Is biking / walking (as a mode of transport) wierd?

[Tumble]

Ahh we have showers and changing facilities here

Git. It's 13.5 miles on the nose from my front door to work - I can do that in just under an hour on the road - although if there was the facility to get clean at the other end I'd go cross country because I could. Sadly, being a mobile tech I have to drive my van - plus I work straight from home most mornings too Sometimes wish I had a job where I could ride in....... (but it's nice here and I enjoy it, so van for mee for time being )

[Konan555]

Might be a bit outdated, but isn't there a wee bit of extra income tax if you have showers at work?

[scaryjim]

Extra income tax seems unlikely - how on earth would it get policed?!?

The pannier bags on that tandem look oddly familiar... like I've seen them before somewhere....

(And if anyone likes the look of them I can both check the model details and give them a very firm recommendation )

As to the trailer, I'm pretty handy with a toolkit, so I'll probably build myself one if it ever becomes an issue. I do like the idea of being able to cart a full-size tower behind my bike, I must admit...

[Konan555]

Same way a company car is taxed I should think.

I do sometimes wish I'd gone for the orkney instead of the dryline as I do manage to put the occasional hole in the outer fabric on my more off-the-road trips. But they're not all that cheap!

Just keep in mine it's the hitch that's the arse on a bike trailer. I now use a burley one retrofitted to a much much cheaper trailer.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...5/100_0633.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...5/100_0632.jpg

[Steve]

I would happily bike around where I live live, except for the fact that it's Bristol, so I'd be dead by now.

[daniel_owen_uk]

Not convinced by the whole pannier arguement, but that just might be because of the distance I tend to travel (frequent but short).

I have spent a fair amount of money making my bike weigh the minimum it can (without making it weak). So dropping something on it that weighs 5kg is not exactly my idea of fun.

[Konan555]

I have spent a fair amount of money making my bike weigh the minimum it can (without making it weak). So dropping something on it that weighs 5kg is not exactly my idea of fun.

I've only added around 400g with my luggage rack, which is under £25 to buy. The rack and a pannier bag weigh less than my rucksack. The rack's also an excellent security device

[scaryjim]

Same way a company car is taxed I should think.

I doubt it. A company car can be assigned to one person and they get taxed for it; that's fair enough. A set of showers at work for general staff use, though? Do you tax everyone, regardless of whether they use the showers or not? Or do you monitor shower use and produce a tally every 6 months? If you do that for showers, why not toilets? Or kitchen facilities?

No, I'm pretty sure showers are not taxed...

I have spent a fair amount of money making my bike weigh the minimum it can (without making it weak). So dropping something on it that weighs 5kg is not exactly my idea of fun.

I wouldn't put a heavy pannier on a lightweight bike though: that would seem to automatically defeat the object!

I have a rugged city bike (Trek SoHo 1.0) so a pannier makes implicit sense. I specced and bought the bike specifically for daily commuting, so it's effectively my replacement for a small car. Plus, the rack itself isn't particularly heavy - can't remember the exact weight but it's in the region of several hundred grams. If I were biking predominantly for pleasure I would probably have got something more like this

[daniel_owen_uk]

Maybe that's where we differ, I commute off road, get muddy, get clean at work, keep my posh bike locked away in the nice bike storage area we have here.

If I worked inner city, and had no changing facilities, I would probably have a more "commuter specific" bike.

Shame

[Konan555]

My bike's set up to mix road and trail.

Whilst people might look at mine as some city bike just because of the rigid front fork (which is actually a cyclocross fork, I travel around Norfolk on a mix of road and green lane.

Off Roading on a rigid bike with skinny tyres is tremendous fun, I find.