[Closed] The Shame Of Commuting

Ha, yes, I don't have pics to hand, but my once proud Marin Nail Trail, a veteran of the Alps no less, is also reduced to skinny tyres, plastic crap on the back and a bottleholder. It was the tyres wot did it though - welcome to Dorksville.

I bought a road bike.

phone holder

My current commuter has 2.25" knobbly tyres. Resistance training...

What njee said - basically, you don't have enough bikes.... 😉

mustard: yeah I know. 😕

But I track my commutes on Endomondo, so my phone is effectively my bike computer. Plus it means I don't have to stop and get it out the bag if I get a text/call and I have the option of listening to some tunes. 🙂

basically, you don't have enough bikes

Agreed. Sadly I don't have enough shed space or money either 😀

how do you unclip the carradice with that mudguard there ?

njee20 - I've also bought a road bike. But that's as far as I'm prepared to go. Its sits unloved amongst the 'proper' bikes. Mudguards? Bell? Reflective strips? Panniers? Lycra?

[img] http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwg8k5er64fR_3ahw6hf1tcbvNKr6ulTBeZcWFMbojjGH7jKPuJO0GapkR0g [/img]

Up yours grandad!

My Cove Handjob has gone the same way skinny tyres, bar ends, mudguards & panniers but I love it (I will post some pics tomorrow). I have done a few 70 mile plus rides and have the touring bug.

I don't commute through the winter months so it is actually in MTB form at the moment. I ride MTB in winter and road in summer now.

how do you unclip the carradice with that mudguard there ?

It [i]just[/i] fits, hence the slightly odd angle of the mudguard.

Probably overkill as the Carradice has a mudguard bit on it too, but my work laptop is in there so I [i]really[/i] don't want it getting muddy!

Don't think of it as shameful, your bike has simply had a change of career...

With a bit of fettling and a change of tyres it could ride the trails again!

Think of it as having the capacity to offroad should you need it.

njee20 - I've also bought a road bike. But that's as far as I'm prepared to go. Its sits unloved amongst the 'proper' bikes. Mudguards? Bell? Reflective strips? Panniers? Lycra?

Huh? I'm confused... Are you calling me grandad? You're so awesome because you waste money on things that you don't deem cool!

Did you need planning permission for that stem...?

I don't know how you can look people in the eye.... 😉

[img] [/img]

Fixed gear, no mudguards, no phone holder, no practicalities.. 🙄

Up yours grandad!

SCRUBBERRRRRS!

done the same to my 6 yr old Blur xc - winter commuter now with ice spiker tyres. This is Norway mind

road bike for commuting in the summer

Did you need planning permission for that stem...?

😆 Original spec would you believe? Stupidly long by today's standards.

My bike in hard core offroad mode.
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2614/5698585055_d573f9c306_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2614/5698585055_d573f9c306_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/53067724@N00/5698585055/ ]Genesis Day-one[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/53067724@N00/ ]Jon Wyatt[/url], on Flickr

My bike in commuter mode
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2614/5698585055_d573f9c306_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2614/5698585055_d573f9c306_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/53067724@N00/5698585055/ ]Genesis Day-one[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/53067724@N00/ ]Jon Wyatt[/url], on Flickr

(Although admittedly, the knobblies there wore out in five minutes so I put some more commuter friendly hybrid tyres on, not that it stopped me using it for hard core offroad)

Fit some decent mudguards. My commuter is fixed. Rack, bell, full guards, puncture proof tyres. Permanent mounted lights (not yet a dynohub).

njee20 - I wasn't having a pop. Merely pointing out that I too have made the ultimate sacrifice. But there are things that are just a step too far - Mudguards? Bell? Reflective strips? Panniers? Lycra? 😀

OP: gorgeous bike, be not ashamed of your MTB commuting abomination!

I once fitted a clip on mudguard to my Mather, for a commute.

I felt degraded and nasty.

