The Ideal Commuter? - Part 3 My Commuting Setup

In my last entry in this series, I discussed the basic differences between a short-distance versus a long-distance commuter bike. This time, I will talk about my commuter, what accessories I bought and why I chose them.

The Bike

Any commuting bike starts with the bike itself. In my case, it is a 1992 Specialized Crossroads Trail hybrid that I bought when I was in college. It replaced my trusty Specialized Hard Rock that was stolen. (This is what happens when you don't lock your bike, but that's for a different post.) The frame is made from chromoly steel and weighs in at about thirty pounds. The drive train is a 30-40-50 chain ring with 12-28 seven speed freewheel. The wheels are 700c, which makes them slightly larger than the 26" wheels that were on my old mountain bike. The bike remained stock until this past year when I started commuting.

The Commuting Essentials

The first change I made was to install a rear rack. I bought a Bor Yeuh rack (the rack in the link is similar to the rack I own) from Bike Nashbar for $10 on sale. While not the greatest rack around, the price could not be beat. The downside I found with the rack was what I believe to be a pitiful lack of clearance over the rear tire. Therefore, I recommend that in looking at racks, especially for 700c tires, that you look for one that is either specifically designed for 700c wheels (most should fit) or, better yet, look for one that has adjustable mounting brackets, especially where the rack mounts at the rear drop outs.

I also needed panniers. I bought a set of Nashbar Daytrekker panniers, but was unsatisfied with the capacity, so I built a pair of panniers from a couple of plastic buckets that held cat litter (another future entry) that have proven to be very capable and voluminous.

Next, I swapped out the tires that I had (which were dry rotted anyways) with Specialized Infinity Reflect 700x38c. I chose these tires for the puncture resistant Flak Jacket casing and the reflective sidewalls. The tread is a little aggressive for pavement, but then again, parts of my commute involve construction zones that may have sand, dirt, crush limestone, and/or gravel.

The stock saddle was starting to crack and fall apart (note: avoid vinyl covered saddles), so I did some research and decided on the Brooks B17 saddle. A little pricey compared to other saddles, but it has proven to be very comfortable once broken in. If you decide a Brooks is the saddle for you, I would advise buying a tin of Proofide at the same time, and a saddle cover to protect it from the rain.

Speaking of rain, I wanted my bike to be an all-weather commuter, so I added a set of SKS P50 Chromoplast fenders and added a couple Brooks leather mud flaps as a finishing touch. I chose the SKS fenders because, unlike other plastic bicycle fenders, the SKS fenders are made with thin strips of aluminum encased in plastic. This gives them a bit more rigidity and, in my opinion, durability. In fact, you can mount a tail light on Chromoplast fenders; something that plastic fenders cannot do.

Being Visible

Since I know that I will eventually end up riding at dawn/dusk times and even at night, staying visible is a high priority. My philosophy when it comes to being visible on a bicycle is, "Too much is never enough". I believe in having a balance between active lights and passive reflectors; never rely on just one type. When in doubt, repeat this mantra: "Redundancy is good. Redundancy is good."

The biggest fear among bicyclists is getting hit from behind. But as I pointed out in an earlier post, those accidents are far outweighed by frontal and side collisions. I have two Plant Bike Superflashes mounted on my rear fender and red reflective tape on the backside of my seat stays, on the back of my rear rim and a red reflective sheet on the back of both my bucket panniers.

Up front, I run a pair of Romisen RC-N3 CREE Q5 LED Flashlights mounted with a pair of Twofish Cyclopblocks hanging off of a pair of Minora Swing Grips. The Romisen flashlights have only one function (steady), put out a lot of light (over 200 lumens), can run on either one CR123A or two AA batteries, and have a decent run time (I have heard over three hours, but have not confirmed this first hand). I use rechargeable NiMH batteries for the lights (both front and rear) to cut down on battery costs and lessen my impact on the environment. I also have white reflective tape on the handlebars, down the front of the forks, and on the back of my front rim.

The final touch is an amber dual tube Down Low Glow mounted on the down tube and left chain stay. If you never heard or seen this product before and do any amount of night time riding, do yourself a favor and check out the site. During the day, the DLG is pretty much useless, but at night, cars will not only see you, but often times give you an entire lane's worth of space when they pass you. (Yes, this is from first hand experience). Not only is there an enhanced safety factor, this is also the coolness factor. I have had more than one person say, "Cool" or "I like your bike" when I'm on my night rides.

Visibility is not just limited to the bike, but also extends to the rider. Depending on the weather, I wear either a short sleeve jersey or a long sleeve jersey in Hi-Vis Yellow. I also have a Sugoi Venture jacket in Hi-Vis yellow. At night, I will add a reflective vest over my jersey. The one I currently wear is a green safety vest with silver reflective trim, but ideally I want to get a Hi-Vis yellow vest with safety orange trim and silver reflective tape. With all the road construction along Highway 90 recently, I found that this combination is highly visible even in fog.

Room for Improvement

Now after all that, you'd think I'd be satisfied. However, there are some areas that can be improved upon. First, I am still working on a nagging issue of the best hooks to use on my bucket panneirs; I currently use latching fender hooks to keep the panniers from bouncing loose. Second, I would like a second set of wheels (front and rear) as a backup in case one the current wheels gets damaged. I also want to try a different set of tires, namely Schwable Marathon Plus tires, which have superior puncture resistance, but also a high weight factor.

Even though the lights I have are suitable for the job, it would be nice to have lights that do not rely on battery power. Therefore, a generator hub (either Shimano or Schmidt) and coupled with a Busch & Müller Lumotec IQ Fly Plus headlight and a Busch & Müller 4D Lite Plus tail light would make an ideal companion to the battery powered lights and allow for longer night rides. Speaking of longer night rides, a better battery pack for the DLG would be a nice extra. I would also enhance the reflectivity of the bike by using SOLAS tape one the front of the bucket panniers, as well as the rims.

And as a final Fred touch, I would add a Mirrycle Mountain Mirror (two, actually) to keep an eye on things behind me (like overtaking cars) and an Incredibell Big Brass bell (the ring tone reminds me of the bike bell my parents had on their Schwinn Tandem).

Now is all of this really necessary? No. Is it overkill? Probably. Do I feel safer at night? Most definitely.

The next installment will cover a selection of different commuter bicycles, with comments on their strengths and weaknesses. Stay tuned.