Sashko

Trust me, I'm already all accessorized up. I have my fenders, basket (would like to convert to panniers as it's starting to fall apart but haven't found a set of decently priced ones), Kryptonite U-lock + chain + cheaper chain lock, front & rear lights, light-up vest with signals, helmet, biking jacket (although I got the hiking ver without the reflectors, but my vest makes up for it). I'm hoping to move most of my accessories to my replacement bike assuming they fit :-D

cyclokitty 

Have you tried Urbane Cyclist on John Street north of Queen? They specialize in commuter bikes (I bought mine from them) and they are pretty nice people.

If I was buying a new bike today, I would prefer disk breaks considering the slushy winters and number of rainy days we get in Toronto. The igh would be handy if you travel north towards either the hill befor St Clair or if you go further and confront the hill before York Mills. At least you can forget to shift down and not trip up when you pedal forwards again. But if wheels are a big problem (our potholes are ridiculous in size and number) then you might prefer stronger wheels. I went the rear wheel upgrade and have never regretted it.

Sashko

Urbane Cyclist was actually the first store I checked when I started checking new bikes out a few weeks ago, and the prices were well out of my range. Those guys are definitely some of the best for advice on repairs and for more or less any small parts/screws you might need.

I bike more-so in the south, starting from the Jamerson & Gardener area where I live, then through the CNE grounds, via Fort York, Bathurst to Front, then onto Yonge and a few small turns to arrive to the back of my building at Victoria & Adelaide. So I don't typically go as far north as St Clair on the bike.

Monster Pete

I'm another fan of the used, rigid mountain bike as a commuter. You can usually pick them up at someone's garage sale for next to nothing, needing only some basic maintenance. The tyres can be easily swapped to slicks for the road, and kitted out with fenders, cargo racks etc. They have good brakes and a wide-ranging drivetrain (at least 15 gears) and the riding position is well suited to navigating city traffic. Older ones will also have horizontal dropouts, making later conversion to a geared hub fairly simple, which is exactly what I did.

Sashko

In the articles I've read, it said that most people get mountain bikes and barely ever end up using them for their meant purposes. I'm pretty big on thinking outside the box, however I'm also pretty big on efficiency, so my research has led me to believe that either a hybrid of an urban bike would be ideal for me. Plus I already have a few of the accessories I'd otherwise have to discard such as fenders from my current hybrid.

TurbineBlade

For me, Internal Geared Hub bikes are best for 2 kinds of cyclists:

1. Cyclists with a lot of mechanical experience who know how to disassemble and work on IGH's.
2. Cyclists with basically no mechanical experience who take their bike to the shop for 95% of problems (and have a LBS that can work on them).

I like the idea of IGH bikes and think they're great, low maintenance, and very much under appreciated, but I'm much more at ease working with derailleurs -- so that's what I stick with. I like riding my Surly knowing that I built it and can easily fix any problem that comes about.

Not against IGH's -- just don't have enough mechanical experience with them..that's all.

exile

Most bikes never get used for their intended purposes. I have a touring bike I have never toured with. I have a hardtail MTB that has never been off road. I also have rigid MTB that has never been off road either.

Your above quote is also a good thing if you go the mountain bike or any bike route. All metals fatigue and parts wear out. If the person buys a MTB and barely uses it or only uses it on MUP's there is less chance the bike was abused and parts needing to be replaced.

Monster Pete

That is a good point. 3-speeds are fairly simple compared to more modern 7 or 8-speed hubs, but there's still more moving parts to deal with than a derailleur system. I'm fairly confident at taking things apart, but if you're not it's best to stick to derailleur(s). For urban riding a single chainring setup would probably do just fine and have the same ease of operation as an IGH. It's one option I considered with my commuter- simply removing the front mech and using just the middle chainring, but the chainline wasn't right. A 'megarange' cassette or similar would give you a handy bailout gear for those very steep hills.

