Strawbunyan

I ordered a set of Maxxis Hookworm tires.When the tires arrive and i get them on ill post the pics.
I want to keep these MTB tires incase I ever want to use the bike as intended, Is there a special way i should store them once i get them off?

noglider 

@Strawbunyan, have you started to bikecommute yet? I rode to work today, 13 miles one way. I only do it occasionally. Then I rode 10 miles to class. After class tonight, it's another 4 or 5 miles back home. Class is almost on the route between home and work.

Strawbunyan

have not done my first commute yet. I have been getting to know my kit and trying to build up a bit of athletisism first....ands it is still a bit cold for me at night.

Korina

Well, the time change is this weekend; that should help. I remember my first three mile ride; I was so proud of myself! You be proud too.

Pantah

Hookworms are good tires. Not as easy rolling as a true pavement slick but far better than a knobby while still giving you some degree of traction if you get off the pavement or hit some dirt on the road. Definitely keep the knobby tires it came with. Larger size tires are typically easy to remove, easy enough that you don't even need tire levers, so swapping for an afternoon trail ride will be relatively easy.
Another tire to log in the back of your brain is the Schwalbe Big Ben. Similar in what kind of terrain it's designed to be used for as the Hookworm and Schwalbe makes quality tires.
There's also the Schwalbe All Grounder. I'll admit I have no experience with it but it's billed as a mixed use tire, so pavement and trails. The tread design looks well designed in that regard.

Ride the bike for now and swap out parts as you improve your knowledge and skills with a bikes. You may very well want to swap the seat for something a bit more suited to your body, change out the handlebars for ones with a different shape or change the gearing. The more miles you put on, the better idea you'll get of how you want to tweak things to best suit you and your riding habits.

Even though your bike doesn't have the mounting points for a traditional bolt on rear rack, several companies make racks designed to clamp on to such bikes, such as this fairly inexpensive one from Rock Bros. Far as a bike bag, there's a thousand options out there and most of them will do the trick. Pick one with enough space of, if you really want to go cheap, just bungee your backpack to the rack or ziptie a milk crate so you can throw anything you want in it and not have it fall off.

mechanicmatt

Not really, just keep them in a garage or shed, need to be out of the sun for UV breakdown and not get the full on feel of the seasons.

I am familiar with where you live, I drive through there on the way to Savannah/Corinth/Iuka area. That's a nice place to commute! Pretty rolling hills.

I'd get some reflective gear if your riding early or late, it's dark at night there! Also a good idea around there is to wear jerseys of local sports teams you like (Tennesse, Alabama, or Titans, Grizzlies, or whatever). The people around there will treat you better than when you go full cycling kit.

ScottCommutes

Old tires can dryrot and crack, even without being ridden. They last for years, but not forever.
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Strawbunyan

i work 2nd shift so half of my commute will be after 11PM. I got some lights and reflectors and i am going to some relfective tape for my helmet as well. Luckily traffic is extremely light that time of night. I have legit riding gear so i look official on the road bit nothing that makes me look like a "cycleist", I am going to have to pass on the sports Jersey because I only like 1 team and the Tampa Bay Lightning are not gonna help me in middle TN 😆😆😆

Strawbunyan

Thank you for the tire recommendation. I will check them out. I went with th hook worms because i needed something durable that would stand up to rural roads. I was looking at that universal rack as well and i think i will go ahead and get that to strap my bag to.

GamblerGORD53

That WAS true for tires made from about 1990 to 2010 and maybe now for some cheap brands, IDK. I had some that died in 3 years, the corners just disintegrated. I think they were Specialized made. They did have a different color sidewall that would mostly cause that. They did something weird to the rubber those years. Since I started using Schwalbe they last until the road wears them out, NEVER had one crack.
OTOH ... In 2017 I bought a mostly shiny 1973 CCM SA 3 speed. Turns out it had the plastic cap on the spring missing, so working poorly and got shelved for 40 years.
I decided to build new 650B wheels and did the rear right away, and both new tubes. But then I waited for the OLD nylon front tire to wear out, might have been the original tire. It went 1,930 miles, till I decided on this last 76 mile ride, a nail and prying the tire finished it off. Wobbled all the 26 miles home. LOL. Second last ride I took it to Jasper on a 2 day car trip. I climbed the hill better than the rental MTBs. LOL.
As for newer tires, I bought a Marathon in 2014 and just started using it in 2022. Rides as good as any new one. Any hardening actually helps toughen it.
After I got CCM tire home LOL. Half the missing chunks happened with the last dismountings, I guess. >>>



The nut holding my front caliper together disappeared, so I had to limp back 5 miles to town. Rode salmon side looking for it. LOL.