Far better to get muddy and be proud.

samuri - that's lovely.

is it singlespeed? - cause i can't find a SS Genesis Day1 with discs...

njee20 - I wasn't having a pop.

I see, clearly just being senstive today! 🙂

Despite many years of resistance I fitted mudguards a couple of years ago to the winter/commuting bike and they really do make sense! Still look crap though.

samuri: yep, that is a lovely bike.

Some kind of tourer or cross bike would be a good thing (though obviously I'd want one with gears), especially if it had suitable mount points for my mudguards and a pannier rack 😀

Fit some decent mudguards.

Suggestions? These crud catchers seem adequate - I don't mind a bit of mud as I get changed at work anyway, I just don't want to get soaked or get crap in my eyes.

[url= http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sks-commuter-mtb-mudguard/ ]SKS is my recommendation[/url]. I haven't done this with a suspension fork, but someone will have. They follow the curve of the tyres, so don't look quite so awful. I assume you have eyelets on the rear? If not P clips are your friend.

I've gone the full hog this year and fitted full length mudguards, rack and panniers and puncture proof tyres to my hardtail for the commute. A good dose of reflective stickers have been applied too. It may not look good, but it is well worth it in my opinion as everything from my clothes to the drivetrain don't need cleaning every day, and so should last much longer. Dare I even say it, (touching wood) I've never had a puncture since either, even though the hedge trimmers were out last week.

@djaustin: no eyelets and cowled dropouts. But yeah I could use P-clips I guess, do they come with some or do you need to buy separately?

@hs125: pictures please? I want her to know she's not alone in this humiliation 😀

That's the river bank at Newcastle Business Park not 2 mins from here - I hereby claim my £10.

I couldn't bring meyself to do it to a mountain bike, so got my dad's old 80's road bike, put on full mudguards, touring pannier on the back, lights....just need some trouser cycling clips to complete my commuting look.

That's the river bank at Newcastle Business Park

Yep sure is. I ride along there then cross the Tyne at the Millennium Bridge.

I hereby claim my £10.

Sorry that offer expired about.. ooohh.. 10 seconds ago.

@djaustin: no eyelets and cowled dropouts. But yeah I could use P-clips I guess, do they come with some or do you need to buy separately?

You'll need some. Drop me a line and I can put some spares in the post (in the interest of bike sartorial elegance)

Powdercoated, slicks, road gearing and a thumb shifter from a halfords BSO. But I still love it!
[IMG] [/IMG]
[IMG] [/IMG]

Drop me a line and I can put some spares in the post (in the interest of bike sartorial elegance)

Cheers djaustin, but I'll stick with crud catchers for now. Putting on "real" mudguards with bolts and stuff just seems a bit too permanent.

I don't want to spook her any more than I already have.

[img] [/img]

Oodles of reflective tape, sks guards (badly fitted by yours truely)
Three rear lights, cheap crap flashy front one and a magicshine eye burner.

I like to think that this is more gopping...
[img] [/img]

"phone holder" you sad git. "I'm on me bike!"

😆 As explained: phone = GPS logger + bike computer + tunes.

(also I have no shame)

I've got a Genesis on one but it looks nothing like that samuri! got it as a fixed now, one front brake, full guards. I need to spend money on it TBH it's falling apart.

OP, would that saddle bag take a shirt well, IE would it crease it?

Yeah it'll take a laptop, shirt and trousers easily without crushing them. Here's a better photo:

[img] ?w=350[/img]
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/carradice-sqr-slim-bag-including-sqr-bracket/

But there are no dividers, straps or pockets inside it (other than a small zip pocket for tools/valuables) so you'd want to think about how to stop them moving around too much or sliding down to the end.

I just wear jeans an t-shirt to work so I just wrap them around the laptop and sling the lot in the bag - which has the added bonus of protecting the laptop from being bounced around too much.

You may also want to consider the Topeak Office Bag which may suit your needs better as it keeps everything flat.

