If you commute through trails front suspension can really help take the edge off the rough road.

As a bike mechanic: Worry less about looks and more about comfort! Sure, that sporty hybrid looks cool, but some swept back bars can reduce wrist discomfort and a suspension seat post can minimize 90% of those bone-jarring bumps!

A steering damper is nice if you use a front rack or basket. Essential if you use a front rack or basket AND V-brakes, as I found you can destroy the brake noodle from letting the fork swing hard into the frame too many times. Love the recommendation for dynamo lights. I recently switched from battery lights and love them. If you do use a battery headlight, a fork crown mount makes it easy to use a handlebar basket or bag without blocking the light, and casts longer shadows so it's easier to see potholes and debris at night.

I'm sure I'm not the first to comment on this but your bike appears to have a rear coaster and no front brake. You might wish to reconsider. While it is extremely rare for a properly maintained chain to fail, rare things do happen. Suddenly losing the ability to go is inconvenient. Unexpectedly losing the only brake you have can be lethal.

@@EvanDerickson Just get a bike with ann upright seat position and swept back handle bars. Thats takes all the pressure of the hands. Internal hub brakes and hub dynamo are also great, no maintenance. Dutch brands Gazelle or Batavus have always served me well.

Theft is in the back of my mind all the time, unfortunately, so I also err on the side of cheaper parts.

Underrated approach, this is extremely sensible. Not only does this mean you get less worry about theft, but you also need less security to deter theft, which makes your life easier.

Same, this is also why I bought a cheap folding bike to take on the bus to work. It's big-box (Canadian Tire) so I will not be heartbroken if it gets stolen, and would be very easy to replace.

I have a 120€ bike with a 70€ bag all locked with a 100€ lock and a 50€ rear wheel lock. Have been leaving it outside near a train station for 6 months now no problem. Carrying it to a kore secure spot would have made me use a more expensive bike less, don't cheap out on the lock and make it as strong forward as possible to carry with you and you will be fine :P

This. I just bought a used Cannondale Quick for £150 and I love it. Cosmetically it had a few scrapes etc but it’s mechanically sound, nice to ride and I don’t worry about it when I leave it locked up away from home

Sure, they do have better braking performance, still I commute on a rim-brake singlespeed bike and have never had any problems braking in time. And I'm neither riding very relaxed nor am I a lightweight rider.

I have always had brakes that were better than my tires. Whenever I do an emergengy brake the tires would slip before the brakes did.

Yeah, I would totally agree. I was riding a rim brake disc bikes for two years in Vancouver BC until I decided that this was too dangerous and went and bought a disc brake gravel bike. This made me so much safer commuting to work as I had way more control when braking and it was for more predictable and easier to look after.

The mistake is bringing up the performance question. On every bike with rim brakes that I've ridden in a rain never had issues with "stopping power", but the pads always start grinding a sand/metal paste on the braking surface and make that horrible scratching noice. Especially on the next ride if you forget to clean the rims and the pads. OMG it gives me shivers just thinking about it. So anyways, for rainy days I've got a dutch bike with roller brakes that really suck at breaking performance but at least I can ride at all.

Rim is better in cold and wet for commuters. Doesn't rust.

That and also during bad weather it makes so much difference..

exactly and why to have disc brakes? because almost no mainterance at all....

Hydraulic brake calipers, too. I don't care about weight or speed, but stopping power goes a long way to make things safer.

Not really, if you are only using a small number of them anyway. I cycle up big hills in Downtown Columbia, SC on seven and eight gears, but there are those who cycle on single speeds in the area (IDK how). Eight good ratios are way better than 21 bad ones, that’s for sure.

Good quality Triple compound rim-pads work just as good as any Disc brakes. Hydraulic brakes are easier to maintain because they are self adjustable. Disc pads are easier to replace BC you don't have to align them carefully. But that problem is eliminated with a pair of adjustment blocks. The biggest difference is price

Chain guards are almost non-existent here in North America, but this is a great thing to add to the list. Thank you.

@@Shifter_Cycling wow… chainguards save so much maintenance work if you really use your bike daily

I'm not even sure if I can buy one, haha. I guess I have to do a search. I have never seen one for sale, and not sure if it would fit on my bike. That's how uncommon they are here unless someone is specifically riding a "cruiser", an old Schwinn, or a "Dutch-style" bike.

@@Shifter_Cycling double sided chain guards are not appreciated for how much they work.

I have so many holely pants, as my right pant leg keeps getting stuck in the front sprockets. Holely pants don't look good at downtown business meetings 🙁

Agreed. I have 28 000 kms on my e-bike; replaced tire once, inner tubes twice. Puncture resistant tires are critical to urban riding,

I used to get flats all the time. I installed cheap plastic tuffy liners. I think they were five bucks at the time. Haven't had a flat in 10 years. Definitely recommend. I also got smarter about tire repair. I just carried a spare tube. Still do, just in case. Much easier then messing about with patches. I can do patches at home.

@@tthomas184 I just get a new tube every time they’re just a few bucks

@@takeiteasy6346The liners are the cost of a tube. So you're losing both money and time on replacement...,each and every time.

