prepping a four season commuter

My current commuter bike, like all of my actively ridden bikes, is a Kona. Repeatedly, over the years, I have found Kona bicycles to be a delight to ride and very reliable. They also offer a significant bang for your buck and quite frankly punch above their weight. The daily grinder is a cheap as dirt Kona Lana'i. It is not that exciting a bicycle, but it is very serviceable and does the job quite well.

One big advantage that this bicycle has as a commuter is that it is not that expensive. This reduces the chances of it being stolen by a fair bit since it is not as desirable as some. Another bonus is that if it does get stolen, I will likely just sigh, and go get another one after reporting it to the authorities and all that. Since it is a bicycle for transport, it comes out of my transport budget and not my entertainment budget. It can also be loaded down significantly. Being a mountain bike, it is over built for what I am doing with it.

Circumstances being what they were when I bought it - low on cash at the time and desiring disk brakes - I ended up with a extra stock blow out bike that Kona had hanging around. Mine is a 2011 model that I bought in 2012 and paid very little for. 

As I have a good relationship with my LBS, I was able to negotiate a couple of significant changes into the cost of the bicycle. One of these was a rigid fork. I do not recommend a suspension fork for a commuter. They rob too much power since they tend to bob a bit, and the fork that most bicycle manufacturers fit to low end bicycles tends to be fairly cheap. I was able to swap out the suspension fork for a quite nice steel rigid for with a gentle curve forward which flexes a bit and helps to smooth out the ride.

The bicycle is a bit too small for me actually. This worked out to being a good thing though. Part of the swap of parts I arranged was for a longer stem which stretched out the riding position somewhat. The bike came stock with a very short stubby stem. Thankfully, the stock seat post is ridiculously long, and I am able to raise it high enough to ride comfortably without risking damage to either the post or the frame. Why then is the small bike good? Well, because Kona builds their frames with a fairly dramatically sloping top tube, and because the bike is one size too small, I can use it as a step through frame if I hike my foot up high enough. This is a bonus if I have a big load on the back like a basket of groceries or something like that.

Some futzing around with parts has brought the bike to where it is now. 

Currently, it has a nice heavy duty rack on the back. I use an Axiom Journey Unifit Mk3 rack. I chose it, after having used a few other ones I had kicking around, because it will enable me to mount the panniers low and far back reducing heal strike on the pannier - the bane of a too small bike with bags - and keeping the center of gravity low, while maintaining a broad deck up top for my trunk bag or lock or basket. The rack allows for the mounting of a tail light on the rack in a position which is easy to see, and easy to kick right clean off the bike if you are not careful when climbing on the bicycle.

The stock pedals were not good. They were cheap metal ones, which I replaced with cheap plastic ones. The advantage is that they won't slip when wet which the metal ones were really bad for. I average about a year or so per set of pedals. The bearings simply cannot hold up to the abuse of riding in all weather.

I added some fenders, a lighting system, changed out the tires, and a few other odd things.

I will present a series of pictures of the bicycle and in the caption underneath explain the significance of what I am showing.

My replacement pedals. These cost under $10, but should last over 4000km before they start to fall apart. My feet won't slip off of them in my big clunky boots that I ride in all winter long. Note the "slime" all over the axle. I make liberal use of a can of rust proofing stuff for automobiles on key parts of the bicycle so that they won't corrode, and so that I can remove them after. Because of the boots I use, I never get anything on my clothing. I ride in Bogs during the winter, and clean this stuff off come spring. Other footwear does not slip on them either. Toe capped sandals and regular shoes do fine with pedals like this.

A bit of a close up of the axle. Note the rust proofing. This bike has almost 4500km on it, and the crank has gotten scuffed up a fair bit. One of the "costs of doing business" as a work bike - for me, aesthetics take a back seat. The bike will not get abused, but it will get banged up.

It is worth pointing out that the bike as seen some use. I bought it in the fall of 2012 and have almost 4500 km on it. Since then, I have worn out a cheap pair of plastic pedals, one chain, one cassette, a set of cables, a set of brake shoes, the saddle - I tend to kill saddles for some reason - and a rear rim. The original rear rim was defective and the side wall of it blew out. Warranty saw me outfitted with a replacement wheel. I also replaced the brake calipers (more on that later).

