Looking for a decent Cruiser Bicycle, Mixte frame
SMS
places like Target.
Are there any good quality, multi-speed cruisers (3 speed or 7 speed)?
Maybe no such thing exists.
jenn...@hotmail.com
There are tons! Trek, Breezer, Electra... go to REI or a bike shop
and ask. If they don't have any in stock, they should at least be
able to show you a catalog containing some.
Jenn
ams...@gmail.com
I just bought my wife a Giant Suede, and she loves it!
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/lifestyle/1272/29315/
Tom Sherman
single-speed, 3 and 8-speed internally geared, and 7 and 21-speed
derailer geared drive-trains: <http://www.electrabike.com/townie/>.
J&B/Sun makes a full line of cruisers and a crank-forward upright in
their Taiwanese factory, and distributes them to most LBS's in the US.
These are usually entry level LBS to somewhat better quality, and are
priced accordingly: <http://www.sunbicycles.com/sun/index.html>.
At a much higher price, quality and refinement level (plus being made by
Kansans) are the RANS crank-forward bikes: <http://www.ransbikes.com/>.
--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
“Mary had a little lamb / And when she saw it sicken /
She shipped it off to Packingtown / And now it’s labeled chicken.”
SMS
What is it with automatic transmissions on so many cruisers? I went to
Performance and I saw this. They have a dynamo in the front hub not for
a light, but to run the shifter.
Tom Kunich
news:oYjvk.8372$np7....@flpi149.ffdc.sbc.com...
They believe you're too stupid to operate a 3-speed.
Tom Keats
The term: "cruiser bicycle" connotes to me fat-whitewall-tired
beach bombers, much more than what is coming to be known as
"city bikes."
I wouldn't be surprised if Nirve (http://www.nirve.com)
mfg's more up-market cruiser style bikes, since they also
proffer other stylish configs, such as factory choppers.
The mixte thing might be a stumbling block. I know it's
a popular config for /tandem/ cruisers, but I dunno about
one-seaters. And beach bombers generally tend to be one-gear,
coaster-brake units.
I tried to navigate what bizrate.com has to produce on the
topic, but it got too gnarly. I'm tired from a hard day's
work and I've gotta go to bed so I can get up at 3:30 AM.
But there's a bunch of cruiser stuff in there. A URL to
John Deere caught my eye, but I didn't pursue it. There
were also some Nexus links.
cheers,
Tom
--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca
cmcanulty
woman's frame. Ebay usually has a few though.
SMS
> I know of no currently made mixte frames which is different from a
> woman's frame. Ebay usually has a few though.
Yeah, my mistake.
This is a bike for my wife, who likes the upgright position, fenders,
and chainguard, she sees on the cruisers. She doesn't need the fat
tires. Her typical daily ride is 1 mile each way to work. However I'd
like something that is also suitable for longer casual rides, and that
has at least 7 speed internal or external gearing. Chain guard is
no-compromise. If she insists on the cruiser style handlebars I can do
something in that regard.
So far I've found:
Specialized Globe City 6 Wmn IG8 $910
Kettler Ibiza $550
Biria TC-Superlight 8 $840
Huffy Magellan $200
Tom Sherman
> I know of no currently made mixte frames which is different from a
> woman's frame. Ebay usually has a few though.
Rivendell makes a mixte frame:
<http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/bicycle_models#product=50-243>.
VERY pricey, however.
Ozark Bicycle
wrote:
> cmcanulty wrote:
> > I know of no currently made mixte frames which is different from a
> > woman's frame. Ebay usually has a few though.
>
> Rivendell makes a mixte frame:
> <http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/bicycle_models#product=50-243>.
>
> VERY pricey, however.
>
Pricey and designed around the silly, faddish, limited availability
650B rim/tire size.
jenn...@hotmail.com
Jenn
Tom Kunich
news:5f640115-f10b-4582...@a18g2000pra.googlegroups.com...
I don't think that the tires are a problem. Rivendell probably isn't in any
danger of disappearing any too quickly and even if they did you could order
the tires from Europe where they're standard on so many bikes.