@@tthomas184 I meant compared to patching, but yea I’m sure liners are even better

Yeah this is "what you need for a bike commute if you live in a flat city with good bike infrastructure"

Because I view my bike as a real world alternative to my car I've tried out various ways of having bags on my bike. For the last year and a half I have permanently had two cheap handlebar bags, one hanging front and back of the handlebars. A 3L and a 5L. One cost €5 and the other €4 from a bargain store and AliExpress respectively. Both are the zip top opening type with a clear pouch on the top for a phone which I can see and use in landscape mode for navigation. Not waterproof but I keep anything that I don't want to get damaged by wet in small plastic bags. I use them like the glove box of my car to permanently store things I will always want to have to hand. Water, drinks, snacks, chocolate, sanitiser, disposable gloves, hat, pen, note paper, envelopes, stamps and anything else I might need. I only keep items I need but which will be of practically zero value to anyone else. For example, I always make sure any chocolate is open with at least a bite out of it lol!! I've found them opened several times but so far nothing stolen. Much to my own genuine surprise, they are still there. They're plain black, no name generic and look cheap. But incredibly useful and practical! I certainly wouldn't use or leave a fancy pants branded bag on the bike parked up for hours outside a shopping centre or to a signpost on the street!! Since this worked so well, earlier this year I got a couple of equally cheap and generic plain black 25 litre double pannier sets for just under €10 each from Amazon and fixed one of them on the back rack. I carry my tools which I will never leave when I park up. It will also carry a small amount of shopping, jackets, a laptop (with additional bubble wrap protection around it just in case for knocks and a plastic bag for rain). I've left it on permanently because it's a very fiddly ten minutes at least to put it back on if I do take it off. Not ideal for carrying heavy items because the quality is pretty cheap but after four months it's so far so good with no problems. If I want to carry a bigger load with bags I just untie the back's of the bags from the rack support and fold them up and hook on one of my clip-on large pannier sets. But since I started using a trailer over a year ago for weekly shopping trips and carrying large and heavy cargo I very rarely need to use my bigger clip on panniers which I would never have left unattended on the bike anyway. I do have some very nice bags and accessories for my bike but I would absolutely not never no way leave them unattended while parked up . These cheap but incredibly functional double panniers and handlebar bags have literally been the best money and value I have spent on my bike. I can't say what will happen tomorrow but it's a case of so far, so good.

Agree, I have a frame bag for this exact reason 👌🏼

Ortlieb panier bags (two for balance reasons) have the advantage of a very low center of gravity + they are water proof. Best thing!

I have a small padded bag for a camera lens that I use when I only need the bare minimum stuff. it has belt loop things that allowed me to strap it to the seat post. been the most used thing I put on the bike other than the mirror.

I have a medium-sized bag hung from the saddle (Swift Catalyst) that can hold a light jacket, rain cape, repair kit, spare tube, and likely a few other things (OK, it's large for a plain saddle bag). It has ladder webbing on the back that, with a little ingenuity and a few zip ties, makes a perfect place to secure a mini-U-lock.

I don't know if I'd call disc brakes easier to adjust but you definitely need to replace the pads less than with rim brakes.

Rim brakes last so long on a commuter.

Gotta go a looong way before wearing down a rim, not so much on discs, I bet they come more expensive in the end

Disc brakes are great and adjust well if you buy high quality brakes. Which are expensive. Warping and honking on cheap discs are prevalent along with diminished performance. Yes, rim brakes honk too but they are cheap!

Preach! I won a bike last year (which got me back into cycling) and am about to get my third pair of pads since last July. It's insane how fast they wear down, and feels like these wear down faster than they did on my old cruiser and old mountain bike.

Same here. Handlebar mirrors on all three of my bikes. Electric, mountain bike and Dutch.

why did you stop doing it that much ?

I have a specialized tricross like yours that i tow a one wheel trailer that i built with. I have about 5000 miles towing it. Rode it from Rhode Island to Syracuse, NY 3 times. And I use it on my 8 mile (one way) commutes. It acts as a very efficient kick stand too.

A mirror is essential when riding in traffic.

number != existance You can have low gears with a single backside 7 gear switch.

For city riding I would rather have a 1x with a super wide ranging cassette (or hub) rather than multiple chainring with a narrow range cassette

This really depends on the city. I live in a really hilly city and I definitely use the lowest gear combination for city riding.

@@p.s.224 100% on the "depends on location" thing. I live in Arvada, Colorado. It's the front range of the rockies, and I usually go west to Golden which is even more front range lol. On my 90's Diamondback Apex, I have the stock 3x7 drivetrain. And I definitely use ALL of the range I have. I keep wanting to go 1x for simplicity and weight savings, but it just works so well and the range is perfect. I never have extra gear combinations I never use.

I commute in a flat city that has only 1 hill and several bridges. But I'm not sporty, so going to work, I like to take it easy going up on the bridges. I have a 7 speed hub. But it would be nice to have maybe 1 more gear.

or just go tubeless and only need a hand pump. i work at a scrap yard, my tires pick up random shards of metal constantly. i would be patching a tube every week if i wasnt tubeless.

Or get puncture resistant tyres. I think I had one flat in about 4 years of commuting, and when that flat happened I also changed the tyre as it was worn. In urban areas a bike shop is always close (unless they are closed but your typical commute is during business hours) and alternatives for transportation are abundand.

@@Jacksparrow4986 those dont work when you get a sharp 17-4 steel chip in the tire

Man electronic shifting is the most overrated component I've ever used

​@@holben27 It's technological nonsense in my opinion.

