Cycling UK Forum

I think the single biggest influence on my choices of commuter bike was when one was stolen from the public racks where it was parked.

Since then I've broadly favoured getting something pre-loved and cheap, adapting it to suit me and using better locks. In truth reduced budget has also played its part in that decision.

My commute has definitely shaped my luggage and lighting choices.

I began with a very beat up Carradice pannier but decided it was too scruffy for the office. I switched to a cheap but new Halfords pannier, which eventually became even scruffier and was abandoned when my locks fell out of the hole in the bottom. Then I upgraded to a Carradice Bike Bureau, which I would happily recommend.

The majority of my journeys after dark are when commuting. Hub dynamo 60 lux of B&Ms finest at the front, Philips Lumiring rear with similar quality battery back ups for both.

Totally, if you allow overnight work journeys as "commute". I take the train with a fully loaded bike with usually a six mile bike ride at the other end. The problem is the train bit, which is on the latest GWR IET trains. To ensure I can get on, I needed a folder (cannot book a bike at short notice). On the way home, I hit a ten mile (sometimes 20 miles, it depends on train times) hilly ride of mud strewn lanes in the dark (the last train is at 7.20 pm). So out comes the folder - no 16" wheels for me but 24", lights all round and front and rear racks. And I've just replaced the gears so that I can get up the hills fully loaded. This has placed what I think are somewhat unreasonable demands on a folding bike (although all my bikes in the past have faced the same journey pattern). But I wouldn't have a folder were it not for the "commute".

gaz wrote:I think the single biggest influence on my choices of commuter bike was when one was stolen from the public racks where it was parked.

Since then I've broadly favoured getting something pre-loved and cheap, adapting it to suit me and using better locks.

That was part of the basis of using fixed for so many years - don't commute on a bike you don't want to lose. Of course, the other approach, with the Brompton, is that it never leaves my side, and lives next to my desk at work.

poetd wrote:Nice, how long is your commute? What kind of terrain?
I've only once seen someone on a Brompton going up the hill to where I live and my heart almost broke for the poor chap, was definitely struggling.

Whad'ya mean? I have climbed the Soulor, Aubisque and Tourmalet on my Brompton with no problems. The guy you saw on his Brompton must just have been a weak cyclist.

mattsccm wrote:Otherwise its the oldest frame with all the junk that's too good to throw away but to tatty/worn to be seen with by people who know!

Pretty much this - in the fortunate position of living just over a mile from work - either road or canal towpath depending on the time of day. Old ally hybrid frame, tattily sprayed in BRG, drop bars, bare bones apart from a rack. Love not having to worry about it being a thief magnet or about dings and scratches. Single speed.
It seems to encourage a faster riding style too - on my tourer which I`ll sometimes use if I have to shop on the way home, I seem to saunter along a lot more.

13 mile round trip, 5 on cinders along old rail path, three short hills. Hub gears, 26x1.6" tyres, used to have a chainglider but doesn't fit current frame. Bike gets cleaned once a month and chain wiped and lubed every fortnight. Chains last 5-6000 miles, sprocket 10-12,000, chainring 15-18,000. Been doing this since most days since 2006 except when flooded when I have a more direct road route.

I started cycle commuting a few months ago, mainly for environmental reasons. I'm allowed to take my work van home, so for years I was cheap and lazy, but one day I was sat in stationary traffic, on a baking hot day, listening to the radio, and there was some news about Greta Thunberg, and I had a minor epiphany.

I decided I was going to drive as little as possible, but I don't always work in the same place, hence the van. The only solution was a folder, so I can ride home from wherever I happen to finish. I bought a Brompton S6L superlight - I wanted a slightly lighter 2 speed, but there's a hill on the way home I couldn't quite manage after a long day. I actually use 5 gears every day, with the lowest in reserve, so I think it was a good choice.

I'm loving cycling, and becoming more concerned about the environment, so I'm trying hard to get my work to take the stinking van away and let me ride all the time. In the last two weeks, I've driven 3 miles, and cycled 75. For that to work without a heavy rucksack, and carrying all the tools I might need, I'd need a little more luggage than the Brompton can handle, but I still need a compact bike to store in my tiny living room, sharp handling to carve through city centre traffic, and as I'll likely be going further, with heavier weight, maybe electric... Evans had a Tern Vektron S10 with 20% off, so I impulse ordered it, I'm now just waiting for the call saying it's ready to collect.

gaz wrote:I think the single biggest influence on my choices of commuter bike was when one was stolen from the public racks where it was parked.

Since then I've broadly favoured getting something pre-loved and cheap, adapting it to suit me and using better locks. In truth reduced budget has also played its part in that decision.

I agree with the above , my workplace runs c2w and a few times just after people got new bikes a number went missing from the work bike racks , security has improved since but its obviously an inside job and site security is minimum pay contract guys .
When i had a new bike i started riding my old nice bike to work but i always worried about security and general wear and tear so i got a tatty but sound frame off gumtree for £10 and t cut it to make it presentable then built it up with spare parts , perfect for commuting my 10 miles each way and next too bikes costing hundreds + in a bike sheds where they lock them with stuff you can chew with your teeth and mines got motorbike chain on it i think its less attractive to teleafs.
I carry 2 panniers one with work clothes sarnies tec and the other has waterproofs and toolkit/ pump in it all year around , then when it sdark as i ride country lanes im running 3 lights at the back and cree 2 spot front light and a front see me light as back up .
linky to build on another forum
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/build ... nd.239970/

Thats actually a nice looking bike. Although those tyres would drive me insane, but that's me.