Strawbunyan

New boots.

noglider 

Oh that's nice! I hope you enjoy it.

RangerTampa

Since you ride at night, you might consider adding reflective rim tape to the wheels. I did this to my wife's commuter e-bike and it really makes the bike stand out at night.

Strawbunyan

Had the day off today so I rode to work and back round trip on the new tires. Other than some saddle and cockpit adjustments I am ready to begin commuting. The ride was not nearly as bad as i thought it would be and 10Xs better than it was with the MTB tires on. The last time i tried i only made it about halfway to work before my legs started crying. This time i made it all the way around with no real struggle. Thank you all for your help. Ill keep coming back to update on my new lifestyle and ask questions that come up.

Strawbunyan

i found some reflective tape for the rims, spokes, frame. And helmet. I am going to order it.

Pantah

Simply adjusting the seat can make a big difference in comfort, though I'll admit that some seats (saddles, whatever) will be uncomfortable no matter what you do.
Tweaking where the shifters and brake levers are and how they are angled is something worth doing as well.

For what it's worth, your bike appears to have had the cables and housing cut on the long side coming off the bars so if you decide to go with a taller stem and/or riser bars at any point, you shouldn't even have to redo any of the cabling. A handful of hex bolts and you're ready to roll.

Strawbunyan

I thought they seemed a bit long.

Korina

Cool! I'm telling you, by summer you'll be looking for ways to make your ride longer.

Strawbunyan

I believe that for sure. I got roasted for it in my OP but I plan on spending some of my extra time doing some urban freeride and trials in and around town for sure. We have some cool stuff around here that i want to jump off of.😁😁

Pantah

Exploring towns/cities on a bike is great fun and an easy way to get a lot of exercise in without even realizing it.
Back in my late teens/early 20's, I'd catch the bus 50 miles down to San Francisco and bring the bike with me. This was the very early days of smart phones (like first generation iphone) which I didn't have money for, so I'd bring a map and compass. Once in the City, I'd pull out the map, pick a spot that I thought might be cool to check out, stash the map and use the compass on the fly to make sure I was headed in generally the right direction. Had a bunch of fun checking out cool places, finding neat alleys and paths and really learned how to ride in traffic.

Strawbunyan

First commute to work in the books. 5.6 miles, 32 minutes.

Smaug1

How’d it go? Learn anything?

Strawbunyan

I learned that people are very kind here. I had someone stop to make sure i was okay while i was on a water break. I need a bottle cage. My saddle post creaks and my saddle may be too close to my bars still but i cant really tell. This is the first pedal bike ive ever owned that i had to shift so I am still getting the hang of that but I got a couple in nice and smooth. At my current fitness level this definitly isnt something i coild do 5 days a week yet but, Lord willing, it will be soon.

Duragrouch

I am familiar with the area. A regular "road" bike with a double crankset is not low enough gearing, especially with someone just starting out. You want low enough to be able to "spin" up the hill while sitting, without pushing too hard that will hurt your knees. (As you get more in shape, you may be able to stand on the pedals and climb in a higher gear, but it's always nice to have sufficient low if you need it.) You want either a traditional mountain bike or touring bike with a triple crankset, or more modern with a "wide-range" double, or a newer bike with a single (1X, "one-by") gearing. You want a low gear near 20 gear inches, and a high gear at least 85 gear inches, that will be adequate but higher is fine for that. Look up Sheldon Brown Gear Calc and you will find a utility for entering tire size and gearing to output gear-inch range. (You'll need to change setting from "gain ratios" to "gear inches", look for that.)

Strawbunyan

I ended up with a 1x9 that is 34t X 11-42 as someone who doesnt know any better, it seems to get the job done. The 34x42 has a lot of spin to it and i actually dont seem to need it much for my particular commute. The one place i really really do need it is my last hill on the way home, it is very steep but at my current skill level i cant keep my legs spinning at that pace for that long and have to walk some of it still. Ill check out that calculator and do some research. My current drivetrain is some off brand "sram compatible" thing so I plan on changing it out eventually. Hopefully by then I will have a good idea of what i need.