Good Deliveroo Hack.... Serious question.

debeli

My middle child has used Deliveroo as a source of income on and off over a number of years while studying and between stints of study.

He has used a variety of bikes, mostly old family hacks or projects that have been hanging from hooks in the cellar.

Most are from the "woodman's axe" end of bike heritage. Only the frame is original and even that has been replaced: Steel single-speed road bike, geared alu road bike with lovely Campag furniture, old steel Kona rigid MTB and many others.

He seems to like:
26" wheels with nice, comfortable CityJet 26x1.95 tyres.
Rigid forks.
An MTB frame.
1x7 or 1x8 gearing.

Right now he is working on an old hack of a 2001 Trek 4700 on Onza Smart Guy rigid forks, cable disc on the front and v-brake rear. Currently it is 2x8 but has been 3x and 1x and all sorts.... The cassette is quite a tight, road one.... Maybe 12-23 or similar.

We discuss occasionally what would be the best tool for this work. The real answer is "anything cheap and reliable", but that is dull.

He or I (or both of us) sometimes end up mashing together some ghastly jumble of parts that looks odd but does a job. The question is.... If one could have a limitless parts bin, what would one put together for an ideal Deliveroo hack?

timothyw

Rohloff hub gears? Very expensive but very reliable (and perhaps not recognised for their value by the average bike thief)

Mia Mars

Unbranded road bike looking a bit worn and cheap, either single speed or with a slight range of gears depending how hilly the area is that he works in. I used to do Deliveroo and personally found a hard tail MTB to be the best for me, but my zine was pretty flat so I had no trouble riding on a bike with such fat tyres

DeVlaeminck

I've got a Specialized single speed tricross with guards and slick tyres - got to be pretty much ideal I'd have thought. I've sometimes wondered if a rack to mount the box they all carry might be preferable too? And onenthing most seem to be missing - lights!

ddraver

I found my fixie great for flat urban riding...

StillGoing

One that stops at traffic lights and doesn't go the wrong way down one way streets as all the Deliveroo seem to do here.

PhilipPirrip

I've seen one of the local Deliveroo riders using an electrical mountain bike.

I've fitted an electric conversion kit to an old 26" hardtail and is great for getting about town so you could fit a conversion kit to the old MTB. Two advantages would be a) it's a lot cheaper than buying an electric bike, and b) being an old hack bike it's less attractive then a new bike to the local scrotes.

debeli

I quite like the idea of a fancy-Dan Rohloff hub. I have never used one or worked on one, but I hear they are lovely.

Many years ago I was a motorcycle courier and my "best" courier bike was a tired but willing Guzzi V50 with electronic ignition and a very sticky pair of tyres. It looked utterly dull, made just enough power and was equally comfortable in winding lanes, nipping between black cabs or blatting the length of the M4. It was also dirt cheap.

I s'pose the bicycle equivalent of that would be some sort of old MTB with a sturdy 1x and rigid forks (which the young man uses) or a simple, light, flickable road singlespeed (which he also uses).

The other thing about the Guzzi is that it was a fun bike away from work too.... which I suppose my son's Deliveroo bikes are too.

Thanks for the replies.

Matthewfalle

ridgeback storm with drop bars, slick tyres, 1x,.

perfect road hacker geo, cheap, bombproof, look cool.