The bike comes with mounts for racks and fenders. However, the rounded off bolts for the rack mounts are weak. They hold things on the bike just fine, and won't snap I would think, but the bolt heads strip out easily. I replaced them with these better quality ones. Tip - grease the daylights out of this kind of thing when you put them into the frame so that you can remove them later if you need to. Do this even if you do not intend to winter ride the bicycle.

I did a bit of doinking around with the placement of my bell and managed to squeeze it into a tight gap between the bar and the rapid fire shifter. Yay. Improved ergonomics. Tip - get a brass bell or gong (this is actually a gong). They are much louder and can be heard by iPod zombies.

The front derailleur is nothing special, but it works. I rust proof the crap out of it and it will shift even when packed with snow and ice. Note the tight gap between it and the fender. I would be hard pressed to squash a piece of paper between the fender and the derailleur. This is a weakness in the design IF the bike is going to have full coverage fenders - a must for a commuter if you ask me. I would think that this derailleur looks fine for one which has been subjected to as much winter and grime as this one has.

The stock brakes were not so hot. I had a caliper cease up mid winter the first year I had the bike. Both the front (shown here) and rear calipers were replaced with some inexpensive Avid ones. They work significantly better, and have shown no sign of sticking. You can see the kind of shenanigans I had to do to get the fenders to clear the brake caliper. Looks weird, but it works. Also, I ditched the quick release skewers in favour of some bolt on ones. Tip - to seat the brakes properly and prevent glazed pads, perform several very hard stops on fresh pads from about 30kmph. The brakes will last longer and work better if you do. The front brake in particular howls like crazy when it is damp. This is something that happens with disk brakes and is not a problem even if it is loud. A few firm applications of the brake dry them off and they get quiet again. Remember that they can ice up and should be used in the winter time periodically even if you are not planning a stop. The disks are no where near as susceptible to this as wheel rims are though so brake failure in the snow is not as likely with brakes like this compared to rim brakes.

Fenders matter. This picture illustrates the clearance I have with my front fender and my non-studded snow tire. This kind of clearance keeps crap from building up and creating drag, and the low slightly flared mudflap keeps my feet dry. I got these at MEC - they are from planetbike and are worth it.

The back end of the bike - note the liberal use of reflective tape. I like being seen. I had to weave the fender stays through the rack to get it all to work. It looks bizarre, but it works. The rear fender has similar clearance to the front and I have never once had any spray fly up and hit me. Friends report that little flies out back as well which is nice.

Nothing special here. I was very surprised that the rear derailleur has lasted as long as it has. It is original to the bike and is a very basic and cheap unit. However, it is going strong still which is good. Spring will likely see an upgrade here. I tend to wear out the stock parts and then swap to better ones as I go along.

Speaking of better parts, it is also worth noting that the original bottom bracket and headset are still on the bike. They have never been serviced or adjusted. They don't crunch or grind or anything either. Impressive for such basic stuff. I suspect that the bottom bracket may give out this winter - I have heard some mild crunching in that department (although that may be coming from the front chain ring which is also stock).  I have also been lazy and not overhauled the hubs yet (I should though...). I highly recommend that a crank with removable chainrings be bought with the bike. I have had bicycles where the crank and chainrings were one unit. Not only are the chainrings on such a set up substandard, they cannot be replaced without replacing the crank. I burned out such a set up in about four months of heavy duty winter riding. Even a cheap replaceable chainring set up like the current bicycle will last a fair bit. The one on this bike is original to the bike and has over 4500km on it. Spring will see a new middle chainring on the front - a better quality one I am guessing at this point.

This winter's tires. Go read my review of them if you want. I quite like them. Deeper snow and ice see the studded ones come out though.

This shows the difference between my studded and non-studded winter tires. The studded ones are much better on ice than the others, but do drag a bunch. This is why they are not currently mounted to the bicycle. Should funds allow, a second set of wheels will appear so I can swap them back and forth as conditions merit.

Cheap and nasty but very effective. That is a planet bike superflash. I want to replace it with a Knog Blinder Road R tail light instead though as I am a big fan of being seen. The Knog is crazy bright.

And the headlamp. This head lamp works very well. I am a big fan of it.

I have several options for carrying things on the bicycle. Some prefer to carry what they bring with them on a commute on their body - using knapsacks or messenger bags and what have you - and some prefer to carry their stuff on the bicycle itself. I fall into the carry the stuff on the bicycle camp. This is why I chose such a heavy duty rack for the bicycle.

