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one of our workshop guys had one of them in holland hans rey ....
its as heavy as it looks and pulls small children into its orbit.
not my cup of tea - i filed it under boris bikes.
for me, it'd be a logical and sensible choice for my typical commute. But why be sensible?
I'm never sure what some of the other commuters carry with them. they have 2 panniers, a rucksack and other stuff
Well if you use a bike as primary transport then have a think about what you might take on daily travels (maybe in your car?)
- clothes for whatever/wherever I'm going after work
- things I need to take to work/friends/post office etc.
- things I need to bring home from work/friends/post office etc.
- room to do daily or weekly shop on the way home
- paperwork, books, laptops blah blah
Sure on one day I might not need much and be travelling into to work with empty panniers, but I'd be screwed if I needed to carry stuff on the way home and hadn't taken them!
Some days even necessitates towing a trailer if I have bulky stuff to move around, it just gets treated like the boot of a car, just because it's empty in one direction doesn't mean I don't need it later...
drop bars
fixed / ss
discs (front only for me - i'd like a pair...)
shortish Chainstays
dynamo
punture proof tyres.
on a pompino for me. was a really nice winter bike too until i added marathon plus, to deal with the extra glass. makes it horrible to ride for pleasure unfortunately. but still a great commuter.
When bike commuting, I've found that i spend more time doing things like...
- Changing into suitable bike clothing
I find that I need to wear clothes anyway so no extra time.
- unlocking the bike
Bikes are all in the house.
- attaching the lights
Dynamo
- attaching the pannier bags
One Ortlieb 4 litre saddlebag. Contains all I need (most of my work clothes are left at work) and fastens to the bike in about 5 seconds
- locking the bike
OK, get out key, undo the lock, fit through bike, lock up. 30 seconds?
- removing the lights and bags
Dynamo for the first, another 5 seconds to get the bag off.
- Changing into work clothing
I'll give you this one.
Edit: Looking at the lists of likes/requirements for a commuter, it seems that most list the same attributes or at least a core of common attributes. Keep it simple, keep it reliable.
I commute into London, only from Stratford into the City mind as it's the train for an hour before that. But I use my Stanton Sherpa as it's my only bike.
I tend to have a little pootle though rather than go direct so head over the MTB track for a bit first then through the Olympic Park as there are a few things to play with then I just I follow the Canal round to the Islington Tunnel and then road down into the city. I love it for what it is and love doing it on the Sherpa.
Not what you asked I know but if I was just going to head from A to B direct then I would look at a Charge Plug I think.
Right, 750 miles in for the year split by the following
400 fixed
100 gt grade
250 carbon road bike
Obviously the carbon roadie is fastest but three weeks in and it's falling apart. Bb is shot, gears need constant fettling and I've done a set of brake blocks already (rain + salt ruins pads). It'll be back o the fixed tomorrow unless I can be arsed fitting a new rear tyre to the grade tonight.