Bit more pricey though and I was put off by reports of the MTX bar swinging about a bit.

cheers Graham, might have a look at both of them, currently I'm coming into the office on a sunday with shirts for the week, and its getting right on my nerves!

One thing to note with the Carradice bag warton: They are very much a "some blokes in a shed" operation so they can be hard to find in stock and stock takes a looooong time to arrive (I ordered that bag in mid November and finally got it at the end of December).

Late but as promised a picture of my converted Cove Handjob to help share your pain. I usually have an Altura pannier bag attached to the rack. It works pretty well as it has a nice low centre of gravity.

Even have bar ends and pretty good mudguard coverage. Hangs head!

[img] [/img]

That's not [i]too[/i] bad jp-t853.

The proper black front fork helps, rather than the Reba I have which looks a bit gangly when matched against skinny tyres 😕

I thought about a pannier rack, but it would have to be P-clip mounted (as I think yours is) and it all seemed a bit permanent. The current arrangement means I can still kid myself on that I can remove it and take her back to the proper trails. 😀

Too be fair p-clips do make things a bit permenant as it takes the best part of an hour to make the change 😐 It therefore stays like this for a large part of the summer. It is then a MTB full time in winter.

I keep thinking of switching to a full time commuter/tourer but I need the freedom of a ride on the hills every now and then and I only have room for one bike in my life.

Here's my commuterised Speccy Hardrock.I was running it with disc brakes,marzocchi forks & hope wheels.Now it's got a cheapo fork,full mudguards V-brakes and cheapo wheels
[IMG] [/IMG]
It's now been relieved of commuting duties as I got a Specialized Allez roadbike the other year.I use it when it's icy & snowy maybe get some ice tyres next

here's my [b]Specialized Crosstrail[/b] which I converted into a decent hybrid commuter

replaced the crappy undamped Suntour suspension fork with a Kona P2 rigid fork

installed a SRAM 1 x 9 transmission, Shimano brakes, Thomson stem/seatpost, Pro Atherton bar, WTB Devo Ti saddle, SPD pedals, SLX crankset with M-Part chain device and Specialized Armadillo tires on Mavic 700c / Deore wheelset, and most importantly full length SKS mudguards for wet weather riding

[img] [/img]

only "original" part is the frame

it feels really confident to ride in heavy traffic and takes abuse from potholes without flinching, but also feels very spritely under power, like a big wheeled mountain bike

commute bike = mtb but with 2.35 SuperMoto tyres = brraaap and cush to the power of awesome.
Slicks so fat they work in the dirt.

I have bought a rack and ortlieb panniers (2 yellow ones) and so I am now a bona fida commuter

the thing is I actually like it

Well done headsup. I think we all agree that was very brave.
Would anyone else in the group like to tell their story?

[img] [/img]

Mine's that gopping someone has even started a thread after seeing it....

[url]singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/exeter-cyclists[/url]

Dialled PA with skinny tyres, fox floats (no lockout for that added climbing bob) and set up SS using a big ring and tensioner. I just feel sorry for it at times.

From this:

[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2426/3996208442_d65b6ebc7a_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2426/3996208442_d65b6ebc7a_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/3996208442/ ]Inbred 013[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/peter_atkin/ ]PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr

Through this:

[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4016/4270552759_0f58a29f23_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4016/4270552759_0f58a29f23_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/4270552759/ ]IMG_1459[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/peter_atkin/ ]PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr

To this:

[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3156/2677327318_5f0f4097c8_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3156/2677327318_5f0f4097c8_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/2677327318/ ]IMG_7246[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/peter_atkin/ ]PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr

And now this:

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5120/5901984405_1c2e9d175d_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5120/5901984405_1c2e9d175d_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/5901984405/ ]IMG_1412[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/peter_atkin/ ]PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr

But it's not SHAME. It's my favourite bike, and still the one I ride the most, the most versatile, and I'm always happy riding it. 😀

What next????????????

