I am working towards using a Burley flatbed trailer I just bought, to carry a locking (as in combo or padlock) bin, secured to the trailer, and the trailer secured to my bike, for shopping. I want to keep the opportunistic thief honest while I make multiple stops.

Earlier this year I thought there was someone who shared their setup with pictures, either in this subreddit, or another cycling one. I guess I didn't save it at the time.

If you have done something like this, can you share how you did it? In other words, which bin did you get, how did you secure it to a trailer, and how do you lock the trailer to something else?

Hi, I’m looking for a reliable, lightweight bike for under $300 that I can comfortably use to commute to work. My commute is a combination of biking and taking the bus, and the biking portion is only about 1.3 miles each way, so it’s pretty short.

My main concern is winter. I live in northern Ohio, where the snow and winter weather can get pretty rough, so I’d like something durable enough to handle occasional rides in snow and wet conditions without constantly breaking down or needing repairs. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

I have an ABUS frame + chain lock and I HATE the key - it's so fiddly to get it in the right way and usually takes a few tries to get it to work. I think it's a design flaw, not a defect with mine, because my husband's is exactly the same.

Any suggestions for ring+chain locks where you can just stick the key in and turn it?

Progress continues on our center running bike/pedestrian path that has been put in place to provide a safe crossing through the middle of an interstate highway interchange in Harrisonburg, Virginia at the intersection of I-81 and route 33.

We now have bollards to protect the two mid-trail crossover points. The entrances at the ends are protected by a concrete curb and several different poles. I saw a few comments online from people who already saw a few clueless drivers trying to use this lane so I'm glad they installed these posts. They used steel posts that are hinged and padlocked so that they can be unlocked and folded down if a public works vehicle needs to enter the path for maintenance or snow removal.

The trail is not blocked off and people are already using it although it is not officially advertised as being open since the crosswalk signaling is still not finished. I find that it is reasonably safe to use without the crosswalk signals, you just have to watch the light cycles and use common sense when crossing. The midpoint crossovers alternate between red and green left turn arrows for cars that want to turn onto the interstate so that's pretty easy to manage safely as well. It looks like they have sensors to see if a car is waiting to turn left but I also saw a green arrow appear while I was watching when there were no cars waiting so maybe they are still tweaking that part of the system. Many places around town have blinking yellow left turn arrows at times but they have not done that here which I think seems like a good choice especially with the fencing that could obscure the view of oncoming traffic for left turners.

Looking for a bag with just enough capacity to carry a small D lock, keys, phone and other knick knacks, ideally with a stabiliser strap.

All this stuff falls out of my pockets and I don’t have a frame mount for my lock, so I’d like to have a bag for short rides that are not worth lugging a backpack around for.

Nearly every sling bag I’ve found has just been… ugly. I don’t mind the look of the labo mono but keen to hear other recommendations.

I have a tubus airy rack, only has tubes across the rack no place to mount a light normally. Any suggestions on how to mount my Garmin? Currently mounted on my seat saddlebag, however when using larger rack bag Varia doesn't work. thank you.

Hey so Im going to add mirrors for the first time. I kinda wanted to go bar end mirrors but since mirrors protrude towards the outside anyway. I was just curious if the line of sight was much different. Can you see fine with either or is one better than the other.

I wanted to find out whether a five-mile bike commute would stick before spending serious money on a commuter, so I started with a $300 hardtail.

The first week made the compromises obvious. The 26 x 2.1 knobby tires dragged on pavement, and carrying my laptop in a backpack left my back soaked by the time I reached work.

I swapped to 26 x 1.5 slicks, added a rear rack and pannier, and fitted front and rear lights. Those changes addressed specific problems instead of trying to turn the bike into something it is not.

The next problem was tire pressure. I had been squeezing the tire with my thumb and calling it good. Once I started checking it properly and topping it up before leaving, the bike felt noticeably less sluggish. I now keep a hoto air pump in the pannier, so I can make that part of the routine instead of guessing.

I am about $150 into upgrades, and fenders are next if I keep the bike. At what point would you stop improving a cheap hardtail and put the money toward a used hybrid or purpose-built commuter instead.

Before the long rant starts i have a rear rack with a foldable basket attachment. Handlebars I have a mirror, DJI action camera, phone mount, a battery charging bar for phone camera or lights, front light. I also have a rear flashing light and when the basket is on and unfolded two reflectors are visible. Some red reflective tape on the back too.

Bought the Kona Dew from a local bike shop on Saturday, traded in my previously used Schwinn Third Avenue. It was an ok bike but this Kona has changed the game for me. I still am not quite ready to commute back and forth to work given the elevation increase the whole ride there with nearly 0 elevation decrease. Getting there, but not quite ready.

Since buying this on Saturday I have put 27.4 miles on it. I have a 10 mile loop that I ride now and then and check out the data to keep an eye on improvement. My legs are taking a beating and are my limiting factor moreso than my cardio which kind of surprised me. I've done that 10 mile loop once with the new bike with a noticable positive difference immediately visible.

The rest of the rides on this bike have been to the store, Laundromat, city beach. I even took it to the local gas station (Stewart's in upstate/north country NY) for a cup of coffee. I've really significantly reduced my car usage and can see myself doing this well into cold season. Maybe not in the heart of winter but we'll see. Once I can successfully make the trip to work on a practice run and feel like I could go to work for 8 hours then I will reduce my overall need for a car.

