Recommend a sit up style bike please

londonlivvy

My dad (nearly 70) wants a bike so he can cycle to the village and back (about 1.5 miles each way), which is fairly flat. He can't get on with my b-in-law's old hybrid as he doesn't like the riding position or the disc brakes - and says he wants :

- to sit upright
- 3 hub gears
- ideally back brake (ie pedal backwards and it brakes)
- chain guard
- rack or basket on which to store the pint of milk / newspaper he's just bought.

I have no knowledge of this type of bike but a quick google search came up with Kettler and Capital Cycles. Kettler is nearer £600 and Capital more like £200. The latter suits dad's budget a bit better but is it a false economy?

Any other suggestions of this kind of bike?

thanks.

ndru

I would look at a Pashley. It's either a roadster or princess if your dad prefers a low instep, plus you get a basket. Although you want 3 gears I would go for the Sovereign models which offer 5 gears, skirt guards and a frame lock and it makes selling it later much easier. You can find some decent second-hand ones.
If you want to splash more money then there are workcycles - although they cost more they hardly loose value because of their fantastic quality.
Visit
www.workcycles.com
www.dutchbike.co.uk
www.velorution.biz
www.bobbinbicycles.co.uk

for more ideas

rick_chasey

Any Batavus....

WesternWay

Rick Chasey wrote:

Any Batavus....

+1

WesternWay

Rick Chasey wrote:

Any Batavus....

+1

MichaelW

Giant make some bun-gear nice city bikes with chainguards. The womens versions have step-through frames which may be easier to use. They come in manly beige rather than girly pink.
It is very hard to find aftermarket chainguards.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bik ... 889/45557/

walkingbootweather

Not being sexist, ageist or anything but he might be better off with a 'step-through' bike often marketed as a women's bike.

Not speculating at your Dad's ability to 'get his leg over' as he enters his 70s, but a chap of a similar age rides one down my road regularly.

something like http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/elops-city-88609651/
or
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_762091_categoryId_165534_langId_-1?cm_sp=Intelligent_Offer-_-Product_Details_Zone_1-_-Blank&iozone=PDPz1

or http://www.made.com/leisure/hollander-w-bike-metallic-black
men's version http://www.made.com/leisure/hollander-m-bike-metallic-black

Can't say I've had experience of any of these, just signposting.

Good luck

desweller

Moulton? 2nd hand at that budget.

londonlivvy

Thanks everyone. I'll pass on all the advice to him.

I think that whilst he's still able to get his leg over the bar (as it were), it would probably be a good idea to get a step through frame, so he can continue riding for longer / on days when he's not so mobile.

I think Pashleys are very heavy and expensive for what you get - it seems you pay a lot for the brand. Which I guess is good for selling on later, but he's very unlikely to succomb to the "MUST UPGRADE" bug of the rest of us!

The Decathlon one is an absolute bargain but I'm not sure it'd have the durability it'd need. It wouldn't get much (if anything) in the way of maintenance.

snailracer

londonlivvy wrote:

...
The Decathlon one is an absolute bargain but I'm not sure it'd have the durability it'd need. It wouldn't get much (if anything) in the way of maintenance.

It's a single-speed: you can't get much lower maintenance than that. Now, can your dad push the one gear...

Decathlon used to do various hub-geared versions of it, unfortunately not listed on their website any more.

ride_whenever

kona africa bike.

Fits spec ideally and is relatively cheap. Very good runner which we use as hire bikes.

pianoleo

The Decathlon bike would do fine, for a brief period of time. They're sturdy and pretty much maintenance free, but the cheap ones are built with pretty low quality parts. The back wheel on mine was causing problems within the first 500 miles, and around the 1000 mile mark I took it back and upgraded to something that actually resembles a bicycle.

Possibly a false economy, but if it's only going to get used for the odd flat trip then maybe it'll see years of use quite happily.

pianoleo

The Decathlon bike would do fine, for a brief period of time. They're sturdy and pretty much maintenance free, but the cheap ones are built with pretty low quality parts. The back wheel on mine was causing problems within the first 500 miles, and around the 1000 mile mark I took it back and upgraded to something that actually resembles a bicycle.

Possibly a false economy, but if it's only going to get used for the odd flat trip then maybe it'll see years of use quite happily.

londonlivvy

I think a singlespeed would be a bit harsh on his knees - I am trying to look after him!

But like the kona africa idea.

thanks chaps.

Clever Pun

maybe something belt driven, would mean virtually zero maintenance

londonlivvy

I see where you're headed with that, CP, but I think the belt drive might throw him. He's a bit old school and didn't get on at all with the disc brakes as they kept seizing and he couldn't adjust them and had to call my mum to come and get him.

He wants something he understands and is happy to bung a bit of oil on occasionally, but it'll probably be propped up against the fence most of the time.

I hear you re Decathlon. He's probably going to do pretty low mileage though when I'm visiting it might get rather more.

ndru

Clever Pun wrote:

maybe something belt driven, would mean virtually zero maintenance

A full chaincase achieves the same with less trouble. Belt drives have more drawbacks then advantages really (special frame needed, stress on the bearings etc)

tailwindhome

2nd hand may be your best bet instead of a modern take on the 'bombproof' vintage bikes.

Anyone know what the post office do with their old bikes?

unixnerd

You see loads of this kind of bike for sale in the local papers / gumtree. Often been sitting in a shed for the last 30 years but nothing new tyres and tubes won't sort and they tend to sell for next to nothing.

I saw a perfect old Raleigh go for 20 quid and a nice Puch for 30.