right, i’ve decided i need a low key, low maintenance ride to get to the shops and stuff on; something i won’t be that worried about locking up outside places for a few hours (i live in south manchester but i have one of those massive new york fahgettaboudit chain locks!)… sooooo, i don’t want a full on road bike as there may be a small amount of offroad stuff involved at times, but i won’t need suspension or gears either.
i have an old(ish) kona shred jump frame that i could build up, but i think i’d rather have a steel frame. would this little fella be any good, do you reckon?
or what ideas do you lot have?
also, show me yours please. go on.

The very fact you are thinking about this means you are taking this too seriously!!
A pub bike needs to have just enough gears to get you to your local without getting too sweaty. Getting home doesn’t matter. It needs tyres that won’t split when you ride into a ditch coz you can’t see where you are going. Old bald ones work best as you can play silly buggers with your mates without wrecking good ones and they add a challenge when you go off road on the way home. Lights should be minimal, old everyready’s or Wonderlights are suitably dim and they should rely on batteries that are hard to get.The saddle of a Raleigh shopper is good. Nuts on the hubs mean your mates can’t hide a wheel, ditto seat pin. Make sure your crank is well seized on so a more enterprising mate can’t turn it through 90 degrees. A basket on the front is useful for carrying pub quiz prizes or that last bottle of ale.

haha, good advice!
i don’t actually drink booze so some of that isn’t too relevant, but yeah maybe i am overthinking this a bit…

Go for it, doing the same with an old Cindercone frame – now resprayed in a colour no self respecting thief would nick.

Who actually rides a bike to the pub though? Apart from those living in rural areas who might have a bit of a trek to their local?

The only guys i see with bikes round here in pubs are sweat encrusted, b.o ridden, sandal-and-sock-wearing beard-bothering real-ale bores. And they’re made to sit in the snug so the smell doesn’t offend.

I live out in the sicks, it’s a very small village so we only have 4 pubs – nice to visit other village pubs too! Seriously though, want it to do more than just the pub – shop, work, local open air pool – just to get around as xherbivorex was also saying – and leave the car/van at home.

So you were covered by my original proviso Roger, and what you’re referring to is in fact a a mode of transport rather than a pub bike. A bike in other words?

There, that’s better we’ve put that to bed, it’s a bike for geting about on. Like we all used to before driving became possible as we turnd 17. It’s a bike…

Correct – genius, why didn’t I think of that.
But it needs to be a special kind of bike – one that is unlikely to get nicked!!

yeah, “pub bike” is just a phrase you know, not necessarily meant to be taken literally. sorry for being a bit vague. maybe.

i want it for getting about, when it’s not that far to warrant driving but a bit too far to walk.
specifically for me, public transport is impractical (and too expensive for the journeys i’m likely to be making) and i don’t want to be riding a 6″ travel freeride bike to go buy groceries, you know…

Who actually rides a bike to the pub though? Apart from those living in rural areas who might have a bit of a trek to their local?

Me
Sometimes we meet 4-5 miles from home. Cycling there either off road or mostly on cyclepaths. It’s ace.
🙂

IMO, though, a pure PUB BIKE is a virtual skip find. Certainly not worth any more than your insurance excess anyway!
🙂

Nothing personal, just had wee bee in my bonnet for a while about pub bike as a phrase. It’d take me longer to get my bike out the shed than to walk to my local, so I’m probably jealous I’ve no reason to justify another bike.

a pub bike doesn’t need to live in a shed 🙂

my hack bike transformed into a trainer/commuter, i thought i’d build one out of 2nd hand bits which i did but couldnt help pick up a few bargins along the way, like xtc frame £40, xt cranks £40 etc, this bloody bike is almost higher spec than my other SS at quarter of the price..

Hack Bike – that’s the phrase – spot on.
Is there any merit in swapping/donating bits via here – those things you’ll prob never use and could be exchanged for some thing of use – kind of free-cycling?
Tazz sent me some bits for the SS Hack Bike which was very kind, if I have any bits someone wants they are welcome to empty my garage.

A proper “pub bike” should be so crappy, you don’t even need to lock it up!

this is manchester though; you need to lock ANY bike up here!

i probably have near enough to a full build in old bits lying around, but it’d be a pretty decent jumpy type bike i’d end up with and that’d get nicked in a second!

Old frame and old wheels. Replace QR skewers with allen bolt ones. Rim brakes and a SS kit.

If you want to shop on it, get a cheap rack too.

I just kept an eye on ebay and the classifieds for when cheap stuff came up.

Old v brake inbred, handsome do dirt jumping cromo forks, deore v brakes. Massive planet x downhill bars. An old seatpost, a stem that I changed off another bike. A tatty saddle to poor to go on my mountain bike, some old deore cranks and so on.

Since my commute to work is no a bit longer the bike is getting more pimped out. My old wheels broke so I’ve got xt hubs and 719 rims as I’m hoping they should be fairly indestructable.

Hack bike is a good description. A bike for the pub, shopping, commuting – all those utility chores. Some thing worth jacksh!t to anyone else, but secretly rides like a beast. This is my old 91 Marin Palisades, rescued from a Bristol skip as a frame fork and crankset around 8 year ago. Affectionatly know as The BYH (black yak hack, as it used to pull the Bob Yak trailer) also known as the OPOC, (other people’s old crap), cos that’s what it’s made of.
It looks rubbish, but goes like the wind and is really a lovely bike to ride – ideal! Most expensive bit is the pannier, but that comes right off.

I have a Commencal MaxMax currently being fitted with Society fork for the very purpose of mucking around on and going to the shops etc, bars are wide enough to carry home the takeaway on without much wheel rub!

That cat’s skulking away from the Marin with utterly unimpressed withering disdain for it…

Looks like a Flite ti saddle though. Not that I s’pose your average scroting bike thief would notice.

I’m using my ’95 Kona Humu cruiser for shop duties. It seems it’s bona fide classic status is lost on the local yoofs, cuz they’ve yet to try to steal it or even douse it in cider and attempt to arson it. I’m a bit offended really.

Inspired by this thread I have now fitted the headset to the “snotmobile” (thank you Joe aged 10) so now you know what colour it is.

Quick question – can’t get the cassette off – have chain whip and cassette thingummybob how much force should I apply – would prefer not to wreck the wheel?

Consider a cruiser bike i.e. Schwinn Classic (or cheaper copy):
Advantages: cool looking, 3 speed (or SS), mudguards look even more cool(eh!?).
Disadvantages: not really practical for anything other than cruising to the shops on.

Or, maybe something like a Charge Duster Rigid. Or a Marin Point Reyes. Both are Mtb bikes with rigid forks.

Tho like most others say, you’re better just buying an old 90’s mtb with rigid forks for peanuts. It depends on the size of your wallet.