike
stand to hang your bike on that will double as a wash stand, floor pump,
tools, bike repair book...never ends. Unfortunately, I'm not the king at work.
I still have a place to store my clothes so I only need a mid size day pack.

Raffi

The dinotte are pure joy to run. Worth every cent. A airzound bike horn helps too!!

wvtreehugger

Hey man, I feel you. I have been doing a 14 mile commute for the past year 3 times a week. Most of my trip is on rural mountain roads with zero shoulders in the dark. Check out the reflective vest on nashbar. It was about 10 dollars and why you and not going to pick up any chicks sporting the safety vest, people will see you. I am also a big fan of lighting. When I started I had just the one blinky light, and I was inches from being hit and killed. Now my goal is that people in space will see my bike from space. Lastly, get a good pack. I am a nashbar *****, and I bought a pannier backpack which was a very good investment.

Timber_8

Woops sorry I got busy with something and forgot about this thread. This is my garage home, I have not started commuting to work yes. That will be a few weeks away yet. I took the Bell seat of my mountain for my Commuter bike and mounted the fenders today. I have a helmet light already, I really like that idea.I do have a backpack but I am thinking of a decent rack and bag will be the way to go. I have some donor lighting that I will use for backup and I am looking into some decent lighting. I am liking the Burgundy bike with the Black fenders.

aharris

Hey, I'm a near by fair weather commuter through Rochester into Middleborough going by New Bedford's reservoir. I have found a reflective helmet cover helps in the winter (and adds to the visibility), a vest, bright jacket and lights. I don't have a quite such an early commute (start at 5:30) but have found the bright head lamp on the helmet a good way to signal the cars coming out of the driveways (half awake and not expecting a bicycle coming by). I look at them and the light shines in their direction. Car lights in the eyes were bumming me out, but I found a bit of acting - holding up my left hand to shade my eyes appears to have trained the few on coming drivers I meet, I can't remember anyone not dimming their lights recently.

I've enjoyed hearing the change in the chickadee's calls and heard some red wing black birds this past week on a ride. Beyond that I actually haven't seen much wildlife on the early morning rides. A couple of racoons I startled by trash cans and plenty of squirrels. The deer are pretty common, and they snort when flushed. It's a startling noise and has taken me by suprise - no wobble yet though. The horses and alpacas just look confused. I say good morning to them.

nashcommguy

Good point re the flashing running light for daytime commuting. My commute is 40 mi rt, rural and I work 2nd shift 3:00-11:30. So, I've got a similar commute, though opposite time/direction. That being said here's what I arrived at in terms of gear:

Main commuter:
Bike: Motobecane Fantom CX 2x9(40t-50t x 12-26t) 500.00 www.bikesdirect.com
Rack: Delta Universal Mega Rack 30.00+tax from lbs
Bags: Jandd Saddlebags 70.00+tax from lbs
Pump: Topeak Road Morph w/guage 30.00 www.bikeisland.com
Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x28mm 35.00 ea www.biketiresdirect.com no shipping/minimum
Fenders: SKS Raceblades 45.00+shipping from www.bikepartsusa.com Swap them around from bike to bike as needed.
Lighting:
Front: 2 Niterider Trailrat 2.0 10W halogen 100.00 ea www.brandscycle.com no shipping/minimum
Cateye Sport Opticube 1 LED from lbs 15.00+tax
Rear: Niterider Universal Taillight 55.00 from www.brandscycle.com no shipping/minimum Works w/t NRTR 2.0 really well. Planet Bike Super Flash blinkies from www.amazon.com 4@17.00 ea. I use 2 at a time...one high on me, one low on the bike. The UVTL is mounted just under the saddle.

On my inward(daytime) ride I use the Cateye on blink mode and 1 PBSF on blink mode rearward.

Homeward(nighttime) I use the NRTR NOT hooked up to the UVTL forward and the UVTL on blink mode w/t PBSF on steady and flashing...one of each. I carry 2 extras in my toolkit to use as 'caution flashers' should I have a mechanical problem...flat, broken chain, etc. My tool bag has a Park MTB-3 multi-tool. It includes a chain tool, spoke wrench, etc. and weighs a ton. I wouldn't go to the end of my driveway without it. 2 tubes, patch kit, Kool Stop Tire Lever, 3 metal Pyramid tire levers and a 'head lamp' on an elastic band for hands free vision at night. It cost 10.00 from X-mart and was a life-saver the 1 time I had to use it.

I've got 2 other bikes set up for 'non-loaded' commutes. One's a singlespeed and one's a 1x8 roadbike. I've got a seatpost rack and trunkbag rig I swap back and forth between the 2. Same w/t lighting. I've got another NRTR 2.0 and 2 more PBSF I use just for those 2 bikes. They're equipped w/SMP 700x25mm tires and the TPRM pumps, though the SS has the 'mini' version. The tool kits are the same as above w/t SS having a 'frame' bag(like an mtb bag, but longer) and the rb having an under-the-saddle type.

The NRTR 2.0 are said to give 2:20 run time, but I use them as if 1:30 were the run time. They're flip-flopped every week w/t UVTL so one doesn't get 'overused'. The Cateye is my 'major disaster/better than nothing' bailout light for the homeward leg.

Good luck. Hope any of this has been helpful.

BTW, if you want advice on clothing gear PM me and I'll give you a list of what I've purchased over the years and the web addresses...I don't shop lbs' for gear/tools, etc. anymore.

CommuterRun

Awesome garage. Ever commute to work on the Kubota?