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Main
Date: 13 Aug 2006 20:08:20
From: Betty
Subject: Dutch-like utility bikes in North America?
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Hi -
I've been looking for months for a ladies tall utility bike similar to
these from Gazelle
(http://www.gazelle.nl/nl/product.php?idParent=2&idChild=&idFiets=2&idSegment=1#fiets)
or similar.
My main issue is I need a bike that is:
1. tall enough for me at about 6" (178cm) and female,
2. is upright (i.e. any advertising the bike would ever have would
*never* have someone in Spandex or biking shorts since I actually do
bike to work in skirts and I have absolutely no intention of ever doing
anything remotely mountain-y or beach-y so those wide
city-street-inappropriate beach cruisers are out out out, too),
3. fairly cheap (i.e. $600CAN or under for sure - which rules out all
those Jorg and Olif bikes that *start* at almost $900CAN for a one-speed
(http://www.jorgandolif.com/#)).
The old Raleighs or Apollos that I've seen would do but I've been
looking on craigslist, buy n' sell and one or two local used bikes shops
for the whole summer and I haven't found anything appropriate since I am
TALL and got boobs (and other things).
For $600CAN, I want new. I'd actually prefer something used and cheaper
if only because the rate of stolen bikes around my neighbourhood is
pretty high (two gone already - really good locks - not worth claiming
on insurance once the deductible is paid and the insurance rates go up
or cancelled). But I'm getting desperate.
Geeze... a CCM wouldn't be bad if they had a utility bike model.
So I humbly come here to ask if there are any active, decent North
American bike manufacturers or shops that would have, in stock, bikes
that I may like (oh, I'm in the Vancouver, BC).
And accessories like chain guards and other Dutch-utility-ish things
that I could always eventually add to a rig. That'd be nice, too.
Heeeellllppp?
Please?
S.
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Date: 13 Aug 2006 20:09:03
From: DougC
Subject: Re: Dutch-like utility bikes in North America?
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Betty wrote:
> Hi -
>
> I've been looking for months for a ladies tall utility bike similar to
> these from Gazelle
> (http://www.gazelle.nl/nl/product.php?idParent=2&idChild=&idFiets=2&idSegment=1#fiets)
> or similar.
> ................
> Heeeellllppp?
>
> Please?
>
> S.
Workmans Cycles is one US place that does bikes kinda like that.
http://worksmancycles.com/
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Date: 13 Aug 2006 19:31:17
From: Earl Bollinger
Subject: Re: Dutch-like utility bikes in North America?
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I bought a Eastman Roadster from http://www.yellowjersey.org
It is a copy of the old Raliegh DR-1's.
It uas full fenders and a chainguard that fully encloses the chain.
It is a big bike too.
In India they put on a Sari guard too.
"Betty" <bettyisnot@homeINVALID.net > wrote in message
news:UELDg.5222$365.2637@edtnps89...
> Hi -
>
> I've been looking for months for a ladies tall utility bike similar to
> these from Gazelle
> (http://www.gazelle.nl/nl/product.php?idParent=2&idChild=&idFiets=2&idSegment=1#fiets)
> or similar.
>
> My main issue is I need a bike that is:
>
> 1. tall enough for me at about 6" (178cm) and female,
>
> 2. is upright (i.e. any advertising the bike would ever have would *never*
> have someone in Spandex or biking shorts since I actually do bike to work
> in skirts and I have absolutely no intention of ever doing anything
> remotely mountain-y or beach-y so those wide city-street-inappropriate
> beach cruisers are out out out, too),
>
> 3. fairly cheap (i.e. $600CAN or under for sure - which rules out all
> those Jorg and Olif bikes that *start* at almost $900CAN for a one-speed
> (http://www.jorgandolif.com/#)).
>
> The old Raleighs or Apollos that I've seen would do but I've been looking
> on craigslist, buy n' sell and one or two local used bikes shops for the
> whole summer and I haven't found anything appropriate since I am TALL and
> got boobs (and other things).
>
> For $600CAN, I want new. I'd actually prefer something used and cheaper if
> only because the rate of stolen bikes around my neighbourhood is pretty
> high (two gone already - really good locks - not worth claiming on
> insurance once the deductible is paid and the insurance rates go up or
> cancelled). But I'm getting desperate.
>
> Geeze... a CCM wouldn't be bad if they had a utility bike model.
>
> So I humbly come here to ask if there are any active, decent North
> American bike manufacturers or shops that would have, in stock, bikes that
> I may like (oh, I'm in the Vancouver, BC).
