[bikesdirect]

A bunch of questions about these bikes

http://publicbikes.com/Bikes

http://www.linusbike.com/models/

1 - What would you call them? Retro-city bikes? Dutch bikes? English-racer [what we called them in the 60s]? Or something else?
2 - Have you seen more new ones in use in your area?
3 - How much do you think bikes like this should sell for? In 1-speed? In 3-speed?
4 - If you were going to get one would you want SS of IGH? Would you want matching rear rack?
5 - Is traditional steel attractive to you; would you prefer aluminum; or does it matter?

 

[AZ]

1 - What would you call them? Retro-city bikes? Dutch bikes? English-racer [what we called them in the 60s]? Or something else? Commuter
2 - Have you seen more new ones in use in your area?Yes
3 - How much do you think bikes like this should sell for? In 1-speed?450 In 3-speed?700
4 - If you were going to get one would you want SS of IGH? IGHWould you want matching rear rack?A well engineered rack would be a 'must have"
5 - Is traditional steel attractive to you; would you prefer aluminum; or does it matter?

Steel for sure
...

 

[Normbilt]

Dutch bike seems to be the Theme Here
Most run an Internal but I would have to run a SS or External Gear
I don't Like the Heft on the Internal unless I'm just Cruising around.

I've sold some Electra Amsterdam they are pretty sweet





Some of my Personal Retro Builds

 

[AndrwSwitch]

1 - What would you call them? Retro-city bikes? Dutch bikes? English-racer [what we called them in the 60s]? Or something else?
2 - Have you seen more new ones in use in your area?
3 - How much do you think bikes like this should sell for? In 1-speed? In 3-speed?
4 - If you were going to get one would you want SS of IGH? Would you want matching rear rack?
5 - Is traditional steel attractive to you; would you prefer aluminum; or does it matter?

2. - I'm in Seattle. People have them as fashion bikes, with the occasional road bike with moustache bars for actual commuting and pleasure riding.
3. - In the context where I've seen a lot of them (Amsterdam) they're a beater bike people use to get around where it's flat. In the context of the US, the bike people use for that job is an old crappy mountain bike. So they'd need to be priced to compete with Wal-mart.
4. - To be remotely useful to me, it'd need to be geared. I have no desire to commute in a hilly city on a singlespeed. A rack would be cool. Folding baskets would be cool, if they could be removed. Matching panniers would be cool, as long as they didn't suck. A rack that could hold a U-lock securely without rigging something with bungee cords would be sweet.
5. - I enjoy the look of the old lugged steel bikes, but on a bike I ride from A to B and leave locked outside, I don't really care. These things are often very heavy, so if there was a significant weight or cost savings for me in using aluminum, I'd like that.

I think the key for these bikes is to understand who your customer is. I know it's not me, and I think it's not most people who commute 3-5 days a week in my city. It's also not people who ride as a sport, at least at the moment that they're on that bike. So I think it needs to be attractive to people who want a fashion bike, and functional enough for cruising on MUPs, grocery shopping (maybe) and going to the bar or a neighbor's barbecue. In a flat city, maybe functional enough for commuting.

 

[Normbilt]