Mike Jacoubowsky
If you want something really interesting, Trek is coming out with a
belt-drive cruiser bike. I rode one at their dealer show; it's eerily quiet
and smooth in a way that you didn't realize most bikes aren't. Very cool.
Very expensive. Don't have the details handy at the moment (been a crazy day
at the shop) but will try to get more info posted soon.
--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA
Tom Sherman
Do the people who spend ca. $3000 for a city bike care about that?
SMS
> If you want something really interesting, Trek is coming out with a
> belt-drive cruiser bike. I rode one at their dealer show; it's eerily quiet
> and smooth in a way that you didn't realize most bikes aren't. Very cool.
> Very expensive. Don't have the details handy at the moment (been a crazy day
> at the shop) but will try to get more info posted soon.
Will they be showing it at Interbike? I saw lots of what I wanted at the
Taipei Bike show, but alas not many of the functional city bikes make it
to the U.S..
Tom Keats
"Mike Jacoubowsky" <Mi...@ChainReaction.com> writes:
> If you want something really interesting, Trek is coming out with a
> belt-drive cruiser bike. I rode one at their dealer show; it's eerily quiet
> and smooth in a way that you didn't realize most bikes aren't. Very cool.
> Very expensive. Don't have the details handy at the moment (been a crazy day
> at the shop) but will try to get more info posted soon.
Here are some more examples of chainless (cruiser) bikes:
preview:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5nlh9j
URL in full:
<http://www.dynamicbicycles.com/bikes/index_lp-2.php?gclid=CPbfzKbxwJUCFQZeswodFjNZRQ>
In this case, shaft drive rather than belt drive.
In my opinion it all seems too complicated for a
humble bike, but it's interesting. I bet the
technology could be applied to making one heckuva
sewing machine.
I believe it was Tom McCahill (the writer for Motor Trend)
who wrote: "simplicity means reliability."
SMS
Yet today's vehicles are both much more complex and much more reliable
than vehicles of yesteryear. My parents and grandparents would never
have been able to keep their vehicles for as long as we keep vehicles
these days. Tolerances were looser, oil wasn't as good, engines didn't
stay in tune, and parts wore out much faster.
Tom Keats
Well, maybe these shaft-drive bikes are worth
looking into, then. They really /are/ intriguing
enough to look at, if not to buy.
SMS
> If you want something really interesting, Trek is coming out with a
> belt-drive cruiser bike. I rode one at their dealer show; it's eerily quiet
> and smooth in a way that you didn't realize most bikes aren't. Very cool.
> Very expensive. Don't have the details handy at the moment (been a crazy day
> at the shop) but will try to get more info posted soon.
Yeah, well the very expensive clinches it--not.
I need to have a coming to g-d about the chain guard requirement.
Eliminate that and there are several bikes that are acceptable to her.
She really hates being hunched over--even flat bars don't cut it. She
really wants a low stand over height. She really hates getting her pants
dirty with chain oil while riding to work, but maybe a leg band is
sufficient.
So far the K2 T:Nine Myste at $337 looks like a good Crubrid
(Cruiser+Hybrid) or Crumfort (Cruiser+Comfort) bicycle. I didn't see any
others at any shops. That's the other issue, most of the bicycles like
this have to be ordered, sight unseen, even the Specialized, since no
store stocks them apparently.
I'd like to keep this whole affair at under $500.
Fpr amusement I did go look at the Huffy Magellan but it's just too
horrible for words. The frame is the typical $8 aluminum frame from
China found on the more expensive bikes, but all the components are just
garbage, and of course the assembly was below horrendous.
BTW, is there some sort of big run on bicycles lately? Every store I
went to seemed to be very poorly stocked. Maybe it's just "back to school."
landotter
The Electra Amsterdam Women's Sport Nine mixte with double top tube
and single front ring is seriously one of the most gorgeous bikes I've
seen recently in the mass market--totally an homage without being
cartoonish--to the classic French and Japanese city bikes. It runs a
single right rapidfire shifter with a Sora 9 rear. Keep it lubed with
dry teflon-wax and you're golden.
