Suggestions for a good utility bike/ bad weather beater?
 

I'm snooping around for a bike I can use for, well, anything- something cheap, very simple, durable, and undesireable enough to go shopping with and leave locked to a pole, etc.

For drivetrain, I want no maintenance so I am thinking fixed gear. However, most stuff on my budget and/or goodwill and trash finds will have 26" wheels, so... what's the cheapest (reliable) way to go from 5-speed freewheel to fixed gear?

Second, I will need two sets of tyres, one for general street/trail use and one for seriously bad weather. Any suggestions on what tread patterns and brands to look for on both purposes?

In terms of accessories, I''ll need fenders, but they'll probably have to be the motocross-looking mountain bike type. What's the cheapest place to find these? Also, lights and reflectors- the bike will have lights of course, but should it also have reflectors? Will the added reflectivity do any good in, say, a bad storm?

Third, I really like bullhorn bars, and flats and drops don't really work well for me. Anyone know of a dirt-cheap way to find them? Also, what's a good, cheap and durable bar tape? (Doesn't need to be "officially" bar tape, just needs to do the job and not look embarassingly bad).

Fourth, the bike will probably be steel; how can I rustproof it if at all?

Finally did I miss anything important? This bike will be doing triple duty as a beater, bad weather traveler, and an occasional daily rider when my other bike is in the shop, so it needs to work well.

Find an old fully rigid frame MTB, lace up a rear wheel with 26" rim and a track hub.

You can get cheap bullhorns by pulling drops off of a donor bike and flopping/chopping.

I bought Planet Bike Full ATB fenders for my old mountain bike, turned utility/commuter bike. They rock.

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I use both. When riding onroad, I don't think it's possible to have enough reflectors. You local and state laws may also require you to have certain reflective devices on your bike.

I have the "Hybrid" version of these tires. Exactly the same, but sized for 700c (27" in my case) with medium size tires. Love them.

Seriously bad weather in Houston is not going to include snow so no need for two sets of tires. Bike tires are too narrow to hydroplane so no need for deep tread wet weather tires. A waste of money for a cheap build.

Agreed on the MTB conversion. I picked up a 1990 Trek 950 locally at Goodwill for $60 last year. Originally a higher end pre suspension MTB that cost in the $700 range in 1990.

Leaving the drivetrain stock would be cheapest and a derailleur setup is not that much more unreliable IMO than a FG/SS or IGH bike if you learn to adjust it yourself. Once cables bed in adjustment is very infrequent on mine. Enough hills where I am so I prefer gearing.

[Sorry if a rambling response is irritating, but here's some shavings from my own winter commuting wisdom.]

You mention price a bunch, so I'm going to assume you already have some bike tools because IMO, that's the way to save money on maintenance and incorporate used parts. If you don't have a bike coop near you, you might check craigslist for anyone who knows of a "bike graveyard guy"--like a feller that happens to accumulate bikes in his backyard and is willing to trade parts for beer or what. Other options are to frequent thrift stores, bikes often show up there, and possibly pick up more than one because really it sounds like your goal is to part down old bikes rather than buy new components. So if you find a rusty $40 commuter on craigslist that happens to have fenders--that might be worth it for the parts. If you are going to build up some spare parts, try to find cheap bikes with the same size tires and number of gears in back.

Starting with a mountain bike with hill climbing gears is not a bad choice. If you read the forums a bunch, you'll learn that if you have salt applied to snowy roads where you are, no bike holds up. I ran a 90's trek 820 thru many wet northwest winters and as long as I oiled the drive chain and dried it off, it held up well. If you keep it outdoors that'll wear it out much faster. If you don't have a book on bike maintenance, that's a good investment. I ended up applying white lith grease to all the hex bolts to keep water from pooling and rusting them.

Getting these items used or in barter can slims the price down, but takes more time. Consider what to get first that you know you can't make yourself. Cargo racks are tuff to make yourself, but fenders are easy. Fenders can be improvised from coroplast campaign lawn signs or from string and water bottles. (And also, if you need to buy from Amazon--I've seen fenders there for $15, but be careful of shipping charges. I'm guilty of an $8 purchase with $15 shipping, I admit it.)

Tires? I rode 26" road slicks in wet and freezing weather in the northwest all last winter, and I only wanted my snow tires for about two days. If you're worried about your budget, find another pair of used tires and always travel with a frame pump and tubes (and bus fair), which should be good enough to get you home to where you can take the time to patch. (Once last October I got a flat while crossing a large intersection and had to pull over in front of a house where three rottweilers trotted out to greet me, in the rain. I was able to get a new tube in and pump it up just enough between tossing a stick for them that I found in the gutter. )

Wet rides will be the worst on your tires--ride on the white line to avoid the glass that accumulates on the right shoulder. Just a little glass on a wet day will slice your tire effortlessly (as opposed to on a dry day). I suggest buying Mr Tuffies and keeping your tires properly inflated and checking them after every wet ride for deeply embedded glass, stables, drill shavings and sharp gravel. Keeping your tires inflated will avoid pinch flats that tuffies can cause. Wear safety glasses while using your needle-nose pliers when pulling sharp stuff outta yer tread. I've had tires throw shards of glass right into my face. Also wipe down your chain after a wet ride and oil it soon after wet rides, next day is ok. Oil 1x a week at least even in dry weather. That'll save you money on chain and cogs later. (Another rain tip--I keep a pair of cheap clear safety glasses (Lowes, $6) on a lariat with my rain jacket--this keeps rain, hail and gravel from passing cars out of my eyes on the commute. That little bit of protection right there keeps me so much more comfortable in bad weather I often forget about the rain entirely.)


I napkin-sketched what a commuter kit would cost in new parts this afternoon, because I'm also considering rolling a mountain bike into a winter commuter, and it's about $75 in new parts: $8 for ergo grips, $15-20 for fenders, $30 for road tires, $10 rack, throw more in for toe clips and bar ends. I didn't even count lights. Zip-tying jogger blinkies is often much cheaper than buying seat-post mounted blinkies for instance. Lights--hard to save cash on bike lights, your local ordinances might require lights fixed to the bike front and back (not on helmet or in mesh of a backpack). Used secondhand lights can often be reinstalled with zip ties. I keep an Energizer LED head-lamp on my helmet all fall and winter, it's super useful for dark winter operations. I keep a red blinkie zip tied to the back of my helmet, too.

My experience as a wet-weather commuter has shown me that even though I started cheap, I gradually upgraded as comfort dictated. I went from short fenders to full fenders with zip-tied milk-carton mudflaps brightened with yellow plastic tape, rain pants, vivid yellow cycling jacket with cinch neck and a bunch of other little accessories (gloves, lots of reflective strip sewn onto backpacks etc) -- as I began to worry about staying as visible in the traffic during evening rain. Ultimately I spent much more than my wife expected. But I feel safer because of it.