aquateen

Monday will be my first day bike commuting. I am a teacher and currently have the summer off, but I will be working at a summer camp next at the university very close to my schools so I figured this would be a good time to test the commuting waters. My commuter is a Trek 1000 with mostly Tiagra components and 28s on the wheels.

Question 1: With the 28s, my tires baaaarely clear the brakes. Any chance there are fenders that go over the calipers?

Question 2: With my route, the last half mile or so is on a sidewalk (not much I could do about this). I could get here either by crossing a crosswalk (with no light) or enter the sidewalk at a stop light further down the road. Which would be riskier? It's a busy street (hence the sidewalk riding).


I'm hoping that if I can stick with this 3 or 4 times a week then I'll treat myself to a nice new commuter

SlimRider

#1 Good Luck on the fenders. There are some aftermarket half fenders that may be of some assistance to you.

#2 Always select the safest route for yourself. I would not ride on the sidewalk where there were students. You wouldn't want any school administrator to catch that one. I would try to get to the site early enough so that I could avoid much of the student traffic. I wouldn't cycle anywhere near a student. I'd walk my bike on the sidewalk first. You may want to walk on the sidewalk anyway, just to be on the safe side...

ChrisM2097

Busy streets aren't nearly as bad as you might think. I used to ride on the sidewalk for the last 1/2 mile or so of my commute into downtown San Jose, CA. Now, I just ride in the right lane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyzglp-9v4k

How far is your commute?

If you don't have a shower on-site, bring a washcloth, and leave a little early to allow some time to freshen up.

Andy_K 

You can get fenders the don't extend beyond the brakes, but I'm not sure how well that works. What I would suggest is doing a little bit of custom installation work. Chop the fender and make a shim that connects the front the to rear. This may take some experimentation to get it stable, but it can be done. There's a shop around here that used to advertise this as a standard service offering.



Something else to look at is how close the rear tire comes to your seat stay. That's often a tight fit.

Do you really have no choice but the sidewalk? If so, I'd probably get on the side walk wherever it's easiest/safest. Just be careful crossing intersections and driveways.

aquateen

teachers arrive before students and most of them are bus riders at that school so i'm ok in that regard. i am a music teacher so i have 3 schools that i report to. 2 of them are very accessible via MUPs. the street that i do not feel comfortable riding on is a 2 lane road but its quite hilly/winding and visibility for drivers would be an issue. there actually are not very many entrances to the road from the sidewalk though.

aquateen

it's also a low income area and local drivers are not used to see cyclists on the roads there. i've never seen one myself

PaleoFloridian

Even though the sidewalk may seem safer, you may find yourself using the right lane because it will be easier. Where I live there are always garbage cans, tree limbs, etc on the sidewalks, not to mention iffy ramps.

aquateen

i think i should also state that i've been a road cyclist now for about 7 years and i never ride on the sidewalk usually but i do not trust drivers on this stretch of road

aquateen

and in that half mile stretch there are only two entrances intersecting that sidewalk

SlimRider

Then you should be extremely careful, wearing a high visibilty safety vest, a helmet, and some gloves. Make certain that you either have a loud bell or an Airzound, in order to alert drivers in the case of an emergency. Wherever visibility is poor for motorists, if near the school campus, I would opt to walk my bicycle.

Good Luck!

aquateen

actually i might have a better route that might not involve that road now. thanks for the suggestions

009jim

I use the sidewalk for the last mile of my commute. It's legal and safer provided I slow down and give way to pedestrians.

treadtread

If you plan on getting a commuter anyway, you could probably skip the fenders.

alexaschwanden

Safe commuting.

ckaspar

Have fun and good luck. Please report back on how the initial ride went.

nashcommguy

SKS makes a set of Raceblades that are extended. https://road.cc/content/review/50952-...long-mudguards They're better prices, but this website seemed to have the best pics afa as mountings, attachments, etc. I've got the old style shorties and the 'roostertail spray' in the front is really annoying. They're on my fg commuter.

My regular commuter has Planet Bike full-coverage fenders from www.bikeisland.com for 34.00 w/no shipping. All hardware is included and they are a snap to mount.

Big Lebowski

I've found that fender installation can be a pain. I bought mine at my LBS (where I also bought my bike) and they offered to install them for free. Perhaps you can talk to them and see what they say.

-=(8)=-

You might want to do a fake tube repair on your bike this weekend so you know exactly what you are in for when you need to change the inevitable flat tire on the road. Sometimes you dont need to even take the rim off, but if its a bad one that requires a tube change, you will. You will want to be familiar with releasing your brakes, what tools you might need, etc, etc . . . Also, if its dark in the AM, a little flashlight and magnifying glass for examining the tire in your repair kit.
Have fun and be safe !

chefisaac

+10000

aquateen

i've changed maaaaany tubes in my cycling career

aquateen

Got to work today with no issues at all. Looking forward to/hoping for more of the same the rest of the week!

osephjey

+1 on the garbage cans. I felt lazy one day and took a busier street to take an easier hill as I was pulling my son in his bike trailer. As the street is fairly busy and narrow on the southbound side, (bike lane on the northbound), I took the sidewalk and nearly bit it hitting a trash can with one of the trailer wheels. From now on I just stick with the harder hill. It's better exercise anyway.

hughes208

have fun with the commute and be safe

Trek_geek

You might get the Planet Bike Rear Flipper fender to work. It might keep some of the crud off you.
I started commuting this past March via train and my 1995 Performance MTB with 1.5" city tires on it. Knew I wanted to go all Wx and plan some future touring so a month later bought a Trek 520 and Ortelib panniers. I modified a Topeak trunk bag by drilling holes in the base and using ti-raps to hold it to my Bontrager rack. Not removable but it works. A tall kitchen trash bag works as my rain cover.
I average 100 miles a week so the miles are adding up pretty quick. I just entered a video of my commute in the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) 20ht anniversary contest. There are a couple of good photos of my 520. "It's easy with VRE and my bike"

Trek_geek

Don't forget a couple of red blinking tail lights running even in the day time. I run one on my rear rack all day and in the morning add a front white flasher and a red flasher to the rear of my helmet.