Warren asks “WHY?” about his bike commute today when it was 19°F (-7°C) outside. I live in sunny and warm California now, but some benefits that I recall:

• I don’t worry about a dead car battery.
• I don’t shovel my entire driveway just to back the car into the street.
• I don’t sweep snow off of my car and into my face.
• I don’t spray deicer into my door lock.
• I don’t take 15 minutes scraping ice from a windshield.
• I don’t have to warm my car up for 20 minutes.
• It’s fun to stroll into the office “under” dressed while I’m munching on an ice cream sandwich.

What are some other side benefits to commuting on bike in the winter cold?

Speaking of the cold, Sue has posted more bike haikus from Illinois. CICLE posted something about Milwaukeeeans who bike through the winter. One Love One Gear posts links to several winter cycling resources.

Photo: “Ice Scraper” by Marilylle Soveran.

Boulder, Colorado Community Cycles will host its first Holiday Bike Swap, Giveaway, and Collection Drive at the Boulder Outlook Hotel on December 7, 8 and 9. They’ll collect child and adult bikes, fix them up, and open the doors for children to come in a swap out their bikes for better fitting ones. Children without bikes are welcome to pick out a bike for themselves. Community Cycles is asking for a $10 for each bike dropped off and picked up, but the donation is not required. Read more at Community Cycles.

In nearby Longmont, Colorado, High Gear Cyclery is once again collecting and fixing bicycles for the St. Vrain Community Council’s Holiday Basket program. Santa’s elves will repair the donated bikes at High Gear’s expense. The bikes most needed are kid-sized: ones with 12, 16, 20, or 24 inch wheels. Adult-sized mountain bikes are also welcomed. Santa already has enough 10 speed and 3 speed bikes, so those are not needed.

Seth asks where he can find aftermarket chainguards for his Bianchi Castro Valley bicycle. I went on a hunt for plastic chainguards about three years ago and was unsuccessful. Last year, somebody asked where to find bicycle chainguards at the Bicycle Commute Tips blog and received no answer.

I’ve quickly searched the USA bike distributors catalogs for chainguards. SBS carries replacement chainguards for theirk Torker and Redline bikes, but I didn’t see anything aftermarket. J&B looks like they carry a number of plastic chainguards. Most are for the brands of bikes they have (e.g. Sun & Cykel), but I see a number of generic items like “Chainguard 20″ no clips.” J&B does not sell to the general public so you’ll need to go to your local bike shop and have them order the chainguards from J&B.

Does anybody know of anyone who imports Basil Panniers into the United States? Are there other recommendations for stylish panniers for my wife’s new bike?

My wife brought home a brand spanking new Breezer U-frame Villager bicycle from the bike shop yesterday afternoon. It’s a beauty.

Sara rode it to her classes last night and loves the new bike. It features dynamo powered lighting, a 7 speed Shimano Nexus hub, rack, fenders, bell, suspension seatpost and kickstand. The moderately raked CroMoly fork has a noticeable amount of “give” to cushion what might otherwise be a harsh ride from the aluminum frame. As equipped, Sara’s 15″ U frame Breezer Villager weighs about 30 pounds and retails for $1200.

Until recently, most comfort bikes for city riding have tended to be heavy and built up with cheap components. In 2003, Joe Breeze started creating bikes designed for “transportation for a healthy planet.” Breeze was inspired by European city bike designs but added his “California fresh” perspective to make the bikes practical yet light and responsive.

I really like this trend toward Euro-styled city bikes that aren’t absolute clunkers. QBP launched their Civia brand of high end commuter bikes this year. We’re also started seeing this trend from the first tier bike builders like Specialized with their Globe series of bikes.

The shop experience (from a dealer who is just now joining the Breezer network) was a mixed bag. Upright city bikes don’t require the level of custom fitting that racers insist on, but I at least expect a shop to adjust the saddle and handlebars to somewhere near the correct height. The front light was also incorrectly aimed, pointing a good 30 degrees up in the air. Otherwise, everything on the bike appears to be correctly assembled, adjusted and inflated. They also noticed and repaired a loose connection between the dynamo and tail light. Apparently, this is a fairly common problem on some Breezer bikes and mentioned to Sara that she should watch for that.

Sue has been very inspired this last week, creating a bike haiku today and yesterday. I didn’t know this until I read it in Roger Kramer’s blog, but apparently Sue is on the board of the League of Illinois Bicyclists!