Comments on: How to pick a commuter bike

By: Jacob

Jacob — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:31:41 +0000

Practically anything will last 6 months. I got a used Walmart bike for $35 and rode it across the football parking lot (big 1 mile long grass field) for a couple of years until it feel apart.

By: philldotcom

philldotcom — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:25:26 +0000

I know this comment in two years late but I was googling around and found this post. I would love some help choosing a bike. I have way too many miles put into my car. So my plan is to buy a bike. My bike would be used to go to and from work ( about two miles each way ) and ride down to the beach once every other day or so. I don’t have much money. I’m 21 and still in college. If i could find a bike that could last me 6 months until I buy a reliable, quality bike I’ll be more than happy. I can barely afford a bike that cost $150 so $200 and below is the best I can do (for now).If you could get back to me through my email I’d appreciate it a ton. and even by just re-commenting here i would appreciate it more than you think! My email is philldotcom@yahoo.com

I seriously enjoyed reading your posts.

-Phill

By: Caine

Caine — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 05:30:39 +0000

Just bought a used Dahon Speed D7 folding bike and carry on cover. I want to do a lot of train and bus riding in the future and found they have very few options for full size bikes but cater to folders. So far the ride is very smooth and comfortable and reasonably fast. I’ll update as I get some experience.

By: Andrew @ Money Crashers

Andrew @ Money Crashers — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 21:21:11 +0000

You took the words out of my mouth. I just had this exact conversation the other day. If you’re a biker, and that’s a big means of your transportation, isn’t it worth all the money in the world to get a nice bike. Why sacrifice so much quality to save a few hundred dollars? More importantly, bikes are AMAZING for your health…the better the bike, the more you’ll love it and want to ride it, and the healthier you’ll be. You really need to view a bike as though it were a car, or even more valuable than a car given the health benefits.

By: rePete

rePete — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:16:09 +0000

I have a Trek 520 (touring) and GF has a Surly Long Haul Trucker. I prefer my 520 over her LHT (we have almost the same size bikes, 1cm difference). The 520 feels faster to ride.

The LHT is well built, and it has way more social currency than my 520 — everyone seems to love a Surly. We’ll see if there is any long-term differences as they’re both about 2 years old.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:33:44 +0000

@Robert – Technically I have half a car, but I have only driven it around the driveway.

By: Robert Muir

Robert Muir — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:52:43 +0000

Easy, he never had a car!

By: Bankruptcy Ben

Bankruptcy Ben — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:53:22 +0000

Hmmm I’ve cheaped on my bicycle. Contemplating getting another one for convenience but finding it difficult to let my car go. How did you finanlly let the car go?

By: Jacob

Jacob — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:58:39 +0000

@FruGuy – I can see why one would want front suspension going on trails, but for road I think it is overkill and perhaps even a bit self-destructive. Other than that, I really liked my folder and I think internal hub gears are the way to go for a folder lest the derailer get bent during folding/transport. If you can get one with a coaster brake, you’d save a bunch of brake cables as well.

By: FruGuy

FruGuy — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:33:18 +0000

Hi Jacob – I’m thinking about buying a folding bike and wanted your opinion of them and this model, in particular.

http://www.downtube.com/Font_Suspension_Internal_Hub_Folding_Bike.html

The bike would mainly be used to save time on my 5 mile(R/T) commute in LA. The folding part is just to save space in my apt and office. What do you think? Thanks.

p.s. your blog is truly inspirational. this bike could take care of Days 2,5,7, and 23 in one fell swoop.

By: steve

steve — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 07:26:41 +0000

Besides fitting your body, I think a commuter bike should have good clearance for fenders and eyelets for attaching a rear rack and baskets, and ideally a front rack as well. There actually aren’t a lot of bikes that are good for this, but the Atlantis by Rivendell is a good choice.
It also would probably work well for a woman because it has a shorter top tube than a lot of other bikes, which is better for a woman’s shorter relative torso length vis-a-vis a man’s torso.

Budget for a good front light and install a red led light in back, alongside two amber car trailer reflectors.

BTW, for car free family lifestyle check out the ZIGO. It’s very very cool looking. It has a front mount child carrier that you could also use as a shopping trolley on shopping trips. (more convenient than baskets on the bike because when you go into multiple stores you can take all of your stuff with you).

Barring the ZIGO, the bikeHOD carrier from the UK looks like the best for shopping but it costs maybe $450 to buy and have it shipped to the US. I have been getting by on just baskets.

By: steve

steve — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:12:15 +0000

@Steward:

Props for the Panasonic DX-2000!! I rode one of those for 15 years (before switching to my Heron touring frame bike).

