If you happen to ride your bike to work in the city, chances are that your bike is similar to mine - it's just a cheap, steel bike with full size fenders, comfortable and relaxed riding position, limited number of gears and a rack or basket for your office bag. These bikes are not speed demons but they do their job very well, taking us to and from work places, running errands, etc.
Apparently, there are people who believe that modern city bikes are just way too old-fashioned and in XXI century we need something better. The organizers of Oregon Manifest Bike Design Project believe that urban bikes get not enough R&D within the bike industry and decided to change it by choosing 5 teams from 5 cities in United States, whose task was to design an "ultimate city bike" of XXI century.
Now it's time to choose the winner. The entries are:
Portland's "Solid"
My take:
+ belt drive (Nice, no more greasy chain)
+ long fenders
+ integrated lights
- too sporty geometry (The main problem I have with this bike is that its geometry looks too sporty. The handlebars are lower than the saddle, which may be useful if you ride on trails but it's nowhere close to a relaxed city-cruising position)
- no way to adjust the stem (The stem seems to be fully integrated so this bike must be made to order for a specific person. There is no way to make any adjustments)
- no loop frame (Riding in dress or getting on the bike with a child seat on the rear rack will be a problem)
- no drivetrain cover (Despite grease-free drivetrain a cover would still be useful. It would protect your pants or dress from being caught in the drivetrain or being splashed by water during rain.)
- smartphone-connected (Why everything has to be now smartphone connected? When I ride my bike I should be looking at the road ahead, not the screen on my phone)
San Francisco's "EVO"
My take:
+ modular cargo racks (Definitely a plus)
+ integrated lights
+ belt drive
- no loop frame (See above)
- integrated cable lock, no u-lock (Nice that the lock is integrated but it's only a cable lock)
- too short fenders (Especially front fender is way too short)
- no kickstand (Seriously? On a city bike?)
- no kickstand (Seriously? On a city bike?)
Seattle's "Denny"
My take:
+ integrated handlebars lock (Great idea and finally something new. The problem is that handlebars tubing is hollow, not solid like regular u-locks, so I doubt this is going to be durable enough)
+ electric assist (You may say this makes this vehicle a motorcycle but it is a very useful addition in very hilly cities. I guess you wouldn't know if you never had to bike uphill on a bike loaded with bags full of groceries)
+ integrated lights
+ belt drive
- no loop frame
- no fenders (Apparently, it doesn't rain in Seattle. Oh, wait... That little something at both wheels is a joke, not a fender. It's like the designers were trying to reinvent the wheel because the regular fenders are too "oldschool" so they just had to come up with something "new")
New York's "Merge"
My take:
+ collapsible, integrated rear rack (Kinda small, but a pretty neat idea)
+ integrated lights
+ belt drive
- no loop frame
- no fenders (I guess New Yorkers just switch to the subway when it rains. There is a rear fender-like thing but let's be serious and not call it a fender. They didn't bother to include the front fender at all. Plus why do fenders have to be hidden when not in use?)
Chicago's "Blackline"
My take:
+ belt drive
+ leather saddle
+ no loop frame, but here there is at least an attempt to lower the frame for easy mount/dismount
+ integrated lights
+ modular cargo racks
+ u-lock stored under the rack (Not fully integrated but they at least found a nice place for it)
- no fenders (Those tiny strips of metal over each wheel can't seriously be called fenders)
- 3-speed only, but that's probably enough in Chicago
To be honest, none of these bikes ticks all of my boxes and none of them makes me feel wanting to ride them. The problem with them is that they are not really urban. They have some features of urban bikes but... would you leave any of them chained to the fence in front of your apartment overnight? Would you want to ride these bikes in heavy rain? They all come with relatively maintenance-free drivetrain and integrated lights, which is great but at the same time they often feature minimalistic racks, fenders, kickstands. It almost looks like the designers didn't want to spoil the looks of their bikes by including "those dreadful fenders" by default. I guess they forgot we're talking about an utility bike here, not an art object.
If I had to choose, I would probably go with Chicago's "Blackline" but only after putting some proper fenders on this thing, raising the stem, adding a chainguard, replacing the rear rack with something useful... No, I guess that's too many changes. I just keep my old, (t)rusty Schwinn.
To be honest, none of these bikes ticks all of my boxes and none of them makes me feel wanting to ride them. The problem with them is that they are not really urban. They have some features of urban bikes but... would you leave any of them chained to the fence in front of your apartment overnight? Would you want to ride these bikes in heavy rain? They all come with relatively maintenance-free drivetrain and integrated lights, which is great but at the same time they often feature minimalistic racks, fenders, kickstands. It almost looks like the designers didn't want to spoil the looks of their bikes by including "those dreadful fenders" by default. I guess they forgot we're talking about an utility bike here, not an art object.
If I had to choose, I would probably go with Chicago's "Blackline" but only after putting some proper fenders on this thing, raising the stem, adding a chainguard, replacing the rear rack with something useful... No, I guess that's too many changes. I just keep my old, (t)rusty Schwinn.
No comments:
Post a Comment