[Closed] town bike

p.s. budget is <£300

ta

guy I sit next to at work has got one of those. He likes it. Rode London - Brighton at the weekend.

Coaster brake, which you might like or not. Certainly takes a bit of gettig used to if you've been riding bikes without them for years. Didn't like it on the bike I hired in Copenhagen for 3 days.

Carerra Subway.

sh!t didn't spot it had a Coaster brake! i was planing on putting the kids seat on the back.... could be a bit risky, what are they like??

Carerra Subway, not realy what i'm after, it .... well it just looks rubbish.

Raleigh Pioneer, £275 at Halfords.

[img] http://i1.adis.ws/i/washford/699573?$pd_enlarge$ [/img]

£25 over budget, but....

http://pinnacle-bikes.co.uk/city-and-leisure/pinnacle-lithium-1-2014-hybrid-bike

Merlin Single Malt £259

[img] [/img]

http://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-single-malt-single-speed-bike-61807.html

I was surprised how much relearning I had to do with the coaster brake. Loads of little things - you can't kick the pedals round so they're in the right spot to move off at a junction - you have to decide in advance which foot you're going to put down (not always going to be the same one - if the road's cambered - right turn from a one way street etc), set the pedals so the other foot is forward, then back pedal to brake.

It turns out I quite often back pedal half a revolution to reset the pedals if I'm turning through traffic, swerving for something in the road, preparing for a rough surface, popping off a kerb. Having unconscious balancing tactics being stopped halfway and the bike stopping under you doesn't make for a pleasant bike ride.

Even given that I'd be doing a lot less of that sort of riding with a child on the back, I'd still want a lot of practice before I trusted myself with precious cargo that's also going to bring some added balancing challenges.

Or, alternatively, I wouldn't get a bike with a coaster brake.

It could be that I'm a stuck in the mud who's got weird riding habits that are unusually hard wired, and there are plenty of people reading this wondering how on earth I could have had so much trouble...

thanks nedrapier, sounds like the coaster brake isn't a good idea with the boy on the back !!

I ve been looking for the same thing. The ones I ve looked at are,

Vitus dee 29
Bombtrack arise
Merlin single malt
Pinnacle ramin

Bombtrack and pinnacle are a bit over budget but look nice . The other two are both single speeds . Just a few more options for you.

the vitus vee is ok for getting around on, and it's ok offroad too. However, it doesn't have rack mounts and it has a 120mm rear wheel spacing.

Also, the non-disc version (vee, not dee) doesn't have disc caliper mounts. Should you want to upgrade later on, this is important!

Bombtrack range looks good.