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I went for a drink/meal with some colleagues last night, as the pub was a little out of town but I fancied a couple of pints I opted to ride in "normal person" clothes.
Seeing as my normal (skinny tyred) fixed pub/beater is currently out of being rebuilt, I opted for my CX/Gravel bike which turned out to be a good tool for the job as the Pub was almost five miles away. I was able to take some rougher paths with the 40mm tyres and link up some quieter roads.
However the saddle was not comfy without padded shorts for what ended up being a ~10 mile round trip...
It was quite a nice mini-night ride home too actually.
But it's got me thinking and re-evaluating my plans for the Pub bike i.e. still fixed but with an easier gear, and maybe with some wider tyres (Maybe 30~32mm if they'll clear) so it's happier on tow paths... I'm also going to have some sort of front rack/box luggage solution, I don't like sweaty backpacks or stuff in my pockets but I'll need to carry a lock/phone/wallet/keys/etc, plus it'll make it less desireable for theft...
Has anyone else refined their pub bike? and if so what choices did you make?
I either use my Brompton, or a Raleigh Cameo like this.
Kona Hahana 1993 with a pannier rack and 2.35 Schwable Big Apples.
You need padded shorts for a 10 mile round trip?!
My pub bike varies is whichever one of my bikes suits the trip
rigid MTB (if anything off road)
brompton (if might use public transport or get a lift home)
commuter (for everything else)
Cycle rickshaw plus some other sucker to pedal
Rigid 29 if off road or wet. Belt drive SS if not.
You need padded shorts for a 10 mile round trip?!
I'd have benefitted from them with the saddle fitted to that particular bike, Normally I ride it in Lycra gimp gear not jeans and chaffey boxers...
I am going to find a better more padded seat for the Pub bike though just in case I do take it a bit further further. the one fitted is cheap and has been fine in normal clothing for 2-3 miles in the past so it's no biggy
Ideal pub bike? Anything with mudguards that won't inspire attempted theft.
Pub bike is whatever is at the top of the pile with lights and a decent lock. One with mudguards if it's black over Bills mothers.
Ideal pub bike? Anything with mudguards that won’t inspire attempted theft.
As above. Brompton under the table in the pub, or Raleigh locked up outside.
Raleigh Pioneer or a Dutch bike, of course. Dropped top tube or step-thru frame to minimise alcohol-assisted groin-strike, and also maximise ease of mounting. Always-on dynamo lighting is a must along with a shitload of reflective tspe placed strategically all around.
Once while camping I met some mtbrs who had turned up on the campsite. One of them saw me on my Kinesis Maxlight and said 'I'd love a pub bike'.
My eyebrows may have raised. It was my MTB. I imagined they probably had a lot of the moneys.
A 1989 Kona Hahanna with pannier rack and 2.35 scwalbe big apples.
MalvernRider, that is a piece of utter magnificence!
Charge Juicer with topeak flashing mudguards and midge bars.
As my mate said it looks like a grandad bike I'm slightly reassured it won't be an obvious target but it actually goes pretty fast
Has 28c puncture proof tyres which is fine for a bit of towpath.
Pub bike = Gravel bike.
Me and my mate ride "Pubcross" midweek. Its 20m of singletrack and road around Delamere / Whitegate (Cheshire) with a stop in the excellent Egerton Arms in Little Budworth.
Pinnacle Arkose with 45c Riddlers on. Perfect.
Choose your colour:
https://dawescycles.com/product-category/heritage/
MrsIHN has a Dawes Duchess; it his hands down probably the most funnest bike in our entire collection.
I bought a singlespeed Singular Peregrine second hand as a pub bike, got a leather Brooks saddle on it, so don't need padded shorts, trouble is liked riding it so much that it became bike i rode the most, so i ended up tickling it with silver Thomspon bits and nice wheels..... now i need a cheap pub bike!
My local by road/pavement is exactly 1 mile downhill and around 250ft elevation drop away. Off road it's about half a mile further with the same elevation drop and 3 nice Singletrack trails.
The ideal bike to get to the pub depends on which way I choose to go. On road I'd pretty much always opt for my 4X hardtail to manual and hop kerbs. The off road route I like riding any of my mtbs.
Coming back home the Ebike is hands down the best option whethertaking the road or off road route.
The one I just rode around Wharncouver and the steel city downhill and has magically transported me to the Red Lion 😎
180mm of travel 👍
Brakeless BMX for the LOLs
Colour: ‘Stout’
Single-speed? Y
Relaxed geo? Y
Integrated bottle-opener? Y
Alu frame/rust-resistant? Y
Conversation-piece? Y
Centre-stand? Y
No-maintenance sort-of boingers for sudden dark potholes? Y
It was even named the P.U.B.
