Goal: Choose an efficient bike under $500, affordable safety accessories and suitable bike bag.
As I mentioned in the previous post, you don’t need to know much about bikes or have a fancy bike to get started. You can get a used bike from Craigslist or from one of your friends/coworkers (mountain bike under $100, or a decent hybrid under $250). If you want to get a new bike, Performancebikes, Bikesdirect, REI garage sales are good places to look at. Check out this link for suggestion on a few hybrid bikes. I also recommend checking out Raleigh if you can get the corporate discounts. This post goes over some general information on bike and safety accessories for those new to biking.
- Bike types:
There are three main types of bicycles: mountain, hybrid and road bikes. I don’t consider cruisers here since they’re not efficient at all and not suitable for commuting, in my opinion.
Road bikes: usually have skinny tires, have either a flat or drop-down handle bar, are designed to go faster and are more efficient, usually don’t have suspension so aren’t as comfortable to ride, but you can make up for it with wider tires and/or a carbon fiber fork which absorb vibrations from the road. The drop-down bar allows for multiple upper body positions, that is very useful when you go for a long ride (comfort, minimize drag, etc).
Mountain bikes: for my budget of $500 and less, I’d go with a hard tail (with only front suspension.) At that price range, dual suspension models are too heavy and low quality and most lack the option to lock the rear suspension resulting in wasted energy on flat roads. Mountain bikes have big fat tires that make the ride more comfortable, but you also lose efficiency due to increased friction with the road which will be noticeable when you go faster and farther distances.
Hybrid bikes: Best of both worlds, a more comfortable ride than a road bike (more upright position with flat bars) and more efficient than mountain bikes. Cyclecross bikes are similar. Hybrid bikes are generally easier to ride compared to road bikes, which might be important if you’re just getting (back) into biking.
Note: if you have lower back pain, go for a more upright position – see pic below (hybrid bike with a flat bar or a road bike designed for touring.)
Note: The torso length (TL) shown above can affect riding comfort a lot: larger TL means you’ll have to bend over more (traditional road bikes.) Solution: 1) touring road bike (shortened TL for comfortable long rides), 2) buy a women’s road bike (this one applies to males.) Why? Women’s bikes are different from men’s in two main ways: shorter TL (normally women have shorter torsos than a male with the same height), and narrower handlebars (handlebars are supposed to be around your shoulder width, but a slightly narrower one doesn’t make a difference for commuting to work.) Therefore, you can ride in a more upright position, and more importantly, women’s road bikes go on bigger sales for some reason – maybe not enough demand? You can find a much better deal on a women’s bikes your size (let’s say 54 cm) with better components; in my limited observations, men’s bikes go on sale for 20-30% during certain seasonal sales whereas you can find a women’s bike with similar or better components for 40-50% off. I suggest you try the bike in store at a Performancebikes or REI store and make sure it fits you.
- Lights:
Lights are very important, and you can never have enough of them. I use them both riding during the day and at night. A powerful light in blinking mode gets the attention of drivers and keeps you safe. I have this tail light (#1 in pic below) on my bicycles in blinking red, I use the red blinking light from this set (#2 in the pic below) on the back of my helmet, and I use this headlight and bicycle horn on the handlebar (#3 in pic below). The horn is pretty loud and very handy in getting the attention of cars on the street and keeping you safe. Note that most road bike handlebars are thick and normal bicycle bells won’t fit on them.
Ecomoney consideration: get lights with rechargeable batteries. The lights that I got have flexible mounting straps that make them easy to attach to whatever you want (including your helmet) and easy to remove quickly. I also have a reflector on the rear rack (circled below), or use the white light from set 2 when I bike at night (I’m basically a moving blinking Christmas tree.)
- Reflective Clothes:
Reflective clothes, in my opinion, are as important as lights (okay, maybe a bit less but still.) I got a fast drying wicking reflective shirt from ROSS for ~ $10 (fast drying clothes are pretty useful if you’re worried about showing up at work all sweaty), a reflective vest to wear on top of the shirt (you can’t not see me on the road- plus I can wear this for a night time walk or run) and a reflective wind breaker that I got from an REI sale for winter time in SoCal (#luckyweliveinSoCal).
- Backpack vs Panniers:
I recommend you quickly experiment to see if backpacks are for you, before committing to buying expensive panniers and racks. I biked to work for a few weeks with a backpack I already had, and I packed my change of clothes and lunch. I found out that I didn’t really like the backpack idea: It was uncomfortable esp. when the bag was full and the straps pulled on my shoulder and it usually led to a sweaty back. Plus, I couldn’t fit much groceries in the backpack when I went shopping. I asked a few cyclist coworkers that use panniers and got input on what to look for and what they had learned from using theirs. So, I ended up getting a rear rack and panniers and have been very happy with that decision: I can carry more with me including grocery shopping bags, and I sweat less therefore reducing the need for wipes when I get to work. Your personal preference may be different, so do your own quick test and choose for yourself (as it can vary based on your commute and amount you pack.)
One thing I noticed when I was looking for panniers was how expensive they are. The most popular choice of panniers is Ortlieb which are water proof and normally cost $180+tax on REI. That’s too much for me. Doing research, I found the best ecomonical choice: one that was eco-friendly and inexpensive: Axiom Seymour O-Weave, the 35L pair goes for $80 and is made from reclaimed fish nets. Unfortunately, this model hasn’t got the attention it deserves and there aren’t many reviews. I have been using them for over 6 months now and absolutely love them. These bags have separate outside pockets (Pockets #1, 2 and 3 in the above pic) that let you quickly access you wallet or cell phone (pocket 2), and your coffee mug (pocket 1) – Ortlieb doesn’t have this feature.
