mace2

Newbie commuter here:

My first winter commuting, should be fun! The seatpost doesn't stick out too far do you think? It's pretty long, I think it's still around the "S" on the seat tube maybe?

Amani576

Just so long as it's not out past the mininmum insertion point/line, it's fine. That's the problem with sloping top tubes is that the seatpost always sticks out so god-awful far. But, a lot of people like them, me, I prefer horizontal top tubes.
Either way...
That's a nice looking bike. And is it JUST your winter commuter? Or is it your year-round commuter?
-Gene-

mace2

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. How do you know where the minimum insertion point is though?

I have a road bike for when the weather is nice to me.

nmanhipot

New for 2008: A few upgrades since last year.

phillypino215

wow those are some pretty serious gadgets you got goin there...

nmanhipot

Yeah, I think the gadgets are worth more than the bike Seriously, the GPS has been really fun for taking detours, running errands, and finding new routes home. It's also displays a scad of trip info on one backlit display including: compass direction, current and max velocity, moving and overall averages, distance, distance to destination, as well as stopped and moving time, which frees up the Polar for things like elevation and Calories. It can also give voice prompts and adjusts backlighting at sunrise and sunset. It's more useful than I thought it would be, but it's a poor man's Garmin 705.

WillynHook

Hey,... nmanhipot!

What kind of fenders are those? I am looking for something similar for my road setup.

Dr. Joe

paulwwalters

That is THE best Schwinn I have ever seen. You rock, dude.

LesMcLuffAlot

I think it's about a 2000ish Rocky Mountain Vertex TO, don't quite remember. Scandium Frame, 9speed XTR with assorted RaceFace Goodies. The original Bomber fork blew up and I decided to turn it into a commuter bike. I installed a DMR Trailblade 4130 fork to replace the bomber. It is a fast nimble machine. As technology marched forwards and newer bikes got my attention I forgot about my 20 pound commuter rocket.

One day while visiting a LBS I noticed a few bikes with the BionX systems on them. I had been looking at gas powered scooters for awhile with gas in my town hitting over $1.50 a litre this summer. I took one for a boot and had a hoot. I bought a system that same day and knew I had the perfect bike to mount it on.













It has a BionX PL350 electric conversion kit on it. I have disabled the speed limiter, which in my province means the motor would normally stop assisting at 32kph. It allows me to ride at a sweet spot of 36-38kph pedalling at a heartrate of 130-140bpm on the flats. My commute to work is only 10.3km from my house, but with the electric assist I get to work about 5mins faster then without at the same effort.

Don't be jealous, drooling allowed and encouraged. Oh yeah...it's no where near 20pounds anymore......lol...try double that.


Yours in cycling,

LesMcLuffAlot

grinningfool

nmanhipot, what's the box on the downtube ?
Gorgeous Schwinn, by the way.

svtmike

That's the battery for his headlight.

grinningfool

Quote:

Originally Posted by svtmike

That's the battery for his headlight.

Ah, yes, I see the wire to the headlight now. All I had to do was open my eyes.

xB_Nutt

Where did you get the mount for the Garmin? Is it custom? Looks like a pretty good set up.

nemo

it appears to be a mod of the one that comes with the garmin. usually has a large suction cup on the end for sticking it to you windshield or whatever. ironically I use that same model ever day on our delivery/ pickup vehicles.

nmanhipot

Close, it's an off-the-shelf item at REI or other fine Garmin retailers. https://www.rei.com/product/767418 It has the nmanhipot seal of approval, although it does take up copious amounts of bar space.

I have a mount for the road bike, as well, but it has the potential to interfere with your finger space and/or knee clearance when out of the saddle, so caveat emptor. The bar spacer is what makes it workable for me, in addition to getting the TriNewt farther out in front of the control cables.

nmanhipot

Correct. I couldn't find a better spot for it. I'm not happy with the non-weather proof connector that has to be removed to charge the battery facing upwards, though. I noticed a small amount of corrosion from the contacts, but that's pretty good considering the amount of rain I rode through in the last couple weeks.

nmanhipot

Planet Bike Fast Freddies. These are the hybrid bike size. It allows me to go up to 700x28, perhaps a tad bigger.

Ask your LBS about clearances on your road bike. Most road bikes these days only have clearance for 700x23 and a piece of gum, not fenders, so make sure you measure carefully before buying. Planet Bike makes an identical set for road bikes that are narrower. Since mine is a mutant road/touring/cyclocross mostrosity, I had room for bigger tires and fenders.

nmanhipot

Thanks! It's a little heavy with all the extras, but it begs to be ridden all the time.

funrover 

Well I updated the winter beater... Had the parts on another bike that is far from being worked on. Now I have front shocks, a wider bar, and a speedometer.

Ya Tu Sabes

Here is my new (to me) Mercier "Special Tour de France," the frame of which I inherited from a friend who was moving:



Getting the bike up and running without spending money has required some delightfully ghetto engineering solutions: I had some three-speed coaster brake wheels I wanted to use, but they have 26" rims (old Raleigh style), and I know that 26" rims on a bike made for larger wheels = pedal strike. So I took a flat steel rod ($6.99 at Home Depot) and cut two adapters that bolt into the rear dropouts and lower the axle about an inch:



Then I had to face the problem of the seatpost. When my friend gave me the bike, it had a very short seatpost with no diameter marking on it. Not wanting to spring for a new post (and also, feeling a little uncertain that I was measuring correctly), I just cut the old post into a long shim, then wedged a straight handlebar with a slight rise into the seat tube with the shim, cranked down the binder bolt really hard, and added a collar and quick release lever to squeeze the top part of the shim around the handlebar/post. If you look closely at the top picture of the bike, you can see that the post seems to lean forward - that is the slight rise of the handlebar. Here's a closeup of the two-clamp system:



So far, so good. I took it on a 40-mile ride on Sunday, and rode it three miles to work today. And most importantly, the bike looks smooth.

dcrowell

My recumbent commuter:


My hybrid, for short rides and partial commutes:


More here:
https://fatguy.org/my-bikes/

buttmonkey

This is my new commuter. I'd been riding a 17" Trek (I'm 6'2") since my other Trek was stolen and my 15 mile avg. distance was killing my knees. Still very much a work in progress, a new seat is high on my list, also better tires.

https://img394.imageshack.us/img394/9413/giant001nc0.jpg

My milk crate carries the essentials plus lots of room for whatever else I need to transport.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7117/giant002pu2.jpg

CCRonC

I saw ELAD63's resurrection and I thought I'd give an update on mine. My 1220 has been out of the dark basement for 2 months now and has become the default mode of transportation. My goal of getting a cheap upright with road capability has been fully met. The 28s Michelins add comfort but are about as big as you can go with the brakes.

RC

svtmike

Here's my commuter / main bike:

It's a 2008 Specialized TriCross Comp. I turn it into my commuter by putting the Topeak MTX beam rack on it; I've got the DX bag that slides into the beam rack.

Lights are Niterider Minewt X2 Duals in front and a Mars 3.0 in back clipped to the bag.

Tires are Specialized Borough CX Armadillo Elites.

Elad63

love the flat bar on your 1220. I bought some fenders for my 1220 from LBS, front went on ok, but the rear didn't work due to the brake bridge being round. Have to come up with another way for a rear fender mount.