My commuter bicycle setup - Specialized Sequoia

[@SolarizeYourLife]

You can do a MIK plates for the milkcart, to easily remove when not needed...

[@BrianGay57]

I did that with mine. It works great!

[@BrianGay57]

A little late, but I think rockbros make a partial front fender that attaches to the front forks.

[@Luigi13]

You have a great setup and a very practical bike. I like the way things fit in a good proportional way and the size of the tires look good too for carrying the weight you have. You inspired me about the stand which I will look into it. Cheers.

[@greekstephen]

Thank you. My setup has changed quite a bit since this upload but it can surely carry a bunch of weight. I got rid of the kickstand after having to tighten it every couple of months, but besides that having a kickstand is convenient. Thanks for watching 👍🏽

[@difflocktwo]

@@greekstephen thread locker? I use thread locker on almost all screws on the bike.

[@tconnolly9820]

That was a great guided tour around your bike. I really like your setup. It's completely down to earth and practical. I have a Merida Cross 10 hybrid bike with 3x7 Shimano gears for five years. It was about €400, it was a Christmas present. Schwalbe tyres and never had a puncture yet. I use two 5 litre handlebar bags €5 each hanging front and back of the handlebars just for carrying water, snacks, hat, gloves, sanitiser and other miscellaneous but essential items hopefully not worth stealing. Both with a clear pouch for my phone when riding. I use a basket instead of a crate on the back and I have a set of 20 litre each roll top panniers (€10 each Crivit brand from Lidl five years ago - although coming to the ends of their life) and a set of 30 litre double panniers depending on what I need to carry. I have indicators, lights and mirrors for my added safety and it's all set up and very much intended as a very practical alternative for the car. I never leave the panniers on the bike or lights, indicators, pumps or tools because eventually someone will take them even though I live in a pretty safe low crime area. (I'm in a mostly rural area of Ireland) With the basket and panniers I've had over 40kgs of groceries etc on the back although it was definitely overloading. But since the middle of this year 2021, I've got a large fully enclosed dog trailer for carrying larger loads. I've had up to 70kgs in it on the way home. I deliberately went for a fully enclosed trailer to be a real alternative for the practicality of simply loading your weekly family shopping into the boot of a car from the shopping trolley. Just load in your reusable shopping bags and anything else, you can just throw it in anywhere. It's completely enclosed and nothing will fall out Zip it up and off you go. Well, apart from the trailer, I saw a lot of similarities between your setup and mine and I just thought I'd share some of the details. Practically all of my own bike accessories were either cheap or bargains from either online or bricks and mortar stores. You can get a lot of bargains if you are always keeping an eye out for them. Good luck. 👍

[@greekstephen]

Your setup sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing 😎 I have since put on some bar end mirrors for added safety like you mentioned. For a little over $10, it’s a huge game changer. I also had changed the stem to raise the handlebars and sit more upright. That helps tremendously on long rides. I have looked at those fully enclosed trailers and I think that’d be awesome for groceries and big shopping loads. If you ever decide to post a setup video, you can put the link in a comment and I’ll check it out.

[@tconnolly9820]

@@greekstephen I also have a car which I couldn't live without living in a rural area but I will take the bike as my first choice whenever it's practical. For indicators and mirrors, I use them to be more aware of my environment behind me and to make my intentions on the road more obvious to traffic behind me. I will also always LOOK BEHIND and INDICATE with my outstretched ARM whenever I am changing position on the road or turning. Mirrors and indicators are an addition to communicate my intentions to a vehicle coming up behind me that could weigh anything from 1 ton to 40 tonnes. We all know who's going to come off worse in any conflict or misunderstanding of intentions between me and whatever is behind me 🙁 And yes! I concede that I am a more defensive cyclist. Being in the "right" while bleeding on the road is something I'm trying to avoid. My main taillight is actually an SOS/warning beacon and my main front light for dark unlit country roads is 3,000 lumen conventional torch which fits into a bracket I got on AliExpress. I set up and see my bike as a practical alternative to a car. My bike has flat handlebars and I'm more upright. I'm intentionally more into the "Dutch" style of utilitarian cycling than achieving performance that the mainly sports or recreational road or MTB cycling fraternity would be. But I still get a sense of achievement every time I get on the bike and of course it helps keep me a little bit fitter. I don't own any lycra but of course, some normal clothing is more practical for cycling than others. Who knows, I might do a video someday. But if I may say so again, I thought that yours was particularly interesting and praiseworthy. I hope you will do more. Stay safe.