I haven’t had to test their waterproofness since I live in SoCal, but if that’s something that you need I’d recommend getting one or two of these ultra dry bags and wrapping your stuff in them in the panniers. This solution is going to be more versatile and way more waterproof than Ortlieb bags while being cheaper: $120 (panniers + 2 drybags) vs $180 Ortlieb pannier bags.
Note: if you have disc brakes on your bike, make sure you get racks that are suitable and designed for disc brake mounts like this one.
- Helmet:
Helmets can vary a lot in price. It’s common to get a helmet that’s reflective, so you can be more visible riding in the dark. I didn’t get a fancy expensive one (and not a reflective one either), since all helmets are certified to the same crash worthiness standards. The cheapest helmet you can find is at Ross, TJ Max or similar stores for half off prices. I got a regular helmet at Ross for $10, and put rechargeable lights on it (you can see a pic of it above, in the section on lights).
- Frame material:
Aluminum frames are inexpensive, durable and light and the ones with carbon fiber forks are more comfortable for commute through city streets. Steel frames tend to be heavier, but are way more durable and, in my opinion, have softer and more comfortable rides. One of my coworkers has been riding his steel frame bike for over 40 years (has had to change some components but the frame has lived on like a champ.)
I rode to work for a few weeks on my aluminum road bike (with carbon fiber forks and skinny tires), but I like the steel frame more as it is more stable on the road and rides softer and more comfortable. You don’t need a carbon fiber frame for commuting to work (unless you can find one really cheap.)
- Bike components (groupset):
Components are more important when it comes to racing, and don’t make a noticeable difference in commuting and regular use. You don’t really need to pay attention to this, I’m only including this part here for your general information. When you’re buying a new bike in the $300-$500 price range (from bikesdirect of performancebikes), the components are pretty decent and will last you a very long time. Shimano groupsets in road bikes in order of quality: Claris, Sora, Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, Dura-ace (see this link for more info if you’re interested.) Being a nerdy engineer, I researched all of this thinking it’s useful info, but I found out that it really wasn’t. A friend of mine who has been biking in San Francisco (car free) for over 10 years just gave me a blank look when I asked him what groupsets he prefers. So, don’t spend weeks researching this stuff, like I did, and don’t lose out on the opportunity to ride your bike to work.
I shift gears very frequently during my commute, through hills and different terrains, and am a strong believer in multiple speed bikes (sorry fixie riders, you might be cool but you’re not practical.) My bike has 2×10 speeds.
- Disc brakes vs rim brake:
This doesn’t make that big of a difference, either. In general, disc brakes require less maintenance and and are more reliable esp. in rainy conditions (can stop faster). I ended up getting a bike with disc brakes after hearing stories from a couple coworkers who believe that additional fraction of a second made a difference and helped them avoid an accident or lessen the impact of the accident.
- Mud guards:
This might be a good addition to your bike if you may ride in wet conditions. You can get removable ones (I had one of these before, and it was alright) if your bike doesn’t come with one. My bike came with its own mud guards that are custom painted (unnecessary but super cool feature, and I’ve got a lot of compliments on my bike.)
- Spares and repair kit:
It’s recommended to carry a couple spare tires and a flat repair kit, first aid kit, and a small air pump in a seat bag.
- Tires:
Tire size also doesn’t matter much for a typical (short) commute). I’ve found tire sizes below 28 mm too small for city commuting. The ideal tire width, in my opinion, is 35 mm. Anything wider than 45 mm is less efficient and slows you down on longer commutes. These numbers are based on biking in dry conditions in city commuting. For dirt road or snowy conditions, wide tire might be more desirable.
- Locks:
Bike theft is very common is SoCal, so I bought a few locks: a couple U-locks and a couple cable locks. I found really good deals at ROSS store (usually a good place to look for misc. items like bike accesories.)
Our Bikes:
Here’s what we ended up getting: (it may seem like I’m advertising for Raleigh but I promise you I’m not. The corporate discount made these bikes cheaper than any other bike I looked at with similar components)
I chose a Raleigh Clubman disc (pictured above) because it’s a road bike with a short torso length and a very comfortable ride, steel frame (I’ll be riding it for decades), disc brakes, decent components (Tiagra groupset, 2×10 speed) and more importantly it was 55% off through the corporate discount of RaleighUSA (I got it for $500). In addition, I saw a couple really good reviews (bicycletimesmag and Joebike) that convinced me to go for this bike. I also wanted to be able to cross off biking to San Diego from my list, and this bike seems to be capable of that as well. The only downsides to the bike were the disc brakes that weren’t too strong and the not-so-easy assembly and tune-up of the bike. If you don’t have the patience for this, I recommend you have your local bike shop assemble and tune it up.
For my ecomonk partner, we chose Raleigh’s Alysa 3 bike. I was able to get a really good discount (over 40%) and bikes with similar components and quality were way more expensive. Some considerations that went into this choice are: light aluminum frame with carbon forks, comfortable seat, (hydraulic) disc brakes, and 24 speed (8×3). The bike was mostly assembled when it arrived in a box, and was really easy to put together. She has been able to bike much farther than she could and really likes this bike.
What’s your experience with choosing a bike/safety accessories? Do you use a backpack or panniers for commuting?