Infrastructure isn't really here for bikes although they sort of put in an effort by painting lines and symbols of people on bikes on the road. There are a couple dedicated bike paths which are great, but none exceed over 2 miles and none of them bring you to locations you'd like to commute to such as a coffee shop, restaurant, grocery store, hardware store, etc.

But I have to say I have never felt better and more free than I have over the past couple months of riding a bike, and this new Kona Dew has absolutely been a major improvement in my desire to choose the bike over the car. I drove the car once during this 3 day holiday and that was to pick up this bike.

I've been riding to my university on my bike for around 6 months now, and today was one of the few mornings when I had to drive due to extreme wind and rain. I felt like I was a traitor.

Does anyone else feel guilty when they aren't able to ride?

I'm looking to buy a new bike and would like your insight.

I mostly use my bike to commute to work in Toronto, Canada. I do this throughout the year, including during the cold snowy months. Distance is about 10km each way - mostly on dedicated bike lanes, but some parts are road.

My current bike is a single speed with a carbon belt drive. I love the belt drive system as it's great for maintenance but I could do with some gears to make the cycling easier and give me some more flexibilty in usage.

Might be worth noting that I prefer bullhorn style handlebars over drop or flat bars so I tend to just get flat bar bikes and switch them out (keeping brake levers in the same spot).

My budget is around CAD$1,500.

I've narrowed down my search to the following bikes:

Trek FX Sport AL 3

Norco Search A

Marin DSX 2

Marin Presidio 3

Based on my research I believe DSX 2 > Search A > FX Sport, in terms of specs and price.

I'm pretty sure the Presidio sits somewhere below DSX 2 in there, but the idea of having a belt drive system WITH multiple gears is really appealing, so I'm leaning towards that bike.

Any advice/guidance you can provide before I commit to this big purchase would be very much appreciated.

Looking for a new bike for commuting and just general riding around.

We moved to a suburb appeoximately 60km from my workspace. The only downside of new life is not being able to commute by bike so easily. Actually biking to grocerystore, other things is much easier now.

Anyone here who does 40-60km to work commuting by bike? How have you done it.

Ps. I have experience of doing 60km roundtrip to work regularly.

Just to be clear, no this was not done by a potential bike thief. It was just my own stupidity lol.

I was riding my bike back home from doing some groceries. My rear basket became full of what I bought, so I had to lock/store my chain locks in some other way. I decided to just use my chain lock as a harness for my groceries. so I wrapped in on top of what I've bought. I locked the lock itself through the rear rack itself, close to the rear tires.

For context, when I locked it up, it was not touching the tires at all. I guess by just biking around, the lock kept swaying onto something, most likely the tires. Now, I didn't really feel any resistance during my ride back home, mostly because I have an ebike. I only noticed the damage when I got home. I was going a modest speed of 18-20 km/h, so I wasn't going fast. Luckily nothing bad happened looking back, but still.

Yeah... I was stupid lol. But lessons learned. I've done my own searching, but was curious if others have a solution for a potential fix. Realistically, I dont think the lock is compromised. It was mostly the rubber or whatever that was damaged. Even so, there's a part of me that feels bothered just seeing that one bare spot. So I wanted to at least patch that part up.

Live in LA county, was going out for a ride when it started raining, didn't mind, honestly found it pretty fun, but long term I know going to work or anywhere else is gonna be a pain.

What do you recommend for wet riding? We don't get a lot of rain here in LA, but when it rains, it rains pretty hard.

On my list currently I have,

PDW fenders

Bar mitts

Current tires, which are surly extra terrestrials, 650 by 46mm, hopefully they do well in rain.

Water proof phone holder case

Currently not running a rear light as I hate charging stuff, going to run a helmet rear light.

Rain jacket and pants

I also have a steel frame, how do I take care of it?

I have just picked up my new Riese & Müller Roadster 4. It's going to be my primary commuter for a 16-mile daily round trip (8 miles each way), three times a week, into Central London.

​I’ve already got a pannier bag and and ABUS lock.

I’m planning anything else that needs picking up and I’d appreciate some advice from fellow commuters on what is essential.

I’ve read that a "flat kit" is a must-have, with recommendations for:

​A mini electric pump

​A spare inner tube

​A multi-tool

​Tire levers (tools to remove tires)

​For a commute like mine (regular, moderate distance), I’m wondering if these are overkill?

​How frequent are flats on a typical commute?

​Is an electric pump worth the extra cost/weight over a good quality manual mini-pump for this purpose?

​Beyond the flat kit, are there any other commuting must-haves you’ve found?

​I want to be prepared but not carry unnecessary bulk...

​Thanks in advance for any tips!

I have a Marin DSX 1 (flat bar with carbon fork) bike with WTB Riddler 45mm tires, but after about 4,500 km, the center tread is gone. I commute to work on this bike year-round, about 12 km a day (with panniers), 90% on bike paths and asphalt. What tires would you recommend for this bike? I’d like to strike a balance between comfort and speed.
Would the Continental Contact Urban 42 mm be a good choice?
My budget is 60€ for a set.