I love my Brompton.

I agree. Been using my bi-fold 20in wheel Dahon Mariner D8 for 18 months, and because it is foldable I use it so much more. The bike came with rack, fenders, centre stand, also handlebar angle and height are fully adjustable, and it rides beautifully. Store it just inside the front door, and fits in the car easily. Brompton are nice, but here they have hardly any representation.

So if you go to the cinema, you carry the bike in and watch the movie with it on your lap?

Heck yes. I love mine for anything under 15 miles or so. So nice for throwing into a car, a bus, or a train. Perfect for commuting. Not super expensive.

​@@geroutathatNot quite, but definitely in a visible corner, or locked to some railing. It's not a solution for everything, like a fancy dinner, but it's great for 80% of short trips. I took mine on a (good) date a while back.

Certainly a thing which is a must for sports and urban bikes.

People always rail against backpacks for some reason which I've never understood. I carry my water on my back in a bladder pack and can take sips from my hose without even slowing down most of the time.

@@Catatonic2789 you are absolutely right, however, water backpacks are more appropriate for longer rides, and/or sports and athletics riding. In an urban environment, where you're likely to stop for traffic anyway, or when your commute likely isn't over an hour on bike, a simple water bottle should suffice, especially considering you may need your back for your work stuff or laptop. Great idea, but for different purposes!

@@Catatonic2789 I get a sweaty back with a rucksack on. I drop it in the rear basket along with the lock.

@@Catatonic2789 "for some reason which I've never understood." You don't understand a sweaty back?

The honk can happen either way: I've had rim brakes honk too, but making noise as you brake is not a bad thing, quite the contrary, it let's people in front of you know you are there instead of ringing your bell which could be perceived as rude: this way "I'm just patiently waiting behind you" instead of "impatiently trying to get your attention". But yes, rim brakes are super easy to adjust, unlike my disks which generally take me about 3 hours to get them just the way I like them set up, and if you're not rocketing down a mountain at 50kph rim brakes will do just fine (I've had rim brakes up to 60kph, and they'll definitely do the job with only slightly more run out: I'd ride them if they came standard on my bike).

Honestly, it's pure opinion, but I'd never suggest someone swap out the front gear set for a single (on a commuter bike). Either start with a single, or accept the derailleur, eh? It's less maintenance and weight, but not really that much of either, so it never manages to make the opportunity cost higher than the actual cost, unless you're an enthusiast who is going to swap back and forth by season or trip. But, if ya'll do, go to somebody like Jakob, haha. I don't want to take away his business, if it's worth it, do it.

Honestly my disk brakes was not maintained for half a year and it has no problem at all. When it squeaks or something I just replace the brake pads. Hydraulic disk brakes are powerful and reliable, and they have saved me from a traffic accident several times.

"Disc brakes require more maintenance". Are you joking? I have a front disc (bb7) and rear rim brake and the rim brake requires far more frequent adjustment and pad changes. Disc rotors last a long time too, I've done over 40,000km on a (2nd hand) 203mm rotor and there is plenty of life left. Performance wise disc brakes have much more consistent performance in the wet. I've measured peaks of 0.7g of braking force on my ebike from, the front disc - far better (and thus safer) than any rim brake I've ever used.

@@snowleopard9749 More frequent yes, but less time spent, at least in my experience: I know most people claim all you have to do is clamp the disk break and tighten the bolts, but in my experience that ends up rubbing every time! I end up having to spend about 3 hours every time using trial and error to get them clear of the disk. That said, "every time" has been twice, where you need to adjust rim brakes nearly every time you go out, but it literally takes 10 seconds with a screw driver.

And lights.

Agreed

just turn your head?

​@@terrycruise-zd5twover the age of 30 you risk your head falling off doing that. At the very least a pulled muscle.

​@Jeromeeb my head started falling off at 21 should i be worried?

Allow me to recommend Zefal half toe clips. They give you some of the advantages of clip-in pedals (your feet don’t slip off the pedals when pedalling hard, even in leather-soled shoes, you can flip the pedals up to the ideal position when stopped at a junction) without the downsides (falling over embarrassingly into the road). Not /quite/ as effective as clip-in pedals if your goal is max power output, but for a commuter bike, who cares? Give them a try!

Get some good platform pedals and good shoes. I use both but if not for a Road bike or MTB racing like XC is not needed.

Exactly the reason I still use the old 80's style toe clips, I can get out of them eazy & fhey are easy on my knees. As for gears....... The more gears it got the better I like it. 3x9 or 2x10

Same here, my dad gave me his old road bike with foot clips and I had to take them off. But in the rain they’re very useful since your feet won’t slip.

@@dand3975 For a long time I had toe clips on my (city) bikes. Not for sportive reasons but to have a good hold at the pedals even with normal shoes with rather flat soles.

A tire change would probably have been enough, unless your bearings had reached end-of-life-cycle.

@@monowheeling my point exactly 😄 i dont wanna put road tires on my mountain bike, because its a mountain bike and i actually use it as such. I just had never bothered buying a separate road bike for everyday use because it seemed like a waste of money. I only bought one because it was second hand and inexpensive.

dont be afraid of drop bars. im not a huge fan of road bikes but having several hand positions is nice to just stay comfortable.