Saw D. build it up this morning as we shared our morning Joe before I
headed out for my ride on the Natchez Parkway. It's the sort of bike
that really takes your breath away. He really dug it as well--they got
it right, without the BS--still going modern with things like the
threadless front end in silver, which looks quite snazzy:
List is $700--and it looks like a much more expensive custom bike.
700c normal wheels, btw.
Mike Jacoubowsky
> to seemed to be very poorly stocked. Maybe it's just "back to school."
You have no idea. Half the world got this idea that they'd run out and
either fix an old bike not worth fixing or buy a hybrid. We've been out of
higher-end hybrids for months, and won't be seeing new ones until late
October, some even later than that. The worst thing about not having the
bikes people want is that it takes just as long to *not* sell somebody a
bike, because you don't have it, as it does to sell one you do.
Resources are limited, so if a shop is devoting a lot of time to repairing
bikes for customers, that means they don't have the means to assemble the
new bikes that are sitting in boxes. So there are quite a number of shops
that are actually busier than they've ever been before, but having trouble
paying their bills (because repairs don't generally pay their way, and the
missed opportunity costs... bikes not sold because they're not built... that
represents a lot of money that's not coming in to pay the bills).
Shops in more rural areas aren't seeing this effect nearly so badly. Pretty
much business as usual with typical customer counts and overall dollars
about the same as last year.
--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA
"SMS" <scharf...@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:pqHvk.18922$LG4....@nlpi065.nbdc.sbc.com...
Ozark Bicycle
wrote:
> Ozark Bicycle wrote:
> > On Sep 3, 12:35 pm, Tom Sherman <sunsetss0...@REMOVETHISyahoo.com>
> > wrote:
> >> cmcanulty wrote:
> >>> I know of no currently made mixte frames which is different from a
> >>> woman's frame. Ebay usually has a few though.
> >> Rivendell makes a mixte frame:
> >> <http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/bicycle_models#product=50-243>.
>
> >> VERY pricey, however.
>
> > Pricey and designed around the silly, faddish, limited availability
> > 650B rim/tire size.
>
> Do the people who spend ca. $3000 for a city bike care about that?
>
Even members of "The Rich & Clueless" will be upset when, in ~5 years
time, finding a tire is a Royal PIA.
Ozark Bicycle
> On Sep 3, 3:10 pm, Ozark Bicycle
>
> <bicycleatel...@ozarkbicycleservice.com> wrote:
> > On Sep 3, 12:35 pm, Tom Sherman <sunsetss0...@REMOVETHISyahoo.com>
> > wrote:
>
> > > cmcanulty wrote:
> > > > I know of no currently made mixte frames which is different from a
> > > > woman's frame. Ebay usually has a few though.
>
> > > Rivendell makes a mixte frame:
> > > <http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/bicycle_models#product=50-243>.
>
> > > VERY pricey, however.
>
> > Pricey and designed around the silly, faddish, limited availability
> > 650B rim/tire size.
>
> The Electra Amsterdam Women's Sport Nine mixte with double top tube
> and single front ring is seriously one of the most gorgeous bikes I've
> seen recently in the mass market--totally an homage without being
> cartoonish--to the classic French and Japanese city bikes. It runs a
> single right rapidfire shifter with a Sora 9 rear.
9 speed? Wouldn't 7 speed make more sense (cheaper and longer lived
chain, sprockets, etc.)? Surely an adequate range of gearing can be
achieved with a 7 speed setup.
<snipped>
Tom Kunich
>
> Even members of "The Rich & Clueless" will be upset when, in ~5 years
> time, finding a tire is a Royal PIA.
I keep wondering why you believe that one of the most common tires in Europe
is somehow going to be difficult to get. OK, let's assume that Rivendell
goes under. Do you suppose it would leave all their 650 customers high and
drive or simply make another business opportunity for someone else?
SMS
> SMS wrote:
>
>> I need to have a coming to g-d about the chain guard requirement.
