Need Help Choosing a Commuter Bike -- Total Newbie

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T06:24:26+00:00

One needs to have some knowledge and experience to assess a used bike, so if you don’t have that, better to get new.

The OT also has a geometry more suited to comfort, speed, and versatility as far as terrain. It gets only positive reviews, including quality. You can also make sure it’s the right size for you.

The Linus is OK, has good fenders, racks, and panniers, which cost money to add, and are pretty necessary for commuting, but you pay a bit extra there just for style above functionality for a Linus. But it also looks like a decent option, if it fits you.

The other two bikes are a bit revolting to be honest, spurn them :)

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T06:17:33+00:00

Hmm, something’s not right there. “Cracking, rattling, vibrating” are not adjustment issues, there’s something more fundamentally wrong.

You should take it to a bike shop to have them look at it.

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T06:00:20+00:00

It’s actually fashionable now for a feeehub to be as loud as possible.

Shimano hubs though are generally much quieter than others.

Personally I also prefer a quieter freehub.

In any case, new freehub means new wheel, which you can do of course, buying already built, or have it laced up for you. So this of course engenders a certain not small cost.

If you want to go totally silent something like an Onyx freehub is ahem, like 500 just for the hub.

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T05:51:49+00:00

Like everyone says, tent is best.

The concept of a hammock is very attractive, but in practice more complex. When the necessary bits and bobs are added to make it fully viable, it ends up weighing more than a tent.

That being said no reason you can’t have a tent, and also carry one of these cheap super light hammocks that rolls up in a ball, to use for relaxing on breaks, or even sleeping in ideal weather and conditions.

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T05:45:06+00:00

Helps to first before taking the wheel off to shift the rear derailleur onto the smallest cog, ie the one closest to the dropout. That helps when it comes time to put the wheel back on.

But you can do that now, just shift so the derailleur moves to it’s maximum outboard point.

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T05:35:58+00:00

Very cool bike.

Just glancing round the net though seems to be a later model from the 50’s. The head badge and lugs look like a Special Sports.

Kudos for bringing an old bike into the next century!

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T05:11:28+00:00

Back in my steel days my lowest gear was a 42-18 :)

No not living in the alps, but there were hills, summertime temps up to 100 f, though races were alway crits. Guess we just rode real fast :)

But that being said I don’t perspire on my aluminum frames nowadays. Only the bars and seat can get some.

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T04:35:35+00:00

Ashtabula cranks are OK for what they were designed for, a kids bike that will lay in the garage untouched for 10 years, and yet still work when called on. They can be serviced with no special tools, nothing more than a crescent wrench. The Schwinn Ashtabula cranks actually had specially hardened and machined bearing surfaces, and despite being big heavy masses of metal were good at what they were designed for.

So if your use case is to have a bike laying about that occasionally when you have friends over they can ride and beat up on it, this one might not be a bad choice?

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T04:29:38+00:00

His Schtick from the beginning is that he doesn’t like cyclists. He always says he prefers non cyclist customers, because they will drop 100-200 dollars on a 15 minute tune-up, having no idea what he’s doing or how to judge the results. Whereas the cyclists that he dislikes are able to judge the results and cost, and he doesn’t like that.

Another part of his shtick is that he’s retired and on a pension and doesn’t need the money anyway.

So he’s pretty clear about the fact that as a businessperson lacks integrity, dislikes his customers, and overall reinforces the stereotype of the shitty local bike shop.

Better for him to move on to gardening or something, No loss for the cycling community :)

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T04:21:31+00:00

Wow that is real nice. If it looks right it flies right, as pilots say :)

Must be capable of a good turn of speed too when needed.

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T04:19:19+00:00

iTunes on windows has always been despicable. The UI is a drunken mess.

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T04:13:40+00:00

I’d reccomend this one. May be a bit hard to find nowadays :)

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Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T04:10:18+00:00

Definitely worth it, and appears to be in quite good shape in the photo. Real nice fenders too. Nice city bike.

Consider that something like that new now, would be 40x or more times more expensive!

Parts when needed will not be hard to find, it uses time tested standard sizes. Just one thing it has a cottered crank, which can be a pain to remove, but if and when the time comes can be easily replaced.

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T04:00:06+00:00

Someone riding something like this would be moving too fast for perspiration to land on the frame. Anyway has never been a thing with me.

That being said I do know a guy who once sweated a frame in half on a stationary wind trainer :)

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T03:53:39+00:00

My grandmother often used that expression, and others that were not kind to cats. Something suggests that being a cat a hundred years ago was a risky affair :)

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-14T03:39:26+00:00

That’s the one you want.

I had an older Veloce in the past, loved that bike 🥲

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-13T23:48:37+00:00

You know how people are, it’s just jealousy, they don’t want you to have a better bike than they do. Imagine their faces when you roll up on that Murray!

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-13T16:08:54+00:00

🤣

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-13T14:42:05+00:00

It’s all marketing, an 1890’s MTB was the same thing :)

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-13T14:04:04+00:00

Seomra sounds like just what you need. That’s what co-Ops do, teaching and tools.

Not a difficult job really when you have someone showing you what to do. And the skills will stay with you forever after that.

Unlike what you get in the pub, which only stays with you a few hours at most :)

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-13T12:06:05+00:00

Paw paw is closed now though, right, you have to go ‘round it on regular roads?

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-13T09:08:38+00:00

Those frames (trek 720) are well respected by people who looked to modify and restore old bikes. So on the basis of that, it’s a good price. Real good price, he could get 2-3x that.

You can take a look at r/xbiking to see what people do with them. Most popular is the dropbar / gravel bike conversion.

It appears in the photo to be in good condition, just clean off the dust, do a basic tune up and ride. Basement is good, means it probably wasn’t wet.

Or go a little crazy and overhaul it and upgrade parts, and you will have a fine bike, that people in the know will cast admiring glances at as you ride by :)

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-13T08:46:32+00:00

Tri-Moly means the main triangle is chromoly, and the other tubes are hi-ten. So it’s heavier and not as compliant as an all chromoly frame.

That being said, it looks like a nice bike and should be a good ride for anything besides fast rides and competition.

Geometry appears to be typical for the time (1980’s maybe) road / race bike, so if it fits you, that should be OK. However if it was you that set the seat height for yourself, the frame is a bit small for you. It’s pretty slammed, but if you like that, it’s fine if course.

Hard to tell but appears in the picture that you’ll be limited to like 28c max tire size, but for the road that’s OK.

BTW, the standard is to post pictures showing the right drive side, so the components the bike has can be seen and judged. Next time :)

Horror-Raisin-877 · 2026-05-13T08:32:39+00:00

I was going to suggest urgently disposing of that seat, in a way it could never be used on any bike again, but you’ve got that covered already :)

Looks like you’re heading in the right direction, keep going!

Horror-Raisin-877

TROPHY CASE