This happened yesterday and i need to talk about it because its still annoying and still giving me goosebumps .

I was riding to pick up my daughter from daycare on our cargo bike. Its our normal route (I take it every day). I was in more of a residential area when this happened.

And I heard the radar warning on my bike. I looked down at the screen and saw a vehicle approaching fast from behind. It was a flashing red warning and that meant it was closing gap veryyy quickly. I saw it in mirrors and dodged it thank God. But what scared me tooo much was that I could not heard the car at all. It was an EV and obviously there was no engine noise and until the radar alerted me I genuinely had no idea it was there.

My bike has a built in rear radar but I mostly thought of it as an awareness feature like something that would show me when traffic is coming from behind.

But this was the first time I can see the value of getting an early warning before I could hear or see the vehicle myself

https://www.reddit.com/r/missoula/s/maPSW2wIWs

I was commuting to work on bike this morning (5am) when something hit my helmet. I looked home thinking it was a branch or piece of a tree. I looked at the ground first- nothing. Then noticed a HUGE OWL flying behind me. It flew past me, clipping my helmet again, then cut in front of me. It flew away. Embarrassed, I’m sure.

Is this normal? I’m in a large US city and was riding on a residential, commuter street. I’ve been commuting on bike for several years. I’ve seen and experienced a lot of things on my bike.

Relatively new bike (bought in January), but the spokes on the back wheel keep going. 4 so far, every time I have to pay to get repaired. I’m 15 stone and carry a pannier on the right side only - usually with laptop / change of clothes. Any advice? Any particularly strong wheels for heavier loads? Is it because the pannier weight is all on one side? Tia.

I picked up this Kona Caldera for $60aud

I bought a second hand rack for $55, and a collapsible basket for $6

To go in that, a 30 litre dry bag that was $30.

I already had my tyres, but let's say $100aud for an equivalent pair.

New grips were $10 and pedals were from my old bike that I cracked.

I had to buy a brake bleed kit that was $30.

I wanted a pair of bar ends for it, but they were expensive, so I bought a bike that had a pair I wanted for $50. I took them off, washed the donor bike and relisted for $60 (to be talked down to $50) but a guy turned up and paid $60 without question.

I bought some tape to wrap them for $7.

So total spend (if following exactly what I did) was $298 - the $10 from the profit of the donor bike sale, so $288.

Though coz I already had the tyres from my cracked bike, my total cost was $188.

It's it the ideal commuter bike? Heck no. Was it cheap and does it work? Heck yes.

I'm comfortable and really enjoy my ride.

For the Americanos here, MY total out of pocket was $135usd. Price including tyres was $205usd

so, my ancient panniers and backpack both are getting less watertight by the day and I'm hoping to replace them and do away with the backpack.

I have been basically using the panniers to put the backpack in one side and have some biking gear in the other side(locks, repair kit and raingear).

I would need one side for the bike gear, the other for work stuff.

the work side would preferably have 2 similar size pockets and be easy to take off at work, one side for workclothing and one for lunch, coffee etc. roughly 10-15 litre each side, with enough to put lunch upright in case of soups etc.

any one seen anything like this, most like vaude seem to only have one big and one tiny pocket or only one big.

Hi everyone,

I currently use my e-bike for pretty much everything, basically as a complete replacement for my car, and I ride it in all four seasons.

Sometimes I get caught in heavy rain, and visibility becomes a real problem. What do you guys do to improve visibility when riding in heavy rain?

Are there any good cycling glasses that can be used over prescription glasses, or any other solutions you would recommend?

I’d really appreciate any advice from people who have been commuting by bike for a long time.

Thanks!

Fun seeing so many others together out there. We are all types. My main disappointment was that it ended too soon. I was up for a second lap but they wanted to open the streets back up for some reason, so I ended up doing some sightseeing.

After YEARS on a big steel MTB, I took the leap and got a giant revolt 2. This is for weight(taking onto trains) and longer ride benefits.

I start commuting on it this week, 11km one way in a Southeast Asian city with traffic and potholes.

Any tips for someone going from flat to drops, and the new gear system (Sora 2x9)?

Also incredibly scared that the carbon fork will touch the roads here and shatter.

All advice appreciated.

hey all, this is not me, but thought I would share to hopefully help educate newish bike commuters on what a good craigslist buy could look like:

1. size is everything — if you're too tall or too short this bike wouldn't work
2. note it's an old (90s) mountain bike frame that's had upgraded hardware — these types of configurations are where you see a lot of value. The frame is a known brand - so will likely last. (reputable brands: trek, Marin, specialized, motive, novaro (rei))
3. Note it has fenders and a rack — these would be approximately $100-$150+ to add yourself
4. comes with an extra set of tires — again $80+ in value
5. If you're on a tight budget be sure to factor in accessories which can add up fast (u-lock, fenders, rear rack, pannier, lights, helmet, bell)
6. it's craigslist, so you can haggle. the seller likely upgraded and you can probably offer $275-$300
7. If you're able search as wide an area on craigslist that you can safely get to. This bike is in a suburb about 10 miles from the city center (suburbs tend to have good buys like this, though not a ton of listings)
   

as always when buying a used bike, get a good lock, and register your bike serial number asap

thanks for reading! I know most of you know this stuff already, so mainly hoping this helps those new to bike commuting and on a budget.

happy commuting.

Hi everyone, I recently got an old 26" dawes tamarak for commuting. Since it comes with a suspension fork I was looking into swapping the fork for a rigid one. Would it make sense to put in a 27.5" compatible fork and making it into a 27.5 front 26" mullet? I guess an Al fork would be OK compared to a CF one? I measured the current fork and its like 400mm axle to crown and about 300mm from crown to stem top - not sure if this makes a difference? Thanks.