EDIT
Huh! The only thing that's lasted through all those 4 builds is the cranks.... 🙂

planning permission for the stem 😀 LOL

Thanks guys. it is nice. It's a day-one Alfine. but I ditched the Alfine hub and went fixed because I'm a lot happier that way.

So can someone tell me about bar bags or even a basket?

I need to take my daughter on the back so no space for panniers so wondering about how to take her stuff on the bike. How do racks on the forks affect steering if only loading one side?

Would I be better with a bar bag? If so how big do they go? Her stuff is light and squash-able so it doesn't have to be too big. P-P what do you and Mrs P-P have there - they look about the right size

I did see a basket that just hooks over the bars which seems nice and easy and would really add to the thread if I got it...

Had to replace my busted Principia 🙁 for dog walking duties (sorry, not commuting), so bought a frame for £25 off Ebay.

How vile is this? Thing is, as it's a Carrera, all the horrid things can probably be considered upgrades .. 🙂

[IMG] [/IMG]

If you want to build up some stamina then try commuting on a six inch AM bike. I regularly do a 20 mile commute on my Wolf Ridge, complete with Wotans and Nevegals up front. As a concession to sanity, I run an Ardent at the back and both tyres are pressurised to about 70psi.

I also commute on my old Spesh Enduro running on 2" wide tyres. It feels like a race bike in comparison and I've been known to reel in and catch a few of the roadie brigade on it. Again, the key is to run a lot of pressure in the tyres.

It's cheating, but the look on the faces of folk as you pass them is priceless.

[img] ?psid=1[/img]

My old '98 vintage Hardrock. Sadly now relieved of its commuting duties as the job has moved too far away. Normally wears crudcatchers front and rear. Still fun to ride around town. No apologies for the stem and bar ends - fast and low (well fast-ish... downhill anyway...), plus the bar ends give a little more leverage on the hills to compensate for the narrow bars.
Nothing reflective anywhere, and I usually ride in stealth black. Its a wonder I'm still alive really...

I do feel sorry for thepoor bike. Its a genesis IOID under all the crap.

cheap cruddy fork, nasty tape job, nasty home made mudguards, intended to look crap to avoid the attention of theives. rides really well tho and some subtle upgrades.

sorry

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6688913045_a3c66eab4c_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6688913045_a3c66eab4c_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/25846484@N04/6688913045/ ]commuter[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/25846484@N04/ ]TandemJeremy[/url], on Flickr

I don't think some of you are getting this at all. Some of those look like perfectly acceptable bikes to me 😕

Wooooaah! TJ gets it! That is truly shameful. Top work that man. Loving the bumble bee effect. 😀

So can someone tell me about bar bags or even a basket?

Dunno anything about front bags but have you considered moving your daughter into a child trailer instead? Depends how old she is, but our daughter started in one at 17 months and loved it.

Mine old 2001 hardrock is juuuuuust like bustaspoke's hardrock above, but mine is all black (still has huge spesh decal on downtube though) surly 1x1 fork, sks full mudguards and with a rack and pannier too. Many reflectors put back on it again too. I don't do cycle computers, but I am certain that it has the most miles on the clock of any bike I've had, and easily gets more miles on it per month than my xc bike.

[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6165/6204013937_19dfb51146_o.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6165/6204013937_19dfb51146_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketdog/6204013937/ ]day touring lite Swift[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/rocketdog/ ]rOcKeTdOgUk[/url], on Flickr

Practical tho 🙂

barbags: i always think this looks cool. don't have the right bike for it though

http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/pdw-portland-design-works-takeout-basketrack--bag--in-stock-now-1245-p.asp

[img] [/img]

GrahamS - The trouble with going for a trailer is storage at home and work

That basket looks way better than the wicker one I was looking at though

Yeah fair enough. They do fold up, but they are cumbersome and probably take up about the same room as an adult bike.

Great for trips to the pub though 😀
[img] [/img]