Right I live in London, well Teddington, which as everybody knows is flat as a pancake and Im thinking of getting a bike for hacks in and around town. At present if I go in to London I use my Pashley but as I live about 13 miles out it gets to be a bit of a drag if I have to hack about a bit, 30 or 40 miles on a 50lb bike takes a fair while and I fancy something a bit swifter and lighter. I dont need anything too fancy, probably a singlespeed as there are no hills to speak of, something with a quite relaxed riding position would be good.
I like the look of those belt drive Treks but £700 is a bit large as Im stoney broke at the mo. Any thoughts, pretty pictures etc appreciated.
The best town bike is something so scuzzy that no self respecting tea leaf will even bother looking at
A £700 Trek chained up with a 40 quid lock in London?
I'll give it 10 mins
Keep your nice bikes safe
Ive had a kona dew for a few years and they are pretty quick and might fit your requirement. might be worth taping kona logos or giving it a sloppy paintjob if it lives outside in town though.
Any old tourer from the 50's/60's, just uprgade the brakes and go singlespeed if you want, I prefer the gears as I dont want to be mashing a big gear every day or spinning out every slight decline.
Ridgeback do loads of decent bikes around the £300 mark. I wouldn't bother with anything "nice" as a commuter / shopper that'll get left on the street.
Best town bike is a 15 year old battered cast off. Maybe your first mountain bike. Uglified with black tape, puncture proof slicks, mudguard and rack, DX thumbies, frame mounted D lock. Total value say £100.
2nd hand charge plug, there's a few on fleabay just now. Can't recommend this bike highly enough. Really simple and really comfy.
KONA Smoke
SE Racing Lager. I got mine second hand and it's ace.
There was a specialized globe San Francisco 1 for sale on here a few days ago for £150. That would be my choice (in fact was and is my choice) for a town bike. Fun to ride, light(ish), cheap(ish) and very good looking. Just get yourself a decent lock.
I like my 2008 Specialized Globe Elite with 8 speed nexus gear hub.
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It looks like a single speed but isn't
an old hardtail of your own that has served its off road time and now deserves years of tearing around town for retirement. My rockhopper was knackered as an off road mountain bike when in 2002 i delegated it to commuting but 8 years of 40 miles a week has hardly marked it so much less wearing is tarmac. And although it is a cheap mtb it is probably stiffer and stronger than most hybrids and purpose built town / city bikes. And if it is nicked then at least i have had my £550 worth.
This is such a bargain, I've just bought one
http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m14b0s180p7283
+1 for an old MTB, the wife and I both have 'em. Set up 1x9, fat and comfy slicks, and stick a rigid fork on there. I got one of [url= http://www.petracycles.co.uk/product_info.php?language=en¤cy=GBP&products_id=64483&source=googlepbs ]these [/url]from Petra, heavy, but OK. Perfect.
Oh and as said, frame mounted D lock.
APF
You all seem to be showing utter disregard for that urban biking essential, 160mm suspension forks for the gnarly kerbs outside Waitrose.
A condor fratello 🙂
Langster in matte black with the decals removed. Stealth 🙂
So how well does taping the frame to make it more obvious that it's worth nicking work as a theft attractant?
best bike for commuting/town....
£80 bike with ss kit a matt black rattle can and some tinkering
jobs a goodun
Revolution Courier Race is good- tough as hell, well thought out spec, and looks like it cost about 20p. Bit heavy but otherwise ace.
bassspine - Member
So how well does taping the frame to make it more obvious that it's worth nicking work as a theft attractant?
Quite the reverse. Bike thieves are (sadly) not as thick as we'd like to think. They see a taped up bike and assume that if it's worth taping up, it's worth stealing....
Sad but true.