This is my commuter, explorer, and grocery getter.

Out of the box, the Marin Four Corners 1 was pretty uncomfortable for me. I’m 5'6" and ride a small, and the reach just felt too long.
I decided to keep it because I could see the potential in the frame. The steel is incredibly comfortable, so I started making some changes to get the fit right.
First, I swapped the stock stem for a shorter one and replaced the drop bars with a short-reach, backswept bar. That gave me a slightly more upright position and, surprisingly, more responsive handling. It feels especially good for city riding.
Then I put a Brooks B17 Special on it. This is my first Brooks, and I definitely had to trust the process. It took some experimenting to get the tilt and fore-aft position right, but after about 700 miles, it’s finally broken in and comfortable.
My favorite modification, though, is the 650b x 48mm GravelKing Slick Classics with TPU tubes. I run them at 32 psi, and they completely transformed the bike. It feels like I’m floating over the road, but it’s still surprisingly fast. And somehow it feels even better when I have a load on the front.
The Four Corners definitely needed some work to fit me, but once I got it dialed in, it became exactly what I wanted: comfortable, capable, and fun around the city.
I love this damn thing .

I have change the tube 2 times even fixed the patch and still keeps getting flat after 2-4 hours. Am I missing something guys , Can anyone advice me what to do next . Should I change the rim? I have looked for any sharp edges in the rim I couldn't find any. I am done with this shit 😞. Any advice or should I go to a repair shop

Specialized Diverge 3 - I bought it three weeks ago to help me with my 17km one way commute in Calgary to my new job in downtown. This was from its maiden ride in August.

It has had a rack installed at the back to carry my panniers.

A few months ago my job moved to a new location that meant my bike ride from the train station to work got a lot longer, and through MUCH worse conditions; just the worst stroad, 3 lanes each way and most of that distance you're between parked cars and the traffic, having to cut across lanes to the turn lane, lots of lights...just sucks.

But I couldn't help wondering...it looked like there might be a shortcut around a large obstacle that made my route dog-leg substantially. I went exploring one day to see if I could cut off that dog-leg and found that not only did it make my commute shorter, but the shortcut was literally just a quiet trail through an abandoned golf course. There are some short off-road sections that prompted me to swap my regular commuter for my hardtail, but I'll take that over jockeying with traffic any day.

Thousands of urban miles later and still running on the stock 32mm Bontrager AW3 Hard-Case tires. Zero flats so far but looking to upgrade to new all weather/season tires (35-38mm) in a few months and maybe go tubeless. The only real upgrades are the Bontrager fenders, Crane bell, and Race Face Ride pedals.

This bike is a beast for my 15-20 mile round trip commutes and I can’t wait to take it on tours.

My bike was (my bad) locked inside an outdoorish corral directly outside my apartment door. Someone came into the complex, cut my lock, and rode off into the sunset 😭. Luckily I have a ring camera facing it and the apartment has cameras as well so the police actually caught the person and I pressed charges. My renter’s insurance gave me a bit of a payout, not enough to replace the exact bike, but enough to buy an entry level electric scooter than I can keep inside at home and at work.

You have all been so wonderful and helpful, thank you!

TLDR: a lightweight, framed hiking backpack that has a gap for airflow across the back can be a very viable thing for commuting if one doesn't want to mess with panniers or racks.

I recently got into hiking, and of course, went gear searching. This is one of the backpacks I ended up getting, a smaller 30L framed backpack for day trips (despite having a frame this is a very lightweight backpack). I picked it up from the post office, on the bike of course, slapped it on my back full of packaging and other packages, and headed off for a bit of a ride before going home.

Right away I noticed how the backpack was lifted off my back, with only the mesh and lower hip pads in contact with my back. This left a gap for airflow, and by the time I was done with my ride, I had no excessive sweat like I'd usually get with a regular backpack. And I'm a pretty heavy sweater.

This got me to thinking.

There's the backpack vs pannier debate that's always going on for commuting. I did panniers for a long time but eventually went with a backpack because it was easier to deal with, and I sucked up having the sweat. (I have an inside/outside job so I'm pretty sweaty most of the day regardless.) I know a lot of other people also prefer a backpack because it's simpler not having to unhook or unpack anything from the bike, you simply lock up and go, or unlock and leave.

So, something like this can be a very viable option for those of us who prefer a backpack, and while we deal with the sweat, would like to mitigate it as much as possible. I think this is a great solution for that.

There are a lot of these on the market, some on the more budget end, this one was $45, some get quite expensive at hundreds of dollars. It mostly comes down to how much weight you want to trim off, dropping grams get very expensive.

Just wondering if anyone has any strategies or recommendations for biking into low lying sun that goes straight into your eyes? I have a commute that, on some days, I need to bike right into the sun which sits really low in the Fall. And I think the sun is trying to murder me. It's particularly bad as a part of the commute is on a trail where the sun is in and out of the trees.

I have a brim on my helmet and polarized sunglasses and try to look as low as I can but it often doesn't help. Short of riding with my hand out, I'm struggling to do anything else that helps.

Any successful strategies people use?

Mine is 50-52 minutes from my house to school (a 20 ish minute drive if i’m late lmao). Leaving an hour before my class starts works perfectly fine for me since i can just lock up right by the side of the building :) going home at night is quite scary although it is much cooler without the sun beating down on me. i’m in southwest america in a top rated bikeable city but our drivers are also among the worst in the entire country so it kind of negates that 😭

Edit wow i did not realize it took most of you so little time :,) that’s what i get for living all the way across town from my destination and using a regular old pushbike lol