cyccommute 

Not to mention commuter burnout. Boredom stops lots of commuters.

KonAaron Snake 

Great point...I know it's true for me. Switching them out is FUN.

One bike? What am I, a monk?

bikemig 

No. 1. Monogamy is overrated; so is celibacy.

caloso

One bike? Would you own only one pair of shoes?

tsl

I commute on all three of my bikes, but only two are commutified.

They both have racks, fenders, and dynamo lighting systems. But only one of them will fit studded snow tires.

Andy_K 

I've got one bike I'll commute on in any weather, and it gets most of the commutes, but I've got several others that I use either because of maintenance or just for fun.

droy45

I have 5 bikes with individual setups for different purposes and commute on 2 of them regularly because they are better equipped for it. In the winter months I really only use one which is studded but if we get a thaw and everything dries up well, I can take my road bike equipped to commute.

OneGoodLeg

I currently own two, both fixed gear bikes, one is a TT bike so the biggest tires it will fit is a 25c, the other is Surly Steamroller that takes up to a 38c. The steamroller has kind of become the default bad weather commuter, but that doesn't mean the other bike hasn't been ridden in the rain. I have clamp on racks and fenders for both.

I'd like a third option.

spivonious

I only own one bike. Cold won't hurt the bike, and rain is just water. Fenders keep most road grit off of the bike. After a few days of rainy riding, you might need to relube the chain.

If you wake up to a flat tire, you put in your spare tube (you do have one, right?). That takes all of five minutes.

With that said, I would like to get another bike, preferably something from a dedicated road bike line. Just to mix things up.

PennyTheDog

I only have two bikes, and they're set up pretty much identically. My main bike is a Surly Cross Check, and my backup bike is an aluminum frankenbike. They both have drop bars, single chainrings, brooks B17s, fenders, rear racks, and 35 mm tires. So if something goes wrong or needs a tuneup on the surly I can use the same bags and just take the Trek. This is especially useful in the winter-- riding the snow, slush and salt seems to require a LOT of bike maintenance.

Actually right now is the one time of the year I have them slightly different-- I have studded tires on the Trek for early-season storms, and I still have regular tires on the Surly.

Bluish Green

I have 2 bikes.

Both are set up as commuters. I bought a couple of extra mounting brackets for my lights, so each bike has mounts for the same two headlights and same two taillights. The rear racks are similar enough that I don't even have to adjust my Ortlieb panniers at all between the bikes.

So basically, I pick a bike to commute on, and it gets the lights and bags, and I'm off.

Having a backup bike is great for when one needs a little work, and also if you need studded tires at all in the winter.

djwid

I tend to end up configuring all of my bikes for commuting duty since that is what I do the most. In any case a commuting bike also does reasonably well for long self-supported rides in the PNW anyway. I feel two commuter-capable bikes are necessary if you rely on bikes for transport. When I was car-free for 9 years I used transit as a backup when I had one bike but I enjoyed having a second bike and used it quite a bit.

I also agree that any cycle commuter should be prepared to change a flat and repair a flat on the road.

WestPablo

What?...I've never been able to change a tire in under ten minutes! Of course, I do have ten thumbs, instead of only two!

ItsJustMe

I rode just one bike, a $300 hybrid, for 9 years and 30,000 miles.

This spring I bought a road bike, and this fall I replaced the hybrid with a Giant Seek 0, which is about the same bike as my original but much nicer, with hydraulic discs and an IGH.

I only ride that bike when the weather is bad, or when I need racks and bags for some reason.

ItsJustMe

Really depends on the bike and the tire. On my road bike with 23s, I can have the wheel off in 30 seconds, the presta valve makes it easy to drop the pressure fast and far, and then the tire rolls off by hand. I can have the tire off the bike in less than 2 minutes. Putting the new one back on only takes maybe 2 minutes.

Then it takes 5 minutes to pump up with the little mini pump. If someone was using CO2 they could probably change in 6 minutes pretty easily. I generally take 8 or 10.

At the other end of the spectrum, on the other bike, with big heavy studded tires on in the winter necessitating using tire levers to get them off (and sometimes still gouging my hand on a stud) and an IGH so I have to get the shift cable off and use a wrench to remove the rear (95% of my flats are on the rear) and cold temps making my fingers not work, I bet it would take me 20 or more minutes to change a tire.

bent-not-broken

So far this year I have commuted on 7 bikes, with two over a thousand miles commuting each, down to one I rode just once. All bikes have racks and about half have fenders.

FBinNY 

There are all sorts of times given for how long it takes to replace a tube. My personal record is under 2 minutes, but that's deceiving. If you include the time to remove and replace the wheel, pull the tube out of the bag, and repack stuff when finished, and look at the total time from when you dismount to get back on the road, that 2 minute job can take about 15 minutes in the real world.

KonAaron Snake 

I think 5 minutes total time is about right when changing a tube in the house and it goes smoothly. Add 5 minutes for a patch and 5 minutes for a non-floor pump.

alan s 

One commuter bike with three wheelsets. Two 26" and one 700c, all disc. I currently have 26x2 Marathon Supremes for regular commuting, 26x1.75 Marathon Winters for ice, and 700x35 Marathon Supremes for regular commuting and weekend rides. In the other seasons, I usually mount up 26x2.35 Big Apples for offroad trails and commuting, knobbies for offroad weekend rides, and 700x25-35 for commuting. Changing the tires makes a significant difference in ride characteristics, so it's like having several bikes.

Also, nice to have a spare wheelset ready to go if I get an unexpected flat during the night from a slow leak. Since I commute by bike and car, it's much easier to transport an extra wheelset in the car, than to transport a second bike. I'll sometimes make a quick wheel change in the morning depending on weather conditions and the route I have chosen for that day. Nice to have flexibility.

jrickards

Currently, I have 4 bikes (although preparing one to pass to my son and about to buy another) but really only plan to have 2 commuter bikes: one for summer and one for winter (studs, SS, no shocks). The other 2 are a road bike (if I have my clothes and lunch at work, I might ride it to work but not as a regular commuter) and a 29er MTB for camp/cottage use (if I plan to ride to camp after work, I'll commute to work on this one but again, I wouldn't call it a commuter bike).

Darth Lefty 

You get your wife to drive you.

KenshiBiker

Sure - as long as I could have more than one bike . . .

rumrunn6

OP ~ you only have 1 bike?

ThermionicScott 

These threads always remind me that I don't have a backup winter bike. Hmm...

partykingwes

i have 3 bikes. one i call the tiger. its a road bike that i use for commuting. the other was named "the green bean" by my daughter. that's the bike i use if i want to go to the city or a party and look cool to people that judge a bike by color and styling instead of brand, weight, etc - and it handles a gravel trail alot better than the road bike. i actually love this bike - its got me back into riding this summer - but its broken and the road bike i recently picked up (the tiger) is such a pleasure by comparison over the distance i commute. the last is my least favorite, and its my beater (named "the meat beater ***** eater"): its what i'd ride into a bad neighbor hood to pick up weed, **** with ******* drivers, or ride if i knew i was cutting through the woods since it has knobby tires (still 700c, though). any suffices for a decent commute, so when a bike is out of commission, i ride the other. for example, the tiger is relatively new and i broke the green bean's fork by being a fool - so for a while i was riding my meat beater and mostly enjoying it.