Equipping a commuter bike for a 5 mile city commute

Question

My commute is a bit over 5 miles each way through the city. It's not that long a commute; in traffic, it takes about 35 minutes door to door, and I'm never far from public transit that I could use in an emergency. I tend to prefer to travel light; rather than lugging a lot of equipment around so I can spend a while fixing my bike in the middle of my commute, I'd rather just lock it up and hop on the train or walk the rest of the way; this isn't a bike I'll be taking on long trips out in the middle of nowhere. Beyond the commute, I'll use my bike to get around town on weekends as well, but usually for similar sorts of rides.

What would you consider essential equipment for such a commute? What kind of bike would you choose for such purposes?

Is it worth it to carry a tire patch kit with me in such situations, or pump? How much rain gear should I have, or should I just give up and take the train at the slightest rain? Regular pedals, toe clips over normal shoes, or should I look into clipless pedals? Lights are of course a given, since I ride home after dark. Anything else I should think of?

Answer 1

Equipment/Accessories:

• Fenders — keep you dry if it's rained recently. I prefer the "full-coverage" kind with a mudflap, but anything that keeps you from getting a stripe up your back is probably sufficient.
• Regular platform pedals (or even better: BMX style pedals) - clips or clipless and frequent stops don't go well together and might mean needing to lug shoes with you.
• A basket or rack — better to put your stuff on the bike than on your back, and you're bound to need to carry something sometimes.
• Some kind of minimal rain gear. There's some cheap packable rain pants and rain jackets out there. You might be able to make do with a rain jacket you already have. Very preferable if the rain gear tries to be "breathable". Check the weather for the day before you leave in the morning and leave at home. Or maybe a packable rain cape...
• Tires — smooth tires that try to be puncture resistant.
• Water — bottle cage (or two) and water bottle (or two). Might want one of those water bottles to be insulated so that you can have ice water on hot days. (I love my travel mug for a hot beverage in cold weather, and that works for cold beverages on hot days, too). Don't necessarily need the water on the bike for every trip, but you should have a way to easily carry water on the bike.
• Pant leg retention — Something to keep your pant leg from getting into the chain. Some bikes have a cover for the chain... You can get a velcro strap... Or you can just roll your pant leg up or stuff your pant leg into your sock...
• Sunglasses — Especially nice if you have some with swappable lenses, because sometimes you want light or clear lenses just to keep the wind and bugs out of your eyes.
• Lights — forward white and rear red. Blinking optional. These could go on your helmet, be removable from the bike or permanently mounted on the bike... Leave them home when you're not going to be riding at night.
• Reflective stuff &mdash If you're concerned about night time visibility, look for retroreflective things. Reflective vests similar to what construction people use are common, cheap, and making your torso visible can be more helpful than making the lower bike parts visible.. Some reflective tape on various parts of the bike. The normal set of reflectors bikes usually come with. Reflective details on clothing, etc.

Bike:

Any bike you like the feel of riding. Properly fit. A hybrid (flat handlebars, wide-ish road tires) bike marketed as a commuter would probably be ideal, and they often come with everything. However, any halfway decent bike would be fine for what you described, really.

If there's any risk of carpal tunnel or similar issues from your job and/or other hobbies, seriously consider a handlebar setup with multiple hand positions. (bar ends on the flat handlebars, bullhorn bars, drop bars, etc...)

Repair kit:

Unless you're particularly into bike repair, forget the on-bike pump and patch kit, carry enough cash for a bus or taxi instead. And keep track of where the bike shops are (and establish a relationship with one or two). Most bike shops can fix a flat in a few minutes without needing to be scheduled ahead of time, and they'll probably only charge $5-$10 (plus the cost of the new tube, of course).

On the other hand: a pump can be mounted to the bike and doesn't weigh much, and a patch kit's pretty small. You'd need a tire lever or two (or multitool that includes them) also. I do carry a pump, spare tube, patch kit and multitool with tire levers, but didn't when I was first bicycle commuting. If you're using a bicycle with for short urban trips and are able and willing to use a secondary emergency transportation option (bus, taxi), flats should be very rare. Changing a flat only takes a few minutes, so unless you get a flat right as the bus is coming it's probably still faster to change a flat than take a bus. And it's reasonably easy...

