How do hub generators compare with battery lights on brightness etc?

I commute on some very nice bikes and spent way less than $3,000 on them. In fact, none of my bikes cost anywhere near that amount. My commute distance for the past 5 years was 22 miles/day and just increased to 30 miles. I don't want to ride that kind of mileage on a beater bike, but I didn't spend a fortune either. You can piece together a very nice bike for a reasonable amount of money by buying used frames, parts on eBay, etc.

I ride a Trek 1200 that I bought 14 years ago for $300. Added a rack, trunk bag, handlebar bag and have replaced both wheels a couple of times as well as the saddle and seatpost (both broke). Still use down tube shifter and the original RX100 components.

Welll.... I normally never use a bike over 900.00 .... but now I am converting a 2011 Trek 7.2 fx to an ebike. So by the time I get done with the front wheel geared kit and eventually upgrade the battery... I will be close to 2000

Compared to any one-piece battery/LED light, a modern LED dynamo lamp is far brighter. It is bright enough to ride safely in pitch black and to illuminate the road. When I ride side by side with battery light users, I can see where my light illuminates the road.
Compared to a big dollar, high performance, off-road style system, there is less illumination but it is used more efficiently with a specific pattern to illuminate the road, rather than a generic circular beam. You cant leave a high performance system on your bike in any town or city, it will get stolen.

That's what I thought. I was going to chime in on commuting for under $300, but under $3000? I mean that's pretty normal, higher than normal really, and anything more would be the outlier.

This.

$3000 seems pretty overkill.

Since I'm very tall, it's hard to find bikes on CL. My bike new was $550. Cargo rack, fenders, lights and my pannier were Probably another $350 all said and done. I could have gone cheaper on the pannier($130) but I opted for an Ortlieb. I've spent another $50 on wicking clothes for winter at the big box store.

Why do you abuse your bike on a daily basis?

My commuter cost $1,000 used, but they gave me $500 credit on a death trap bike I had, but didn't want to use anymore. It's a wonderful ride, and doubles as my rain bike.

I commute on nice steel alloy frame bikes that I have purchased off CL. The one pictured I paid $75 and put another $75 into it. The amount of money you apparently are talking about could buy a bike a lot nicer than what I see most folks commuting on.



http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=224821

Short answer, because I need to get to work.

Commuter bike: My commuter bike takes everything I can throw at it . . . potholes, glass, dirt, grime, ice, snow, rain, loads of miles, hauling lots of stuff . . . and never lets me down. In 5 years, it won't look so great.

Road bike: I only ride my $5k CF road bike when the weather is good, ride it unloaded and on good roads. Still looks like new after 5 years.

I have a dawes lightning sport that I bought brand new on ebay and it was about 240.00 brand new (including shipping). I used it for commuting during the non-winter months and tried to commute only on fair weather days. I found that bike to be great commuter bike whereas I also have a trek 7100 that I bought before that from a local bike shop... that wasn't such a good bike for commuting.

I guess because I am heavy and the different posture on the 7100, I would always have problems with the rear wheel... broken spokes, or bent if I hit a pothole...

never had a problem with the dawes, it was a workhorse, more comfortable and lighter to boot...

Hey there Boatrider!

NEWSFLASH!...NEWSFLASH!...NEWSFLASH!

The average American cyclist spends less than $600 for a bicycle. Therefore, I'm going to go way out on the limb and guestimate that the overwhelming majority of cycling commuters spend less than $1000 for their bicycles. Therefore, your figure for the cost of commuter bikes "under" $3000 would include everyone from the dirt poor to the super rich. I don't believe that you intended to phrase your bicycle quest for sharing in the manner in which you did.

However, I do believe that I understood what you were trying to say. Therefore, I'd like to pass along some information. I currently own four bicycles. All of them together have a total value of approximately $3000. I enjoy riding all of them immensely, including my aluminum one. My chromoly steel-frame Nishiki Sebring bicycle is quickly approaching the age of thirty. I still enjoy riding it as much as the first day I rode it out of the LBS. I commuted on my Nishiki for almost nine years, before I was forced to drive a car due to job relocation. It was simply too far away to arrive both on time and ready to work. I now ride my bike anywhere in and around my city. I also take brief excursions into San Francisco. That's one exciting place to cycle. You'd better be super alert at all times there, because people in San Francisco drive crazy!