>> Eliminate that and there are several bikes that are acceptable to her.
>
> part. That should be possible with nearly all bicycles.
It's very hard to find after-market chain guards for bicycles with front
dérailleurs. I've seen them at bicycle trade shows, and on a couple of
commute bicycles (Schwinn World Avenue and Huffy Magellan) but never for
sale as an after-market add-on.
Ozark Bicycle
> "Ozark Bicycle" <bicycleatel...@ozarkbicycleservice.com> wrote in message
>
> news:36684fd7-8c47-4b7b...@t1g2000pra.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > Even members of "The Rich & Clueless" will be upset when, in ~5 years
> > time, finding a tire is a Royal PIA.
>
> I keep wondering why you believe that one of the most common tires in Europe
> is somehow going to be difficult to get.
"One of the most common tires in Europe"? More popular then 27" (630mm
bsd)? More common than 26"/559mm? Or, perhaps, about as common as
650A?
> OK, let's assume that Rivendell
> goes under. Do you suppose it would leave all their 650 customers high and
> drive or simply make another business opportunity for someone else?
I suspect there were more 650B users in Europe in, say, 1984 than in
2008. That didn't help the poor Americans who bought a 650B Raleigh
Portage, did it? They were basically left high and dry, weren't they?
Dan...@gmail.com
> > BTW, is there some sort of big run on bicycles lately? Every store I went
> > to seemed to be very poorly stocked. Maybe it's just "back to school."
>
> You have no idea. Half the world got this idea that they'd run out and
> either fix an old bike not worth fixing or buy a hybrid. We've been out of
> higher-end hybrids for months, and won't be seeing new ones until late
> October, some even later than that. The worst thing about not having the
> bikes people want is that it takes just as long to *not* sell somebody a
> bike, because you don't have it, as it does to sell one you do.
>
> Resources are limited, so if a shop is devoting a lot of time to repairing
> bikes for customers, that means they don't have the means to assemble the
> new bikes that are sitting in boxes. So there are quite a number of shops
> that are actually busier than they've ever been before, but having trouble
> paying their bills (because repairs don't generally pay their way, and the
> missed opportunity costs... bikes not sold because they're not built... that
> represents a lot of money that's not coming in to pay the bills).
>
> Shops in more rural areas aren't seeing this effect nearly so badly. Pretty
> much business as usual with typical customer counts and overall dollars
> about the same as last year.
>
> --Mike Jacoubowsky
> Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
> Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA
>
>
> - Show quoted text -
Do you at least know off the bat what bikes you can't sell? I
recently spent hours not being sold 2 different bikes. I arrived at
the shop, cash in hand. I test rode, was fitted, etc (although on a
DA model, and the one I wanted was all 105). Then, at the counter,
hours later, the shop guy found out he couldn't get me that bike after
all - 08's are gone and 09's won't be in until whenever. After all
that he realizes he can sell me the bike in the window. It's more
than I wanted to spend, even with the discount he offers it's still
well above my pre-determined price cap, but it's a really nice bike,
and I can ride it home that day. So, after riding that one too,
liking it, and agreeing to purchase it (still with all that cash
burning a hole in my wallet I can feel on my ass) he realizes "oops,
this isn't the model I thought, this one is $800 (if i recall
correctly, but basically a whole lot) more.
Interestingly enough, I ended up with a Trek product (Lemond) from my
normal bike shop, which does mainly mountain bikes.
SMS
It seems that you can always buy these weird tires somewhere. There's
the 17" 369mm Moulton tire, or the 18" 355mm Birdy Tire. Harris has four
different 650B tires, and there's always the Rivendell tires as well.
There are still a lot of 27" tires around and AFAIK no one has used 27"
wheels for a couple of decades.
Ozark Bicycle
> Ozark Bicycle wrote:
> > On Sep 3, 6:28 pm, Tom Sherman <sunsetss0...@REMOVETHISyahoo.com>
> > wrote:
> >> Ozark Bicycle wrote:
> >>> On Sep 3, 12:35 pm, Tom Sherman <sunsetss0...@REMOVETHISyahoo.com>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>> cmcanulty wrote:
> >>>>> I know of no currently made mixte frames which is different from a
> >>>>> woman's frame. Ebay usually has a few though.