Tell that to all those hillbillies that ride through the streets of Berlin on their downhill or even fat bikes. Maybe there was a bit of a misunderstanding on the term "urban jungle"

There are tires with smooth and consistent running surface in the middle and knobs besides of it. Runs smooth on tarmac, but still has the grip on rough terrain. Inflate it a bit harder than you would on a mountain bike tire to furtehr reduce the rolling resistance.

Especially if you don't own a car. I live in Chicago where it's feasible to live without a car in some neighborhoods, and am hoping to move to a neighborhood more friendly for cycling (and the city gets its act together and adds way more protected bike lanes)

Not only that, I find the dropper post very useful when stopping at a red light: you have optimal position for pedaling, then you can lower your seat approaching a stop to put firmly a foot down without having to incline (especially if you’re using a high-clearance platform as your commuter bike)

i take that approach too - if you got a fun commute to work your in a much better mood. also using your upper body to handle your bike really gets your blood flowing.

@@francescopellegrini1295 I take my S.Enduro around Madrid many times when I can park in a safe place or get the bike with me all time. The dropper is key in a red light,you are seat with both feet on the ground. It is more comfortable and safer and you can pedal start to pedal really fast.

3 speeds is so slow, you must not have hills or wind

@@terrycruise-zd5tw I now live just north of Toronto, Canada but lived half my life in Toronto. We have both hills and wind :-) Granted, at my age, I now bike mostly for pleasure and light exercise so it's a fair weather thing for me nowadays not like in the past. I never found the 3 speeds insufficient for transportation. Just had to work harder when going up hills or riding against the wind. Rarely used 1st gear even on steep hills and rode at moderate pace, avoiding heavily trafficked roads when possible, even if it added time and distance to the trip.

Definitely, for anyone who wants to experience it first hand, borrow a suspension bike with suspension lock lever on the handlebars and start switching it on and off and compare.

@@kytkosaurus (if the lockout still works: it's usually the first thing to die)

But wisconsin roads tho.

I hear this argument all the time, but I'm not buying that it makes _that_ much of a difference (with a suspension that isn't set to be super-squishy). Suspensions exist to absorb the kinetic energy of small to moderate shocks. We have them because if we didn't, that shock energy would dissipate into your ass, in other words, without it YOU are the suspension. The shock energy has to go somewhere - it's either you or the suspension.

@@antred11 If that's the problem you're putting too much weight on your ass: your seat should be higher or further forward. Mountain bike tires alone should be plenty to absorb the kinetic energy from the road. If you have your shocks set so high that they ONLY move with the hardest of shocks (you hit a massive pothole for example) then yes I agree there's nothing lost, but if they are set soft enough that they move even the slightest bit while pedaling, then basically as a ratio,the amount they move vs the length of your pedal stroke is the amount of each pedal stroke they are absorbing and you are losing.

Being able to stop quicker is always better when you have drivers who are not paying attention

1000% agree. i built a $2000 commuter out of a steel gravel frame (jamis renegade) because i found rim brakes to be entirely unsafe in wet conditions. i seriously feel like he said this because he DOESN'T RIDE IN BAD WEATHER. i live in a snowbelt city in the USA, and i have commuted to work by bike all but 1 day over a year. we average 100in of snow in a season.

@@sabiti5428 Please watch the video. He literally says he has discs on his winter bike because of the sludge.

I'm a daily commuter and disc brakes have been so much more convenient and required way less maintenance.

@@sabiti5428 I commuted to work all but one day last year as well, but only 48 inches of snow. My hat is off to you good sir. Winter biking is great!

Rusting is a process specific only to steel. Aluminum alloys don't rust, though they still corrode, especially when used during winter and salty road maintenance liquids do their ugly job - albeit visually not so emphasized as on steel.

I agree! I missed having a mirror on the first ride. I got a tiny one that hooks onto my eyeglasses (Take A Look). It works brilliantly.

Scrolled down to comment about disc brakes as well... I'd classify disc brakes as neutral, rather than unnecessary. Good to have if you can, not at all a detriment like clip-in pedals or suspension, but also not absolutely necessary. They are only slightly more expensive than rim brakes, work in every weather, easier(imo) to adjust or replace. Sure, hydraulic disc brakes are an overkill. But at the same time if the bike you can buy only comes with rim brakes that's not something to be bummed out with.

@@iefim for me it really depends on your use case. Like for my gfs first bike, I insisted on disc brakes because there's a chance she'll have to ride in the rain. However, when I was giving her mom the shpiel about buying a bike, I was like disc brakes are nice but not necessary since she just wants a bike for exercise.

@@fleurdelispens I don't disagree, just hijacking your comment to keep the disk brake topic in one place 👍

@@iefim Hydraulics are worth the extra, just annoying that they don’t come with the cheaper groupsets. Cable actuated hydraulic callipers are a nice medium. Cable pull disc brakes are a crime though.

@@thegrowl2210 Cable discs solve the main problem that rim brake have in bad weather though. Which is the only real issue with rim brake you are going to come up against cruising around a city.

would also add cycling cloths, even the video suggest against it. For a 20 km ride it is needed, could not imagine not to freshen up and change cloths after that ride

not having to push down to keep your feet in place is also helpful (I have platform/spd pedals)

@@nowayout8773 I go flat pedals in regular clothes and shoes as well for up to an hour or so commuting, no problems. I do recommend against riding barefoot though, because I lost a toenail in a very painful accident that way as a kid. Of course it grew back, but picking gravel out of it after the accident and disinfecting it with alcohol was zero fun.

