I’ve just accepted a job as a professor in a new city. I currently live in NYC without a car, but the new city is much smaller and I figured I’d try out bike commuting. A friend offered to sell me their Specialized Sirrus 3.0 at an unbeatable cost since they no longer bike, so that made the bike decision itself easy!
But now I’m just overwhelmed with the options and specifications for making the bike better for my purposes.
I want to bike year-round in a hilly city with bumpy roads and few bike lanes—I know this sounds bad, but my commute will be only 2.8 miles each way. I’ll use the bike to get groceries, and I also want some space (basket or pannier) where I can put my leather satchel while riding.
Given my use case, I thought about getting some four season tires around 35-38mm (my wheels are 622×21), these fenders from Specialized, and the Specialized Coolcave Pannier so I can just throw my satchel or a bag of groceries into it easily. That said, I’m wondering if it’s easier to just get a front basket and use bungee cords.
Any new bike commuter resources you’ve found particularly helpful or comments on my plans are super welcome!
by dwchambers
1 Comment
My personal favorite setup—as one who lived car-free for 13.5 years, mostly in a small college town in Idaho, then law school in my state capital—is a rear rack combined with Wald 582 folding baskets. They’re inexpensive, durable, and versatile (they’ll handle a backpack, paper grocery bag, or a 12-pack of bottled beer with ease). That said, over bumps, they can tend to unfold, so I use a short bungee to keep my main (left) one fully open.
Other essentials I’d say would be a set of good lights (you can get a decent, USB-rechargeable front-rear pair for probably $50 or so, but the true—expensive—gold standard is a front wheel dynamo hub powering wired lights) and a bell for signaling passing pedestrians (college campuses typically have a lot of people walking).
Depending on the weather in your new town you might want some raingear (I keep a lightweight rain jacket and rain pants in a trunk bag atop my rear rack). In colder weather, thin layers are your friend, and start a little colder than is comfortable, as you’ll quickly build up heat from pedaling (invest in decent gloves if it does get cold).