> >>>> Rivendell makes a mixte frame:
> >>>> <http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/bicycle_models#product=50-243>.
> >>>> VERY pricey, however.
> >>> Pricey and designed around the silly, faddish, limited availability
> >>> 650B rim/tire size.
> >> Do the people who spend ca. $3000 for a city bike care about that?
>
> > Even members of "The Rich & Clueless" will be upset when, in ~5 years
> > time, finding a tire is a Royal PIA.
>
> It seems that you can always buy these weird tires somewhere.
Yeah, "somewhere", but probably not at a nearby LBS. IOW, "a Royal
PIA".
> There's
> the 17" 369mm Moulton tire, or the 18" 355mm Birdy Tire. Harris has four
> different 650B tires, and there's always the Rivendell tires as well.
Harris is a Rivendell dealer, so stocking 650B just naturally follows,
for now. In five years, who knows? The 650B fad is already show signs
of fading (The 650B Riv Bleriot is dead, as is the 650B Saluki. And,
the formerly '650B only' Kogswell P/R is now available in 700C. Etc.)
>
> There are still a lot of 27" tires around and AFAIK no one has used 27"
> wheels for a couple of decades.
Gee, ya think maybe the total number of 27" bikes produced worldwide
was just a wee bit larger than the total number of 650B bikes produced
worldwide?
SMS
> Rose.de states that shipping costs to the USA are EUR 30, so that's quite
> expensive. If you should decide to order, perhaps you should also see if
> they have more parts you can't easily get where you live so they can be
> packed in the same box ;)
Thanks, that's very helpful. Yeah, shipping is expensive but considering
the options it's not too bad. Or I can get free samples from Sunny in
Taiwan for the cost of shipping.
This is the type of item that Sheldon would have had Harris stock. There
were often accessories I bought from Harris that were not available
anywhere else in the U.S. AFAIK, such as the removeable MKS pedals for
folding bicycles.
SMS
> On Sep 4, 11:35 am, SMS <scharf.ste...@geemail.com> wrote:
>> Ozark Bicycle wrote:
>>> On Sep 3, 6:28 pm, Tom Sherman <sunsetss0...@REMOVETHISyahoo.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>> Ozark Bicycle wrote:
>>>>> On Sep 3, 12:35 pm, Tom Sherman <sunsetss0...@REMOVETHISyahoo.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> cmcanulty wrote:
>>>>>>> I know of no currently made mixte frames which is different from a
>>>>>>> woman's frame. Ebay usually has a few though.
>>>>>> Rivendell makes a mixte frame:
>>>>>> <http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/bicycle_models#product=50-243>.
>>>>>> VERY pricey, however.
>>>>> Pricey and designed around the silly, faddish, limited availability
>>>>> 650B rim/tire size.
>>>> Do the people who spend ca. $3000 for a city bike care about that?
>>> Even members of "The Rich & Clueless" will be upset when, in ~5 years
>>> time, finding a tire is a Royal PIA.
>> It seems that you can always buy these weird tires somewhere.
>
> Yeah, "somewhere", but probably not at a nearby LBS. IOW, "a Royal
> PIA".
No, only a minor PIA. I've had to buy tires on-line for my Bromptons and
Dahon as well since the good 16" and 20" tires aren't sold by any local
dealers.
If I had the need, I could get a 650B faster, since I could go up to
Rivendell on BART.
> Gee, ya think maybe the total number of 27" bikes produced worldwide
> was just a wee bit larger than the total number of 650B bikes produced
> worldwide?
No, but the number of 27" wheeled bicycles was larger.
Paul O
--
Paul D Oosterhout
I work for SAIC (but I don't speak for SAIC)
SMS
> Are you looking for a cruiser with a light weight aluminum frame?
Kind of.
I'm looking for a Crubrid (Cruiser+Hybrid) or Crumfort (Cruiser+Comfort).
