Apologies this is going to be a very dull thread since the bike I am looking for is about as sexy as an RTA, but it is something we’ve been trying to find for a while without success.

It’s a bike for my wife, who wants to do local trips to the shops and into town on it.

Ideally she wants a ‘Dutch shopper bike’, so something like this:

But she doesn’t want it to weigh 22kg (which all the ones we’ve seen do) and being only 5ft tall herself, she needs it to be small enough to fit her.

I’ve found plenty of other good compromises such as this:

Which to me is ideal, but she can’t get past it looking like the bike is too low (and probably it will be – yes I could put a high rise stem and Mary bars on it, I might end up having to do that) but if we can find a light, small dutch shopper, she’d be happy (and by default so would I!)

Thanks for your help.

Yes (marker)

What about something like this, in alu to save on weight?
http://2014.konaworld.com/coco.cfm

My wife is the same height and has a Pashley Princess.

It *only* weights 20kg!

She’s actually raised the saddle a bit since this was taken;

It *only* weights 20kg!

😯

Downhill bikes weigh less!

Pashley – a good example of something that is not cheap, not light, but strong.

The Kona looks interesting. Thanks for suggesting that.

Mrs MR has an Apollo Etienne (?) Cheap and cheerful, alloy stepthru, rack and lightweight guards. Feels light enough. Halfords say approx 15.2kg. Can lose more weight with upgrades at that price (change to alloy bars, seatpost etc)

It sits there doing nothing since she had a recumbent but was favourably received when in use.

I recently sold a 1984 Dawes Finesse girl’s bike that was perfect for the 5′ recipient. It had custom tubes and weighed less than 22kg even with steel wheels.

For new Dutch style town bike that is more upmarket i’d be looking at Gazelle. Thing is shopping bikes do best with all the things like mudguards, locks, skirt guards, racks, stand etc which piles on the weight anyhow.

As a contrast my shopper/ute weighs over 60lb even before it gets loaded with groceries. Sneakyfeeling I’d feel cheated with anything lighter! Stable as a battleship.

I reckon she’d be happy with this

Bought my daughter a similar model, she loves it

Pinnacle do one, lady here at work has one. Mates daughter has just bought a Pendleton one as well. You’d have to do your own research on weight though.

Good suggestions, many thanks.

tbh, if you’re pootling along and don’t live in a hilly area then bike weight is a non-issue.

My wife is not a cyclist, she wants something she can ride into town or down to the beach, that she likes the look of and doesn’t have ‘complicated gears’. This suits her down to the ground.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This.

The Dutch don’t seem bothered about the weight or lack of gears.

But then it’s flat.

Unless it’s hilly, the weight doesn’t really matter (ask the Dutch, their shoppers are heeeeeavy…). In fact, a reasonable amount of heft makes them feel nice and stable on crappy roads, in traffic etc etc.

There are loads of nice sit up and beg laydees bikes for laydees, and they don’t have to cost much money. Dawes do some very funky ones in the Duchess range; I bought the Hippy one for my Mrs and I’m pretty impressed given it was only £350.

Bikefix have a good range of city type bicycles – look at Fahrrad Manufaktur.

A friend of our is a similar size. Bought a lovely looking Dutch type bike – hated it beacuse it was so heavy. She replaced it with a Giant of similar style but considerably less mass. I was amazed at how much easier the Giant was to ride. Take a look at http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bike-catalogue/liv/all/?block_id=&gender=&level=lifestyle&segments_id=
They all have aluminium alloy frames.

come to brighton there are about 1500* shops specialising in dutch bikes.

*this may be an exaggeration but there seem to be a lot.

Pinnacle

My wife has an Old Dutch that we brought with us when we moved back from Amsterdam. It weighs more than my DH bike but it’s really not a problem. It does have 3 gears though which is a definite bonus when it comes to the inclines (they’re not really hills) in the middle of Cheltenham.

The Californium is the lightest of that type that we sell at Evans. Specifically designed to have the style without the weight. 13.5kg inc stand, basket etc. Or have a look at the Bobbins, really nice bikes but a little heavier (metal guards + chain guard, crmo frames etc)

Have a look at the Charge Grater in both Alfine and derailleur variants. My wife has one and she is happy with it which is saying something.

about as sexy as an RTA

Well you obviously haven’t read Crash then.

Specialized do some sit-uppy hybrid type things with step-through frames.

Have you considered a custom build? 🙂

Dawes Red feather?
Dutch “style” but in alu – not sure how much the current one weighs as I’ve not sold Dawes for years, but it can’t be much over 15kg I’d have thought.

EDIT – 13.6kg.
Bosh.

frame for £29.99
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRSBSWH/sab-sidney-womens-700c-hybrid-frame

Just wandered into Evans and that Pinnacle is lighter than it looks.

The bright orange Norco Bigfoot in the window was getting a lot of attention from passersby though. Looks amazingly bonkers!

Adventure Graduate
Alloy frame, 1 or 3 speed, £220/£270, black or cream.
Recently discontinued but you may find one still available somewhere.

I sold a few but without the colour coded guards found them harder to shift than the heavier and more expensive ‘full dress’ traditionals.