What do you think it the best bike for the city



B

bornfree

Guest
What do you think it the best bike for the city? More specifically,
London. I'm thinking in the region of £300 (online price, rather than
high street)

Apparently a "racing" bike is the fastest, but not very good on poorer
road surfaces. If you have a road / racing bike (are they the same?),
would love to know what you think of them.
 
bornfree writtificated

> What do you think it the best bike for the city? More specifically,
> London. I'm thinking in the region of £300 (online price, rather than
> high street)
>
> Apparently a "racing" bike is the fastest, but not very good on poorer
> road surfaces. If you have a road / racing bike (are they the same?),
> would love to know what you think of them.

I *love* road bikes, but you have to have good lungs and strong thighs to
get the most out of them. They're designed to be ridden fast and hard,
and going slow on one isn't great - twitchy handling, hard saddle that
doesn't get on with jeans, brake levers in the wrong place, tyres so hard
you can feel each individual chip of tarmac (realy - each piece. Through
yer bum). Trundling about the city on one isn't great. In fact, they're
awful for the city! I've used one almost exclusively for the last four
or five years, so I should know! The only thing worse than a road bike
in the city is a knobbly tyred mountain bike with full suspension. No
matter how fast you try to go, it's s-l-o-w.


If putting together a great city bike it'd have:

-Wide, *slick* high pressure tyres - at city speeds these will be more
efficient than narrower racing tyres yet still wheely comfy.

-Proper full length mudguards - because a wet crack and brown stains on
yer trousers is never going to be fashionable.

-Rear rack to take panniers, 'cos a sweaty back in summer ain't nice

-An 'upright' riding position with handlebars higher than the seat.
Better view over the cars in front, easier to check over your shoulder.

-Hub gears, because adjusting the gears to get them sweet is just too
tiresome

-Dynamo lights, so I don't get caught out when the clocks change

-The biggest D lock I can buy
 
bornfree wrote:
> What do you think it the best bike for the city? More specifically,
> London. I'm thinking in the region of £300 (online price, rather than
> high street)
>
> Apparently a "racing" bike is the fastest, but not very good on poorer
> road surfaces. If you have a road / racing bike (are they the same?),
> would love to know what you think of them.

My Claud Butler Urban 300 was about £300, kept me happy commuting in
Sheffield. The suspension fork was probably overkill along with the
suspension seatpost, but it was a fairly smooth ride.
Don't regret getting it, but that may just be because it got me back
into cycling!

Tracker.
 
On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:57:30 +0000, Mark T wrote:
> The only thing worse than a road bike
> in the city is a knobbly tyred mountain bike with full suspension. No
> matter how fast you try to go, it's s-l-o-w.

Mine goes pretty fast in town (although no rear suspension). I'm looking
forward to swapping over to my road tyres this weekend!

peter
 
On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:31:14 -0700 (PDT), bornfree
<[email protected]> said in
<e22ff9d0-2fce-455a-a597-feb7d81170b8@l64g2000hse.googlegroups.com>:

>What do you think it the best bike for the city? More specifically,
>London. I'm thinking in the region of £300 (online price, rather than
>high street)

The Brompton. There is no finer machine on the mean streets :)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound
 
On 22 Apr, 18:57, Mark T
<pleasegivegenerously@warmail*turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com.invalid>
wrote:
> bornfree writtificated
>
> > What do you think it the best bike for the city? More specifically,
> > London. I'm thinking in the region of £300 (online price, rather than
> > high street)
>
> > Apparently a "racing" bike is the fastest, but not very good on poorer
> > road surfaces. If you have a road / racing bike (are they the same?),
> > would love to know what you think of them.
>
> I *love* road bikes, but you have to have good lungs and strong thighs to
> get the most out of them. They're designed to be ridden fast and hard,
> and going slow on one isn't great - twitchy handling, hard saddle that
> doesn't get on with jeans, brake levers in the wrong place, tyres so hard
> you can feel each individual chip of tarmac (realy - each piece. Through
> yer bum). Trundling about the city on one isn't great. In fact, they're
> awful for the city! I've used one almost exclusively for the last four
> or five years, so I should know! The only thing worse than a road bike
> in the city is a knobbly tyred mountain bike with full suspension. No
> matter how fast you try to go, it's s-l-o-w.
>
> If putting together a great city bike it'd have:
>
> -Wide, *slick* high pressure tyres - at city speeds these will be more
> efficient than narrower racing tyres yet still wheely comfy.
>
> -Proper full length mudguards - because a wet crack and brown stains on
> yer trousers is never going to be fashionable.
>
> -Rear rack to take panniers, 'cos a sweaty back in summer ain't nice
>
> -An 'upright' riding position with handlebars higher than the seat.
> Better view over the cars in front, easier to check over your shoulder.
>
> -Hub gears, because adjusting the gears to get them sweet is just too
> tiresome
>
> -Dynamo lights, so I don't get caught out when the clocks change
>
> -The biggest D lock I can buy


