A good commuter bike

[jacob]

I think it depends on

How fast do you like to go?

Do you need to carry stuff? 5lbs? 20lbs? 50lbs?

Do you live in a hilly terrain or the largest hill a freeway overpass?

Does it rain?

Is it windy?

How careful are you about maintenance?

What kind of roads do you have? All road? Dirt?

[GetLaidOff]

1. Fast, but solid (heavier) construction and some curb jumping ability is desired.

2. Yes, this will be the grocery-getter!

3. Midwest college town with some moderate hills.

4. Rains and snows!

5. This will be my baby. At the same time, I don't want to have to mess with a derailer or brake issue every other day.

6. 95% pavement. And some good potholes.

[jacob]

A single speed is pretty easy to maintain. If you don't have severe hills (over 5%) and are fine staying at around 16mph, you can do well with a single speed. Single speeds are much easier to maintain. You can cover them with used motor oil without problems. You might even want to consider a coaster brake although fiddling with brakes is no biggie.
I wrote about my current ride a while back. Steel frame single speed. Total cost about $50. If I put some fenders on it, it would do everything you requested although I'd take it easy on the curb jumping.
I also like the dutch bikes ... pricey ones.

http://www.dutchbikeseattle.com/_catalo ... WorkCycles
One thing I like about my $50 conversion is that it wouldn't be a great loss if it got stolen. A friend of mine has lost 7 bikes.

[akratic]

1 - Medium speed, I like to avoid showering after each bike ride

2 - 20 lbs, I grocery shop on my bike and buy in bulk

3 - 100% flat, not a single hill within miles, but lots of stop signs and lights

4 - Rain & Snow

5 - Very windy

6 - Lazy about maintenance

7 - All roads
Honestly, I probably know what I need: a single speed that fits me with fenders and a rack.
The big question I struggle with is how nice of a bike to buy. If spending an extra $1000 on my bike would enable me to bike 7 miles for the same amount of time and effort that 5 miles takes on my beater, I could save $100/mo in rent.
In other words, I don't have a good sense of how much better an expensive bike rides than a cheap one.
Holding effort and time constant, is it:

$50 bike -> 5 miles, $500 bike -> 7.5 miles, $2000 bike -> 10 miles
Or more like?

$50 bike -> 5 miles, $500 bike -> 5.1 miles, $2000 bike -> 5.2 miles

[jacob]

Very windy, you'd probably want some gears. Maybe even triathlon bars (I put some of my mountain bike in Denmark ... a free 2mph extra for the same amount of effort).
How much do you get for your money ...
Spending $600 is like losing 5 pounds.

Spending $1200 is like losing 20 pounds.

Spending $2400 is like losing 25 pounds.

Spending $4800 is like losing 30 pounds.
The bike will make you better, but above $1200, the marginal benefits decrease rapidly compared to getting in better shape.
For me the main concern with an expensive bike is getting it stolen. If I have to leave it unsupervised somewhere, I'd get the cheap one. IF I can leave it somewhere with lots of eyeballs, then a more pricey one and some massive chains.

[cg]

1) Medium speed. I have access to showers at work, but its also 10 miles one way. It's hilly, mostly downhill on the way to work, and the opposite on the way back.

2) Laptop and lunch, so 15 pounds with the bag? It'd also be great to get groceries. The grocery store is 1.5 miles away.

3) Hilly. Don't know what the grades are, but there is about a mile long climb getting to my place.

4) It rains a fair amount, and snows a couple of times a year.

5) Not that windy.

6) Don't know much about bike maintenance, but willing to learn!

7) All roads.
I've looked for bikes, but I've found this weird pattern where I live. If the staff is helpful, they don't have a large selection of bikes. If there is a large selection of bikes, there is no one around to help. I'd really like to ride a couple of bikes at a shop before deciding to purchase.

[jacob]

@cg - Do you really need "all roads"? 10 miles + "all roads" means a beefed up touring bike with fatter tires than usual. 100 miles a week is a tall order unless you're an enthusiast rider. I'd up the speed priority simply to avoid spending 2-3 hours a day in the saddle. I may go as far as to have two bikes. One for commuting and one for hauling.
Incidentally, there's nothing wrong about trying several different shops. Shops seem to mainly sports 1 or 2 brands and nothing else. Brands have different philosophies when it comes to frames and components.

[cg]

@jacob - I've thought about the distance as well. I think 10 miles one way, or 20 miles in a day is not so bad. It's the 100 miles in a week that would be tough. However, I probably should have mentioned that there is a bus route that goes directly from my place to work and has bike racks, which would work as a fall back plan in case of rain or heat (95F today!).
Maybe I misinterpreted "all roads", too. I meant the entire route is road....paved...

[Jon]

I'm not a biker... yet, but I've ordered one of these babies for commuting to work.
http://www.bikes.com/main+en+01_102+SHE ... &SCATID=26
My commute is going to be about 16 miles one way according to google maps, which is pretty rough.

[jacob]

@cg - Steel road bike with gears. You'll appreciate the gears. Why steel? It lasts forever (a few decades anyway) and it absorbs road vibration much better than aluminum. Speaking of gears, I'd stick with a double in front and go for 105 or better.
@Jon - Wifey has a Tiagra shifted triple ring on the front. Nothing but grief. Triple is a lot harder to align than double. I suspect it's more of a triple issue than a tiagra issue. It could also be that heer bike frame is really short which puts shear pressure on the chain causing it to jump around. Longer frames may not have that issue. Otherwise, good choice.