For me, the advantage of carrying the gear I bring on a commute on the bike instead of my person is simple. I tend towards wearing layers and a knapsack (the worst) or a messenger bag (better) compress the layers and squeeze out the air space between my clothing and I overheat and get very sweaty. This is true even at -10 or -20. It is far worse in the summer months. So, gear goes on the bike. I would change my mind if my daily commute saw me in and out of several places in rapid succession. Then, removing the bags at each stop (to prevent theft) would rapidly become tedious. In such circumstances, a messenger bag makes more sense than panniers etc.

This is the unadorned back end of the bicycle. The rack design is such that carrying a cable lock is easy. I use Kryptonite cables and padlocks. I also have a U-Lock which gets attached to the top of the rack by a stretch cord. Pannier bags can be attached to this rack either using the top or the lower side rails. I prefer the lower ones as it drops the center of gravity of the bicycle a bit. The small inverted tool bag - attached to the struts of the rack by the same mechanism that would  normally hold it to the underside of the seat - contains a multi-tool, inner tube, patch kit, and tire levers (2). It is always on the bike but is quick to remove via its quick release. It twists off. One nice thing about this rack is that it presents a fairly low profile for wind for a rack that is designed to hold so much weight.

Not all is perfect with this rack though. The spot for hooking the panniers to (the rectangular hole in the tab in the middle of the picture here) does not bend out like most other racks which use a tab like this do. This is stupid. Pure and simple. Stupid. It makes it very hard to hold the pannier by its top handle and snag the bag's hook on the rack's tab and attach it in one smooth motion. Putting the panniers on is a pain in the rear end. It is not a deal breaker for me with this rack, but it is very annoying. Someday, when I am feeling brave, I will very carefully bend the aluminium tab out with a pair of vice grips and make life easier for myself. Or rather, easier for myself if I don't break it...

These are the bags I use. I cannot say enough good things about them. They are dry bags with a roll to close internal closure and a big flap which goes over the top. The only design flaw is that the flap can be a bit of a sail at times and the excess strap can flap about.  Newer versions of this bag have addressed this concern. That said, they are very very tough and are genuinely waterproof. I have ridden through hour long thunder storms with a bag full of paper and not one sheet got wet. They never leak in the winter. Salt washes off. The mounting hardware is replaceable. They hold a lot of stuff, and can take a bit of weight. This particular pair is about 10 years old and is going strong. I suspect I will get ten more years out of them. Even the mounting hardware is original. Good quality bags like this are a must for commuting. If what you need to take with you needs to be dry, these are a good bet and cost a lot less than some other bags (like Ortlieb ones - although the Ortliebs are easier to mount to the rack due to a different mounting mechanism). For shopping - groceries and the like - they are ok but do not carry enough. Shopping panniers would be better. I use a basket which attaches to the top of the rack for that mostly.

Note the reflective patches on the panniers (and my attractive cardboard to park the bike on in the winter...)

My other piece of luggage is a Arkel trunk bag. This is not a dry bag and has a hidden pull out rain cover which works fine. It is big enough for a M4/3 camera kit if you don't have too many lenses - pad the bag a bit!! - and has a divider in it. The zippers are water resistant. Velcro holds it to the top of the rack. Your rack needs to be fairly wide to avoid wobble with this bag. What I like about this combination is that it is easy to remove one or all of the bags individually and there is no interference between the mounting points of any of the bags. This is a major reason I bought this rack.

Back view of the set up.

Fully loaded down, the bike becomes a serious pig. It is good to know though that should I need to haul some stuff, it can be done. One big advantage of a bike like this is that if hauling is needed, the bike has the gearing to keep you moving. The only thing I have not added to the kit is a trailer (I am thinking of it...)

So there you have it. One commuter bike. The only difference between the winter set up shown here and the summer one is that I swap out the tires and clean it. There is no salt all over it in the summer. I reasonably expect to get at least 40 000km out of it assuming I maintain the drive train. For about $500 in, plus racks and fenders, and about $100 a year in maintenance, this is an inexpensive way to transport oneself around the city. $1500 for a decade of transportation. Not bad.

Update: I got rid of the seat it came with a long time ago. It did not fit me well. I had been using a WTB saddle off of my 2013 JTS cyclocross bike, but found that the design of the seat in conjuction with the seatpost wore out too many pants. This is not an issue with bike gear which does not rub there, but is an issue with street clothes. So, enter the Brooks B-17 Narrow saddle. Review and thoughts are here: Brooks B-17 Narrow: let's give them something to smug about.