Hmm. I like your points very much! I must say what you describe sounds
an awful lot like my current bike. It's a Raleigh Boardwalk lite.
(Folding bike with Dahon technology, apparently)

Here's a picture of it. http://i25.tinypic.com/2uf4zk4.jpg

I really fell in love with this bike when I got it. Comfy, light,
fast, fairly priced, lots of features. The only thing is I don't much
like being overtaken by Roadies whizzing by at twice my speed. I was
thinking about getting a road bike but I am not a hardcore cyclist and
by the sounds of it, it's not for me. I am happy travelling any
distance within 4 miles.. I think for longer distances I might get a
low power motorbike.
 
I commute on a Trek 4400, the front suspension protests against the
thousand shocks flesh is heir to.

I know people who commute on their tourers but I daren't risk my Dawes
being nicked so I save that for Norfolk jaunts.


I see more and more people on fixies and although I'm not prejudiced
most fixie riders are mental.
 
bornfree wrote:
> What do you think it the best bike for the city? More specifically,
> London. I'm thinking in the region of £300 (online price, rather than
> high street)
>
> Apparently a "racing" bike is the fastest, but not very good on poorer
> road surfaces. If you have a road / racing bike (are they the same?),
> would love to know what you think of them.

What exactly do you want to do with the bike?

Racers are great for covering ground as fast as possible while carrying
a rider and pretty much nothing else, but lots of people want to carry
other stuff, or aren't in such a hurry because they prefer comfort (a
racer beating a trundler by 10 minutes but needing a shower on arrival
doesn't actually save much/any time).

For city use, like Guy, I think a Brompton folder is hard to beat, but
you'll need to up your budget. Having said that, you'll have to up your
budget if you want a racer worthy of the name.

The option that will get you a lot of bike for your money at £300 is a
hybrid. Don't forget to add in mudguards (unless you like being covered
in dirty water every time the road is wet), lights and a lock. And you
can do worthwhile things pumping up the budget for a hybrid too, which
will get you better components, built hub dynamo lighting etc. A hybrid
will carry things other than you better than a racer, in more comfort.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
 
On 22 Apr, 23:41, bornfree <[email protected]> wrote:
> Here's a picture of it.http://i25.tinypic.com/2uf4zk4.jpg
>
> I really fell in love with this bike when I got it. Comfy, light,
> fast, fairly priced, lots of features. The only thing is I don't much
> like being overtaken by Roadies whizzing by at twice my speed. I was
> thinking about getting a road bike but I am not a hardcore cyclist and
> by the sounds of it, it's not for me. I am happy travelling any
> distance within 4 miles.. I think for longer distances I might get a
> low power motorbike.

You're always going to get people faster than you. Spending money on
a new bike will just make it more annoying when they zoom past. It's
the same with cars, being stuck in traffic in a fast car is much more
frustrating than being stuck in traffic in an old banger.

For 300 quid you can get a perfectly good city bike, but you aren't
going to get a superbike to help you win races. You might find
something with bigger wheels rolls a bit easier, especially on rough
roads, but I haven't got any experience with small wheeled bikes.

Having said that, a new bike is a great boost to enthusiasm and will
make you pedal harder and enjoy it more, at least for a bit. So why
not accept that your current bike is ideal for practical city use and
get something lightweight, stripped-down, probably second-hand and
most likely less reliable that you don't use very often but fetch out
on sunny days when you want to take on the roadies in the "commuter
challenge" and have fun?
 
In article <e442ca95-99e9-4273-be3d-4ca8ab9b2049
@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>, bornfree
[email protected] says...

> Hmm. I like your points very much! I must say what you describe sounds
> an awful lot like my current bike. It's a Raleigh Boardwalk lite.
> (Folding bike with Dahon technology, apparently)
>
> Here's a picture of it. http://i25.tinypic.com/2uf4zk4.jpg
>
> I really fell in love with this bike when I got it. Comfy, light,
> fast, fairly priced, lots of features. The only thing is I don't much
> like being overtaken by Roadies whizzing by at twice my speed.