I never really liked the feel of SPD pedals back in my competitive mountain biking days. To me the optimal solutions are the bmx type flat pedals, the ones with the little screws on the surface. They give perfect grip in all conditions, and they even enable pulling the pedal a little.

I use regular shoes and toe clips.

If you get some puncture resistant Schwalbe Plus tyres then 99.98% you will never need any of that puncture repair stuff

Basic first aid kit too

@@charleslambert3368 A couple of wet-wipes and/or latex gloves are a good addition too. Then if you have to fix a mechanical problem you don't need to ride with dirty hands.

@@kjh23gk true, but go for the blue nitrile gloves. i once wore latex ones to degrease my bike and they just sort of disappeared on my hands as I was wearing them.

@@charleslambert3368 Really good point! I prefer anti-septic wet-wipes because they can also be used to disinfect cuts/grazes as well as cleaning oily hands.

I finally got a jersey (and bottle holder) last year and it's been a total gamechanger. I don't need to carry a backpack anymore, I can fit so much in the pockets and the positioning on the back means nothing interferes with my position on the bike. It's amazing.

Not just little things. I carry everything in those. I use my bike jacket as my general cool weather jacket and I can fit my whole wallet in there, a water bottle, a small book. All of my kid’s things. Those pockets are giant and amazing.

It's a hard agree from me on the hydraulic disc brakes for riding in the city. You can very stop quickly and get intuitive and easy control over braking force. And mine are basically maintenance-free except for pads and eventually fluid I guess.

@@ghjgjihjgjyrdrgydsgr137 Yes, you have to bleed the brakes once every year to maintain their braking power. Another trick to "regenerate" some of their braking power is by squeezing the brake and putting a rubber band or cable tie on the lever to keep them engaged overnight.

There's a lot in what you say. I have a 3 x 7 gear set on my hybrid bike. Woohoo, 21 gears I thought when I got it! But to keep the chain aligned as correctly as possible I use in descending order 3 x 7, 6, 5. 2 x 5, 4, 3. 1 x 3, 2, 1. So that's just 9 ideally preferential gears. If your 12 has a good speedy high for flats and descents and a good low for steep hills and pulling a trailer with 40-70kg I could feel quite envious for the simplicity and convince and perhaps greater reliability. Although I couldn't live with just 3. Too many gradients and hills plus it's often quite windy.

@@tconnolly9820 Yeah it's definitely simpler, but I'm not quite sure if it's also more reliable because of it... Because all the 12 gears are on one cassette, the cogs on the cassette and the chain are narrower. Narrower could mean it wears out quicker and breaks easier. But I suppose it's robust enough, since it's the Shimano XT line for MTB; real MTBs have a lot more to suffer than just a commuter bike that hits a dirt road every now and then.

I have the same tires! I see a lot of people with them in my city, they are really a good city tire! I have tubes in them with 6000km without puncture

Does a lightweight rear rack and a set of full length plastic fenders really make a bike less fun? Don’t even know I have them when I’m riding - other than I know it’s more fun not getting wet from road spray and carrying a backpack 🙂

@@rob-c. it's not the weight it's the look. Also some bikes can't fit racks and the clamp on one's are less than ideal.

@@Kwjehehebebb Take a look at Axiom's "Streamliner" racks. They sit on the skewer at the bottom and they come *very* narrow.

@@AMS51000 damn that's a nice rack. I still hold my point though that appearance is a big part of why I ride and sometimes that means I don't want a rack. I like my touring bike to have front and rear racks with panniers while my road bike I like to have nothing but two bottle cages. Sometimes I don't need to carry a bunch of stuff and I like my bike to look sleek when just having fun.

@@Kwjehehebebb Understood. I think I got to the age (early 60s) where appearance started to matter less...at least to me. But give me a Bianchi in Celeste, stripped for racing...mmmmm!

Exactly: horses for courses

Far better is SA XL-FDD dyno Drum brakes. Two tours and 30,000 miles and still stops as good as new.

See I agree that most don't know how to use them, but I still think everyone should know how to use them. I don't use mine for short rides, but for long rides I'm glad I've got them.

I use cleats on my fixie (more of a requirement there) but flats on everything else

I have a pair of Giro Rumble VR shoes that are so comfortable to walk in that I forget I'm wearing cycling shoes, unless I have to walk up a steep hill or stairs. I use Crank Brothers "Candy" pedals, which are double sided, so I just slap my foot onto the pedal and I'm clipped in. Clipless pedals make a huge difference on a steep hill, or pulling away from a stop - especially with fewer gears. On a fixed gear bike they are essential - you don't want the pedals getting away from you on a downhill.

The 3 and 7 speed Nexus internal hub gearboxes are bulletproof. Used one every day for years and absolutelu zero maintenance. It's better than the other one from Shimano because it has straight cut gears, making it stronger and is also cheaper. Eventually everything else was destroyed on my last bike. The handlebars, brake levers, bell, lights, even the front wheel was bent. But the gears? Absolutely brandspanking new. Source: Me, dutchman who biked to school everdy day and treated his bike like any kid does.