Kind of like (but not exactly)
"http://www.k2bikes.com/index.php?brand=T9&series=PAVEMENT&type=NONE&model=TAILWIND&2007=false"
I think I found something yesterday. No chain guard, but apparently
there is a source in Europe for a chain guard I can add if necessary.
The one I found is the K2 T:Nine Myste. It's the same frame as the one
in the link above, but more cruiser-like bars (though not the extreme
swept back bars), and it's got a triple crankset. It's a bicycle they
sell to stores like Sports Authority so it's not on their web site.
I've been to five bike stores as well as REI, and am getting desperate
as there seems to be a huge bicycle shortage. It's for a significant age
birthday and the hints about what she wanted were not subtle at all.
SMS
> Apologies for not understanding completely. But is the market in the USA
> really so bad that such perfectly ordinary parts cannot be found
> anywhere? No one manufactures or even imports them?
Yes. The market for accessories and parts is highly controlled by QBP.
If they don't have it, it's very difficult to get it. Harris would often
go outside the normal channels for stuff, just like Yellow Jersey.
The market for roadsters and commuter style bicycles was basically
non-existent for many decades in the U.S.. You're just starting to see a
few true commute bikes becoming available, but they are usually priced
very high.
I've seen three commute bikes with chainguards and triple cranksets over
the last five years. One was a Specialized Globe City (no longer
available, see "http://nordicgroup.us/commutebike/images/globe.jpg").
One is the Schwinn World Avenue One, a Performance Bike Shop exclusive,
"http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=24141" and a good
deal, but alas I want a woman's frame bike in this case.
One is the horrible Huffy Magellan sold at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Sears,
"http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9207781". The
frame is the typical $8 aluminum frame used by most manufacturers, but
the quality of the components is abysmal.
Apparently the big manufacturers (Trek, Giant, Specialized, etc.) are
terrified of coming out with a reasonbably priced commuter bicycle, i.e.
taking one of their mid-range hybrids, sticking on fenders, a dynamo
hub, a rack, and a chainguard and pricing it $100-$150 over the cost
without those accessories. Performance has the clout to get Schwinn to
do special models for them, but no other shops have such clout. The
Schwinn World Avenue One seems to sell well at $400-$600 depending on
promotions, as it goes in and out of stock at both shops and on-line, so
it appears as if there is a market for such a product. Joe Breeze has a
good niche market with his high-priced town bikes as long as no mass
market manufacturer decides to enter this market. I met Joe at the
Taiwan Bike show. Cool guy. He was staying at the "One Star Hotel" near
my hotel and riding a borrowed Dahon folder across Taipei to the
convention center.
> In your place, I
> would perhaps think of starting a business. I do know that bicycling is
> becoming more and more popular in the USA, so there could be a nice
> little opportunity there.
I considered importing stuff like this, and went to the big bike show in
Taiwan and talked to some of the manufacturers. The quantities they
require in order to make it worthwhile were rather high, and the market
for such accessories is probably quite small. I.e. see
"http://www.allproducts.com.tw/manufacture6/sunnywheel/sw-771.html". Not
sure I could sell 200 of these in ten years!
> There are some good bicycle manufacturers in
> the USA, wouldn't they buy chainguards by the thousands?
No. There is some bicycle manufacturing still done here at the high end.
These manufacturers wouldn't use such a product. The one's that would
use it are building in China and are well aware of the factories to go
to for specific components.
> Damn, I am almost going to regret that I am not hiring warehouse space in
> New York myself and starting an international trading company ;)
You need a consolidator in Taiwan or China and need to be able to
warehouse full shipping containers, then you have to figure out how to
market and sell niche market items, since most bicycle stores have no
interest in such things. Peter White makes a go of it with lights and
stuff. And if I was successful, and there was a big market for the stuff
I wanted to import, Nashbar would eventually realize this and crush me.
Brian Huntley
<bicycleatel...@ozarkbicycleservice.com> wrote:
> On Sep 4, 11:35 am, SMS <scharf.ste...@geemail.com> wrote:
> > It seems that you can always buy these weird tires somewhere.
