Preparing the Urban Bike

The bike lanes of Houston, at least the few that I've seen, are full of potholes, glass, cracks, and debris. I don't want to ride my road bike if I start commuting. My buddy Speedo was reading my mind, and provided me the mechanical encouragement shown in the below photograph.



It might not be obvious to you, but Speedo replaced the stock no-name front suspension fork on my Marin Hawk Hill MTB with a rigid fork. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but hadn't made it a priority, primarily due to my out-of-work negative cash flow. Speedo decided to order the fork, go get the bike from my garage (he has the keys right now...long story), and install it. He also cleaned the bike up and waxed it. Now THAT was a surprise! Many thanks, Speedo.

Since the conversion to hybrid is basically mechanically complete, as I've replaced the tires and front fork with non-MTB versions, I now have to think about the final accoutrement that would make it a nice commuter ride. I'm thinking about:

• A set of fenders that are disc brake compatible. It rains quite a bit in Houston, and I don't want to get overly wet and muddy just because it starts drizzling. I'm thinking about Planet Bike Cascadia ATB Fenders.
• My handlebar grips kill my hands after a few miles. I want to replace them with some Ergon GP1 grips.
• I need to install a headlight and taillight. I have a Cat Eye HL-EL500 Opticube that I'll use, but I'll need to buy a taillight. I'm thinking about buying the Cat Eye TL-LD1100. You can't have too much taillight in Houston.
• I need an underseat bag, as I always used a Camelbak when I used the bike for offroad. I'll attach my RoadID Firefly Supernova to it to provide more visibility from behind.

I have a Performance Bike gift card, courtesy of my parents, and between the card, Craig's List, and eBay, I'll be trying to find some deals on this stuff. Even though I'm employed now, I don't want to go broke on this.

See you on the city streets of Houston!