[@jmkc740]

Nice commuter man, like that set up alot! I gotta get a kickstand like that for my bike.. whew those tires are expensive, my truck tires were $80 each lol these bike tire companies are outta their minds, ill keep buyin the cheap ones at $20ish until i hit the lotto🤣

[@fedepatagonia]

great video and setup

[@greekstephen]

Thanks for the comment!

[@SC-hk6ui]

Great video. Just to mention that you can get NeoGuard fabric mudguards to block the gap where the spray is coming up between the rear rack and seat post, and there is a video of a chap who just uses some plastic fabric over his racks to stop the mud. I like in the wettest part of the UK, where it never stops raining, so I feel your pain. Can I just say that I think your bicycle is lovely and you have done superb work on it.

[@greekstephen]

Thanks for the comment. I’ll definitely check out those mudguards!

[@SC-hk6ui]

@@greekstephen I have a question please Stephen. Do you find that the Specialized pizza bag interferes with your gear shifts? Was there a way that you adjusted the shifters to avoid the levers from hitting the bag? Just wondered because I'm fitting one of these racks and was I am possibly choosing a bag that is about 4 cm narrower.

[@greekstephen]

@@SC-hk6ui I’m not sure what bicycle you ride, but with my Sequoia I have a few centimeters of clearance before touching the pizza bag. It secures tightly to the Specialized pizza rack which is slightly smaller than other front racks.

[@difflocktwo]

Almost perfect bike setup you got there.

[@difflocktwo]

I didn't like my 8 speed sora. Cassette was too high maintenance for me/ wore out yearly. Trying an 8 speed nexus 8 right now. Thinking of a single speed build too.

[@greekstephen]

Very nice. I have another bike I’m thinking about converting to single speed. It’s a 2012 Giant Avail hybrid bicycle and it’s so lightweight and quick.

[@ielectiricity6425]

I like your phone holder! What model is it?

[@greekstephen]

a.co/d/0xaDzGq This is the phone holder. It attaches to the stem cap or you can get other models that attach to your handlebars if you’d like. The top slides up and down to quickly insert or remove your phone.

[@TheSpyNZ]

Can you please measure the inside of the Specialized pizza bag and let me know the length and depth so I know how much usable space there is and whether it will fit a Pizza box or not? I have an option to buy this bag brand new and these are not sold any more so thinking of buying one for pizza and other general bits. I do not have the Specialized pizza rack so hopefully it will mount somehow to rear rack or the front rack that comes with the Sepcialized Como SL. Thank you for the video.

[@greekstephen]

I measured about 12” x 8” on the inside of the bag. My girlfriend uses this bag on her Origin8 front rack and it fits great. The rack she has can hold more weight, is a little wider on all sides, and it is cheaper than the Specialized Pizza rack. If I was to redo my front rack, I’d go with an Origin8 rack. With a depth of about 4 inches, you don’t have to use the roll-top closure. You can leave it open to carry whatever.

[@icas80]

Where did you get the pizza rack bag from? Want one for my new pizza rack! Nice setup

[@greekstephen]

I got it from my local bike shop, Bayou Bicycles near city park in New Orleans. My gf got her Specialized Pizza bag online for about $90-100. The bag is holding up really well over time.

[@icas80]

@@greekstephen Thanks for the reply! I can't hunt one down for the life of me. Suprised they don't still do it with the rack still in production.

[@greekstephen]

@@icas80 really it is weird. They still make the pizza rack, but the bag that fits perfect is discontinued. My gf bought hers online about a year ago and it took about a month to get. She forgets where she ordered it, but you might get lucky and find a new one on a random website. I’ll link a website if I have any luck.

[@icas80]

@@greekstephen Cheers!

[@SC-hk6ui]

Sometimes it's nice to have a custom bag made. In the UK we have numerous companies doing this, like Camelchops, and it would probably work out quite a bit cheaper, and it would help a local producer and support the cottage industry. Plus you could get something that suits exactly what you want to stack and your fashion style. I'm about to do this for my specialized pizza rack. I guess what I want is one with insulation for fishing trips, reflective tape, possibly a place to hold my D-locks, and possibly a waterproof map holder that levers upwards on spring - pushed down to a magnet to hold it in place. I do love the bag that Specialized made for it and wish you the best of luck finding one.

[@ThaOneBigAndSmallOne]

Don‘t show your keys etc on video!!!

[@greekstephen]

I have a whole different setup nowadays but good looking out!! I didn’t even think about it.