bicycle.journey

Hi, it's me again,

Ok, so I posted about which bike to get and I wanted to opt for a folding bike. I am still in the researching phases. But I really do not want a twitchy bicycle and it seems more of a hassle with folding bikes in the long-run for the folding mechanism i feel like for maintenance in the future it will just add more money... I have made room for a full-sized bicycle BUT I would have to carry it up 2 flights of stairs, yes 2 flights of stairs (that includes 12 steps on each floor no elevators/lifts). So I want your opinions of lightweight full sized bicycles.

As mentioned before I am female height 160cm so about 5'3" and my inseam is 27. I need something lightweight very LIGHTWEIGHT BUT VERY DURABLE lol.

As mentioned in previous post, sorry to be annoying and posting it again but I am a newbie lol and I appreciate your opinions, this is what I am looking for: Further information: My budget is max around £2000 for a bicycle and maybe some important accessories that go along with it so lets just say around £1500 for the bicycle and £500 for the accessories.

• I will most likely utilise my bicycle, in the beginning, for learning to ride the bicycle and then hopefully progress onto long distances/leisure riding/ touring maybe (so I need to be able to attach storage) and not sure if it will be on road or off road or rough terrain etc, but I preferably want to buy a bike that is suitable for all terrains if that is possible?
• I may even use the bicycle for commuting to places, buying groceries etc (I do not drive a car and most likely don't want to learn to either, don't want to add pollution haha)
• A bike that will last me at least 10 years
• A bike that has low maintenance costs and easy to maintain and not many specialised parts (so that IF i am in a different place it will not be difficult to find such parts)

Thank you so much for your input, I appreciate you all

Kedosto

I think you should be aware of a well known adage in cycling. “Strong, light, cheap: pick two.” Your circumstances will not relieve you from the general truth here. Your desire to enjoy all three is nothing the rest of us around here haven’t struggled with as well.

The types of riding and activities you’ve described, optimally, call for different types of bikes. And while I think it’s possible to buy one bike that could do them all, it’s not possible that one bike could do all the things equally well. You’ll have to decide which riding style is most important to you and focus on finding a bike that at least favors that style.

Carrying a bike up two flights of stairs is a serious consideration, and pretty much dictates that “light” be the priority. You’ll have to figure out how much “strong” you can afford, because when strong and light come together it’s never cheap.

chaadster

bicycle.journey you’re an ideal candidate for a type of bike called a minivelo.. They’re compact, rigid frame bikes built around 20” wheel sizes. They’re most popular in Asian markets, particularly Japan, where storage space for bikes is tight, as in urban apartment living. Having shorter wheelbases than full-sized bikes makes them easier to stash out of the way, but also easier to manage up stairwells, too.

Minivelos don’t have their own forum here, but have a subculture on the Folding bike forum, so posting an inquiry thread there will get you on the way of discovery.

To get you going, check out the Polygon Zeta at BikesOnline.com:

https://www.bikesonline.com/2021-pol...inch-city-bike

We often find minivelos in the budget bike segment in the West, so often, as with the 28lbs Polygon Zeta, they’re not built to be light, bit I know higher quality minivelos are out there. I suppose it could be fun and educational to upgrade and customize one with weight loss in mind, so that’s another pathway if you’re interested. Just looking at the Zeta, I’d guess 3lbs could come off for not much money or hassle, but still, 25lbs is not really lightweight; hoisting 17lbs up two flights of stairs would be nicer.

Here’s a carbon fiber framed Java at 9.8kg (~20lbs):

https://www.mrbicycles.com/product/java-mini-velo-bike/

Anyway, investing some energy in exploring minivelos is probably worthwhile for you. Best luck!