​@@blipman17 Is the nexus more sturdy than the alfine? Groetjes Gideon

Does anybody know how much it would cost to have a internal gear hub laced into a wheel? I want one! I want low maintenance. I'm not mechanically minded and I don't like messing around with a derailleur. Somebody please give me an estimate. This is important. I like my bike and don't want to buy a new one. Thanks.

I agree. Yes, if I focus, I can get power on the upstroke. I even use the technique sometimes if I want to get a little rest on a long ride without slowing down. But that's _far_ from my primary intent in having the clip-in pedals. The main reason is the stability it gives me on my ride, one less thing I need to focus on so I can keep my brain engaged on avoiding all the reckless motorists out to kill me. That said, I also do whole-heartedly agree that many bike trips don't require special shoes. My commute, I want to clip in. It's a longer ride, and I appreciate the lower fatigue and better stability. But if I'm just out on errands in my neighborhood, no...I'm not putting on all my bike gear. Fortunately, Shimano makes a line of dual-use pedals, with clips on one side and a flat street-shoe-friendly surface on the other side. I put the low-profile ones on my road bike, the larger MTB-style ones on my e-bike, and I love them.

I have a special place in my heart for fixed and single-speeds, but they can be tough for a lot of people. Glad you're making it work

Ye i have more hills then plain terrain sooo

I had a friend who had a fixed gear that he never locked. It was stolen several times but presumably the fixed gear threw off the thieves, because it was never more than 50m from where he left it.

@@Allan_son lol That's an completely unexpected bonus!

Hills... or bridges. Deal killer for me. I like gears.

@@cmmartti i said it shouldnt be an accessory - meaning it should be mandatory :)

You don't need high gears going down in a city environ. You're already way to fast. :-D Just enjoy the free downhill ride and stay ready to brake.

​@@martinba9629 haha I dont like the feeling of loose riding :D I prefer to keep peddling at high gears XD

@@ziba89 ride fixed gear

@@karter9219 yeah that's something I'd like to try out

They have their place. Just not on my bike 😉

they're not good on bikes for sport but i imagine with a bike that has panniers etc they are useful

Do you think it encourages you to leave your bike without locking it to something?

@@wilfdarr Yeah. To clarify, I mean on my city bike. My drop bar road bike doesn't get one.

@@iura0 Not at all. It makes it much easier to lock it to something. I used to have my frame slide off bike racks all the time while I was trying to lock it up. Now the kickstand can hold it upright right next to the rack/pole/fence while I lock it. Makes it a much simpler task.

Maybe not really an answer to your question, but I just fixed my basket permanently and it's always there. I don't know why would I ever need to remove it. If I had to carry stuff without it for some reason, I'll just get a backpack and accept sweaty back that one time a year it happens :)

Don't know if this could work, but maybe get a cheap drawstring bag, roll it up, and store it under the seat, held in place by the seat rails. I keep a cloth in there for drying the seat and it's never fallen out, I will have to see if a drawstring bag fits instead.

I have an old 26" MTB with 9 " rise BMX bars, the cross bar is perfect for hanging bags off with lots of clearance to the front wheel.

This is true for me, too. My disc brakes are very responsive and powerful, they give me a lot more confidence riding in city traffic.

Same happen to me with a driver opening his door but I have rim brakes was going quite fast but still stop before i hit th the door.

My V brakes are just fine for me. I’ve had to slam on them hard quite a few times, always stopped me with ease.

@@MrJammer51 Same. Actually the car's door hit the guy in front of me and I had to stop before crashing into him. It was a descent and I actually stopped faster than the poor guy rolling on the tarmac.

@@MrJammer51 try that in the rain, so how it works for you

I'm a big fan of the double leg kickstand. I trust them a lot more than the single legs which tend to stand your bike at a slight angle. Loading panniers is a lot easier. I use the Copenhagen Dual Leg Kickstand at the moment. My only complaint is that it tends to be a little difficult to put back up with my 26 x 2" wheels. One leg tends to get stuck on the tire. I don't think this would be a problem with a larger wheel size.

I have an Ursus Jumbo on my cargo bike. It's 7 inches wide folded and 18 inches deployed. This definitely won't fall over while loading the bike.

I don't think you could sell a normal bike here without a kickstand on it. People would think it got out the factory unfinished.

@@steemlenn8797 A lot of bikes in the US are "sporty" and don't have kickstands. Kids BMX, road bikes and mountain bikes are frequently sold stand-free to show how fast they are. I have a mountain bike with U-brakes under the chain stays, so you couldn't put a regular kickstand on if you wanted to.

One of my kickstands is a double and I prefer it because of weight distribution.

In the Netherlands these are required by law. The Dutch law states a bike need: - red rear reflector - white / yellow reflector strip on wheels / tires - 4x amber reflector on pedals X spoke reflectors (the ones that go vertical along the spokes) are actually forbidden

If my lights go whack at night, it would be illegal to ride any further.

A high vis waistcoat with reflective strips, very cheap and very effective in car headlights. Lights are so tiny and cheap, you could carry a spare set. A head light is anyway also very useful if you get a puncture at night.

Definitely reflectors. Putting aside they are law pretty much everywhere, they do so much for night visibility, especially in unlit areas. Because the lights of (reasonable) cars are not going as high as the person sitting on the bike on close distance, but the "cat's eyes" on the wheel will keep you visible to the side even then. Better than any non-white clothing.

