DavidW56

My commuter is the bike that started me on bicycling as a middle-aged guy. It's a 1972 Schwinn Suburban that was given to me by the nice older widow down the street after my wife befriended her. Her husband died shortly after they moved three doors down from us about fifteen or twenty years ago. She also gave my wife her own Raleigh three speed.

Elderberry

My '89 Schwinn World will be celebrating the twentieth year of its tumultuous life this year- first a stock, low-end road bike someone threw in a dumpster, then a mistreated, tiger-striped monstrocity, now my gritty yet dignified everyday, all-conditions direct-drive ride.

spacerconrad

I agree. I really regret selling my old Chevy truck. Take care of it and it'll last a lot longer than if you don't. Just like a bike.
I bought my sister a new Schwinn a few years ago (not a Walmart one), and a short time later, it was a mess. She left it outside in the weather. I've cleaned it up a couple times, and lectured her on bike care, but it's done no good, and the bike is unrideable without a lot of work.

rumrunn6

Elderberyy - nice job! I like the bell & mudflaps. Why the big rear bag & no rear rack? Just curious. Also, do you find the lack of gears an annoyance at all? I can't imagine doing my commute without changing gears.

Elderberry

Thanks rumrunn. The rear bag is just a little experiment. It's something I got from goodwill that didn't work very well as a messenger bag, so I'm seeing what I can make of it. I transformed it into a poor man's saddle bag with two toe straps and some internal framing made of old coat hangers. I don't put much weight in it and it stays relatively stable. I may look at making some sort of removable bag support like this:

but for now this works pretty well for small loads. I've got a burley flatbed for the real big stuff.

As far as fixed/ss riding goes, it's really never turned into an issue. Before I went SS and, following that, fixed, I was riding in the winter on a stock old Trek and the derailleur was jamming up with ice and snow, causing me to drop my chain every few miles. SS/fixed seemed like the solution, and now that's basically all I ride, and fixed is 99.9% of that. Living in relatively flat terrain certainly helps, but I think it'd take some pretty epic hills to make me think about parting from my fixed wheel.

rumrunn6

Interesting bag rack thing. I'm into reusing stuff too & gerry-rigging stuff - I guess that's part using old bikes. Yeah flat ... we ain't got in the Boston burbs. Sounds like a fun ride. Happy trails!

Doohickie

And my Dumpster Queen actually started serving her commuting duty today. I had to go to a different location of my company, so instead of a 15 mile round trip it was more like 30. The ride in was fine. The ride home was warm, in the 70s, but I headed into 20-30 mph winds the whole way.

TboneZX11

I rode my 70's Schwinn Varsity fixed gear to work today. One of my co-workers asked me if I needed a ride home since it didn't look like my bike would make it. HA!

Then he asked why I didn't ride my other bike (a 2005 Jamis Quest) - I told him...why?

rumrunn6

70 degrees? Wow, I'm jealous. We're expecting more snow tomorrow and it's friggin cold. 20-30 mph headwinds? Wow, I'm not jealous. That sounds brutal.

I went to Landry's bike shop in Framingham/Natick, MA last night. Wow, what an education I got. I told the guy about my potential plans to put drop bars on my MTB for my 36 mile roundtrip commute next spring. He brought out a bike that he convinced me was perfect for me and and I wound up agreeing. I just didn't have the $1K to bring it home ... It was a gorgeous Specialized Tricross bike. I didn't write down the actual model name, I think Tricross was the "type" of bike, kinda like a cyclocross bike but different. Anybody know the bike I saw?

Anyway by time I left I wound up thinking mustache bars would be the way to go for my MTB, 'cause then I could keep my other parts.

Standalone 

I'm still in the preparation phase for commuting-- I've switched over most of my non-work trips. I've been using my loaded down Comfort bike.

Yesterday I rode to the garage to pickup my old saturn from having brake work done, and took my c. 1981 Panasonic. It's a similar distance to the train station.



I've switched out the specialized saddle for a super crappy '70's vinyl-on-plastic and metal one. I want the bike to look as crappy as possible, since the station is in a high crime city. I'm reconsidering since it totally bottoms out and puts all the pressure on my pelvic bones.

I had also switched the pedals out for some rattraps from a dumpster 60's or 70's botteccia, as they spun so much more freely than the slow and gunky pedals I had on there. I've gotten used to toe clips again, so it will definitely get some.

I'm pretty sure there is some issue with the rear deraillieur. I bought a cheapo new 27" rear wheel and had one old one trued. The RD hits the spokes on the newly trued old wheel before it can get the chain into first.

The new wheel's sprokets make a light tappy-sounding clicky noise against the chain in 2nd and third gears. My limiter screws are set correctly, I think. I really think that the RD must be a little bent-- it's hard to tell by looking.

