GeneO 

ericmerg1

one of these two and a backpack gets to to and from work everyday

(the fuji now has a trimmed steerer and a different saddle)

vp1337

Usually it has a rear rack though.

jetta_mike

Hauled some important cargo today.

PennyTheDog

Here's the commuter for me, my younger son, and our little dog Oreo! It's an old Schwinn police bike frame. I built the 36-spoke rear wheel with a 105 hub and a sun cr-18 rim after the original rim wore out.


It's 1x8, with a surly stainless steel chainring and a 7-speed shifter in friction mode. It has Bosco bars with green fizik microtex on the right (because I gave someone the grip from that side). The saddle is a Velo Orange B-17 copy, which I've been very happy with. Schwalbe marathon tires.


The rack is Blackburn, and the basket is a dog basket my wife found online. Trek Mountain Train on the back, with an alligator squeaker. The picture is at a popular bike destination near Minneapolis, a coffee shop called The Depot.


We've explored a lot a lot of towns and run a lot of errands with this setup!

RubeRad

That looks super fun!

PennyTheDog

It's often a lot of fun, although funness level is highly dependent on my son's mood!

RubeRad

And his work ethic, I'd imagine...

suncruiser

My Roll... best commuter I've had for phoenix

PennyTheDog

I showed pictures of these before, so I'll spare the details this time. But here are my brother's Soma ES and his wife's Surly Pacer; I built them as housewarming gifts for moving back home to the Twin Cities after ten years abroad.






And here they are after biking to meet my sister and me for lunch today, on a beautiful Minnesota summer day.

GeneO 

Damn, no helmets.

PennyTheDog

They ordered helmets, they just haven't been delivered yet!

High Fist Shin

Performed some upgrades to my commuter to improve safety and comfort.



I re-cabled the entire bike. It needed it. The originals were ready. It shifts and brakes smoothly now.



Changed the rings from 48/34 to 50/34. The rings were beat too and I wanted something closer in gearing to my Roubaix.



I found a really cool stem mount for the light to move it out and away from the handlebar. This made room for the inline brake levers. I find that I like multiple hand positions on my 40 mile commute.



Lastly, I removed the cable stop from the stem and installed a new stop at the top of the fork. This, along with new brake pads stopped the brake chatter that this model is know for. It has very good, strong brakes now.

I really like the bike so far. It is turning out of be a great commuter.

-Shin

Mr Pink57

IMG_5665 by Mr Pink57, on Flickr

IMG_5663 by Mr Pink57, on Flickr

GeneO 

Nice gifts, they look happy!

PennyTheDog

Thanks! It was really fun getting them ready in the months before they moved. They ended up moving to near Minnehaha Parkway, which connects to Minneapolis' great system of bike paths. So it's really nice to see them using the bikes!

PolarBear007

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Sweet looking commuter!!!
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I've always liked the classic all-black color scheme. Yours, in particular, looks all business! I'm sure it's a fun ride though. Something to look forward to on the way home from the day.
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Do you find your Surly to ride better with a load up front (referencing your bag in the basket and not in a pannier on the back)?

Since my j-o-b changed and i work at home, i've nowhere to commute TO.... that kinda lowers the immediacy of the impulse to get mine powder-coated like i was planning...

PatrickGSR94

Here we go again. Why is "no helmet" the FIRST thing other cyclists say when they see someone on a bike without a helmet? Your head might asplode if you visited the Netherlands.

GeneO 

Relax dude.

Mr Pink57

Thinking back it does ride a little better with a front load as long as its under 10lbs. Over that it can be a mess but not shaky at high speed. On the rear, with a lot of weight it becomes a problem. I use a pannier when I commute to my office and use that bag around town most of the time. I have run all my stuff up front before and can appreciate the lighter load, but if an emergency comes up where I need to pick something up on the way home I'd be screwed without my pannier.

PolarBear007

Yep - gotcha. I was wondering about the geometry of your forks/frame for lugging the load up front.

I've found my Schwinn High Plains does very well with hefty loads on the front rack (i use a steel front rack - Minoura MT-4000SF - and it absolutely rocks). I used panniers up front for work clothes/shoes (and have a Wald handle bar basket if i needed).

Enjoy the ride!!!

saayee

man this stuff looks fun!!! I need to get on my bike more!

TenSpeedV2

You don't need a helmet to ride a bike. I prefer to ride without one quite often.

Paleo

ksisler

Looks very near perfect for commuting. Thanks

/K