I've enjoyed mountain biking for years but just recently got into commuting (about 25 miles a day, hence the ebike…). I spend so much time on it I've enjoyed upgrading it more whereas my hardtail and full suspension mountain bikes are virtually stock.
I know the upgrade bug is infectious in the mtb community, but it never bit me there, perhaps it's cause my bikes are higher performing than I am…. Does a commuter bike need 220mm/200mm rotors? Absolutely not. But it's fun. (Yes, I know I have adapters stacked here, this was just for testing, correct adapter is in the mail!)
Bike is a Giant Fastroad E+ EX Pro.
by H14C
5 Comments
my commuter is my “fun” bike
For me, yeah, but no shock: I bought my fun bike new and my commuter from a thrift store.
My commuter is cheap as fuck but gets all the finest accessories and upgrades. It has a Caradice handlebar bag that sits on a Nitto rack, a Sugino crankset pushed by MKS pedals, PDW fenders, and a Spurcycle bell. The frame is red, but all the other parts are silvery.
1x chainring, v-brakes, handlebar, grips, shifter, and tires on the commuter(it’s a ‘95 Trek 830). All I’ve done to my preamble is change the chainring to what Surly should have sent it with in a narrow/wide and added fenders.
Sorta?
I decided a looooong time ago that my fun bike would be more fun if I didn’t get sprayed when I rode an hour after it stopped raining and the skies were blue… so I added fenders.
Not long after, I decided that my fun bike would be more fun if it had a place to stash two decent meals… so I added a rack & bag on the fork.
A bit after that I decided that my fun bike having lights that ran without batteries so I wouldn’t have visibility/range anxiety would be essential… so I added a dynamo hub.
Then I decided that I was sick of breaking derailers or getting my cassette caked up with slushy ice slop such that I could only use the large cogs for the last few miles of my winter rides… so I got a fixed-gear wheel.
Then I got sick of how heavy my fun bike became… so I got a lighter version of darn near everything but the bottle cages and have a bike that’s 19lbs without cargo.
Now a 30 mile commute is nothin but a hoot!
And I’ve since built up three very similar Complete Bicycles which I like to rotate between.