Originally Posted by Renaadoeiburamu

I appreciate the advice. Apparently they sold it for asking price later in the day after I'd initially planned to get it so good them I guess haha.

I'm just starting to get into the scene and getting more interested in restoring or building my own custom bikes starting with vintage frames and solid parts. Ideally to start I'd like something I can mostly restore that is a good deal on a cheap bike to see if it's something I want to continue as a hobby. But either way I've been putting off buying a bike for too long cause theft is bad in my city so I don't want to get something that'll be a huge loss if it's stolen, and obviously I've done my research on how to best lock it with multiple locks in the right places as well as not locking it in the same places on a schedule.

But I'm curious what kind of brands I should be looking for in Canada that have a similar Dutch style. Ideally I'd like a bike with internal gears instead of a derailleur but I suspect that won't be too easy to find for cheap so I figured I'd start with something more available like a derailleur. A lot of bikes in seeing in my area that have similar geometry of something I like are some falcon, CCM, Raleigh, supercycle, another Vulcan surprisingly and then most of these aren't step through frames but still a Dutch style and geometry and some more Racey but that I might be able to convert to be more comfortable like some sekine, Eaton, Cannondale, Norco, protour, hiwatha, centurion, and fiori and these are newer and more cruiser style but Schwinn, everyday, new and old retrospect and some others I'm sure I'm forgetting. Any recommendations or is it important to look at every one separately?

I have been doing research on how to go and check the frame for symmetry and make sure the headpiece and bottom sprocket and things are tight without much or any play. But I know nothing about materials or quality of different brakes or shifters etc. Ideally I'd like to have something light made out of aluminum and there is one new Raleigh step through cruiser but with the vintage 2 tube top with disc brakes that's aluminum that seems decent but it's not exactly the style I want.