That's probably more about the rider than the bike. Having said that, I
wonder if your bike setup is right - it looks to me that either your
seat is much too low or your bars are much too high. Also make sure you
keep the tyres properly inflated, as that can make quite a difference to
efficiency - get a track pump with pressure gauge if you don't already
have one.
 
>
> I *love* road bikes, but you have to have good lungs and strong thighs to
> get the most out of them.  They're designed to be ridden fast and hard,
> and going slow on one isn't great - twitchy handling, hard saddle that
>
> If putting together a great city bike it'd have:
>
> -Wide, *slick* high pressure tyres - at city speeds these will be more
> efficient than narrower racing tyres yet still wheely comfy.
>
> -Proper full length mudguards - because a wet crack and brown stains on
> yer trousers is never going to be fashionable.
>
> -Rear rack to take panniers, 'cos a sweaty back in summer ain't nice
>
> -An 'upright' riding position with handlebars higher than the seat.  
> Better view over the cars in front, easier to check over your shoulder.
>
> -Hub gears, because adjusting the gears to get them sweet is just too
> tiresome
>
> -Dynamo lights, so I don't get caught out when the clocks change
>
> -The biggest D lock I can buy
http://www.btinternet.com/~randomeyes/Raleigh/index.htm
Here is a fine example of the archetypical city bike, the raleigh
three speed, on which sort I did many thousands of miles in
London .If you were lucky enough to buy it and did not polish it much
you would not need an expensive lock and the weight saving may mean it
would weigh the same as a 300pound job.
As for people passing you , that as has been said will happen on any
bike and is caused by :
short dashers , 400miles per week racers, people with no mudguards ,
spare tube and pump let alone briefcase on the back.It happens on any
bike I have ever ridden. I sometimes consider plaintively calling
after them ''oh, but I have just done 70miles and I'm not home yet''

http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=9885

TerryJ
 
bornfree <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 22 Apr, 18:57, Mark T
> <pleasegivegenerously@warmail*turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com.invalid>
> wrote:
> > bornfree writtificated
> >
> > > What do you think it the best bike for the city? More specifically,
> > > London. I'm thinking in the region of £300 (online price, rather than
> > > high street)
> >
> > > Apparently a "racing" bike is the fastest, but not very good on poorer
> > > road surfaces. If you have a road / racing bike (are they the same?),
> > > would love to know what you think of them.
> >
> > I *love* road bikes, but you have to have good lungs and strong thighs to
> > get the most out of them. They're designed to be ridden fast and hard,
> > and going slow on one isn't great - twitchy handling, hard saddle that
> > doesn't get on with jeans, brake levers in the wrong place, tyres so hard
> > you can feel each individual chip of tarmac (realy - each piece. Through
> > yer bum). Trundling about the city on one isn't great. In fact, they're
> > awful for the city! I've used one almost exclusively for the last four
> > or five years, so I should know! The only thing worse than a road bike
> > in the city is a knobbly tyred mountain bike with full suspension. No
> > matter how fast you try to go, it's s-l-o-w.
> >
> > If putting together a great city bike it'd have:
> >
> > -Wide, *slick* high pressure tyres - at city speeds these will be more
> > efficient than narrower racing tyres yet still wheely comfy.
> >
> > -Proper full length mudguards - because a wet crack and brown stains on
> > yer trousers is never going to be fashionable.
> >
> > -Rear rack to take panniers, 'cos a sweaty back in summer ain't nice
> >
> > -An 'upright' riding position with handlebars higher than the seat.
> > Better view over the cars in front, easier to check over your shoulder.
> >
> > -Hub gears, because adjusting the gears to get them sweet is just too
> > tiresome
> >
> > -Dynamo lights, so I don't get caught out when the clocks change
> >
> > -The biggest D lock I can buy
>
>
> Hmm. I like your points very much! I must say what you describe sounds
> an awful lot like my current bike. It's a Raleigh Boardwalk lite.
> (Folding bike with Dahon technology, apparently)
>
> Here's a picture of it. http://i25.tinypic.com/2uf4zk4.jpg
>
> I really fell in love with this bike when I got it. Comfy, light,
> fast, fairly priced, lots of features. The only thing is I don't much
> like being overtaken by Roadies whizzing by at twice my speed. I was
> thinking about getting a road bike but I am not a hardcore cyclist and
> by the sounds of it, it's not for me. I am happy travelling any
> distance within 4 miles.. I think for longer distances I might get a
> low power motorbike.