Sashko

Interesting that we've gotten into talk about the mechanics of IGH as I was talking to one of the service techs at MEC, and he was telling me that IGH is a new technology, and whenever they get one in, the only option is replacing the entire wheel which ends up being half the cost of the entire bike :-o I was a bit surprised when I heard that. He told me that he recommended going with the external gears as that's something that's been proven to work and IGH is too new. So not too sure that option 2 of taking the bike to the LBS would be ideal, or at least not to this one ;-)

Good call.

irclean

WTF?!!

IGH predates dérailleurs by about 30 years. The first ones were patented pre-1900, and the first Sturmey-Archer 3-speed came out in 1903! Obviously the MEC "tech" doesn't know what he's talking about. I like MEC, and I own many of their products. I even like many of their bikes and almost bought one when shopping for my last bike. If I was to buy one the only time MEC techs would touch it is for free, scheduled tune-ups and/or warranty work. Even then I would go over their handwork with a fine-toothed comb.

Freewheeling Sp

Check out Bikes For The Rest Of Us for pics and specs of so-called "urban bikes."

PaulH

In my experience of ten years and about 30,000 all-season miles, this is not true. I had a seven speed Nexus pack it in once. The guy at the LBS simply replaced the internals as a unit -- no wheelbuilding required, and it cost only a few hundred bucks, maybe $20 of which was labor. The IGH is not new technology -- it actually predates the derailleur.

I have no idea who MEC is, but I'd avoid them like the plague. Not everyone likes internal hubs, and they are certainly not the best choice for all applications. However, spreading misinformation like that helps nobody. I'd advise going to Urbane Cyclist -- good stuff is not cheap, and it's still many thousands of dollars cheaper than having your car rust out early from all the winter road salt.

I commuted for three years on a hybrid with a derailleur. It was kind of like using a fifty year old car -- highly reliable in the sense of "easy to fix at home", but highly unreliable in the sense of "things always breaking/going out of adjustment". When it comes to daily transportation, I'm not a tinkerer -- I like to just bring the bike to the shop twice a year for tunep and switching between studded and summer tires.

I think you have a good plan in getting an urban bike. Mountain bikes and hybrids both have an exposed chain that can trash a $2,000 suit just like that. Even a used Yugo won't do that. The job of the my bike is to be more convenient than my car, and it does that. Everyone has different needs and expectations, and that is why there are so many types of bikes. There has to be something out there for you, whether, utility/urban, road, hybrid, or mountain. All have advantages and disadvantages - "horses for courses", as the Brits say.

I like drum brakes. They require more grip force than rim ones, but they are perfectly happy with nothing but a yearly regreasing. I've never ridden a bike with disk brakes. They kind of creep me out because they look so fragile with all those holes drilled in them.

I'd also like to recommend a hub dynamo, as they work well in snow and don't force you to mess with batteries or recharging. That's something else I will never be able to put up with.

I ride a German Kettler Silverstar, upgraded with Brooks saddle and hub dynamo. It's no longer made and was not imported through normal channels, but maybe you can find one.

Paul

Sashko

That's interesting, 'cause I actually took a workshop at the last Toronto Bike Fest, and this was the guy who taught it (the same guy I was dealing with the other day). I've noticed that I get a fair amount of conflicting advice with a number of the techs/do-it-yourself volunteers, which makes it difficult for me to learn how to do the repairs myself. I haven't noticed this on the forum :-)

tjspiel

A lot of wrenches are relatively young and I think it's fair to say that derailleurs have dominated the landscape for at least a couple of decades. The modern IGH is much more complicated and expensive than the traditional SA 3 speed. Spending a few hundred dollars to fix an IGH is about what many people expect to spend on a whole bike.

jefferee

As near as I can tell, the OP's budget ($600 CAD, including 13% sales tax) is going to pretty much rule out ANY new bike with IGH and/or dynamo hubs. Even disk brakes on bikes at that price point are likely to be lower-end cable actuated models that might not be any less trouble than v-brakes.

Apart from exceptional deals on last year's models, it's going to be hard to fit any new "urban" bike into that budget as well. You can find some reasonably equipped hybrids in that price range for sure, though.

