mike

Most of the bicycle commuters I know ride on lower value, older bikes.

The reasons range from theft deterance to simple economics. Of course, many of these riders also have their high performance treasure bikes waiting at home for good weather and weekend riding.

I use six bikes for commuting depending on weather:

1964 Girls Meteor Flight; for snow and icy, salt road winter days - value $35.00

1973 Huffy Escape 3-speed with a huge basket for hauling big loads - value $25.00

1973 Schwinn Varsity - reconditioned and beautiful making it's value three times normal street value for same model - value $40.00

1973 Peugeot PX-10LE "It's Zippy!" I ride this one when I want to impress people at work. Strictly a fair weather machine Value $250 (?)

How about you? What do you commute with? There are probably a lot of people who ride some really fine wheels to work as well as the masters of clunker husbandry.

Let's have it folks

jramsey

I ride an early 90s Trek 700. I bought it for $50 at an MS 150 Bike Sale.

The stuff on the bike, bags, pedals, etc., cost me more than the bike did.

Jonathan

MichaelW

I have a fantastic light touring bike , beautifully built but maker unknown, painted garish green. It cost me £100 from my corner bike store, but has had a few upgrades. I feel happy leaving it anywhere, which makes it a very useful machine.
My fancy custom made Bob Jackson tourer is way to valuable to leave locked up outside the cinema at night.

RonH

I just started commuting 4 weeks ago and I converted my old road bike (1999 Raleigh R600).
I guess the bike is worth about $400-$500??
With the addition of a bike rack, panniers, raingear, MTB shoes, kryptonite lock, and miscellaneous items, it is probably up another $250-$300.

The bike that waits patiently at home is my new baby. A 3-1/2 month old Litespeed Tuscany. :thumbup: :dance:

But I have seen a couple of young commuters riding Litespeed mountain bikes using a backpack and not a bike rack/panniers.

They must have more money than me.

Chris L

Just to clarify. I have converted the amount I originally paid for my bike into US dollars, which puts it in the $250-400 range. I actually only own one bike, so it does basically everything.

Chris

nebill

I started commuting on my hybrid, but since I got my road bike, that is all I use! I suppose I will start using the hybrid this winter when the weather and road conditions get worse, but for now, my road bike ROCKS!

As far as worth, you could buy both of my bikes for less than $500. But, to me, they are priceless! They carry me to work or to many wonderful adventures...how can you put a price on that??

JonR

What do you think those backpacks are full of?

technogirl

I've had two bikes, both Treks. They were on clearance, so they were definitely a bargain to me. My new one was a gift, so technically it didn't cost me anything, right? Although, it's funny, how I kind of miss riding my old 820.

I scour the Recycler (want ads), every other week to see if there are any bike bargains my size. I haven't found any yet. It's nice to dream, though.

I think I'm just like Fubar--I must have bike on the brain, or somethin'. It's cool to find out different things about bikes. I've checked out 3 different books on bikes from the library, and even if they're old, they do have some really good ideas.

Back to the bike price--I agree with nebill. They're darnn priceless!

LittleBigMan

Mike,

I guess when I think of the price we pay for bikes (I shelled out about $600 initially for mine), I can't help but say, respectfully, to motorists:

ARE YOU CRAZY!!!!????

biztyke

my commuter is a one of a kind, completely custom hybrid bike. i pulled an old mariushi frame/fork out of the shed(to think, i was gonna throw it away!) and built up a cheap, but respectable bike from my spare/used parts bin.

specs: mariushi '82 frame/fork, matrix rims laced to a gray fisher hub on front and an alivio on rear. new KMC chain, hg30 cassete and lx chainring. tourney xt cranks, alivio derailluers. lx canti brakes with xt levers, and lower end gripshift shifters.

when i built it it cost me nothing cuz i had all the parts lying around, but to put a value to it....id say $100. since i built it i have spend about $80 on it.

i love this bike because it performs like a dream(esp with the new drivetrain), yet looks like crap to thieves. ive even decorated it with some duct tape for added clunker-ness. still use two locks with it....cant take a chance, right now its my only mode of transportation.

i do have another mountain bike, worth around $1500.....that one is strictly for recreational riding. the only time its ever out of the house, i am riding it.

Andre

I bought a recumbent bike last week and am now using it for my commute.I've retired the mtb and don't think i'll ever go back to an upright bike again.I've had wrist surgery in the past and an upright is just to hard on my wrist.

Andre-Rans Wave

Hunter

Kudo's to all who commute. As a former commuter of many year's and thousand's of miles, I am glad to be out of traffic. I am not against it though that would be hypocritical. I applaud those of you who still do, and my prayers are with you all.
I do not however miss carrying the access weight of locks, and worrying that my rig may or may not be there, or taken apart, and left in pieces. Of course where I live now you would have to be clear out of your mind to attempt to steal one of them.
It is nice to be able to leave over $3000 in bikes outside in an unlocked addition (shop) and know they will be there. Of course you have to get by a female rotweiller who recently as of 3 months ago had puppies, and is very protective. I enjoy reading youse guy's commuting stories, and watching the progression. GOD Bless youse all!

Jon T.

I get around on a GT mountain bike ($529) but I would really love to try a road bike sometime. Alas, noone I know owns one and I don't have the money yet to buy one so.....MTB it is for now.

