Utility Cycling - College Town Bike

I went to visit a Ohio Norhtern University with my college bound son on Saturday. Nice campus, abeit flat as a pancake, and there were a lot of bikes as building were spread out and there weren't roads inside the campus. They didn't have fenders, and most were mountain bikes. One student's chain was off and she was working on it and I fixed it for her.

I told my son that they all had the wrong bike. He could see my point.

I'm thinking that the best bike is a one or three speed with fenders and a big, wire front basket. Kind of like the Worksman bike you see sometimes. Perhaps with folding wire rear baskets, too.

Where do you buy one? I guess used is the way to go, but I'm not sure what to do.

In my experience, most college kids have to leave their bikes outside all the time. As a result they tend to use inexpensive "disposable" bikes rather than ruin a 'good bike' by leaving it out in the elements, also a rusty x-mart bike is less of a theft target.

Fenders would be a great idea, but they cost money... money that could otherwise be spent on beer.

If you want to get your son a bike for college I would sugest searching Craigslist for a cheapo $15 mountain bike. Add some fenders, maybe a rack (I just posted a thread about a front rack i made for $15 that would be great for a backpack full of books) and a sturdy U lock.

The 'bikes with big front baskets' you are refering to are called "Low Gravity Bikes" and they start at about $500 and work their way up from there. The largest American producer fo LG bikes is, as you mentioned, Worksman Bicycles.

http://worksmancycles.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/indbikes.html

The $485 difference between a beater bike and a worksman bike could buy a semesters worth of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

If you want to 'fix up' a beater bike, your local bike shop or Nashbar.com would be happy to sell you fenders, racks, lights, locks, and anything else you need to transform the bike from a mediocre off road machine to the ultimate college-class-attending machine.

I'm just talking about installing a basket on a regular bike. I've never heard of a low gravity bike.

You can mount baskets on just about any bike. Worksman bikes are available directly from Worksman (www.worksmancycles.com (http://www.worksmancycles.com)), but they'd be kind of overkill for the application.

Riding around a flat campus, it won't really matter what bike you have. One or three speed will work, but then again, so will a 37-speed. Style might be more important than function here.

I'd bet that no one uses fenders because if it's very rainy, they just don't ride that day.

I didn't even know fenders for bikes existed when I was an undergrad. FYI.

Wald (http://www.waldsports.com/) sells baskets in about any configuration you can think of...

Aaron:)

I'm not sure I understand the question? If you just want a basket that clamps onto the handlebars of a regular bicycle that would be $12 and a trip to Wal-Mart.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5750636

I believe StephenH hit the nail on the head about fenders- most won't ride if it is raining.

These are Low Gravity Bikes (aka: bikes with 3 speeds, fenders, and big wire front baskets as you described in your first post)
http://worksmancycles.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/media/lowgravity.jpg

I would even consider a single speed given the topography of northern Ohio. An old Specialized Rockhopper stripped down to one speed with a good rear rack would be my choice.

When I was in college in Wisconsin I had a three-speed pseudo-English Racer from Montgomery Ward. (I'm dating myself, aren't I? For those to young to remember, Montgomery Ward was similar to Sears.)

When I was in college in Wisconsin I had a three-speed pseudo-English Racer from Montgomery Ward. (I'm dating myself, aren't I? For those to young to remember, Montgomery Ward was similar to Sears.)

Nothing wrong with that Elkhound, the 3-speed was the Ivy League bicycle in the 50's and 60's. And still is ideal for the purpose. A well tuned ratty looking 3-speed with a rusty wald basket on front is probably the best possible thing for the job. Gets you around without trouble, but is not likely to be ripped off with only a basic lock on it. Especially in Ohio where such bikes are still cheap.