But whatever. It's a three mile ride, one where i can pick up a bus if the bike breaks down. I'm

Nightshade

"The new wheel's sprokets make a light tappy-sounding clicky noise against the chain in 2nd and third gears. My limiter screws are set correctly, I think. I really think that the RD must be a little bent-- it's hard to tell by looking."

Fix this ASAP!! Let it go and both your chain and cassette will suffer advanced wear which
will hasten replacement of BOTH parts.

Standalone 

I know, I know-- but investing in a new derailieur seems silly for a $40 bike that I'm going to be riding for 3 mile s and leaving locked up in the rain...

Elderberry

I don't think Nightshade is necessarily suggesting replacement, but seeing if the RD can be bent back into the correct position. This is obviously somewhat sketchy territory, but it shouldn't be impossible. Personally, I'd just do a janky singlespeed job on that bike by removing the derailleurs and shortening the chain, especially if you're only riding three miles, but that's just me.

Standalone 

"Make sure it's working as it should" is always good advice, EB. I should listen to you and Nightshade. It's a decent bike, so I shouldn't completely mistreat it.

I have three frames sitting around with horizontal drops (two atalas and a botteccia), so I'd feel silly SS'ing my Panasonic, which doesn't. SS would probably be ideal, as there are no real hills to deal with, just one bridge to climb over.

Big_e

I had been garage storing my 70's Schwinn Letour for a couple of weeks now. I took it out, chopped the dropbars and rode it to work Friday. I went to Katy Tr. today for a short ride. She'll be my new commuter now.
Ernest

manicmike

wow, i didn't know you could chop drop bars like that. going upstairs to cut up mine right now!

Big_e

I used a pipe cutter. Just make sure that you file the edges good and remove any burrs with the reamer. If even a tiny burr is left on the edge, you'll have hell wacking the endcaps back on the end of the bars. I had to twist and crush the ones that came with the tape, ream the ends out again. Lucky I had spare caps.
Ernest

manicmike

yes,i used a pipe cutter, but i think i would be better off with some new levers! i love free upgrades! i always rode on the hoods anyway.
mike

manicmike

btw, it's on a 1989 schwinn prelude.

Elderberry

If you like the way your drops ride at all, I wouldn't chop 'em. Get a supercheap/free set of drops with a relatively long flat portion before the drop, and try the ol' flop n' chop on that.

I did this for a while last winter and it worked okay, but I was really glad I hadn't chopped my cinellis, 'cause I used those all summer. Drops with good, ergonomic hoods basically give you the same positions of horns, plus one.

JimmyJ

In 19yrs and 49 weeks I will be in the same boat as you. Just purchased new Boardman Pro hybrid bike 2008 model in week running up to Xmas. Not much history with my bike at moment only that I have cross threaded pedal allready and have reached.
I even wonder with my bike if it would last 20yrs. All my other bikes have not - either got pinched, died a nasty and abrupt death or was uneconomical and a annoying budget bike to get back on roads again.

I hope to get many years out of this new bike but am not sure. I would use it daily and for general light leisure/commute use and not hardcore extreme stunts! Will just have too see.
Who knows I might be back to this thread in year 2028!!!!
maybe I should keep a bike journal.

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/hybrid/hybrid_pro.html
here is link to the 2009 model which is virtually identical to the '08 apart from my paint job is gun metal and not white, plus few other minor things. It gets me from A to B and X to Y so thats the main thing; actually the main thing is to actually pay it off now because I am a student and used my overdraft to fund the bike - only another 8mths or so to pay it off - I though I should speculate to accumalate.

Elderberry

That Boardman seems like a fine commuter. Dunno if the carbon fork will make it twenty years, though.

'Cause, y'know... steel is real.

rumrunn6

I'm gonna go look for some threads that will be relevant to me in 20 years.

vja4Him

I still ride my old Mongoose Switchback, 18-speed. I rescued it from many years of sitting out in the rain. Took it out for another ride today. It seems to actually ride a bit smoother than my Townie.

woody86

I just received my father's 1975 Viscount Gran Touring. It's a beautiful bike, but will need some elbow grease and some TLC to get it back into action. He got her shortly after graduating H.S. and was his commuter bike when he lived in Chicago. I think it will be neat to fix it up and get it running smoothly to use as a commuter bike again He hasn't been able to ride the bike for years since he has Huntington's Disease, but it made him really excited when I started inquiring about it, and when I asked him if I could fix it up. It's nice to see the bike kept in the family after all this time, and when I'm out for a ride on it, it'll be nice to know that my father rode the same exact bike in his better years