Best Cheap Bike for Commuting (+ How Not To Stink When Biking To Work)

Especially in big cities, cycling is picking up popularity as an efficient way to ride to work.

It is extremely environmentally friendly and loaded with health benefits.

Here are three reasons why you should start biking to work, the best bike for commuting and how to bike to work without smelling funky.

1. Faster Than A Car

In many cities, congestion is getting worse every year. While the rest of the world is stuck waiting for the lights to turn, cyclists are taking advantage of the ever-widening network of bike lanes.

Depending on your city, it is not unlikely that you can bike faster than a car can drive.

This is one reason bike messengers are so prevalent in large cities. The bicycle’s small footprint and their ability to weave through traffic give them a considerable advantage when it comes to maneuvering congested traffic lanes

Granted, your speed superpower is going to be limited to a small radius. For most people that range is 3 to 5 miles.   So, if you live within 3 miles of your job, it makes sense to consider biking. To measure power and speed, install a power meter on your bike. A power meter measures the power you expend on the pedals. This information can be used to enhance your performance so you can ride faster and harder.

Most people can pedal 3 miles in well under a half-hour, which is shorter than the average commute by car.

2. Low Costs

Owning a car is expensive. You have to pay for the car and pay for gas and maintenance. On top of that, you have to maintain insurance.

If you can ditch the car altogether, and switch solely to pedal power, you look to save $4,000 or more per year.

At $18 per hour, that is about five weeks of your life back every year.

To make this switch more feasible, try to find a way to borrow a car when you need one. Perhaps you have a friend or family member who will loan you a car on a pay-per-use arrangement.

Even if you keep the car, cycling can save you money on gas and maintenance costs. The savings won’t be quite as significant, but you will still be impressed with how much extra money you get to keep out of your paycheck each month.

3. Weight Loss

Most of us would agree that we need to lose more weight. But, when are you going to find the time?

A 180-pound man should lose about 600 calories per hour when cycling at a moderate pace. (If you way more, you’ll likely burn more calories).

At this rate, you would burn an added 3,000 calories in an hour of biking to and from work. For most people, this is about one extra pound of weight loss every week.

The critical thing is to watch the food intake and be careful not to start eating more just because you are cycling. If you can maintain the same caloric intake, then the added activity can work well as an easy way to lose extra weight.

Additionally, the daily cycling translates into measurable health benefits. In a study of Dutch cyclists, they noticed that cyclists tend to out-live non-cyclists by about six months.

Other studies have uncovered that daily exercise “turns back on the clock” on your immune system, giving you an immune system of someone who is decades younger.

The Best Type Of Bike For Commuting

For most people who consider commuting, a mountain bike is the best option for their daily trip.

In the urban environment, road bikes and hybrid bikes are faster and easier to pedal. However, they are more susceptible to the hazards of riding.

For example, cracks in the road and drain grates can grab those skinny tires and cause an accident. Additionally, the thin wheels are at a higher risk of getting bent or damaged when you hit bumps or curbs.

In contrast, the mountain bike has wider tires that provide better grip and more sure footing. There isn’t as large of a risk of the bicycle slipping on loose gravel or wet pavement. And the tiny cracks that can be a death-knell for the road bike aren’t even a “topic of discussion” to the mountain bike.

A good mountain bike will have double-wall, reinforced rims that are able to handle the bumps and potholes of your daily commute.

You do trade off a little it of speed, but for the guarantee of arriving at your destination, it is worth the trade-off.

When you are shopping for a mountain bike, there are two key points to remember. First, buy your size of the bike. And, secondly, buy a good-quality bicycle.

There are several high-quality bike brands. Some of these names include Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, Giant, Fuji, Diamondback, Raleigh, and Jamis.

You can start by shopping for a used bike. Check craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for good deals. Additionally, many of these high-quality bike companies have begun selling their bicycle direct to the consumer online.  You can find a list of some of the current cheap bikes for sale at Davescheapbikes.

How To Smell Fresh When Biking To Work

One of the biggest complaints that non-cyclists mention is that they don’t want to smell funny when they arrive at work.

This is an extremely valid concern. A sweaty body does not smell great — especially when you shut it into a conference room. How do you bike to work without smelling like you have no personal hygiene?

There are two key tips to smelling fresh while commuting by bike.

The first tip is to wear cycling clothes when you are on the bike and carry your work clothes in a bag. This ensures that you are not cycling in your work clothes and protects your work clothes from sweat and road splatter.

The second is to carry baby wipes and deodorant with you when you ride. Plan for about 5 minutes in your work bathroom to swap your clothes and wipe off. Sweat isn’t what makes you smell bad. It is the bacteria that grows on the sweat.

Once you wipe the sweat off, it is doubtful that you will get much bacterial growth, effectively preventing the “after workout” smell.

Baby wipes are nice, but if you don’t have wipes, a good towel-off will accomplish the same results. Towel off aggressively, and apply fresh deodorant, and you’ll be surprised at how great you smell

Superhuman Energy

One of the unspoken benefits of daily cycling is the increased energy you will enjoy. Most humans trudge through life, fueled by sugar and dulled by inactivity.

The first day you bike to work, you will be amazed at how invigorated your feel and how sharp your mind is. It is an immediate performance enhancer, and your coworkers will be sure to notice.