Raleigh, why so cruel? Only in the US, and now long-since discontinued? (Manufactured for one year only in 2006)
Assumedly like the proverbial rocking horse poo
I just use my commuter/town bike. 2000 gt aggressor mtb with a short stem and wider bars and semi slick tyres. the bike is rigid. Love it. I always wear normal clothes when I ride it although I wear trainers or vans.
Mudguards N
Racks N
Bottlecage mounts (for take home wine/leffe obvs) N
Looks like a californian idea of a pub bike to me - designed by someone who has never had to cycle into a headwind along a muddy towpath with four pints of Long Blonde inside them.....
Fair play winston. Am forced to once more refer all to my original diagram* 🙂
*Unless your pub-visit is just an excuse for an offroad and/or lengthy ride then of course your MTB/gravel/Enduro etc bike is a ‘pub bike’. Under-pub-biked is a thing. 😉
Pashley Guvnor - sorted.
@Malvern Rider
My wife brought a cloggy bike almost exactly that with her when she moved here from Holland 25 years ago - it took both of us (at once sometimes) to the pubs in cambridge for several years. I'm ashamed to say we left it behind when we moved as it wouldn't fit on the car.....I'm sure its still going somewhere
The bike I ride to the pub is a Kona MinUte, it's a small cargo bike, has full guards and a lock that's always on the bike. I'd not do 10 miles on it, but it's fine for a mile or 2 to the pub.
^ Fair chance it is winston.
Although mine is shamefully in bits in a box, rusting as I type. Gutted tbh. On the plus-side, the current (under-pub-biked) UPB is one of these:
No falling off as of yet. Take-home cargo is a minor issue atm but the rucksack works ok for now.
(Kona Minute) I’d not do 10 miles on it
Youth of today...(mutter)
- Cheap
- Unattractive looking is a bonus
- Mud guards
- Tyre that are fat and robust enough to ride on tow paths
- Comfy saddle
- Basket + pannier rack
This is my pub bike:
Always available lights - check
Mudguards - check
Chunky tyres - check
Big padded seat - check
Sidestand - check
Low top tube/relaxed position - check
Big basket to put your stuff in - check
Bottle opener - check (though I added that myself)
Large bell to warn others of my existence - check (also added myself)
Electric motor to hasten trips between pubs / home - check!
I don’t have one, but if I did it would be an Electra cruiser or something like that.
nobody mentioned the six pint auto pilot yet
Recumbent trike. Can’t fall off the way home. Mines been on a few pub round trips. No padded shorts needed.
You could also get some pub pants,ones that don't feel like your wearing a nappy .
I really like these minimalist On One boxers-just enough padding for me for my riding and comfortable enough to wear under normal clothes :
You could also get some pub pants,ones that don’t feel like your wearing a nappy .
I grew up in the wrong century - when riding a bike to the pub involved wearing jeans and a jacket! Sometimes you’d leave the house with half a cigarette and ride one-handed while finishing it.
Today, Matthew, I am going to be Tommy Saxondale.
But seriously, nappies to the pub? Does anyone?
I think I’d buy a cheapie secondhand Carrera Subway for under £100 and stick some flats and mudguards on it and maybe a rack for strapping stuff to if needed. Should be still amusing ish if any off road on the way.
Unfortunately I’ve run out of space for my ideal pub bike.
Anyone want a free one, collection only from nottigham.
An old Saracen mtb, no suspension, semi slicks, Canti/v brakes. 7 speed for the long run, almost unused light wheels. Mudguards.
It’s a 17” frame and I’ve run it with a massive seat post so it will fit 6”4 down to 5”9 ish.
If you are actually likely to take it away and use it drop me a line and I’ll take a photo.
It’s going on free cycle next week 😢
My pub bike is my Brompton. Comes drinking with me, rather than waiting outside in the cold with the ever present threat of being beaten up for being a bendy Londoner.
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Perfect for my mix of old railway tracks, wobbly bridalways and farm tracks and nippy on the road. Pub bike would do it short as it's 'the biking with the kids bike', and summer commuter.
Cost less than £100 👍
Minging 👍
Mud guards 👍
Massive stack of comfort spacers 👍
Spares bin special 👍
Oddly fun to ride 👍
there's nothing wrong with that Trek. Looks great.
Brakeless BMX for the LOLs
There's a deep scar on my chin that would disagree with this bike choice.
@trumpton I love it, but I get to see the rougher edges like where I hack sawed off the combined shifter unit from one brake lever, front pound shop mudguard etc 😄 it's the bike I get to spend some of my least sweaty most relaxing and happy time on. From days out with my youngest to grabbing a bottle of ale after a day at work and sitting somewhere lovely to drink it. Perfect foil to all my other cycling.
Love that Orbea electric bike up there. Not sure how log it would last outside my local though...