Sashko

I just found some store in Toronto that's selling bikes that are a few years old. I'm liking the prices, with one '08 Specialized model with disc brakes and 2 front gears for $400 @ https://bikedepot.com/product/08-spec...rt-38521-1.htm and $600 for 3 internal rear gears again with disc brakes for $600 @ https://bikedepot.com/product/special...g3-38526-1.htm .

My question however is, isn't 2-3 gears too few for comfortable riding? I know that some people ride single geared bikes, so I'm assuming it would at least be a bit easier to ride than that based on the alternative terrain I ride in daily. Appreciate the info in advance :-)

monsterpile

I ride about as far as you do for my commute and I wouldn't hesitate to ride a singlespeed or a 3-speed, but its pretty flat here. I have a geared 24 speed mountain bike that is my main commuter, but after picking up a Bianchi Milano Parco thats a 3-speed a few days ago I could easily see riding that everywhere every day. If you are tired of working on a bike then I would go with either of those lower maintinence options and just learn to ride differently with fewer gears. I think you might be happier with the 3-speed, but singlespeed is an option thats low maintinence as it gets and has some other benefits as well. I have never used disc brakes so I won't comment on them.

irclean

My knees dictate the number of gears I need. While many commuters could get by with a SS or 3-speed, I require 7 or 8 to feel comfortable. I'm familiar with Toronto and its geography (I live down the road in London), and if I lived there I would want more gears than 3. That being said, there are many riders who regularly ride in hillier areas (San Francisco comes to mind) and manage with single-speeds. Only you can determine your comfort level. Test ride those bikes and make sure to hit some hills while you're at it.

BTW I bought my first disc-brake equipped bike in June, and they rock! The improvement is especially apparent now that I'm riding in the winter slop.

Sashko

Excellent my amigos, I appreciate the input as always :-)

EDIT: BTW I was thinking for the $400 one, I could always upgrade the rear to a larger speed internal gear, right? ;-)

lbj

Depends on the kind of folder. I think with the ones that have a hinge in the frame, you can run into this sort of problem. With Montague folding bikes, though, the bike folds in a way that doesn't actually compromise the ride at all (the front kind of pivots around the seat post - anyway, no hinge).

I have one, and I love it for the commute.

monsterpile

irclean is right about the knees. If I was going with the typical road bike chainring set up I wouldn't like it and it would kill me and I wouldn't even ride the thing. The singlespeed I had was geared like the Globe you posted and I didn't have any trouble going up hills. I would also spin out alot, so if you car about being able to fly around really fast then you would want to have it geared higher or have more gears. I wouldn't want to go singlespeed if I was out mountain biking though at least with the geearing I had. I would die. LOL That Globe looks like it can be switched over to whatever type of system you want with different dropouts, but I would check for sure.

no1mad 

Good question. I think that is possible, but I am no expert.

And I'll throw this out to you- Do you have any Kona dealers near you? This is not for someone who is into fitness riding, but if you want a very low maintenance, you might take a look at the Kona bike.

nashcommguy

+1 Pawnshops have them in varying condition all the time. When I commuted urban I found a decent Fuji mtb at a pawnshop and rode the crap out of it for about 4 years. Replaced the cassette, wheelset, brake pads and chain 1 time from when I bought it. Cost me 50.00 and then about 125.00 for the replacement parts from www.nashbar.com. Living in Mid-TN the weather isn't as extreme as you may have to ride in so getting an IGH never occurred to me. Though I have been looking at a few the last couple of months.

seenoweevil

A lot of good advice here, as always. I tend to side with exile and Adam. I lucked into a mid-90's hardtail MTB, put fenders and a rack on it, and wouldn't trade it for a gold monkey. My commute (8 miles each way) on it is within 2 minutes of times on my road bikes, the ride position is comfortable, and I could climb a tree if I needed to with the gearing available. Good luck!

Sashko

I really need something with better brakes, v-brakes really aren't performing well in the winter for me thus far.

Again need better brakes.


At this point I'm going to check out that Specialized Globe hopefully over the week-end and see if it can do the trick for me :-D