Kind of regret buying a nicer hybrid for my commute (rather than something cheaper), as a couple of times I've had to park it in places I knew it would be keenly eyed up by miscreants, which isn't great, one instance I walked into a shop and straight back out again due to queues and in 20 seconds it had attracted a small group looking shifty.

Also having paid more I kind of over-obsess about keeping it clean, which is going to be a pain in the Winter months.

So am seriously considering a winter beater. Don't know enough about 2nd hand though, and don't have Facebook which I understand is the market of choice for 2nd hand now, and any of the cheap off the shelf Halfords etc ones all look like they'd only last 5 minutes.

poetd wrote:Thats actually a nice looking bike. Although those tyres would drive me insane, but that's me.

Kind of regret buying a nicer hybrid for my commute (rather than something cheaper), as a couple of times I've had to park it in places I knew it would be keenly eyed up by miscreants, which isn't great, one instance I walked into a shop and straight back out again due to queues and in 20 seconds it had attracted a small group looking shifty.

Also having paid more I kind of over-obsess about keeping it clean, which is going to be a pain in the Winter months.

So am seriously considering a winter beater. Don't know enough about 2nd hand though, and don't have Facebook which I understand is the market of choice for 2nd hand now, and any of the cheap off the shelf Halfords etc ones all look like they'd only last 5 minutes.

I have replaced the tyres since the photo so they match haha its just what i had spare around at the time

For winter i did this drop bar conversion to my c2w subway, i have a funny shoulder and find flat bars dont suit it something to do with rotation of the joint / angle .

At first my 13 to 25 km each way commute (distance depended on the weather, mood and pressure at work) did not alter my bike. In the early 2000's I started with a 1990's Specialized Hardrock, interspersed with an old second hand Raleigh Winner 10 speed if the MTB needed a bit of maintenance. Then as I commuted by bike more often, including the winter, with the kilometrage approaching 10000 per year, I got a touring bike, a Patria Terra with Rohloff. Then things got serious. My car and motorcycle were sold and replaced with a Hase Kettwiesel Kross. Even the snow didn't stop me getting to work. Two wheel drive and knobblies are great fun, and interestingly cars and trucks gave me a wider berth (something to do with the "astonishing" factor I suspect). Luckily my commute was 70% off road, using a metalled walking/cycling paths across fields, through a housing estate and along a canal path before entering Saint Louis and crossing the border into Basel.

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I cycle-commuted over the decades until I left the RN in 1996.
First, was on my Hercules 3sp dating back to my 12th birthday 1964. First to school, about five miles each way.
Then, after joining the RN in 1969, it wasn't used until we married in 1973 and moved to East Scotland with a mile or so each way commute, 1974 to 1980.

After moving to Plymouth 1980, I bought a modernised version - Raleigh Esquire - from the next-door neighbour and in return gave my Hercules to his son.
Still 3sp, but a lighter bike. Sold that two years or so later and bought a 10sp dropped bar bike. Far easier and quicker up and down the Plymouth hills. Seven miles each way.

We moved to West Scotland in 1982 and my bike was inadequate for the ten miles, and very inadequate for the fourteen miles each way after moving house in 1983. Mrs Mick F convinced me to visit Dales Cycles in Glasgow and I became the proud owner of a Raleigh Clubman 12sp. I tinkered with the gearing over the months swapping the freewheel and the inner chainwheel to get a better set of ratios.

Come 1985 and moved to Cornwall and a seventeen mile each way commute, and I needed something better, so took my time custom building my Mercian ........... the rest is a well documented history!

Lodge wrote:At first my 13 to 25 km each way commute (distance depended on the weather, mood and pressure at work) did not alter my bike. In the early 2000's I started with a 1990's Specialized Hardrock, interspersed with an old second hand Raleigh Winner 10 speed if the MTB needed a bit of maintenance. Then as I commuted by bike more often, including the winter, with the kilometrage approaching 10000 per year, I got a touring bike, a Patria Terra with Rohloff. Then things got serious. My car and motorcycle were sold and replaced with a Hase Kettwiesel Kross. Even the snow didn't stop me getting to work. Two wheel drive and knobblies are great fun, and interestingly cars and trucks gave me a wider berth (something to do with the "astonishing" factor I suspect). Luckily my commute was 70% off road, using a metalled walking/cycling paths across fields, through a housing estate and along a canal path before entering Saint Louis and crossing the border into Basel.

[img]Hase%20Kettwiesel%20fairing%201s.JPG[/img]

I have always fancied a trike for winter but part of my route is a cycle path that is barely wide enough to ride an upright along and the alterntive is a roundabout of death as i call it, nearly been kiled in a car let alone a bike as everyone just lane dives .

Gears have been specifically selected (trial & error) to be as optimal as possible for the routes I use. Currently 42 x 11-30. I've also moved to steel frame & forks. Aluminium was OK but found the forks gave a harsh ride. Carbon seems a bit fragile for the rough treatment it gets. Finally, tyres are the biggest I can fit (28).