Answer 2

I carry a spare tube and a CO2 canister with me always. They live under my bike seat in a small bag. I can change a tire in 5 minutes flat, often this is significantly faster than walking home or waiting for public transport.

In my opinion this is the only thing that you must bring with you. Everything else is optional. Water, rain gear lights, all of those things depend on what the conditions will be like. Spare tube and CO2, you always need.

Answer 3

My suggestions/opinions.

Is it worth it to carry a tire patch kit with me in such situations, or pump?

It's worth getting tires like Marathon Plus which I hope won't flat, but run well.

It's important to keep tires inflated: a good pump at home.

How much rain gear should I have, or should I just give up and take the train at the slightest rain?

I get wet anyway even when it's dry, because I find biking to be hot work.

So at the slightest rain, so what.

Regular pedals, toe clips over normal shoes, or should I look into clipless pedals?

I looked into clipless, for an 18 km each way commute; and like them.

Lights are of course a given, since I ride home after dark. Anything else I should think of?

Fenders, a pannier, brakes that work, and a great route.

Answer 4

I have a 15km commute to work and have been doing it roughly 3x per week (twice a day) for about 8 years. Here's what I have found works:

• puncture resistant tires are one of the keys -- I found that the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires were great and in > 6000kms on 2 sets I've experienced a single flat tire.

• patch kit with a small pump

• floor pump at home for weekly tire pressure adjustments. I've found that tire pressure makes absolutely the biggest difference to the time it takes me to commute to work. I tend to run my tires at the maximum pressure recommended and refill them weekly

• Pannier rack with suit bag carrier. The suit bag style carrier is ideal

  • I don't have to wear a suit at work, but generally wear a button down and slacks
  • suit bag is ideal for laying clothes flat and getting there non-wrinkled. Nashbar has a great one with a lifetime guarantee
  • it's water resistant and in 8 years I've only experienced a wet patch on my shirt once
  • features 2 big side pockets that I use to stow a jacket, repair kit and extra stuff.

• As far as bike goes, I've decided that all things being equal, the lower the maintenance the better. In the last few years I have switched to a hybrid style bike with a Kevlar Belt Drive and Internally Geared Hub (IGH) with twin front/rear disk brakes. This setup means virtually zero maintenance

  • with the only thing that I need to do is adjust the shifters maybe 1-2x per year (after the initial cable stretch). The trade-off is that the bike is a bit heavier (about 30lbs) but it's much less fragile. My bike is a Spot Ajax FWIW.

• For handlebars, I have the flat hybrid style, but added bar-ends and thick grip tape across the entire bar/ends so that I have multiple hand positions.

• for pedals, I personally find that SPD type pedals and shoes (mountainbike style) work best for me. I rode a set of Shimano 535 pedals for 15+ years and finally sold the bike (and couldn't remove the pedals). I've since purchased an equivalent pedal. I find them very reliable and much safer than flat shoes and pedals as I find I have much better control over the bike in rough conditions and better power up hill (can both pull and push with your legs).
• front and rear disk brakes -- much lower maintenance and better stopping power in wet weather.
• front and rear lights are a must. Looking forward to getting my set of Magnic Lights (Kickstarter campaign) that do not require batteries. Battery recharging is the downside of year round riding and these new lights work without the need for a battery -- very handy.
• a small bell -- I find the little thumb hammer type bells work great -- lets the walkers 5 abreast across the bike path (with their poodle) know you are coming up behind them

Answer 5

Ride with what you need.

My commute is about 3 miles. I never carry any tools, and i only bring rain gear if rain is in the forecast. Good fenders are key, and i agree a basket or rack is nice. Lugging it all in a backpack gets old. Especially a laptop, lunch, water, coffee and bike lock.