Which Bike Would You Recommend?
I was at one of those breakfast networking meetings this morning, and got chatting to a woman who’s got some money to spend on the Bike To Work scheme. She lives about a five minute drive from work, and is looking for a bike that’s:
- Well within the Bike to Work price range. That probably means less than £500
- Is comfortable
- Can take a child seat for her 15 month-old son
- Can be used for the odd off-road cycle path
She’ll be buying from the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative (they have the bike to work contract with her employer), so I had a look around their site, and came up with… (quoting from my email to her):
- Revolution Heritage - the Edinburgh Cycle Coop’s own brand. Good value for a starter and just £249 at the moment. Or their Streetfinder Womens ‘11 is just £225 - an absolute steal!
- Specialized Daily Globe Step Through - either the Daily 1 (£399) or Daily 2 (£499). These are both similar to the Heritage, but have hub gears. That means they also have a chain guard, so you don’t have to worry about getting grease up your leg. The Daily 1 has three gears, while the Daily 2 has seven. More gears tends to mean that they’re more closely spaced, and so the bike is easier on the legs for longer trips.
- The Pashley Poppy at £450 or the Britannia at £625 (outside the price range, but hey!). Pashleys are lovely bikes (my regular workday ride is one), but you do tend to pay through the nose for them. The Poppy only has a three-gear hub, and no basket or rack supplied, while the Britannia includes basket, lights, comfy saddle, five gears….
- If these are all a bit girlie, then I’d probably look at something like the standard version of the Specialized Daily Globe (£399).
Basically, I’ve gone looking for comfort, mudguards and hub gears… but what would you have suggested?
Can’t offer an opinion on the other bikes but I bought a Revolution Streetfinder for the Somer Valley Wheels Club for use as a loan bike.
As you rightly say, it is a steal at the price and draws compliments from its users.
As we live in a hilly area the triple chainring is a welcome addition.
http://flic.kr/p/aktXt4
http://flic.kr/p/akpbWX
You can’t really go wrong with those. However I think that integrated lighting and puncture proof tires are something to be considered as well. There’s no joy in cycling if you are plagued by punctures and have to remember to carry lights with you. I also found that after a while of riding a utility bike you want to carry more and moo stuffon it so think about a bike that will allow a front rack and panniers in the future.
Ditto the Pashleys. Some food for thought though - my better half has a Britannia and loves it, but would happily trade the basket & 5 speed hub for a rear rack & single (or 3) speed but that’s just her preference. Off road paths don’t faze it at all despite appearances. She wouldn’t swap the riding position and saddle for anything!
For carrying kids around on, the features we’d consider important are a step-thro frame, not too lightweight, and not too short in wheelbase. Toddlers present a lot of weight high up & to the rear of the bike which can make for ‘interesting’ handling. A bike with a longish wheelbase that isn’t too lightweight will cope better than something short & sylphlike, and a step through frame will make for far safer mounts & dismounts.
Either of the Revolutions look good for the money. Shame about the derailleur gears but at that price you can’t be too picky!
Again, probably outside her price range but the Mixte version of the Specialized Globe looks good.
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?f_ProductID=14125&f_FullProductVersion=1&f_SupersetQRY=C442&f_SortOrderID=1&f_bct=c003155c018345
I like the Nexus 8 speed hubs as they have good range and are fairly reliable and hassle free. The addition of the front rack is good if there’s going to be a child seat on the back as that will use up the pannier space on the back and narrow down carrying options.
Backpacks and childseats are sometimes difficult too as the backpack ends up in the little ones face. In my experience once you have a child seat on the back you end up not being able to carry much, so shopping trips for even small items with a child onboard becomes difficult.
Of course she could possibly add the rack after to other bikes, but that one looks like a decent front rack and some of them aren’t cheap to buy afterwards.
I like the strength of Mixte frames too as they compensate for the drop top tube with the two bars adding stiffness that some step through frames sometimes lose.
Aesthetics are important too. If someone really likes a bike then they’re much more likely to ride it. SO she has to choose something that has a style and colour that she’ll look forward to riding each day. Most people feel silly and a little vain when being picky about colours etc, but they shouldn’t. It can be the difference between a bike living in the shed or being ridden with pride.
Also keep in mind that you do need to carry stuff if you have a little one with you. Bag of changes of clothes / nappies etc depending on age. A couple of bungees over that front rack could hold a sizeable bag in place easily I’d have thought.
As our BUG lead, I was able to get a budget at my employer (matched funded by the Bristol Cycling City project) to buy some “pool” bikes for our employees to use, promoting cycle commuting. We bought 2 x Globe Daily 1 and 2 x Daily 2’s. They have been an excellent choice and have stood up well to the significant usage over last year. I would recommend the “Daily 2″ step through as it has a rear rack and the 7sp hub (the “1″ has a basket but no rear rack). The extra gear range is going to be useful if you have a child on the back.
My personal choice would be a Pashley though. They are a lot prettier if this is important and build quality is excellent. I have a Guv’nor myself which has been a joy
Be aware that if you buy a bike that comes with a rear rack and intend to put a child seat on it then you might have to swap the rack for one that works with the brand of child seat that you buy. For example, The Co-Pilot seats do tie you in to using the Blackburn EX racks (same company makes both). Presumably so that they can assert some quality control over what their seats are attached to. It’s not worth paying over the odds for an included rack on a new bike if you’re going to have to swap it straight away though.