What Do You Really Need in A Commuting Bike?
When you're finally ready for commuting as a way of life, and want to have a bike that makes the trip really comfortable and efficient, here are a few features to look for:
A Strong Frame
Commuters often face potholes, broken concrete and junk in the road. A bike that sees this kind of action every day had better be able to take punishment. Choose steel or aluminum, not carbon.
An Upright Riding Position
Commuters ride with auto traffic. Your bike should allow a relatively upright position so you can twist and turn both your head and your body to see the traffic better. Your handlebars should probably be seat high or higher, even though it increases air resistance a bit - you're not going to be flying down the road at 25 mph anyway.
A Way to Carry Gear
This most often is a rear luggage rack and a trunk bag or panniers, but you could also use a backpack, a handlebar bag, a messenger bag or just tie things on with bungees.
Strong Wheels
You'll want lots of spokes (at least 36) to provide a stronger wheel to support the extra weight you'll probably carry. And when a spoke goes out, it's less likely to seriously taco the wheel if the stress is distributed among more spokes. Speaking of spokes, if your bike came with cheap spokes and you blow one, it may be advisable to have the wheel rebuilt with good spokes. You spend a lot of time on your commuter, and a good, solid wheel (particularly on the rear) means a lot fewer problems in the future.
Wide, Slick, Puncture Resistant Tires
Wider tires give you a softer ride and better grip, and they are not necessarily any slower than thin tires. Slick tires offer less rolling resistance on paved road for a faster trip. Knobby tires are actually less secure on pavement, since less rubber is in contact with the road. For commuters, puncture resistance tends to trump speed in tires - you can select tires with protective material such as Kevlar or add protective strips or goop inside your existing tires.
A Chain Guard
If you're going to wear good clothes, you don't want gunk from your chain rubbing off on your pants leg or skirt. You can always wear a leg band to keep your pants tight to your leg, but a chain guard is more effective.
Fenders
You don't want a face or a back full of grime or water from the road. Fenders aren't always perfect, but they're a heck of a lot better than nothing at all.
Comfortable Saddle
You'll have to determine which saddle style is most comfortable to you. You'll need to try out several styles. Many commuters and tourers highly recommend leather saddles (particularly Brooks, and specifically the Brooks B17) as the top of the line.
Dynamo Hub
This is on the wish list of a lot of commuters. Though it's not an essential, this clever device will power your lights without you having to worry about batteries, and the drag from a good hub is minimal. The downsides are that these are very expensive and a potential target for thieves and the lights may not be bright enough for you.
Internal Gearing and Brakes
A hub with internal gearing (preferably 7-8 gears) and brakes (again, not really essential) will make these potential problem areas almost totally worry and maintenance free.
The Best Commuting Bike Styles
People who do the most commuting speak less of bicycle brands and more of the configuration or style of the bike and its application to their commuting needs. For this reason we don't offer bike suggestions by brand, but by how the frame is configured. Nine categories are listed here, graded in descending sequence by knowledgeable commuters. There are many brands and price levels available in each category. You can browse the categories for what looks good to you, then use the Resources section to look up brands and prices in the categories you like.
English Roadster
The most popular configuration with experienced commuters seems to be the English Roadster. The Europeans (particularly the Danish and Dutch) , over many decades of urban biking, have developed a wonderfully functional design for commuting. Azor, Velorbis, Batavus and Pashley are a few makers of excellent bikes in this style, but they are made for the European market, so they can be hard to get in the U.S. Electra, an American manufacturer, makes an Amsterdam line (Amsterdam Men's Classic, pictured) based on these bikes. These bikes will have most of the features commuters look for, but they are a bit heavy.
Touring Bike
Touring bikes, with their sturdy frames and plentiful braze-ons for accessories, make very good commuter bikes and are the second most popular bike configuration. Most touring models can accept fenders, but don't have chain guards, so you'll have to wear ankle straps. Surly (Surly Long Haul Trucker pictured), Kona and Rivendell are three popular makes of touring bike, although there are many more. See the Touring Bikes page for additional manufacturers and information.
Cyclocross
Cyclocross configurations are also very popular with experienced commuters. Strong and flexible, they are generally faster and lighter than touring bikes. They are also easy to equip with fenders and racks. Get a steel or aluminum frame with lots of braze-ons, and replace the treaded tires which come with the bike with slicker road tires. Since they are essentially racing bikes, their body position will tend to be more aggressive (down) than other commuting bikes, and they will not have chain guards. (Bianchi Volpe pictured)
Folding Bike
Folders are popular primarily because of their space-saving feature - they actually fold up quite small. They are easy to take inside and store at work, they can be carried on a bus or train and they can be folded up and tossed in the trunk when you get a ride to work with a friend. They tend to ride rough because of the smaller wheels (which are often hard to find tires for locally) and a more flexible frame. Dahon (Dahon Curve D3 pictured), Brompton, Birdy and Bike Friday are popular makes of folder.
Road Bike
Road bikes are among the most frequently used models for commuting (probably because so many riders prefer old beaters for commuting and old road bikes are readily available), but get low grades from experienced commuters. They're fast, but won't have useful features like chain guards and they lack fender and rack options. Most won't take wide tires. Their aggressive geometry, like the cyclocross, provides a low riding position meant for speed and not ergonomic comfort. Just about every bike manufacturer makes road bikes. (Fuji road bike pictured)
Hybrid
Hybrids are essentially a compromise between a mountain bike and a road bike, and neither one makes for a good commuter bike. Thus, hybrids are not popular with commuting cogniscenti, even though they are widely used as commuters. The frames and forks make it difficult to add the accessories you'll need, and the cost of mounting hardware to add the accessories offsets their initial lower cost. Everybody makes hybrids, too (Trek 7100 hybrid pictured). They do foster an upright riding position, which is good.
Mountain Bike
Mountain bikes are the bikes most used for commuting, but among the least suited for that purpose. Suspension and knobby tires make the riding rough and slow (although these features are a plus if you are riding over pavement in bad condition) and they lack accommodations for any of the accessories which make commuting easy and efficient. Nevertheless, their popularity with kids and college students make them a favorite with younger commuters. Even more companies make mountain bikes than roadies and hybrids (Specialized mountain bike pictured).
Fixed Gear
"Fixies" (single or fixed gear bikes) are recently popular within a subculture of biking, primarily for their simplicity and ease of maintenance (but also for their counter-culture quirkiness). However, they are most effective only on flat, smooth road (after all, gears were invented to make biking easier). There is no shifting, but also no coasting - your feet cycle continuously with the turning of the wheels. There are a number of fixed gear manufacturers (Fixie single gear bike pictured) for you to investigate, and you also can adapt your old road bike to single or fixed gear with a conversion kit.
Commuter-Specific Bikes
In the past couple of years, a flood of manufacturers have been offering commuter-specific bicycles to meet the new surge of commuters, and the bikes vary significantly in quality and style among brands. Pictured here are some of the bikes given favorable reviews and worth checking out.
1) Trek FX 7.2
2) Breezer Uptown 8
3) Electra Townie Original 21D
4) Felt Cafe 8 Deluxe
5) Specialized Sirrus
6) Raleigh Detour Deluxe
Commuter-specific bikes should certainly be on your list of bikes to try out, since they'll be ready to ride right off the floor without substantial modifications. There are a number of very interesting utility bikes which you may want to consider as your all-purpose bike, as well.
Though it's not a complete list by any means, here are some well-regarded brands commonly used for commuting. Their commuting bikes are worth checking out before you buy.
Commuting-Specific Bikes |
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Touring Bikes |
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Commuting Bike Information |
© 2010 - 2012 Bob Beach
