Post your commuter!

hifiandmtb said:
Been meaning to comment on this post.

I had a Paddywagon too... and by God it fitted me well. The geo on that bike was *dialled*:

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No bike has ever fitted me better. Really wanted to set it up with gears but ended up selling it 'cause singlespeed & knees...
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Bummer. Should have kept it and geared down. Been riding single speeds as my primary bikes since 2007. Trick is to run a lower gear and spin rather than to push something bigger.
 
Those Kona Paddywagons look nice as.
Here's my commuter. Specialized Stumpjumper. Do anywhere between 60-100km a week on it. Frame & fork are carbon but everything else is entry level/ alloy. Still reasonably light & comfy though.
 
Just finished building this a week or so ago. Rides beautifully ! I'm not a connoisseur of retro or vintage bikes but I know what I like...and I like this. Bought the frame and put it together with what I had laying around. Been great so far. First steel bike and it wont be the last.
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Here's my runabout, Norco Indie. With $15 Chinese 780mm bars, 70mm stem, Esi grips, spray wrap forks, and rubber grip chainstay protector. Love it!
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Built this over Christmas and was my main commuter over summer, 2011 Cannondale Capo

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Built this a few months back for the wet, late 90s Sunn SS conversion on 2.4 Holy Rollers, have been riding this since. Wayy too much fun

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Here my ATX and also another on of those Grandfathers axe bikes as the only original parts are the brakes, the stem and bars and seat post. It was originally an Apollo Altitude which I bought for $400 some 15 years ago. I replaced the wheels as the spokes just kept snapping on the old ones. Then my son rode it after I upgraded, until he rode it around with the bottom bracket loose and stripped the tread out of the frame. A mate of mine gave me his old ATX frame and threw in a drive line off something else. Looking at putting it into commuter duties as my son is hardly riding it.
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Carlin said:
One of those was reviewed in one of the first few AMBs I bought as I was getting into mountainbiking. The forks were OK for the price point, the LX was solid and you would be hard pressed to find disc brakes on a stock bike for less. In 2001 dollars, I could only dream of having a bike like that - but I would have just wrecked it if I did.
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At the time it was a solid buy and a very credible bike. I came close to buying one, but ended up with a Mongoose NX7.3, which was largely identical build spec with a funky Y frame and a few dollars less. Awesome bike - still have it, it's getting an NX 1x11 upgrade this weekend as a learner bike for SWMBO.

But ultimately want to track down the original Formula/Mavic wheels and a good RS Judy and put it back to original spec.
 
Carlin said:
One of those was reviewed in one of the first few AMBs I bought as I was getting into mountainbiking. The forks were OK for the price point, the LX was solid and you would be hard pressed to find disc brakes on a stock bike for less. In 2001 dollars, I could only dream of having a bike like that - but I would have just wrecked it if I did.
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I used to own one of those! It spent a lot of years as a nasty bitser commuter as well, so it fits the theme of this thread. I converted it back to a MTB once I was able to scrub up some money as a uni student, only to buckle(!) the frame in the blue mountains about 2 weeks later. Attached pic of how horrid this bike actually became, as well as a few other commuters I've built and ridden over the years. These are all basically united by (a) cheapness (b) random part selection and (c) seatposts run at exactly the minimum insertion line.
 

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  • my roadie 2.jpg
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After cracking the chainstay on my old carbon giant roady I needed to find another commuter for to and from work duties. This came up (scott sporster) and was really clapped out, needed new headset, chainrings, brakes and had a massive buckle in the rear rim, but was quite cheap.
Decided to smash some old parts, and some bargain pick ups from here, on it to make it a bit more comfortable and this is now how it sits. Carbon bars and seat post, slx brakes, sunringle rims, funn cranks, stem, odi grips and mudguards, have all been swapped onto this sporster.
I'm thinking when the weather gets a bit colder and wetter I will pull it down and replace the rest of the worn drivetrain, probably paint the frame whilst I'm at it.
Everyone needs a winter project right...
Pick up day
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Now
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I rotate this with my carbon roadbike for my once/twice a week 70k round trip commute.
Its hard work compared to the roady, especially given its still running MTB tyres at this point, but gets along ok.

97 Mongoose rockadile sx



 
That’s a fucking truckload of braking power there dude. Be careful. I find my back wheel locking a bit on Emergency braking due to weight transfer to the front wheel. I’m only using 105s from a couple of years back.

Bike looks tops. Mango headset would be a nice addition.
 
Yeah I've not grabbed the brakes in anger yet, but the levers do give a nice progressive feel for a fair bit of modulation before locking them up.

There is a lot of me to stop as well ;)
 
Interested in a report on the Hope calipers. Really don't need them on my roadie but then ...

The hose exit angle on the front caliper is a shame. Is it a fixed alignment, or does it have a banjo style fitting that can be rotated?
 
creaky said:
Interested in a report on the Hope calipers. Really don't need them on my roadie but then ...

The hose exit angle on the front caliper is a shame. Is it a fixed alignment, or does it have a banjo style fitting that can be rotated?
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You can use aftermarket banjo fittings. I've got a Goodridge banjo on my RX4s.

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