4 miles unless hilly should be fairly easy ride. drops are faster but
only over distance really, and though traffic i'm not so sure, in the
busy traffic on the big heavy hybrid i'm often able to see further which
is handy for large fast roundabouts and such.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com
 
bornfree wrote:
> What do you think it the best bike for the city? More specifically,
> London. I'm thinking in the region of £300 (online price, rather than
> high street)
>
> Apparently a "racing" bike is the fastest, but not very good on poorer
> road surfaces. If you have a road / racing bike (are they the same?),
> would love to know what you think of them.

I like my racer as it allows me to travel fairly close to the speed of the
rest of the traffic. However, I'm not in London, and traffic there might be
much slower.

I don't find the racer unduly uncomfortable, as whilst the saddle is hard,
the steel frame is fairly flexy and your weight is further forward, so you
tend not to have so much weight on the saddle. OTOH on my steel mountain
bike (much less flexy, rigid forks rather than suspension), I still notice a
fair amount of bumpyness, and the wider handlebars make filtering more
difficult.
 
Doki wrote:
> bornfree wrote:
>> What do you think it the best bike for the city? More specifically,
>> London. I'm thinking in the region of £300 (online price, rather than
>> high street)
>>
>> Apparently a "racing" bike is the fastest, but not very good on
>> poorer road surfaces. If you have a road / racing bike (are they the
>> same?), would love to know what you think of them.
>
> I like my racer as it allows me to travel fairly close to the speed
> of the rest of the traffic. However, I'm not in London, and traffic
> there might be much slower.
>
> I don't find the racer unduly uncomfortable, as whilst the saddle is
> hard, the steel frame is fairly flexy and your weight is further
> forward, so you tend not to have so much weight on the saddle. OTOH
> on my steel mountain bike (much less flexy, rigid forks rather than
> suspension), I still notice a fair amount of bumpyness, and the wider
> handlebars make filtering more difficult.

The other main thing I noticed on the MTB is the gearing - lovely granny
gear for getting up hills, but the gaps between gears on the cassette are
*huge* compared to a road bike. If you do go down the MTB route, I'd get a
close ratio cassette.
 
Doki wrote:

> I don't find the racer unduly uncomfortable, as whilst the saddle is
> hard, the steel frame is fairly flexy and your weight is further
> forward, so you tend not to have so much weight on the saddle.

Discomfort can be places other than one's backside. I particularly
prefer more upright positions because I tend to suffer discomfort in my
arms and wrists rather than my ****, for example. Dutch bikes, built
for utilitarian comfort, have bolt upright seating positions... and
comfortable saddles if the owner uses it much!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
 
On 23 Apr, 12:48, "Doki" <[email protected]> wrote:
> I like my racer as it allows me to travel fairly close to the speed of the
> rest of the traffic. However, I'm not in London, and traffic there might be
> much slower.

You said it! Average traffic speed in London is generally much slower
than a moderate cycling pace. Cycling speed is limited by having to
keep stopping and starting for traffic lights (for those of us who do)
and squeeze past stationary vehicles.
 
POHB <[email protected]> writes:

> On 23 Apr, 12:48, "Doki" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I like my racer as it allows me to travel fairly close to the speed of the
>> rest of the traffic. However, I'm not in London, and traffic there might be
>> much slower.
>
> You said it! Average traffic speed in London is generally much slower
> than a moderate cycling pace.

The key word here is "average", of course - it stops and starts. I
like commuting on a road bike (even though I have loaded it down
rather a lot with rack/mudguard/panniers) because it means I can keep
up with the starts as well as the stops.


-dan
 
Peter Clinch <[email protected]> wrote:

> Doki wrote:
>
> > I don't find the racer unduly uncomfortable, as whilst the saddle is
> > hard, the steel frame is fairly flexy and your weight is further
> > forward, so you tend not to have so much weight on the saddle.
>
> Discomfort can be places other than one's backside. I particularly
> prefer more upright positions because I tend to suffer discomfort in my
> arms and wrists rather than my ****, for example. Dutch bikes, built
> for utilitarian comfort, have bolt upright seating positions... and
> comfortable saddles if the owner uses it much!
>
yup my big heavy hybrid has a fairly upright postion which is very
comftable, i have good clear sight lines it has good clearance for 38mm
tires to survive deep holes at speed and can carry a good load. plus is
deeply unsexy so has allways been where i've parked it, which is plus!

> Pete.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com
 
On Apr 23, 11:34 am, TerryJ <[email protected]> wrote:
> I sometimes consider plaintively calling
> after them ''oh, but I have just done 70miles and I'm not home yet''


Respect!!! That's one hell of a commute.

LN
 
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