>
> Yeah, "somewhere", but probably not at a nearby LBS. IOW, "a Royal
> PIA".
As far as I know, my LBS doesn't sell any 650B bikes. They do,
however, stock tires in that size. Same with 27" x 1 1/4".
(To be fair, they sell a lot of recumbents, and so have a lot of 'odd'
sized tires, so a size or two extra probably isn't a big deal.)
Tom Sherman
Most recumbents use ISO 406-mm and ISO 559-mm tires, neither of which is
rare. The next most commonly used sizes are ISO 305-mm, ISO 571-mm and
ISO 622-mm, the latter two being common on upright bicycles. ISO 349-mm
and 451-mm are becoming rarely used, and other sizes are vanishingly rare.
SMS
> I know of no currently made mixte frames which is different from a
> woman's frame. Ebay usually has a few though.
"http://www.koga.com/uk/bike.asp?collectionid=9&segmentid=72&id=3446221"
Their web site still shows some U.S. dealers, though the Harris web site
states "No Longer Availalable in the U.S.."
SMS
Pretty close.
What I wanted for a bike was apparently not very common. I wanted
something that could be ridden on 20-60 mile rides that we often go on
as a family, at places like the 32 mile long paved American River Trail
("http://www.saccycle.com/bikewaymaps/map6.htm") and the Coyote Creek
Trail in San Jose (about 18 miles each way), but that enabled a more
upgright riding position, similar to the cruisers (but not that extreme
in terms of the bars or the wheelbase). A suspension seat post was
essential. A quill stem was also preferred since it's easier to do
height and reach adjustments if necessary, using an adjustable angle
stem (though I don't think I'll need to do that in this case). Yes, I
could have started swapping out bits and pieces as soon as I bought it,
but that quickly gets very expensive buying individual parts at full
retail price.
It needed to have sufficiently low gearing for the occasional hill on
these routes. A seven speed might have been okay depending on the
largest cog in the rear. Unfortunately, the spousal unit has no interest
in the kind of road rides I like to go on, and she'd divorce me if I
tried to take her up Tunitas Creek Road or Old La Honda Road. Her old
Raleigh "Technium" road bike has sat in the garage unused for nine
years. I really didn't want a suspension fork, but alas it seems to be
something you have to take these days. It couldn't be stupidly heavy
like the 42 pound cruisers, but I knew that it wouldn't be 25 pounds either.
This is what I ended up with is here:
"http://i37.tinypic.com/24awjn6.jpg". It was US$ 337. The components are
not the greatest, the component specs are the same as what's on the $399
K2 Easy Street bike from REI at
"http://www.rei.com/product/761464#prodSpecs" other than the tires are
1.95" not the 2.1" (but those junky tires will soon be replaced with
1.4" or 1.5" wide tires anyway). It's not on the K2 web site because
it's an SMU (Special Make Up) that they sell to non-bike shops to avoid
competing with the exact same models). It weighs more than I'd have
liked at 31 pounds, but with that type of frame, the large handlebars,
the suspension fork, and the kickstand, it's not unreasonably heavy. Of
course the most important factor is that it's a color that she will
like. I bought it at <gulp> Sports Authority. Not my first choice of
places to buy bikes, but I just couldn't find anything close to what I
wanted at any of the LBSes around here. If she hates it at least it can
be returned for a refund.
SMS
> But perhaps you don't mind a little international adventure.
<snip>
> Rose.de states that shipping costs to the USA are EUR 30, so that's quite
> expensive. If you should decide to order, perhaps you should also see if
> they have more parts you can't easily get where you live so they can be
> packed in the same box ;)
The fact that they ship to the U.S. is good enough for me. I have at
least five city/commute bicycles in the fleet that I've long wanted
chain guards for, so that ridiculous shipping charge can be amortized
(or I can uses some FF miles to fly over to Europe to pick them up, LOL).