>
> And accessories like chain guards and other Dutch-utility-ish things that
> I could always eventually add to a rig. That'd be nice, too.
>
> Heeeellllppp?
>
> Please?
>
> S.
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Date: 14 Aug 2006 01:26:12
From: Mike Kruger
Subject: Re: Dutch-like utility bikes in North America?
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"Earl Bollinger" <earlwbollinger@comcast.net > wrote in message
news:s4mdnaSMnYrJWULZnZ2dnUVZ_u6dnZ2d@comcast.com...
>I bought a Eastman Roadster from http://www.yellowjersey.org
> It is a copy of the old Raliegh DR-1's.
> It uas full fenders and a chainguard that fully encloses the chain.
> It is a big bike too.
> In India they put on a Sari guard too.
>
Interesting. Here's some more specific pages.
http://www.yellowjersey.org/east03.html
http://www.yellowjersey.org/EASTMAN.HTML
Unclear if the ladies' size would be tall enough; our company employs a lot
of Indian women, but I haven't seen any this tall. But it would be easy to
find out.
Rod brakes? I've seen these around town but have no direct experience with
them -- only negative stereotypes. (These can be replaced, but for extra $.)
--
Mike Kruger
Blog: http://journals.aol.com/mikekr/ZbicyclistsZlog/
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Date: 14 Aug 2006 03:47:44
From: Mike Kruger
Subject: Re: Dutch-like utility bikes in North America?
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"Mike Kruger" <MikeKr@mouse-potato.com > wrote in message
news:UiQDg.6311$o27.1696@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
> "Earl Bollinger" <earlwbollinger@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:s4mdnaSMnYrJWULZnZ2dnUVZ_u6dnZ2d@comcast.com...
>>I bought a Eastman Roadster from http://www.yellowjersey.org
>> It is a copy of the old Raliegh DR-1's.
>> It uas full fenders and a chainguard that fully encloses the chain.
>> It is a big bike too.
>> In India they put on a Sari guard too.
>>
> Interesting. Here's some more specific pages.
> http://www.yellowjersey.org/east03.html
> http://www.yellowjersey.org/EASTMAN.HTML
> Unclear if the ladies' size would be tall enough; our company employs a
> lot of Indian women, but I haven't seen any this tall. But it would be
> easy to find out.
> Rod brakes? I've seen these around town but have no direct experience with
> them -- only negative stereotypes. (These can be replaced, but for extra
> $.)
>
OK, OK, it's odd to append to one's own post, but there's a bit more
information from Muzi (owner of The Yellow Jersey) about these bikes on this
earlier thread.
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.bicycles.misc/browse_frm/thread/3c21472d4c465c65/cdd438efa38fdd49?lnk=gst&q=rod+brakes&rnum=2#cdd438efa38fdd49
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Date: 14 Aug 2006 05:57:21
From: Earl Bollinger
Subject: Re: Dutch-like utility bikes in North America?
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I really like mine. It is the regular men's large one size fits all model. I
am 5'11" tall and it works just fine for me. But it has about a 32" stepover
height, so ti would not
work for a really short person as well. But in India you see a lot of
shorter Indians riding them anyway.
The bike mainly is higher off the ground for more ground clearance at the
crank area.
When I purchased mine, I opted to assemble it myself, which means it came
completely dissassembled. It was a great X-Mas project for me. :)
http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c163/earlwb/Eastman%20Roadster/?action=view¤t=8cb1ff2d.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1
But one normally gets the Yellow Jersey folks to have it all assembled for
you.
The rod brakes work quite well, better than people might expect. I actually
sort of like the concept.
It is great to see how the engineers way back when, solved problems at the
time, with the technology that they had.
Basically, when you pull on the brake lever, it pulls the brake pads into
contact with the inside edge of the rim.
http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c163/earlwb/Eastman%20Roadster/?action=view¤t=FrontBrakeThree.jpg&refPage=20&imgAnch=imgAnch25
I don't get "lock up the wheels and skid" braking power, but I do get plenty
of stopping power for how I ride the bike.
After getting the bike assembled and working OK, I took it on a couple of 25
mile rides just to see how it would do if my regular commuter bike broke
down on me on the way to work and I needed to use it to ride home. Here is a
pic of the bike on the Grapevine Tx Cotton Belt bike path.
http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c163/earlwb/Eastman%20Roadster/?action=view¤t=722f2c1a.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch11
Yes it will work Ok for that purpose, but it will take me a lot longer than
usual to get home though.
