Trading Four Wheels for Two: You Could Be a Bicycle Commuter

Chad Beery was checking out bicycle helmets when we met recently. He’s been riding more and more lately. He’s not ready to actually give up driving his car to work  just yet, but like a lot of folks he's taking small steps toward using his bike as a means of transportation.

“I don’t know how practical it would be to ride to work," the 26-year-old Marshallville man said, "or what the route would be. "But we now regularly ride to my wife’s parents house rather than drive, and that’s five or six miles.

“It’s been a lot of fun," Beery said. "If we stay out past dark, her dad loads the bike and drives us home.”

Beery is pretty typical of the customers store manager Zach Oliver has been seeing at in Montrose.  “Light sales have been brisk lately,” Oliver said.

After a cold winter and wet spring, cabin fever has driven customers to Eddy’s looking for a two-wheeled way to enjoy the sunshine. Gas at $4 a gallon has been a factor as well, Oliver said. 

“We’re getting a lot more people who live near the towpath or who live less than 10 miles away from work. They’re coming in here and getting geared up for that kind of riding.”

Exactly what kind of gear are we talking about?  There are racks that can safely hold a briefcase and a change of clothes, lights, even turn signals and of course helmets all are necessary. (Check out our video on how to fit a helmet and choose your gear posted with this story.)

The kind of bike you ride depends on your goal. Comfort bikes – sometimes derisively called geezer bikes – are heavier and have shocks under the seat and on the front wheel, plus fenders that will keep the mud off your back. The rider sits upright. It’s by far your most comfortable and stable ride. Hybrids and road bikes are lighter, the tires are thinner, there’s no fenders unless you add them and the rider sits farther forward, even bent in that racer’s pose you see on Tour de France. 

If you’re thinking more Tour de Montrose, which do you need? 

“A commuter bike has to be comfortable and match distance you’re commuting,” Oliver said. “If I’m going three miles, a comfort bike is fine. Say I’m going seven or 10 miles, I’d want to err on size of efficiency rather than comfort. That’s lighter weight, faster-rolling, usually bigger circumference wheels.” 

Take care, however, that you’re not sacrificing speed for stability. “Suspension is not just a comfort feature, it’s a safety feature. It keeps your wheels on the ground,” Oliver said. “When your wheels are on the ground you can stop or you can speed up, you are in control.”

Virtually any good bike shop will hold a basic safety and maintenance class for new riders. If you miss one, a lot of good information can be found on You-Tube. 

If you lose motivation, or a change of weather makes riding less desirable, any Metro RTA  bus in Summit County (or Metro’s Northcoast Express Bus to Cleveland) will take you and your bike to your destination, provided the bike has 16-inch or larger tires. Metro even has a video to show you how to stow your bike. (Just disregard the corny jingle at the beginning.) The only drawback is each local bus can only accommodate two bikes at a time.

On the road, bicycles are considered vehicles. That means cyclists ride with the flow of traffic and are expected to obey all traffic laws.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a video on how to “drive” your bike safely in traffic. (Another bad music alert, but it’s worth a view.)

So, pack your identification, your cell phone, a sense of urban adventure and you’re off.

Ready to try bike commuting? Let me know how it goes, and post your bicycling tips in the comments section.