LarrySellerz

What is your age and general fitness level? Would carrying a 20 lb bike (pretty light but not crazy) be too much? If your area is kind of flat and you’re kind of fit, I’d get a nice steel single speed like the Wabi classic, I think it’s like 19 lbs. It will have less maintenance than a geared bike.

a “full sized lightweight bicycle” is normally a nice carbon bike which you don’t need as a first bike, but you can get some cheaper metal bikes that are still light. What you probably want is some sort of flat bar hybrid but those are normally more like 25 lbs unless I’m mistaken

Vintage Schwinn

I think it will be "manageable" for you to pull-roll step by step, thus in front and to the side holding handle bars and walking up stairs, one step at a time with the bicycle, thus NOT PHYSICALLY LIFTING IT OFF OF THE GROUND, only pulling on and rolling it up ONE STEP AT A TIME. EVEN IF YOU HAD A 50 POUND BICYCLE, WHICH YOU WON'T HAVE, you will be able to do that. Any bicycle that you choose even if it a 70 year old Raleigh with Headlight, generator, steel basket in front and steel carry rack in back, full steel fenders, steel wheels, steel old timey pedals, heavy spring steel seat WILL ONLY WEIGH AT 45 POUNDS AT THE MOST. You'd likely be looking at somewhere between about 37 pounds and 44 pounds for any old basic tourist style bicycle. Since you're in the U.K. , you can convert the weight to kilograms to give you a better idea, but the weight is manageable. Paul McCartney had a famous song called " Let Me Roll It ". Thats just what you gotta do.
Something with 590mm wheels or 559mm wheels might be a tiny bit easier to Roll Step By Step than 700C (622mm) wheels or 27 inch(630mm) wheels.

My advice is to buy something that is durable, dependable, and comfortable to ride, while at the same time NOT SPENDING MUCH. Why? Because you can find plenty of tourist style, rugged, almost unbreakable, older but heavy by road warrior lycra-spandex jockey standards. Certainly have a nice comfortable new seat and new tires and tubes, etc, installed if necessary. You should also consider an old style full size rear view mirror mounted on your handlebars. .. perhaps a wicker basket with a folding wicker top and metal latch, like an old timey purse, or picnic basket.....so that the front wicker basket closes and latches closed... A nice seat saddle bag attached to the seat and a rear rack over the rear fender should be useful.......you might wish to affix a sturdy plastic "milk crate" to the rack with wing nuts and fender washers, etc. I don't know if anything like that would actually be practically useful but it might give you more ideas that might be.
You might consider a step-through frame, or mixte frame. They are great and will be widely available and do not bring the resale prices of the same model's diamond frame. You don't have a car so that the difficulty of mounting a step-through or mixte on a car's carry rack will not be an issue for you.
I would say get something durable, stable, comfortable, dependable and inexpensive. SAVE THE REMAINDER OF YOUR CASH! In the future, you will know more about what you might think you might prefer. The little money that you spend on a dependable old ride will be well spent. It will leave you with CASH to have more fun with your friends, or whatever else. You will no more later on in the future if you wish to buy a new bike at that time. My bet is that you will probably be happy with whatever nice old bike that you will find soon. You seem to know what might work best for you and my only advice is for you to trust your own instincts on what you'd like to acquire. Do be careful when you respond to BIKE FOR SALE ads that are placed by individuals. Because you can never know for sure what kind of person placed the ad for bike for sale. You cannot tell based on the person's appearance or the neighborhood in which they reside.........ALWAYS RESPOND CAREFULLY WITH SOMEONE ELSE GOING ALONG WITH YOU. You want to do the purchase transaction in a SAFE public area with cameras(video surveilance) and policing. Be very cognizant that you do not provide, too much information, private information because you just never know, and you cannot take that chance, even though 99.8% of people are good. That also is my only concern, is that rolling your bicycle UP 24 steps (two flights of 12 stairs each) likely will take you as much as. about 2 minutes, guessing at about 5 seconds per step. This might be a concern for me, for my wife, daughter, or grand daughter doing this in a residential apartment building, campus dorm, beachfront condominiums, where there is not adequate lighting and security there. What I mean is for example anything much more than a minute entering and exiting opens someone alone to an increased probability to being a victim of a crime if there is not adequate grounds security and video surveillance.
Taking too long to ENTER and EXIT could be problematic in a building, especially in any downtown area or a large apartment or condominium complex without gated access, where non resident visitors must register or be announced by the gatehouse guard.
You'll know what will work for you. I don't wish to discourage you in any way. Just like you need to wear a bicycle helmet, just in case that you do actually need it. Same thing with the security & safety concerns, you should always be aware of your surroundings & your social media information disclosures and remain safe.
I know that is a downer on an otherwise positive upbeat happy posting on getting a bicycle that you'll enjoy, but it unfortunately is a necessary consideration in this day and age that we live in today.