Here is a pic of my bike on top of the new Addision Bridge extension on
Arapaho Road located in Addision Texas.
http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c163/earlwb/Addison%20Tx%20%20New%20Bridge/?action=view¤t=d3b0bc07.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch2
Here is my bike at the Addison Traffic Circle.
http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c163/earlwb/Addison%20Tx%20%20New%20Bridge/?action=view¤t=f852202d.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1
I have nicknamed it my Lunch Bike as I typically use it at work to go for
lunchtime rides and maybe get lunch too.
"Mike Kruger" <MikeKr@mouse-potato.com > wrote in message
news:AnSDg.6353$o27.4485@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
> "Mike Kruger" <MikeKr@mouse-potato.com> wrote in message
> news:UiQDg.6311$o27.1696@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
>> "Earl Bollinger" <earlwbollinger@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:s4mdnaSMnYrJWULZnZ2dnUVZ_u6dnZ2d@comcast.com...
>>>I bought a Eastman Roadster from http://www.yellowjersey.org
>>> It is a copy of the old Raliegh DR-1's.
>>> It uas full fenders and a chainguard that fully encloses the chain.
>>> It is a big bike too.
>>> In India they put on a Sari guard too.
>>>
>> Interesting. Here's some more specific pages.
>> http://www.yellowjersey.org/east03.html
>> http://www.yellowjersey.org/EASTMAN.HTML
>> Unclear if the ladies' size would be tall enough; our company employs a
>> lot of Indian women, but I haven't seen any this tall. But it would be
>> easy to find out.
>> Rod brakes? I've seen these around town but have no direct experience
>> with them -- only negative stereotypes. (These can be replaced, but for
>> extra $.)
>>
> OK, OK, it's odd to append to one's own post, but there's a bit more
> information from Muzi (owner of The Yellow Jersey) about these bikes on
> this earlier thread.
>
> http://groups.google.com/group/rec.bicycles.misc/browse_frm/thread/3c21472d4c465c65/cdd438efa38fdd49?lnk=gst&q=rod+brakes&rnum=2#cdd438efa38fdd49
>
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Date: 14 Aug 2006 00:02:17
From: Claire Petersky
Subject: Re: Dutch-like utility bikes in North America?
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"Betty" <bettyisnot@homeINVALID.net > wrote in message
news:UELDg.5222$365.2637@edtnps89...
Here ya go:
http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47992734&parent_category_rn=4502048
$599, US dollars but we're nearly at parity these days. Since it comes with
the rack, fenders, lights etc. already, it might be pretty close to your
budget. Just take the train down from Vancouver, and you could ride back up
on the RSVP route:
http://www.cascade.org/EandR/rsvp/pdf/rsvp_route_guide_2006.pdf, a lovely
two day ride. Or take the train just to Bellingham, and have a nice one day
ride up.
--
Warm Regards,
Claire Petersky
http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky
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Date: 13 Aug 2006 16:43:47
From: di
Subject: Re: Dutch-like utility bikes in North America?
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"Betty" <bettyisnot@homeINVALID.net > wrote in message
news:UELDg.5222$365.2637@edtnps89...
> Hi -
>
> I've been looking for months for a ladies tall utility bike similar to
> these from Gazelle
> (http://www.gazelle.nl/nl/product.php?idParent=2&idChild=&idFiets=2&idSegment=1#fiets)
> or similar.
>
> My main issue is I need a bike that is:
Giant makes several woman specific bikes similar to what you describe
http://www.giantforwomen.com/index.php?section=BIKE%20FINDER
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Date: 13 Aug 2006 22:27:28
From: Betty
Subject: Re: Dutch-like utility bikes in North America?
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di wrote:
> "Betty" <bettyisnot@homeINVALID.net> wrote in message
> news:UELDg.5222$365.2637@edtnps89...
>> Hi -
>>
>> I've been looking for months for a ladies tall utility bike similar to
>> these from Gazelle
>> (http://www.gazelle.nl/nl/product.php?idParent=2&idChild=&idFiets=2&idSegment=1#fiets)
>> or similar.
>>
>> My main issue is I need a bike that is:
>
>
>
> Giant makes several woman specific bikes similar to what you describe
>
> http://www.giantforwomen.com/index.php?section=BIKE%20FINDER
>
>
Interesting. The prices seem right, that's for sure.
But the photos don't show chain guards or front and back fenders and I
can't get a feel if the company offers extras like that.
I live in the Land O' Much Rain. Gotta have those or I'd end up looking
like a skunk three months of the year.
*Ideally*, I could ride my bike, in a skirt or other 'office attire', in
some rain. Not, of course, that I'd want to ride in rain but sometimes
you get caught.
But thank you very much for that particular site.
Other suggestions also most welcome.
Betty
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