Commuting Questions

[BrewMaster]

I live about 5 miles from the office, so it would be short ride for me to commute. However, I can't really show up to work all sweaty since we do not have showers at the office.

For those of you who commute by bike, how do you manage looking presentable/professional while still riding to work?

Also I don't need my XC bike with 4" front and back to ride the streets to work, so, any suggestions for a commuter bike?

[allison]

You may want to check craigslist for commuter/touring, or road bikes. You can get a decent aluminum roadie for fairly cheap. There's a Kona messenger bike on there right now, actually.

[BrewMaster]

Originally Posted by mechmann

we carry baby wipes and deodorant and wipe down when we change. it takes too long to shower in the morning when you get to work, and we have the full locker room available to us. i only shower after lunch rides, i get too hot and sweaty on lunch rides!

it helps if you don't have to wear slacks and an ironed shirt.

I just had an idea to drive once a week to work with a bunch of clothes and baby wipes and stock them in my office. I can ride the other 4 days a week and change at work.

I do indeed wear slacks and an ironed shirt at work.

[Rob]

Check out this sticky thread from Bikeforums.

http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=90213

Do you have a closet or something available to hang clothes from at work? You could bring in a weeks worth of pants/shirts and change in to them at work, then when you're off work, change back in to your bicycling clothes. At the end of the week(thursday), take your clothes to a laundromat during lunch and pick them up on your friday lunch break.

Keep some kind of cologne at work or tag bodyspray or something so you don't smell sweaty.

[allison]

Originally Posted by BrewMaster

I just had an idea to drive once a week to work with a bunch of clothes and baby wipes and stock them in my office. I can ride the other 4 days a week and change at work.

I do indeed wear slacks and an ironed shirt at work.

Many peeps do that, also.

Me, I'm a chick, so I have to be able to choose my clothing every day

[uno-speedo]

I'm lucky that we have a shower.

I leave shoes and pants at work and only bring in fresh T-shirt, socks and underwear daily. Cuts down on the weight.

[imapodaddy]

I always carry a small wash rag, small towel and some liquid soap. I do a sink bath when I get it. I usually wet my arms, face and head. Lather up, scrub and then rinse. Then I dry off. I take my towel that I dried off with and use it to wipe down my body, legs and nuts.

I also carry some Axe body deodorant or cologne to freshen up.

As far as bikes, my commute is from Fullerton to Brea, about 4-5 miles. I ride with a Redline 925 fixed gear. But I also have a mountain bike equipped with an Xtracycle. If you don't have major hills to climb, I'd recommend a fixed gear or single speed. CL is a great place for commuter bikes. Something with 700c tires seems to be more efficient in my experience.

Oh for wrinkles, I just got some Downey Wrinkle spray thing from walmart. Basically you spray this stuff on your clothes, spread it around, pull, tug and flatten, then your clothes are pretty decent!

Happy Riding!

[Pho'dUp]

I keep the following at my work:
-Toiletries (body soap, shampoo, pomade, deordorant)
-Shoes.

I pack:
-Change of clothes
-Fresh towel
-Maybe BBall shorts, so I can slip into those after parking my bike. That I don't have to walk around work looking silly in lycra on my way to the showers/bathroom
-Ugly neon vest for when day light savings ends and I ride after dark
-spare tube, pump, patch kit, red blinky lights, and front LED flashy light for bike.

I commute 1-2 per week on a old Japanese Centurion Roadie that I run singlespeed got from Craiglist.

Oh Commuters/night riders, I noticed that Nashbar has some Illuminite arm warmers on sale right now.
http://www.nashbar.com/results.cfm

Yeah, it's not quite punkrock to have lights and neon reflective stuff, but I'm not into playing dodgeball out there with traffic.

[53-12]

Used to commute just over 6 miles. Kept a pair of shoes there, but carried the days clothes, a small towel, and a wash cloth during the warmest part of summer. Was lucky enough to have a 'one person at a time bathroom', so I could get there early enough, lock the door and have time to cool down and make myself presentable. Started out on my roadie, but after suffering some flats I switched to the mtb and never had another.

[BrewMaster]

I have an old rigid Schwinn MTB. I might start by just putting some smooth tires on it and go from there. The knobbies would probably be bad news. I need gears because I have a decent sized hill to climb on the way home.

Originally Posted by Rob

Check out this sticky thread from Bikeforums.

http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=90213

Do you have a closet or something available to hang clothes from at work? You could bring in a weeks worth of pants/shirts and change in to them at work, then when you're off work, change back in to your bicycling clothes. At the end of the week(thursday), take your clothes to a laundromat during lunch and pick them up on your friday lunch break.

Keep some kind of cologne at work or tag bodyspray or something so you don't smell sweaty.

Thanks for that link Rob. That is really helpful.