How to set up a bicycle for commuting - brakes, gears, tires and more

Commuting is becoming more and more popular but many bicycles are not exactly set up for it. If you have a lot of money, you can buy a custom made commuter bicycle, which can cost you 2000 usd/ 1800 eur easily.

If you don't want to spend that kind of money and you have a good bike already at home, here are some suggestions to make your bike ready for the long haul.

 - Bicycle computer

• this is extemely important since it helps you track how many miles you are travelling. Calories and average speed is fun, but knowing how many kilometers you've done on your cassette, chain and tires allows you to prevent reliability issues and keep you happy

 - Brakes

• buy some wet-weather brake pads. They work great during dry times aswell, but especially well in wet conditions
• replace cable housings. Instead of having 3 separate pieces of cable housing, remove them and put 1 long housing piece instead. The brakes may feel a little bit „squishy“ but all that dirt, water and other garbage is kept out and the brakes work really well for a long time. Also, if you want to make sure it works well without corrosion put a few drops of wet weather chain lube in the cable housing when assembling.
• Replace cables with either stainless ones or teflon (PTFE) coated ones. This makes a huge difference in reliability and allows the cable to slide better inside the cable housing.

 - Gears

• having 30 speed gear system is fun, but also needs you attention more often. Having a computer to record your kilometrage can help prevent serious issues down the line.
• When changing a chain which has done 1500km or even more, consider changing the cassette aswell. When a new chain is put on an old cassette it can cause the chain to skip over the gears(due to the cassette being worn to a different profile) and also premature heavy wear (you might only get 750km out of the new chain, instead of 1500km).
• I've seen well maintained gear trains which have done 2500km+ and the gears dont skip and cassette looks fine (even though the chain is stretched). I've also seen poorly maintained gear trains which have done barely 1000 km and need to be replaced due to the fact that the owner had not put any oil on the chain, cleaned to chain or adjust gears so they run properly.
• For wet season get wet weather chain lube, for dry weather get dy weather chain lube. Check your chain every 2-3 weeks to see how it's doing.
• Properly adjusted and tensioned gear train should work really well for a time – get it checked at least every 6 months or so. Having properly adjusted gears increases efficiency and keeps the whole system from wearing down too soon. Also it sounds nicer :)

 - Tires

• consider investing into quality tires that can run you for a long time without flats and without wearing out. Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires are in my opinion still the best tires out there. While they cost around 50 usd / 45 eur per tire, they havea a guarantee of 5 years, 5000km. I worked for a bicycle rental shop a few years back and after switching all their bikes over to Marathon Plus tires, they went from ~100 flats per year to 2 flats per year. One of those flats was caused by a 4 inch nail
• having quality inner tubes can make a huge difference if you can't get quality puncture proof tires. Regular inner tubes have a side wall thickness of about 1.25-1.5mm which is okay for most uses. For extra protection consider getting DH (downhill) rated inner tubes. They have a wall thickness of 4-5mm and come in a lovely green color. They are practically impossible to break and when combined with puncture proof tires, they are the the best option out there.
• Don't get tubeless(unless you run them with inner tubes)

 

 - Good practices on grease usage

Grease holds a very important place in bicycles, it is used to protect bearings (headset, hubs, bottom bracket) and other mechanisms( shifter bodies etc). The type of grease is as important as it's use.

Grease also helps to keep away corrosion and keep parts moving freely (so parts do not get stuck)

Using grease that is meant for bearings is acceptable but it is always recommended to use special grease for bicycles. Usually bicycle grease runs in faster and is a bit more weather resistant.

On top of having regular grease, there are also speciality grease available for performance hubs, ceramic bearings, suspension fork seals and for shifter bodies (internal mechanisms).

When I rebuild a hub, I generally put more than less grease in for several reasons – it will protect the ball bearings, it will help the hub run longer(without wearing out) and keep corrosion away. I should point out that having the bearings submerged in grease is a total overkill aswell – it will initially be less efficient and takes longer to run a hub in.

If you are using your bicycle every day for the whole year (snow, rain etc) I would actually look away from bicycle grease and focus on marine grade bearing grease. It's very resistant to salt found during the winter and has a nice blue/red color. While the marine grade grease takes longer to run in, it lasts longer and can last up to 2-3 years before needing to be changed out( assuming you travel atleast 4000-5000 km per year).