My city bike, back when I lived in a city (chicago), was a Jamis Aurora with mustache bars, downtube shifters that were basically frozen since I never shifted, and a battery operated blinky light (planet bike superflash) and a rechargeable headlight which I have since lost. I really rarely used the headlight since my routes were always well lit by street lights but the blinky light stayed on a lot. I had a blackburn rear rack and a front rack with a basket attached. No kickstand but fenders were needed. It served me well and never got stolen. I could have gotten away with a singlespeed bike, easily. If I was going to put together a good city bike now, I would pick a yves gomez with albatross bars, one barend shifter to shift the rear and use a single ring crank up front. Probaby a deore rear derailer shifting whatever cassette I could find in my parts bin. Platform pedals of course with fenders (I honestly prefer aluminum). Dyno powered front wheel that runs a decent light with the same superflash blinky rear light. Nitto mini or mark's rack with a medium Wald basket attached and a sackville shopsack. I would use a tubus or nitto rear rack and get a set of Wald 582 rear folding baskets for the rear. Just throw in a backpack or whatever grocery bag I need to haul.
On Saturday, March 2, 2013 8:37:01 AM UTC-6, Patrick Moore wrote: > I just saw that thanks to Off the Beaten Path's link to Grant's very > good review of the Herse book. The following article, on city bikes > and the needless frou frou of many NAHB creations, is also very good > as are his ruminations on what makes up a good City Bike. I don't > agree with him completely on the City Bike (my credentials, fwtw: I > started urban riding at age 12 or so in New and Old Delhi, India where > traffic was more urban than any other place else I've seen) but have > to admit that his criteria are very arguable [that means: one can make > a very good argument for them]. > > What, per curiosity, are y'all's (that's all y'all's) ideas about the > ideal city bike? Mine (this is of course both very personal and > depends on one's commuting situation) includes lowish drop bars for > our winds (nothing to make one despair as having to ride into a 25 mph > headwind for miles and miles) and a fixed gear just 'cause I like it, > dynamo lights (serious omission, Grant) and a permanent rack or > saddlebag but not both. Fenders, sure, why not, but then here in high > desert ABQ we've been having a drought where we get only half to 2/3 > of our annual 9 inches. Oh, and tires no less than 28 mm but no fatter > than 35, leaning to good rolling rather than puncture resistance > (because if you want to be flat free out here, you'll be riding, as I > know some to ride, either an old tire stuffed into the outer tire, or > else belted tire + thorn proof tube + sealant, and who the hell wants > that?) > > I'd pay good money to have the Reader four or even twice a year. I > think I liked it as much as, perhaps even more than, BQ. > > -- > > ------------------------- > Patrick Moore, Albuquerque, NM, USA > For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW > http://resumespecialties.com/index.html > ------------------------- > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
