wrote in message
om...

Yep, I read that as well, but my experience has been that on the
street I get buzzed by drivers. Plus I live in Houston, TX which has
the worst drivers I have ever seen.

As a former Houstonian, I sympathize with your plight. However, Luigi is
right - you are safer in the street than on the sidewalk. Besides, if you
are commuting along the same route every day at about the same time, you
will "train" the drivers to deal with your presence.

Yeah, the 2 times I have almost been T-Boned were by drivers entering
the flow of traffic -- however, I have had success riding opposite the
flow of traffic. Of course when possible, I try to navigate using
neighborhood side streets, avoiding main roads when at all possible.

Those two incidents should tell you something. People do not look for fast
moving traffic on the sidewalk. To make matters worse, riding contraflow is
riding *opposite* the direction that is expected. People turning right are
looking left for a clear spot and rarely look right. This is perhaps the
best way to get run over.

snipped descriptions of bicycle

Single-speed cruisers all have nutted wheels--you have to use a 15mm
wrench to remove the wheel. Other sorts of bikes have quick-release
wheels, which may be removed....er....quickly, with no tools.

My MTB also has a nutted wheel, so there's no disadvantage at this
point. Besides, I would prefer to require at least a bit of effort to
remove the wheel to discourage would be vandals and pranksters from
too easy a target.

With the proper set of locks, this is not a problem. Besides, "nutted"
wheels are typically cheap wheels which are heavier and more prone to being
warped. You can always replace the quick release with a new one that has a
removeable lever or requires an allen wrench (something that you should be
carrying anyway). A quick release wheel makes it much easier to fix a flat.


What I would like to know is this: What are the disadvantages? What
kind of top speed can I expect with this bike vs a Mountain/All
Terrain Bike? Ditto for durability -- can I take those potholes and
broken glass without too much worry?

on any bicycle, your top speed is entirely determined by you.

Right, but some bikes max out. For example, on my MTB I can hit a
ceiling where no matter how much I pedal, I will not go any faster --
and this is at the highest gear. I was wondering if any such ceiling
existed in a Cruiser (I think not, given the lack of gears, but I'm
not mechanically knowledgable).

If you are strong enough to push your current mountain bike to its limit,
then you could use a taller gear. The single gear on a cruiser will be
nowhere near the top gear of a mountain bike. Take a look at it for
yourself. Go count the teeth on the chainrings (the front gears) and the
sprockets (the rear gears) and then visit this website:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/. Enter the numbers along with the wheel
size (26" for a mtb) and the crank length and it will output gear-inches or
mph at different cadences (pedalling speeds). You will quickly discover that
the cruiser will not be nearly as fast. Try starting off in your top gear on
your mtb to see how it would feel on a cruiser if it were geared to be fast.
Cruisers are called cruisers for a reason!

I'm not looking to spend a lot -- from $100 - $250. Would you
recommend any brands? Any brands to stay away from? Any other tips?

Add another $100 to your budget and you will be in the territory for some
really nice entry-level bikes.


Yeah, but my MTB is pretty heavy. The 2 other factors are important
though. The wind resistance came as a bit of a surprise -- they look
relatively aerodynamic. Also, you said the top speed would be
determined by me, so how would it be slow?

Wind resistance is only a function of the bike because of the position you
are forced into. The more upright you are, the greater the wind resistance.
Take a look at this: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/aero/formulas.htm.
In short, if you ride two bikes with the same amount of effort, you will be
faster on the one that puts you in the more aerodynamic position.


If you're eventually going to do more than go a few miles at a time in
a relatively flat area, then I'd go for a rigid (unsuspended) mountain
bike. Swap the tires out for 1.5" slicks, mount real, full fenders
and a rear rack, and go. (you can keep the knobbies for when you want
to ride real mud--detach the fenders first, though) This route is
more expensive, however, and new, unsuspended mountain bikes are very
rare indeed these days. Rarer still are ones with the necessary rack
and fender mounting points.

Luigi is right on this one. It's hard to beat a mtb with slicks and fenders
for commuting duty. But there are a few options

Many people will swear by a road bike for commuting duty and many more will
suggest that you never get suspension for road purposes. But I suggest that
many of them have never ridden on really rough roads like you find in
Houston. Find a shop that carries Giant bicycles (www.giant-bicycles.com)
and take a look at the Cypress DX or LX. A bike like this will give you
higher gearing, 700c wheels (road bike wheels), some suspension to deal with
the horrid Houston roads, plenty of space for fenders and racks, and a
decent set of components.

As a final thought, you mentioned using a backpack. There are advantages to
getting a rear rack for carrying your loads, but I prefer a backpack as
well. Look into a new backpack that will help you deal with the heat - my
favorite is a Vaude (www.vaude.com). Yes, it really is much cooler than a
standard backpack.

Good luck,
Buck