Ironfish653

IMHO, the weight of the bicycle isn’t as much of an obstacle to carrying it up a flight of stairs, as the overall size of the thing. A bicycle is skinny, yes, but it is longer and taller than you realize, and has things that stick out, lol the pedals, handlebars and saddle. They can be very awkward to get through a (narrow) staircase, as found in a typical residential dwelling without bumping into the walls.
How heavy and awkward depends on your personal level of fitness, balance and coordination.

I won’t give you any recommendations on a specific bike to buy, because there’s just too many, but I will give you some general advice:

Go to a bike shop. There is so much information on the internet, that it’s easy to lose the forest for the trees; a shop will have a specific inventory , much easier to tell one bike from the next, when you can actually look at them. The shop staff should be able to, if they’re any good, be able to explain the differences between models and narrow down options that would fit your specific needs.

You’ve budgeted a pretty significant amount of money for this bike, but I’d recommend spending maybe a third to half of that. $700-$900 will get you a pretty capable recreational/commuter bike. As bikes get more expensive, they often get more specific in their capabilities, so you may be better served by a more basic model for your first bike.
A bike In that price range should last you for many years, as well. Bicycle components are actually fairly standardized, too, so finding common consumables like tires and brake pads is no issue. I have a couple of bikes over 20 years old, and one that’s almost 50, none of them require anything I can’t find within a few minutes of searching.

As to Folding bikes, it may be a good fit, considering your living situation, and as a city bike, they do pretty well. I also find that they’re actually pretty good for beginners and I’ve used them to teach new riders who have balance and motor control issues, as the compact frames and small wheels are easier to manage than a full size bike, especially at lower speed.
I don’t know that I would attempt a 20-30 mile sporting ride on one, but 2 or 3 miles down to the shops, is almost exactly what they’re designed for.

Herzlos

The difference in weight between a light and heavy bike isn't that significant. The lightest ones are maybe 7-8kg and the heaviest at 20kg. The hardest part is how awkward they can be to carry. I had a 15kg folding bike that I carried up 5 flights of stairs to work by hooking the saddle over my shoulder, and a co-worker set up a luggage strap on his so he could carry it up 4 flights to his flat on his shoulder.

I think if you can get part of the frame over your shoulder then the weight shouldn't be too much of an issue, and you'll find it much easier over time.

For a lightweight do everything bike, I'd be looking at the Boardman URB 8.9 hybrid:
https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybri...es-426918.html

It's got a belt drive which is a bit lighter and lower maintenance than a chain, and should be capable of anything up to fairly aggressive off-roading. It comes in at 10.7kg which is pretty light (my gravel bike at double that price is 10.4kg)

Trakhak

Now that you've received a variety of answers here, you might consider visiting bike stores in your area and asking which of their brands and models best match your list of requirements. A weekday or early or late in the day on a weekend day would probably be best, so that they can spend some unhurried time with you. (If you have a friend who has been a frequent cyclist for at least a few years, maybe ask him or her to accompany you for additional input.)

RH Clark

Light, durable and inexpensive, small is unfortunately sold out at the moment.


https://www.poseidonbike.com/collect...41092144398487