When you decide to start riding a bicycle for fun, commuting and transportation you of course have to have a bicycle. That is if you do not have one. Just about any kind of bicycle will do. A lot of it depends on the terrain you will be riding. In practice the type of tires will make the biggest difference on performance regardless of the type of bike. Road bikes are a little faster by nature. They do not handle the grass, dirt, sand and gravel as well. Mountain bikes regardless of tires will not be as fast as the road bikes but position the rider better for the rough stuff. The middle of the bicycle types are the hybrids (city or urban) type bikes. Then there are the single speed or fixed gear bikes. With the single speeds you can still coast, fixed gears have the pedals moving whenever the bike is. I have never tried to ride a fixed gear bike.
Tires. I have tried narrow tires on mountain bikes. Fat tires on road bikes Fat and narrow both on hybrids. Again tires and tread seem to have the largest effect on performance. As if my speeds could fall under the term performance. On the Trek 800 mountain bike I ride to work mostly and close by I have settled on Bike Nashbar brand Streetwise. Nashbar has a really neat website with all kinds of bicycle products. Performance Bicycles is a sister company to Nashbar I believe. As many of their house brand tires are tantamount. Just labeled differently for each company. I have both brands in stock (at my home). Have had good luck with them. I was on a Continental and Michelin kick for a while. While a nice product, I did not have Miss America come over and oooh and ahhhh at them on my thirty-nine year old Schwinn with Michelins begging me to go to dinner with her. Her treat. So with more tires than can be worn out by me I am on the house brands for a whle. The Trek 800 was purchased on Ebay from Brooklyn, New York. So I has spent it's life as a commuter. When I got it had some Tioga City Slickers, big and fat. Looked cool. Had a flat one day. Tried the Nashbar 26x1.5 Streetwise. Still on bike. Ride nice through wet, grass, sand, dirt and pavement.
One of the other bikes is a 2007 Trek 7100 hybrid. Put a trek rack and have the grocery panniers for it. I usually just use a backpack regardless of which bike is used. The racks and bags are nice for a heavy load however. Brought home a stereo receiver from a yard sale with them. Nashbar had an anniversity sale a while back Bought four tires for the hybrid 700c size for under $30 with shipping. Using original tires on the hybrid now. As I took off the other Nashbar 700c tires I bought for $5 a peice on sale before. They performed well. No reason to change other than I decided to finish off the factory tires instead of letting them rot hanging at the patio.
You will need to get a couple of locks for your bike. I like to use a U-lock and cable and padlock combination. Locking the rear tire to a sign post and the front wheel to the bike itself so someone will not make themselves welcome to it. This is a factor as the guy that works at a local convenience store stopped someone trying to take his front wheel. Mountain and hybrid bikes generally come with a quick release seatpost. Making the seat and post any easy target. I have a little cable lock to lock the seat to the frame to help prevent that. I do not think that the majority of bicycles are stolen because of what brand or type they are. Just someone needing a quick ride somewhere to abandon it or a juvenile prank.
Another must are lights front and rear. These are required by law. I like the Cat Eye brand. I have found them effective and reasonably priced on Ebay. Also do not leave your headlight on your bike, especially if it is of the quick release type. I learned that the hard way. I have also got the lights that hook onto your spokes. Adds a little extra attention to you as they create a circular lights motion. I ride down a state highway at night and being seen is just as important as seeing. Again I will be happy when the construction is completed and will probably elect to ride the sidewalk late at night to avoid autos that may accidentally swerve into the bike lane at night for various reasons.
Three other things that are usefull are a bell, undersaddle bag and pump. Keep extra tubes and patches in your under saddle bag. The pump for obvious reasons. I like the bell too. For areas require a bell or horn by law. Sometimes I just ring the bell. People usually smile. Contributes to the old goof on the bike thing.
Some folks always wear a helmet and reflective wear. This is certainly important for safety too. I just mostly not use them. I do not go that fast. If a concrete truck runs me over the helmet isn't going to help much.
As far a lubricate goes spend a little on a bike specific cable lube. Gummed up the cables with a different WD-40 type lube resulting in mechanical failure and cable replacement. Chain lubes that I have used has varied. From regular motor oil, WD, bicycle chain lube to nothing at all. Someone I knew had a Schwinn store. He said do not use any lube at all. It attracts dirt and grit which is more abrasive than not lube at all. I am trying that now after thoroughly cleaning the chain. De greasing, brushing it with an old toothbrush (everybody always says old toothbrush not the one you are using dummy). Wiping it as clean and dry with a rag. Then take a little ride to work out any crud that may work its way out. Wipe it down again for a clean chain. In practice so far this has worked well. The chain doesn't seem to be collecting the sandy, dirty oily crud that it has before. It also keeps the sprockets clean. Only time will tell. If you degrease to clean to lube so that it will get filthy and gritty again. Why get it filthy and gritty again? Well a lot of us bicycle folks
need something to do anyway.
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