Tern vektron?

Where would I find or buy one?

@@tubro541 Many places, including Amazon (read reviews and maybe avoid those Shimano black & flat derailleurs) Where are you based?

@@Davmm96 Italika Voltium Bike Pocket. (it's kinda similar tho). It's from the Mexican brand Italika that makes motorcycles but this was it's first electric bicycle(it also had made electric motorcycles before). It was one of the best "cheap options" here in México. A video about the bike (under 1K dollars): kzfaq.info/get/bejne/msh3f7yVuJvVaas.html

@@moisesrosario9716 No mames! El dinero que no pones on un Tern puedes ponerlo on mezcal, conchas y tamales ;) We won't have this option in Canada :(

At least in Germany you can just get bikes with fenders, lights and a rack included pretty much everywhere.

> Germany and the US certainly suffer from the, "bikes for recreation" mindset. They do, but I'd argue it's less pronounced here in Germany than in the US. At least some cities manage to accommodate bike commuters and increasingly do so (my city of Bonn recently reconstructed a bridge with wider bike lanes and the new car park at the main station has space for bikes), but we're still a ways off. The biggest issue here I think is that bike infrastructure is often up to the districts and municipalities and if the local government isn't super pro-bike, you'll be left going for whatever scraps get thrown at you.

@@freedomseekr I used to live in Bonn and there were a significant number of bike commuters. Did they remake the Kennedybrücke? Still, Germany as a whole is behind the Netherlands.

@@TheRuralUrbanist The one recently remade was the Viktoriabrücke between Weststadt and Nordstadt. Kennedybrücke is fine for biking imho, way better than the other two bridges across the Rhine.

@@freedomseekr oh, sorry I thought you meant a Rhein bridge. Kennedy is great, still really busy for all modes. And yeah, the other bridges are almost completely for auto. I don't know the part of the city where this was done, I was mostly in the center city, Beuel, and similar

Are the Pirelli Centurata wheels Kevlar protected? I've had mine for 2 years with zero punctures as well. I installed them after 5 punctures in the space of 4 months on my old tires. I sing their praises to anyone who will listen. Well worth the initial cost.

When Kevlar protected tyres were introduced in Denmark 40 years ago, instead of mending flat tyres at least every month on me girlfriend's and my own bike it came down to mending maybe one or two flat tyres per year. In Denmark they used gravel instead of salt for icy roads - with lots of sharp flint in it.

Good addition! the last flat I had with my kevlar tires was where the rim wore through the valve stem after 2+ year s of riding.

Punctures are a matter of LUCK. I've gone a year plus without a puncture. Then had 3 in a single week. Some roads have awful amounts of debris on them. Some bike paths in Croydon for example. Are purposely sabotaged by morons with glass and nails. To cause problems for cyclists. Probably jealous LAZY motorists. And particularly in the dark. You can get a nail/screw or jagged piece of glass in your tire. And not realize until it's lost too much pressure. Other routes where there's very little debris discarded. You could ride your bike for 10 years without a single flat. Besides most flats occur when your rear tire is worn. Many cyclists just expect their bike to go forever without spending any money on it. I run only one tire on my two folders. VEE SPEEDSTERS. Amazing tires. Fast, great grip and slow wearing. And I change the back tire every 4 months. The front tire once a year. I've had one flat in 2 years. And that was only from riding through a subway path laden with thorns. From freshly cut bushes...

Yes thats right. Sometimes injust cant because my frame does not allow IT 😅

And get out of the saddle once in a while.

I didn't understand why the ride was so rough, then I dropped the air pressure down to only half the maximum (still way above the minimum). Now I'm getting the benefit of my larger tyres, it's much better. I would still like a little suspension in my fork.

My 4.8" tires are definitely slower than my 2.25" tires. They do eat up bumps though.

@@afoolishman12 Fair, and I have also experienced this with my fatty with 4" tires. At some point the increased weight of the tires and the wider rims does slow you down. But my experience and what I understand of the science is that, for a given rim width, going with bigger tires, at least with light ones like the René Herses, will not slow you down.

I ride what is basically a hardtail, but also with a solid fork(one less point of maintenance), and it'll handle climbing hills, has squishy tires to absorb bumps and curbs, and the xc tires keep a decent 12-14MPH even with me being out of shape. I do still want to experiment with some gravel tires to see how well they will roll comparatively.

I commuted on a XC hardtail for years. It was comfortable but also very maintenance heavy in the winter (it snows from time to time where I live and is often wet). The derailleur gears were a mess and the front suspension jammed at some point. I’m much happier on a city bike with thinner tires, hub gears, no suspension and belt drive.

YES! My old Chromag with gravel tires has been a hoot! But it is defiantly not the fastest.

the worst cope in cycling

@@johnsmithers284 I beg to differ, I will take horrible roads over bad drivers any day

@@johnseilicki7322 I'm saying it's a cope to need suspension for "the worst roads you've ever seen man I swear" You most likely don't need suspension.

Nope Maybe and He'll no (baskets degrade control and as such can be dangerous) Nope And fenders never keep you clean anyways so you might as well just pack a change of clothes in your pack and skip the fenders.

@@wilfdarr What? Fenders do definitely keep you clean. And the people behind you as well. Get fenders.