[akratic]

It's not bicycle weight that matters to me, just how far I can go for a given amount of effort.
Presumably weight and effciency are related, but how much?
What I'd love to see is a chart with cost on one axis and "miles traveled in 10 minutes using 100 calories" on the other. Perhaps I should construct such a graph myself with a heart rate monitor and some demo bikes from local bike stores.

[ScottfromMenominee]

1 - I like to go moderate speed

2 - For work, I need to carry about 10lbs.

3 - I live in a flat terrain.

4 - It's been raining about twice a week in the past month.

5 - It gets very windy sometimes.

6 - I am lazy when it comes to maintenance.

7 - The roads are asphalt and concrete with lots of bumps and potholes.
I've been looking at my local bike shops, plus online. I was tending towards getting a hybrid / road bike, but someone at work who bikes prefers a comfort bike due to the terrain. I live 3.6 miles from work and everything else I need in life is within walking distance. Also, due to the wintry weather, I can ride for about 8 months a year.

[jacob]

The thing about comfort bikes is that they are actually not that comfortable for extended trips (over 2 miles). The saddle is too broad, it chafes, the position is too upright which will destroy you in any kind of wind.
A hybrid is an ok compromise although, if it's windy, you gain a huge benefit from tugging in.
A steel road bike with fenders and a rack seems to be the universal solution for everybody. The only thing to consider is the amount of gears.
Gears = hilly and windy but more maintenance

Single speed = practically no maintenance, but little wind and flat.
You can also go with a 7 speed internal. This also has little maintenance, but it costs more.

[ScottfromMenominee]

Thanks, Jacob, for the good advice. I am a novice in this area.

[jacob]

I hope everyone has read all the mails in this thread, because everybody is looking for the same thing with few variations.
A comment on gearing.
A single speed is enormously easy to maintain. There's practically no maintenance. A single speed will never be fast. What is fast to you? To me, fast is a cruising speed over 19mph. My single speed goes at 14 mph or so. A leisurely pace. OTOH, for a beginner, 14 mph may be right at the limit. So it all depends. A single speed is obviously also harder to drive over hills and it's a royal pain to go upwind with for anyone whose middle name isn't "Hammerhead".
Maintenance? Well, if it rains on a single speed, no biggie. Just cover the chain with used motor oil. It'll run.
If it starts raining on your multispeed, out comes the rag, and you'll be relubing at least weekly if not daily. In general, I keep my racer indoor if it's raining, because I don't want to spend 20 minutes wiping it down [Some say I may be overdoing it, but I lost a bike to rust over a few months because I slacked on that and just left it unmaintained.]
Another way to think of it:

Multispeed: M16.

Singlespeed: AK47.

[Britz]

Two comments:
1. Get wide, sturdy tires, perhaps even mountain bike tires, rather than narrow speed-tires. Don't pump your tires too full of air either, and if you have wheel-shocks, then don't make then too tight. All this to counter bad road surfaces, car crash debris, potholes, curbs, etc.; it's better to go a bit slower, and have to work a bit harder, than to get punctures and broken spokes all the time.
Unless, of course, you live somewhere where there are great dedicated cycle lanes like in Holland and Denmark, say, in which case, you can go for speedy-thin tires
2. I replaced my motorbike by an electric bike and really love it; each day, I commute about 33miles (53km) on it (45 miles = 70-75km on Thursdays), and despite some hills, it's a nice and pleasant ride/low-intensity workout. The top speed is probably faster on a non-electric racer costing the same money, but all the bother and sweat of hills and headwind and acceleration is gone. My bike is a Wisper 905SE and well-recommended but there are other good ones around too.

It's a luxury of course, compared to a $50 bike, but it ensures that I do ride to work, and I look forward each day to the ride (even on rainy days).

Note, however that if you live close to work/shops/whatever, then an old and reliable $50 bike might still be best.

[jacob]

Electric conversion kits are available for around $300 and upwards. So one solution is to get a cheap MTB and mount the kit.
You can even buy 2 and 4 stroke engines. Check your laws and regulations if you live in Communist California ;-D
If you're pedaling rather than cheating , you really don't want fat underinflated tires. They're a lot of work. I do run fat and underinflated but only on gravel for uphill off road traction.
Underinflation carries the risk of snake bite (rim pinch). A seriously annoying form of flat which is almost impossible to patch.

See http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/snakebites.html

[Britz]

Some of those electric conversion kits are really good, though, like for the 2/4-stroke engines, it is worth checking local registration laws for the electric bike-motors; here in Sydney, for instance, bikes with engines more powerful than 200W must be registered (not free). Then again, hardly any policemen know about these laws or would stop you, and I've seen a few pimped bikes around here with 800W engines on both wheels.
> If you're pedaling rather than cheating , you really don't want fat underinflated tires. [..] risk of snake bit


Yeah, you are right; I overstated that a bit. In Denmark, my tires were always pumped super-hard but everywhere else, like here in rocky-road Sydney say, I pump them up hard but not super-hard - just a bit of give - and certainly not underinflated.

[Concojones]

Anyone have experience with riding a folding bike? I suppose it's OK in town, but what about long distances and the occasional dirt road in the hills?

[jacob]

I had a Dahon Boardwalk for a while. They are comparable in speed and distance to a regular bike. They don't substitute for a mountain bike though. They have more directional stability... it's the only kind of bike I can ride hands free.