And I still have it. It was my 2nd adult bike, my mom bought it for me for like $200 new when I was 16 years old. Great, great bike–it still is, I still have it and will be setting it up in ’09 as my backup bike.

By: mayalibre

mayalibre — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:29:56 +0000

p.s. Here’s a pic of my bike outfitted with rack and basket. Thanks again!

http://mayalibre.vox.com/library/photo/6a00e398e45284000500e398f1edaf0005.html

By: mayalibre

mayalibre — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:18:17 +0000

Hi Jacob — I’d like to put my two cents in regarding a woman’s commuter bike. I’m 52 and not in the greatest shape now, but I used to ride a lot, commuting 22 miles R/T every day, going on 40-50 mile weekend rides, and did one 1,600 mile tour. I AM IN LOVE with my current bike, which was also not expensive! It’s a Specialized Expedition Sport, Women’s model. It has 26-inch mountain tires (smooth on the centerline, so low friction on pavement), Shimano components, 8+3 gears, front fork shocks, and both a seat shock and springs. Plus she’s pretty! (pic here: http://mayalibre.vox.com/library/post/bicycles-for-older-women.html) Altogether, with rear rack and front basket, out the door with tax, she was $385. I love her look — like a cross between an Amsterdam bike and a mountain bike. And while pride can be an issue, the truth is that as I’ve gotten older I’ve developed bad knees (3/4 cartilege missing on one side, 1/2 gone on the other), plus have a gamey hip…. This bike is wonderful because I can get on and off her easily, so I actually get to keep riding! I commute still every day (less distance, only 6 miles R/T now), but I also throw saddlebags on and do most of my shopping via bike also (baguettes and celery sticking out…). I can recommend this bike highly for middle aged women, in shape or out. The bike is high quality, the 8+3 gears are good for hillclimbing or speed, and the additional road friction from the wider tires isn’t noticeable at all. It’s durable, goes over bumps, driveways, gutters, curbs, etc. easily without being too delicate. She also didn’t cost a lot, so while I wouldn’t want to lose her, if I did it wouldn’t be a huge ding.

Anyway, I thought I would throw my two cents in! Thanks.

By: Steward

Steward — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:00:08 +0000

As of right now, I think I have spent $0.70/mile on my commuting. I got a older bike (Panasonic DX-2000, Panasonic shut down their US wing in 1989 – so the bike is at least 19 years old) and it cost me $160. I haven’t really done much to it (new tire, new tubes, etc) and got a nice upgrade for free (my brother bought me a new seat which revolutionized my riding experience). In all, I think I have spent about $245.

I should still probably buy some clipless shoes to go with my clipless pedals as well as some riding shorts, but I just haven’t yet. My understanding from walking around my local bike shop is that shoes can be really expensive, but Amazon might have some better deals. My initial goal was to only spend $300 on bike related expenses in the first couple of months so I think I am doing pretty good.

I do need to learn a lot more about self bike maintenance, with my next project learning how to work on my shifter (that probably isn’t the technical name for it, but it is the guide over the big gears that moves the chain around). In certain gears I think I can hear the chain rubbing against the shifter. This probably isn’t good and at the very least makes my riding less efficient.

I now commute 22 miles on the day and average about 45 minutes each way. Today I got my first sub 40 minute time. My goal is to hit 30 minutes before it starts getting light late and dark early, but this could be difficult because stop lights are unpredictable and annoying.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:54:45 +0000

@Jack – I did? I must be inconsistent then It is possible to get a used one at that price that will work. Indeed it’s an interesting question. For instance, for $1300 I could get 13 $100 road bikes. I actually borrowed such a bike initially when I moved here but unfortunately, I like road biking so much that I bought the $1300 one mentioned above (after trying to find one on craigslist – but I was too uneducated there not to be ripped off, so I went for the LBS.. hmm ). If I had to do it all over, would I do it again? Yes, but I would probably get a touring bike instead. If I only used it sporadically, I would go for a less expensive model.

I think another way of calculating it is cost per mile. Currently mine is about $0.33/mile and declining.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:24:50 +0000

I thought you claimed that one should never buy a bike for more that 100 dollars?

I think a new bike is a bargain. Me, my wife and kids all ride sturdy Dutch Batavus bikes (www.batavus.nl). All purchased new (except for our youngest who will get a new bike when she turnes 12). The bikes cost around 500-700 euro. My wife and I both carry groceries home on our bikes. The kids ride to school on their bikes and we visit friends who live less than 5 miles by bike (except when the weather is really bad, then we take the car). We do practically everything by bike. Since we live in the Netherlands this is common practice. I consider a good bike a good investment. Used daily they last for at least 15 years. I spend about 50 euro every few years on replacements, I think it costs around 50 euro a year to ride a bike. That’s a bargain!