What I wanted for a bike was apparently not very common. I wanted
something that could be ridden on 20-70 mile rides that we often go on
as a family, at places like the 32 mile long paved American River Trail
("http://www.saccycle.com/bikewaymaps/map6.htm") and the Coyote Creek
Trail in San Jose (about 18 miles each way), but that enabled a more
upgright riding position, similar to the cruisers (but not that extreme
in terms of the bars), and that had a suspension seat post. A quill stem
was also preferred since it's easier to do height and reach adjustments
if necessary, using an adjustable angle stem (though I don't think I'll
need to do that in this case).
It really needed to have sufficiently low gearing for the occasional
hill on these routes. A seven speed might have been okay depending on
the largest cog in the rear. Unfortunately, the spousal unit has no
interest in the kind of road rides I like to go on, and she'd divorce me
if I tried to take her up Tunitas Creek Road or Old La Honda. Her old
Raleigh "Technium" has sat in the garage unused for nine years. I really
didn't want a suspension fork, but alas it seems to be something you
have to take these days. It couldn't be stupidly heavy like the 42 pound
cruisers.
This is what I ended up with: "http://i37.tinypic.com/24awjn6.jpg". It
was US$ 337. The components are not the greatest, the specs are the same
as what's on the $399 bike at
"http://www.rei.com/product/761464#prodSpecs" other than the different
frame, and the tires are 1.95" not the 2.1" on the one from REI, but
those will soon be replaced with 1.4" or 1.5" wide tires anyway. It
DougC
> ....
> The Electra Amsterdam Women's Sport Nine mixte with double top tube
> and single front ring is seriously one of the most gorgeous bikes I've
> seen recently in the mass market--totally an homage without being
>
The Amsterdams are usually the first I'll mention when someone asks me
for a "normal" bike to buy--not a road racer and not a MTB. I don't
think they're quite *perfect* but a lot of things are done right.
-----
Alternately (to the OP) you could just find a cruiser that she likes and
fits on, and then pay to have a internal gear hub put on it,,,, -which
will make her love it even more.
~
bfd
wrote:
> Ozark Bicycle wrote:
> > On Sep 3, 12:35 pm, Tom Sherman <sunsetss0...@REMOVETHISyahoo.com>
> > wrote:
> >>> I know of no currently made mixte frames which is different from a
> >>> woman's frame. Ebay usually has a few though.
> >> <http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/bicycle_models#product=50-243>.
>
> >> VERY pricey, however.
>
> > Pricey and designed around the silly, faddish, limited availability
> > 650B rim/tire size.
>
> Do the people who spend ca. $3000 for a city bike care about that?
>
guy cruising around the parking lot in Woodside. It didn't look or
sound like he was going very far with it. The others were in Golden
Gate Park in SF on a Sunday, when they close the street down to bikes,
skaters, kids, etc. I've observed 1 or 2 Riv mixte, and other Riv
bikes cruising. Nobody looks like they're riding far. Of course, that
could be misleading as Riv riders tend to dress *down* as in reverse
snobbishness - I'm dress in street clothes and can beat you up the
hill!
SMS
> This is what I ended up with: "http://i37.tinypic.com/24awjn6.jpg". It
> was US$ 337.
OMG, with her new bike my wife has started a "bike-to-work" craze at her
office (about 95% women as it's a home health care office of an HMO).
I find this amusing since when she was riding her beater Univega
"http://nordicgroup.us/rearracks/rackimages/IMG_0271.JPG" to work, no
one was impressed. Now with a low step-over frame in a girlie color,
suddenly people want to run out and buy new bikes like that, though I
wonder how committed they will be in the long run.
Of course buying such a bike is not an easy task at this time. There
seems to be a severe bicycle shortage through all the distribution
channels at this time. Even ordering on-line from rei.com is difficult,
i.e. the similar bike to what I got her
("http://www.rei.com/product/761466") is out of stock in all sizes, and
I was in REI the other day and they are very short of hybrid type bikes
as well, and had zero with low-stepover frames, other than one of those
electric shifting coaster bikes.
Anyone know of a Silicon Valley area shops that have some low stepover
height bicycles in stock, in the $300-500 price range?