Overhauling My Commuter Bike

I have a serious confession to make: I suck at bike maintenance.  I have had my Panasonic DX 2000 for nearly two years now and I have not done one bit of maintenance on it except for washing it down a few times, mending flat tires, and replacing and maintaining a chain.

At first I really did not care about bike maintenance.  All I really needed to know is that my bike was getting me to and from work.  As long as it could do that, I was happy.

Things are different now.  The more I read about bicycles the more I realize that if I take care of my bike it will take care of me.  A well maintained bike will ride faster and last longer than a poorly maintained one, and I am all about things going fast and lasting a long time.

As a result, I have decided to overhaul my entire bike.  I don't plan to do it all at once, especially since I don't really know what I am doing just yet.  I also don't want to spend a really long time working on my bike since my weekends are so precious to me and I want to be able to still use my bike for the daily commute.

Here is my current plan of for working on the bike:

1. Overhaul the bottom bracket - I have a lot of wiggle here and I often hear a distinct knocking when my right leg strokes the pedal downward.  This is not good and is something I should probably take care of right away.
2. Clean up my chain, free wheel, cogs, and derailleur - the drive train of my bike is filthy right now and I have even let my chain get rusty.  I am sure I have lost a lot of efficiency because of my laziness and this needs to change.
3. Overhaul the front and back hubs - I am also starting to hear a rubbing sound on my back tire that might be from some play in the rear hub, either that or my frame is bent or a spoke is loose.  Even if the hubs are not the problem ehre they need to be overhauled anyway.
4. Make sure my tires, rims, and spokes are good - This should be semi-simple, but we shall see.
5. Check break and shifting lines.
6. Misc adjustment and maintenance.

I plan on doing it all myself if I can handle it and buying or borrowing the tools that I might need to get the job done.  I prefer the buy so that I can not only fix my bike but also the bikes of my children in the future.  Heck, if I like it enough and get good enough I could always start up a Craiglist business of buying cheap, beat up bikes and "flipping" them for some sort of profit.  That could be pretty fun.

Either way, the goal is to get my bike in top shape for my commuting and learn a little bit more about how to be a wise bike commuter.

My Mileage and Money Saved By Bike Commuting

On Memorial Day I took a break from my regular bike commuting routine and drove to work.  I drove because (1) I was working on a holiday and wanted to spend as much time with my family as I could and (2) I was working especially late and did not want to have to ride home and then spend an extra hour cooling off and calming down before sleep became an option for me.  One of the benefits of the drive was that I was able to get a pretty good measurement of the actual mileage that I ride each day.

According to my 2003 Honda Odyssey I ride 14.8 miles per day.  That is 8.0 of those miles are going to work and 6.8 of those miles are coming home from work.  This was initially a surprise to me since Google Maps places my ride at 14.3 miles - but upon further analysis I decided that an error of less than 4% on a free online mapping application was not really bad at all.

Aside from letting me know the exact mileage it also helped me get an idea of my average speed - about 14 mph on the way to work and 16 mph on the way home. (The reason for the difference I am sure is the different routes and the times of day.  You catch a lot less red lights and fight a lot less traffic after 11 PM.)

Money Saved By Bike Commuting

The most important thing that I think I can gather from finding out my exact mileage is the amount of money that I am saving myself and my family by not having a second car and by biking to work.  According to the IRS, the average cost for operating an automobile is $0.50 a mile, and this is "based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile."  While I'm not sure how they determined this number, I think it is a good starting point for determining what I am saving by using my bike.

Given the $0.50 a mile standard, my average costs to travel by car would look something like this:

14.8 miles per day = $7.40 a day
74 miles per week = $32 a week
3848 miles per year = $1924 a year

Even if I do end up driving to work around 10% of the time for various reasons, the cost of driving to work is still substantial, running around $1730 a year.


I could spend $140 a  month on bike related expenses and still come out on top because I would have the added health benefits that being physically active would bring me.

The simple truth is that I have been commuting by bike for over two months now and I have not spent $280 dollars on my bike - not even close! To be sure, some serious bike expenses are forth coming - I probably should buy some new tires to have ready when my current ones wear out, I want to do a complete overhaul of my Panasonic DX 2000, and I am going to need winter gear to make it through the winter - but knowing that I could spend $1500+ on my bike over the year and still break even is pretty reassuring.

I think I plan on keeping some sort of running total of the money that I have spent year to day in the side bar so I can keep myself accountable and figure out if just how much the average beginning bike commuter is going to spend to get up and running.

Getting Back Into Bike Commuting

I am just getting back into bike commuting after a ten month hiatus.  The main reason that I stopped posting on this site and stopped bike commuting is because my family and I moved to a new city.  As a result, I had no job to commute to so my bike commuting ended rather abruptly.  Thankfully, that is all changing.

I went from riding 100+ miles a week to riding almost nothing for a few months.  I think this impacted my overall health and I saw a noticeable decline in my leg strength and endurance.  I really didn't gain any weight because I eat so well and have such a strong metabolism, but I was getting a little concerned with my overall weakness in cardiovascular health.  I don't want to give the impression that I turned into a wheezing windbag - because I didn't.  I just didn't have that endurance which had been there previously

So what has changed that has caused me to start bike commuting again?  I got a job, that is what.  The new job is between 6.6 miles and 7.7 miles away depending on which route I take - bringing my daily total up to 14.3 miles per day, 71.5 miles per week.

New Commute, New Gear

One of the major differences between my current bike commute and my previous commuting experience is that I will always be doing half of my commute in the dark.  I work from 2 PM to 11 PM so night gear has become increasingly important for the sake of my safety.  I don't want to die making it to and from work.

I also require a new bag since I have destroyed no less than two standard backpacks with my various bike commuting activities.  I need a good bag that is going to be able to carry my work clothes, lunch, and towel to and from work - and it has to last for a long time.

It would also be pretty useful if I could get some rain gear and figure out how to maintain a bike after some storms.  It rains a lot more here in Kentucky than it did in my always sunny San Diego.  According to the Internet, I will be getting 4 times as much precipitation  here than I did there making for a much wetter commute.  It would be nice to keep things relatively dry and in good working condition.  After all, I don't want to give up riding because of the rain and I don't want my bike to turn into a mound of rust.

The last bit of gear I am thinking of getting is a cell phone.  I know, not having a cell phone is very weird - especially for anyone still in their twenties - but I still don't have one.  This is changing since my wife is increasingly worried about my safety riding at night and it would be nice to be able to give here a call whenever I have a free moment at work.  I am also interested in how GPS tracking cell phones could be used to keep track of my commute times and help me become more efficient and at both getting to work and getting home from work.  I have decided on what I'll do yet, but it seems like it could be a good choice to make in the long run.

Making the New Bike Commute Work

I also imagine that making the new commute work is going to take some getting used to.  I haven't spent much time apart from my family the past several months thanks to the whole no job situation so I imagine getting up the gusto to get out the door early enough to get to work on time may take some serious effort on my part.  The whole point of bike commuting is to save money to spend more time with the family, get exercise, and keep my body in good working condition - which makes life a little strange because it can seem like bike commuting actually takes me away from them.

Having to leave to go to work is much more of a chore now that my son is 1.5 years old and my wife awake when I leave in the early afternoon.  They are just too fun to leave without a great amount of effort.  If it wasn't for their need to eat and have a place to sleep at night I think I don't think I would leave.  But bike commuting is definitely the cheapest way to get to work and the exercise it gives me is just an extra bonus that pulls it over the top.  I can't wait to start commuting by bike more and I am glad to get back into it.  Let's see how this goes.