What comprises the perfect commuter bike?

[John the Monkey]

I like MacB's spec, 'cepting that I like my triple, and ditched panniers because they made it a bit of a pain to get on and off trains - Carradice holds enough stuff and doesn't make the bike as wide as my panniers did.

 

[Norm]

Drop bars, 700x25's, no mudguard and no rack & panniers.

I note you didn't mind 998cc of Yamaha power though.

The thing I recently bought is exactly as your described, Ian, which is kinda ironic as it was meant to be, courtesy of the C2W scheme, my commuter.

I think the next bike (n+1) will be the commuter I described, although I have a few I will need to get rid of before that's allowed.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Either:
a roadified rigid MTB, or
a tourer

If it's to be used all year round, it'll need mudguards. Lights are useful (I keep mine on all year, since I work nights. And even when I work days I never know what time I'll be finishing.), and a dynamo system is perfect for commuting, since you don't want to be messing about with batteries every week. Depending how much stuff you need to take to work, I'd say a rack and a pannier (or two, in my case) are also essential. Finally, if your commute is reasonably flat, you could take the front derailleur and a chainring or two off to make the whole thing simpler. Or possibly even use a singlespeed or fixed wheel bike to reduce maintenance time.

 

[jay clock]

When I commuted in London, I had a singlespeed bike for a while. Strong/heavy and a bit like a Galaxy with a single gear.... was excellent

 

[swee'pea99]

For years I commuted on racers - pretty good ones too, the most recent a Vitus 979 - and I also have a pretty good hybrid which comes out in the rain (I Fear Her!)...but since I got it six months ago, any day not on the fixie feels like a bit of a let-down.

 

[SoulOnIce]

The bike that you have, generally.

New kit is nice, but nothing beats the bird in the hand, as it were.

This so right. I am pining for anew bike but in reality I know my heavy, but trusty Ridgeback Cylcone fitted with:
- full mudguards
- rack
- Ortlieb panniers
- 2x Mars backlights
- 1 Light and Motion Vega light plus Tesco torch as supplementary light
- 24 gears

It does the 15 mile each way trip just fine. It is heavy but is strong, sturdy, boring but pretty reliable. At the end of the day it is the reliability that does it for me.

Wow - I seem to have talked myself out of getting a new bike. n+1 has now been re-arranged to just n

 

[PK99]

HI,
what people think the perfect commuter bike needs...

Rich

A "Beam me home now, Scottie" button for when the rain/wind/snow etc are just TOO much.

 

[Matty]

Hopefully the one I am in the process of acquiring through Bike-to-Work. It will be a 'hybrid, single speed, disc brakes, full guards, m+ tyres, lights'.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Drop bars
Steel frame, Chromoly or better.
Fixed wheel (unless V. hilly terrain where a basic gearing set-up would be peachy, esp a Hub).
Mavic Open pros.
25c tyres
Schmidt Dynohub
Mudguards
SPD's
Carradice bag on SQR.


...or a Brommie, my next bike...