You need only one thing. Look at true Dutch, simple bike with 1-7 gears and a rack on the back and a kickstand. It’s what 95% of the bikes are like over here.

@@lsamoa Not clean enough that you dare wear your work wear on your bike! I'm going to be wearing bike wear anyways, so it's a moot point. As for the people behind, that's actually a decent thought: not nearly enough people riding where I'm at for it to have come up, but when I come back to Calgary I may actually need to do that (I left Calgary before the bike lanes got put in, so things have changed since). I'll concede that point.

@@hhjhj393 I'd agree with you except no bikes of any sort are allowed on public transportation where I'm at, so if I'm going to ride I'm going to enjoy it without compromise, and if I have to take public transport then the bike is out of the equation unfortunately...

Yeah, my thoughts too. Especially the reflectors and kickstand. The only time I thought there were too much reflectors was one guy who had about 20 in each tire, in 2 layers. That is actually distracting to a car driver :D

A lot of those things are absent from bikes in the US and the UK since bike commuting isn’t as much of a thing in either of those countries. So the assumption is that you’re probably buying the bike for recreational purposes rather than commuting.

@@Shoyren But... why wouldn't you want something like a kickstand then as well? I'd much prefer to bike over to some field for a picnic and keep my bike up instead of just laying it down on the grass for an example.

@@DupeFortGaming ok yeah I’m still not sure why kickstands aren’t standard. Even my dad’s 20+ year old Walmart mtb has one.

@@Shoyren But that doesn't make a difference! I can see why a mountainbike doesn't have a kickstand, but that is all! Fenders, reflectors, chain guard and kickstand should be basic stuff on any bike that is not especially bought for sports. Or do you like your nice dress you put on for work to be oily and muddy?

My Alfine-equipped bike also has a belt drive and solid tyres. 1200km so far and loving it.

I built winter snow/ice commuter with an Alfine 8 speed. Love it. It did go single speed on me at -15 C until warmed back up ;)

I think the amount of gears really depends on how hilly your city is and how you drive. With more gears, you can make sure that your legs are always at the same speed even if the incline changes continuously. As for the breaks, I think it depends on how much you ride on bike lanes and how much in traffic, after getting disk breaks I wouldn't want to miss them while driving downhill in traffic and or on wet days. I totally agree with the steel frame and dynamo, though a hub one is a lot better, it has a lot less friction compared to the old ones. But I'm really not a fan of coaster breaks, as I rotate my pedals backward when at a stop light to get over the junction faster.

I would never go back to or have the trust to put my life in the hands of a V brake. Not sure I would want a dynamo, although I already have lights, I'm more worried about the added resistance/friction (as on roller brakes) Loads of bikes (at least here in the EU) with coaster brakes, although I despise them and would never want to own a bike with one.

There are bikes with only coaster bikes and they scare the hell out of me. Only having rear wheel breaking is bad enough, because most of your stopping power comes from your front break. Sharp breaking might not be a daily occurrence, but I want to be able to stop ASAP if needed. It's kind of like an ABS system in cars. Not needed daily but you really don't want to miss it. And if you somehow slip off your rear pedal in bad weather you lose the ability to stop at all.

@@TheBlueye13 I did not mean to say "only rear brake". Of course every bike needs to have two independently functioning brakes.

@@Masterfighterx My bike has V-brakes (I can't get bikes with coaster brake here in Singapore). Both are strong enough to lock the wheels with two fingers. What else would I need? I dislike this: When approaching a junction, for example, I give a hand signal. With a coaster brake on the rear wheel, I could slow down by kicking the pedals backward and still have both my hands available. The operation of a coaster is natural: Forwards move forward, rearwards slow down.

Do you believe in thieves without a wrench and multi-tool?

@@event4216 It sure slows them down. Ditto for the saddle. Any cop will tell you opportunity is a thief's best friend.

In general you state the truth, but I do notice that the 3x drivetrains do have the ability to limp along on neglect and inexperience a lot more than 1x. In a 1x, if your derailleur's out of whack, it's out of whack. On a 3x, you can sort of fudge some misalignment by using the 'wrong' front chainring. Not useful to anyone who knows how to adjust a derailleur, but I'm not sure if the average department store buyer/builder does.. Also allows you to cheap out on the metallurgy of the front chainrings and chain a bit more and not worry about the chain popping off the front chainring as much.

3x drivetrains are normally on cheaper bikes because they're cheaper to make.

This is factually wrong 3x has more range than 2x that has more range than 1x for any given rear gear range/cassette. Yes you can make a 3x corn cob 11-24 vs 1x 11-50 but that dos not say anything about 3x vs 2x vs 1x, that is about your rear gear range. Just look at the standard setups tooth difference in the front chainrings, 3x typical have a 20 to 26 tooth difference, 2x from 8 to 18 tooth difference and 1x well zero. This also says nothing about differences in step between gears and cadence control. While I do agree that most people only need 1x 11-34+(40 or 50) and I even have a 1x setup on one of my bikes, this is not that you can get more range (as that is false) it is that most people do not need the range that a 2x/3x system can offer. People do benefit from a 2x or 3x setup but that is more about riding style, distance, terrain, and types of multi usage.

3x front derailleurs are also a giant pain in the rear to tune

Or just use an Sturmey Archer 5

Speaking from experience i see 😏