If anyone could suggest a good starter road bike for me to investigate, I'd love to drop into the LBS and check it out.

PapeteeBooh

I have used very cheap bikes for years but recently as I was cycling much longer distances I invested in a nice new touring bike (about $750). True, with luck and some work one can find an equally satisfying bike in a yard sale ( found such beauty: a road Benetto bike I cherish unfortunately the frame is too small for me) but I figured that anyway, $750 is what I would pay for a car (payment + maintenance + insurance) in 2/3 months so I might as well. To a lesser extend, (here I admit giving in to ridiculous social pressure) I also feel sometimes heavily looked down for only riding a bike by some clients so I felt I needed a decent looking bike just to show that I wasn't too poor to drive I just chose to.

roadbuzz

I commute on a '93 Bridgestone RB-T. Basically, it's like a super-low-end touring bike. Basic road-bike geometry, but equipped with a triple, and having cantilever brakes and sufficient clearances for fatter (e.g. 700x35) tires. The tubby tires are necessary since about 1/2 my commute is on gravel roads. The only upgrade is I replaced the drop handlebars with moustache bars.

SteveF

My Road/Commute/Weekend general-purpose-do-it-all bike is a 1986 Specialized Sequoia, which I bought new in about 1988 for $400--half the normal asking price, as it was the last one the LBS had and they wanted to get rid of it.

So, no, the bike was not expensive to buy. However I also consider that if it were wrecked or stolen, in today's market I'd probably be shelling out 4 to 5 times what I paid to replace it with something of similar capability and quality. So I tend to treat it and care for it as if it cost much more than it did.

My office caters to bike commuters with bike lockers, showers & clothes lockers all available free-of-charge. If I didn't have the bike locker or some similarly secure location for the Sequoia I'd be looking hard for a cheap used bike for commuting.

ViciousCycle

A bicycling magazine recently had an article on the subject "5 best commuter bikes." Of course, when you look at the article, and see that there are $2000 bikes in this article, you know that the magazine is more concerned with flattering its advertisers than with helping its readers.

I own 3 bikes that I use in my commuting. The old 3-speed hub-gear Sears Free Spirit is one that causes a local bike shop to laugh whenever they see it, but no one is particularly interested in stealing it, making it a great commuter bike. (Once at the train station, when I was in a hurry, I failed to close the lock correctly on the bike, meaning that anyone could have just ridden the bike away. No one did.)

I also own a mountain bike that is good for commuting home after a Critical Mass event, where I may be taking roads that I am unfamilar with, and so the knobby tires are a partial defense against bad road surface conditions.

I also own a Trek that I use for local errands.

bjlaw

I no longer ride my nice "new" road bike to work. The roads are too rough. After help from members of this forum I converted my low to medium priced mountain bike to a commuter. The knobbies are now slicks, a rack and pack carry all that I need and the front suspension is much more comfortable and safer.

UncaStuart

I started commuting in 1993 on a <$300 Raleigh hybrid, but switched over to an REI Novara Randonee $600 touring bike in 1997. the Randonee has continued to be the commute workhorse, along with the bad weather club ride bike. Occasionally, if the weather was terrific and there were enough clean clothes in my office, I would take the Trek 5000 through an undulating 30-mile route in the mountains, carrying a small fanny pack.

I like the Randonee because it is a good-value steel bike with a long wheelbase, forgiving on the rough roads. I run Avocet Cross 700x32Ks on it, which give good grip in the wet and are pretty good at sloughing off debris. But the Trek definitely feels like a rocket in comparison.

The other major commute bike is the Burley Rumba tandem my wife I use once or twice a week. Another good steel bike, it can carry all the gear we both need. We end up doing "tandem leapfrog" with other commuters: getting passed on the uphills, swooping ahead on the downhills, to be repeated as many times as there are hills.

mike

Isn't that the truth! Sometimes Bicycling Magazine tries too hard to write articles that fit their advertisers' agendas which puts the articles way out in left field.

In my opinion, Bicycling Magazine has abandoned practicality. functionality, and even the FUN of bicycling. If you are into bicycling, but aren't 100%into fashion statements, that 'zine isn't for you.

If you cut out the articles worth reading, you could fold them up and put them in your thin wallet.

technogirl

I totally agree with the fact Bicycle Magazines' attempt to lure bicycling enthusiasts to purchase more expensive bikes than they need. I think I saw a similar article, and man, that was definitely NOT on my price range. I didn't think I could even afford a good quality bike, based on that article. It's a good thing that there are good LBSs out there, and sites like Bike Forums and mtbreview to let you know otherwise.

JonR

They're useful in that format for an emergency tire boot in case of a blowout. Keeps your dollar bills safe.

mike

No kidding. After reading Bicycling Magazine, you start to doubt that you can actually bike on your existing machine at all.

I remember biking to the library, reading an article in Bicycling Magazine, and wondering how the hell I was going to get home.

LittleBigMan

Hahahah!!!

JonR

I think that's one main reason I stopped reading it. It didn't seem to apply to me anymore, somebody who actually rode an ordinary bicycle.

That, plus the fact that after about two years they start saying the same things over again in only slightly different words. But you can't blame any specialist publication for that--there's only so much you can write about a specialty before it's recycle-time.