Part One: Where to Start, the Bike and Necessities
Living in the Bay Area there is an abundance of
opportunities to Go Green as the phrase is. To most this means driving a hybrid
or electric vehicles, taking the bus or even carpooling. But what about all
those people in funny colored clothing and spandex riding those human powered
vehicles? That is yet another way of going green and bicycle commuting can be
fun and rewarding if you know how to do it.
As a cyclist myself I have many times had the opportunity and pleasure
to commute to work by bike. I love the freedom it gives me, and the health
benefits from this are great, and sometimes I even get to work faster because I
do not get stuck in traffic jams. Since it can seem a bit overwhelming at first
to get into bicycle commuting, I thought I would share what I believe to be the
simplest way to start. Also I have found
that the bigger name brands generally sell you the same quality frame as a
smaller company but will put lower quality gears on it to save them money that
they had to put into marketing. What I
mean is you will get more quality bikes from the smaller brands like Jamis,
Felt, Bike Friday (folding bikes), Calfee, Ellsworth, Fuji, Independent Fabrication,
Kestrel, Klein, Kona, Litespeed, Marin bikes, Moots cycles, NEXT, Quintana Roo,
Santa Cruz bikes, Serotta, Seven Cycles,
and Surly than from the bike name companies which will remain nameless.
Starting Point
Start by asking your friends or coworkers who ride what bike
shops they would recommend starting at.
Many communities have their own mom and pop shops and I always prefer
those to the bike chain stores. The mom
and pop shop may be more expensive but I feel I am helping the community and
also they always provide better service and many times know all their customers.
Next try as many bikes as you can. This process will take several days or maybe
even a couple weeks. Don’t rush! Take
your time and really get the feel for each type of bike, and each brand of bike
as they are not all created equal. Just
because your friend says a certain bike is the best, give it a try but don’t think
it is the end all be all of bikes because it may not fit you the same way it
does your friend.
Bike Types and
Expected Cost
There are so many types of bikes I won’t bore you with the
long list. However I will make a few suggestions on which ones to look at.
Depending on what your purpose for the bike it will help you determine which
one to look into. There are the
traditional road bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes, cyclocross, touring and randonneur. Any of those style bikes may work for you,
don’t discount one just because someone said so.
The price range on bikes can be as low as $800 to as high as
several thousand. When budgeting for your purchase keep in mind that you will
need in addition to the cost of your bike a helmet to protect your head. At
minimum a comfortable helmet will run in the range of $50 to $100 with many
other up to $250 and higher. I will discuss what to look for in helmet later.
For commuting you may find yourself riding at times of low
light so you will want several lights both for you to BE seen and also for you
TO see. This expense for rear lights is about $15 to $50, while the head lamps
will be $50 up to about $300. These are general figures based on the equipment
I will be suggesting later.
Now if you plan to also go mountain biking on the weekends
then by all means look at the mountain bikes, or if you think you want to go
play with the fast kids then check out the road bikes, just make sure you check
to see if they have eyelets for attaching your pannier racks (I will explain
those later) otherwise you will always have a bag on your back instead of on
the bike. Once you find a bike that is
both comfortable for you and fits into your allotted budget, time to look at
the specifics.
Wheels & Tires
In general, commuting bicyclists will want stronger wheels
than those that come standard on most shop bikes. The reason for this is commuters
generally have more varied pavement surfaces (potholes, debris, gravel, etc.),
and their bikes are loaded, with things like a laptop, work materials, books,
lunch, change of clothing.
My general advice to any bicycle commuter is to get the
strongest wheelset you can afford, and it should have no less than 32 spokes
but generally they have 36 spokes. This is necessary for strength and longevity
of the wheel. As the spoke count decreases so does the durability of the wheel,
as the spoke count increases, and you may even see some with up to 48 spokes,
the wheel becomes heavier yes but more durable and able to withstand the loads
you will be placing on it.
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| Tire Liners |
Bicycle commuters should also consider thicker tires for
similar reasons. Spend a little more for durability and puncture resistance, it's
worth the investment. Some of the ones I have found to be good are Continental
Gatorskins or Touring Plus reflex, I use Vittoria Zaffiro (they are much
cheaper than most out there and mine have lasted me over 2 years so far NO
flats), Vittoria Randonneur, and Schwalbe Marathon just to name a few. Also tire width off the bike shop rack will
be about 23 which may work for smaller riders, but to be safe you may want to
get a 25, 28, or even 32 as long as it clears the frame of the bike and sits on
your rim. The minimal sacrifice in rolling efficiency is well compensated by
the comfort and safety.
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| Placement of tire liner. |
In addition to the tires it is always smart to add tire inserts. These are rolls of of double thick
polyurethane which install between the tube and tire to protect the tube from
foreign objects that pierce the tire and puncture the tube causing flats. A few
brands that I have had the chance to work with and work great are Mr. Tuffy,
STOP Flats, and Slime.
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| SPD pedals and their cleats. |
Pedals
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| Flat pedal one side, SPD on other. Can be worn with tennis shows or mountain bike shoes. |
There are three types of pedals to choose from. Flat pedals which you can wear your work
shoes to ride on and you can use both sides. Then there are Clips, which are a
flat pedal with a basket over the toe and a strap around the instep of the
foot. Lastly there are the Clipless of which you need to buy special bike shoes
to clip to the clipless pedals (sounds weird but that is just what they are
called). Go with the one you feel most comfortable on.
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| Road bike pedal, to use with clipless cleats and shoes |
Helmets
According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
(AAOS) wearing a helmet will decrease your chances of serious head or brain
injury by 85%. Those statistics sounds
pretty good to me so I always wear a helmet as should everyone on a bicycle no
matter of age. Also something to note is
that there are Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Snell Memorial
Foundation which set high safety standards for helmets. Make sure to check the inside of the helmet
you end up wanting to purchase to make sure it has the approval sticker from
either or both of those entities. Only with those stickers have the helmets
been tested and approved to be safe.
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| Mountain Style |
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| Road Style |
How do you know what helmet is the right one for you? Try
them all on, just like you did with the bicycle itself. These are all
different, some brands are made for more of a round shaped head, others for
oval shaped some for deep crowns and others for shallow crowns. Once you find one that feels comfortable there
are a few things to check to make sure it is the correct fit for you. Place the
helmet on your head with the chin strap unbuckled and the front about 2 fingers
width above your eyebrows. Next gently shake your head side to side and nod
your head, the helmet should not move on your head, if it does move on. Next
take the cinch in the back of the helmet and tighten it so its snug against the
back of your head, and feel for any section of the helmet pressing
uncomfortably into your head. Once you
have passed both those tests last thing to check is that the chin strap fits
properly under your chin and around your ears. This is determined by snapping
the buckle and placing two fingers between your chin and the strap, you may
need to adjust the strap making it shorter or longer. If you are able to get it
to be two fingers width under your chin the helmet is safe to purchase.
CONCLUSION
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