New bike advice

[Arthur Clune]

Some advice please.

I'm going to replace my nicked MTB with a cheap town bike.
I'll then get another "real" MTB later. So, I want

* under 300 quid
* flat bar
* slick, fat tyres
* single chainring or hub gear ideally

Ability to fit a rear rack and full length 'guards.

I'll be using the bike for commuting when I'm not on the
fixed and (the important bit) towing heavy loads using the
BoB YaK trailer.

So far I've seen the Edinburgh Bike Courier, which looks
pretty much ideal, but I'm like to know if there's anything
else out there that's similar that I should look at.

(and on the off-chance someone has something second hand,
I'd be looking at 20" MTB-style frame)

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org (http://www.clune.org/) "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

[Simonb]

> * under 300 quid
> * flat bar
> * slick, fat tyres
> * single chainring or hub gear ideally

REVOLUTION COURIER '04:

* £239.95
* Yup
* Yup
* Single Chainring

http://www.edinburgh- (http://www.edinburgh-/)
bicycle.co.uk/catalogue/detail.cfm?ID=19065

Hope the link works -- their site can get a bit FUBAR when
you start deep-linking.

Simon

[Simonb]

... Sorry. Should've read the rest of your post!

Simon

[Ambrose Nankive]

In news:c4h3u4$llk$1@pump1.york.ac.uk,
Arthur Clune <ajc22@york.ac.uk> typed:
> Some advice please.
>
> I'm going to replace my nicked MTB with a cheap town bike.
> I'll then get another "real" MTB later. So, I want
>
> * under 300 quid
> * flat bar
> * slick, fat tyres
> * single chainring or hub gear ideally
>
I love my hub-geared town bike*, so would evangelise but it
seems I'm pretty much alone: the choice of models seems to
have narrowed down just to the Ridgeback Switch Nemesis for
the 2004 year, when there were plenty to choose from last
year. It's above your budget at £449. And it looks a bit too
nickable, with flashy paint and disc brakes. Shame, because
it's so convenient.

Ambrose

*except it came with ****e tyres which are currently
punctured. And it was geared too high.

[Arthur Clune]

Ambrose Nankivell <$FirstnameInitialofSurname$@onetel.net.uk> wrote:

: from last year. It's above your budget at £449. And it
: looks a bit too nickable, with flashy paint and disc
: brakes. Shame, because it's so convenient.

Budget wouldn't be a killer but disc brakes are a complete
no-no: my MTB got nicked just after I fitted disks and I'm
pretty sure the two events were related.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org (http://www.clune.org/) "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

[Paul Selwood]

Arthur Clune wrote:

> So far I've seen the Edinburgh Bike Courier, which looks
> pretty much ideal, but I'm like to know if there's
> anything else out there that's similar that I should
> look at.

I've got an EBC Courier - great town bike, although the "all
black" finish possibly looks too good (and hence nickable).
I'm very happy with mine and think it is very good value.
Why look further when you've found something "pretty much
ideal" already?

Paul
--
Paul Selwood

[Peter Clinch]

Paul Selwood wrote:

> Why look further when you've found something "pretty much
> ideal" already?

I guess it just reduces the chance of The Perfect Deal On
The Perfect Bike coming to one's attention within 24 hours
of getting the thing covered in goo...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

[Arthur Clune]

Paul Selwood <hidden@email.address> wrote:

: I've got an EBC Courier - great town bike, although the
: "all black" finish possibly looks too good (and hence
: nickable). I'm very happy with mine and think it is very
: good value. Why look further when you've found something
: "pretty much ideal" already?

One thing that I've been pondering is now the one
chainring thing.

I want this bike for towing a bob yak on, and some
commuting when I don't want to ride fixed. So one ring is
good since it means there is no front mech to cag up, but
how do you find the low end? It is pancake flat in York of
course which helps.

arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org (http://www.clune.org/) "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

[Chris French]

In message <c4j9cs$9pe$1@pump1.york.ac.uk>, Arthur Clune
<ajc22@york.ac.uk> writes
>Paul Selwood <hidden@email.address> wrote:
>
>: I've got an EBC Courier - great town bike, although the
>: "all black" finish possibly looks too good (and hence
>: nickable). I'm very happy with mine and think it is very
>: good value. Why look further when you've found something
>: "pretty much ideal" already?
>
>One thing that I've been pondering is now the one
>chainring thing.
>
>I want this bike for towing a bob yak on, and some
>commuting when I don't want to ride fixed. So one ring is
>good since it means there is no front mech to cag up, but
>how do you find the low end? It is pancake flat in York of
>course which helps.
>
Should be fine then I should imagine.

I have a hub geared and braked 'utility' bike (own
concoction on an old MTB frame) I used to use it in London
(not flat - though not excessively hilly in the NW were I
was) It has a 7 speed hub gear (was Sachs, now Nexus) I
regularly used it for towing a heavily loaded (50Kg +
regularly i imagine) Columbus trailer for which is was fine.
It was geared so that the bottom gear was probably about 30
inches I guess)

I continued to use this in Leeds, though this bit of
Yorkshire has some more significant hills, so to give myself
a few lower gears for towing the kiddie trailer I put on a
double chainring.

Personally I would want a hub gear on the bike (and
preferably hub brakes) as they require so much less
maintenance and are much less fussy about poor cleaning. But
it's probably not in the budget.
--
Chris French, Leeds

[Paul Selwood]

Arthur Clune wrote:

> Paul Selwood <hidden@email.address> wrote:
>
> : I've got an EBC Courier - great town bike, although the
> : "all black" finish possibly looks too good (and hence
> : nickable). I'm very happy with mine and think it is very
> : good value. Why look further when you've found something
> : "pretty much ideal" already?
>
> One thing that I've been pondering is now the one
> chainring thing.
>
> I want this bike for towing a bob yak on, and some
> commuting when I don't want to ride fixed. So one ring is
> good since it means there is no front mech to cag up, but
> how do you find the low end? It is pancake flat in York of
> course which helps.

I only really use mine for commuting, but do so in Exeter
which is far from pancake flat. For most of the hills here I
don't need to use the bottom gear - but my legs/lungs aren't
your legs/lungs (I suspect yours are better!)

Paul
--
Paul Selwood