Some bikes are all about practicality. And yet that doesn't mean they can't look cool. I got this bike to replace a Trek Soho that was stolen from my back yard. Kinda bling, no?
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| First belt drive commuter Trek Soho. Stolen in 2016 |
Ultimate commuter setup
This is the ultimate (IMO) practical commuter design.
- Belt drive: No muss, no mess, no torn pants. Belts don't need lube and don't have sharp edges so they are actually fine to run open like this. (It came with a belt guard but it was made of plastic and broke years ago)
- Internal hub drive: Shimano Alfine 8-speed. Plenty of range for normal riding. Even enough to ride in San Francisco (although tough at times). And it can be shifted while stopped at a light. All contained in what is essentially a maintenance-free system.
- Disc brakes: All-weather, strong stopping. Sure, rim brakes work. You can see I have plenty of bikes with rim brakes. But disc brakes work better. Particularly so when it's wet. This is the biggest upgrade from the Soho which had drum brakes (those are cooling fins on the drums you see) which were, at best, meh and on a long downhill, downright scary.
- Factory fenders/mudguards: Nobody wants to show up somewhere like the office with a 'racing stripe' up the back and you never know when there might be a puddle even if you don't routinely ride in the rain. And this bike is fine to ride in the rain and I do. (see maintenance-free drivetrain and disc brakes)
- Rack: This was an add-on, but it came set up with the proper eyelets to securely mount a rack. Today it lives with pannier bags mounted semi-permanently. That way you can easily stash locks, jackets etc. as well as make a grocery run with no trouble at all.
What did it give up to the Soho? Not much. The rubber strakes on the top tube of the Soho were great to protect it while parked. But a permanent kickstand mitigates that a lot. So does the anodized finish on the frame. The old-school sprung seat was super comfy for upright riding around town. But adding a spring post makes up for it on the Scott.
What does the Scott have over the Soho? Sportiness. The Soho is a very 'cruiser' kind of geometry and ride. It just went along with no muss no fuss. The Scott is much more sporty. It feels like it wants to go fast even when loaded down. But at the price of a less comfortable ride. Take your pick.
The other issue has been the rear wheel. It was really not built for purpose. It started to break spokes after about a year. At first, I just replaced them (a real pain with disc rotors and hub drive). But eventually, as it got to be a 3rd, 4th... I thought about rebuilding the wheel. But this is beyond my current skill set and we were mid pandemic. I got quoted $200 or more and at least a month to wait without a wheel. So I kept replacing them every few months as another broke (yes, I know, once the 3rd goes, you should rebuild). At this point, it's been a while. Fingers crossed I've addressed the issues. I think the original spokes were too light and perhaps low quality and that the wheel may have been undertensioned at the factory and for its first years in service (I tensioned properly when replacing spokes). For the record, despite being a 'clydesdale' rider, I've broken three wheels in my life. One was damage from a derailleur strike that nicked all the spokes. One was a radically underbuilt (20 spoke? rear) that came on the Klein that I replaced with a handbuilt 36-spoke wheel when I started to see the eyelets tearing. And one tore out 10 spokes in a crash. So, I'm not actually hard on wheels despite asking a lot of them.
Upgrades
Keep a bike long enough, and changes are made.
- Added permanently mounted lights on the handlebar and seat. So it is always ready for being caught in the dark. The truly ultimate setup would have them driven by a dyno hub but modern LEDs and rechargeable batteries are fine.
- Redshift Arclight pedals: These seem like a nerdy thing, but even the kids thought they were cool. Platform pedals with four magical inserts. Each contains a bar of LEDs that automatically shine white or red depending on orientation. Solid or blinking. They automatically start when you pedal. So cool and super visible to traffic. They will even do as a backup headlight in a pinch.
- Suspension seatpost: This was something I never thought I wanted. But I got a test unit of the Redshift post that I installed on the Klein and learned that they are fantastic for taking the edge off of road bumps. A subtle but important benefit. The Redshift costs way more than I wanted to spend on a commuter bike, but there are cheaper (heavier, less sophisticated) ones too and I used one of those here. Definitely not as good (refined in motion, lightweight) as the Redshift, but good enough and means that when the wheel goes 'whunk' into a pothole, the forces aren't transferred straight up the butt and spine..
- Ergo grips: The original grips were too small (circumference) for my taste. They put too much pressure on the palms. But changing over to ergo grips with a bit more surface area made all the difference. FWIW, the Soho had leather grips in an ergo form from the get go.
- Pannier bags: As mentioned above, increases the utility factor immensely. Nothing fancy and with a tiny lock to keep them from just being lifted off.
- Bell: All bikes ridden in urban environments really need a bell. Works better and with more subtlety than calling out.
- Tires: The original Continental Sport Contact tires were actually quite good. They were a good fit for the sporty nature of this commuter. But I was always afraid of their fragility if I had to ride on dirt or gravel paths. They were basically heavy duty, 37mm road tires with a micro tread. But after 7 years, when I ended up getting a set of 40mm WTB Vulpine tires with a wheelset I bought for the Warroad, I moved them over and they are perfect. The Vulpines are fast gravel tires which still roll well but are designed to be fine on most surfaces.
- SOLAS reflector tape: I added bits of red and white retroreflector tape to various places on the bike. The anodized green frame is certainly eye-catching in the sunlight. But the reflectors do WAY more in the dark.
Below is security cam footage of the thief who had the nerve to slip into our back yard while we were home, and steal my bike from the back patio. Note that someone was sitting inside a glass door less than 10 feet from the bike. That's why the thief is sliding it off the patio first.
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