However, I feel that overall, commuters contribute a substantial amount to the reduction of the giant carbon footprint here in the U.S. We also help the economy. We have much in which to take pride by commuting, whether we've planned to commute, or if we do it by default.

- Slim :)

PS.

Here are a few supporting websites that should make us feel more knowledgeable about ourselves, as cycling commuters:

http://nbda.com/articles/indutry-overview-2010-pg34.htm


www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/pdf/BTWW_Booklet.pdf

I need to get to work, too, but I've never thought of "I'm on my way in, and we have a department meeting in an hour" as a reason not to steer around (or bunny hop) potholes? I don't think loads of miles are abuse, they're what bikes are made for. Abuse for a bike is not riding them, like clipping a bird's wings. The rain (and grime it entails) helps wear drive trains and braking surfaces down, but the frame doesn't mind.

I wouldn't commute on my CF bike, either, but that's because they don't let me take it into the building, and I refuse to leave it locked out on a rack. That's why I got a metal road bike.

Under $3K?! You could buy several awesome commuter bikes for that.

Be honest. This isn't about the love of junk bikes. You don't hate $3000 bikes, you hate the people that buy them. Ok then.

Less than $200 here too.

This http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/a...5/IMAG0060.jpg
and this
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/a...5/IMG_0194.jpg

Both are very smooth ride.

I think most commuters spend less than $3,000 on their bike. I bought a Surly Cross Check for $1050. So far, so good. I don't feel bad about spending that money. It's almost all stock. Except for the Brooks, the Nice Rack, and some cross brake levers, and the water bottle holders, rear Knog Boomer, front Cygolite 200 MilION, and MKS King Grip pedals. All these upgrades costed about $435.

$1,050 + $435 = 1485.

I could have bought used but I like the assurance I got from buying a new bike.

Point is few commuters commute on $3000 bikes. Mine barely comes in at half that with all the upgrades.

I think the politically correct term is beater bikes, but yea...I don't see why the fuss over some people buying more expensive bikes. If we all had an extra $1000, I'm sure we'd be tempted to either buy nicer bikes or nicer components. If someone wants to ride a $3000 bike to work, why make him feel bad? It's probably not smart but it's not me, either. so forget it.

going by the results from a poll i created on the forum last year, VERY few bicycle commuters regularly commute on bikes that cost them $3,000 or more.


link to thread: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...you?highlight=


here's a screen shot of the poll:

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/4756/bikepoll.jpg

I used to work in the same building with a guy who rode a DA-equipped Pinarello road bike to work every day. Probably cost $5-6K. Never made sense to me, but if the guy could afford it, why not? Funny thing is I would blow past him on my commuter bike all the time, as our routes were the same. I never tried to make him feel bad, because I figured he spent so much on that bike, he couldn't afford another.:D

I honestly don't see it in this thread, from the original post or any responses, that someone should be ridiculed for spending more that $E (expensive) or less than $C (cheap) for a bike. Mainly I think that people are surprised that OP considers $3000 to be close to or below that C range for commuters, and some may be silently questioning his motives. I don't- I think he's just thinking out loud.

Is there a pecking order among owners of these higher end bikes? Does a $6,000 bike owner usually look down at the owner of a $4500 bike? Does the $3000 bike owner feel like he's often slighted by them, or feel like he has entry level equipment?

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net..._7410589_n.jpg

Dumpstered frame
Saddle, post, bars, stem, rack, cranks from my parts bin
$100 in parts for the wheels
$20 pedals
$50 for fenders and adapter mounts
$40 in the freewheel and tensioner

All said and done, roughly $210 into this bike.

He probably never understood why you felt the need to go so fast while you were commuting instead of saving it for the weekend club ride. ;)

Judging by how he looked after arriving in the morning, I'd say he wasn't holding back.