Utility Cycling - Electra Delivery

So I went to the bike store today and saw a picture of one of these, and now I want one, however i'd like to know if any of my fellow bike Forum buddys have one or know downsides and what not, looks very nice though, but has a high price tag, in the store like 1100$ here.

Ride one first.
I'm not real thrilled with how the foot forward design rides.
It's too slack for my tastes.

They however are quite good looking.

It looks cool, but given that it's really just a cruiser bike with a basket, it's not as unique as you might imagine. If you want a cool ride, go for it. If you need to tote stuff around, there may be better options.

So I went to the bike store today and saw a picture of one of these, and now I want one, however i'd like to know if any of my fellow bike Forum buddys have one or know downsides and what not, looks very nice though, but has a high price tag, in the store like 1100$ here.




Have a look at the "Low Gravity bikes" here. They cost less and are built for real work. Also notice
that the front wheel is smaller. There's a darn good reason for that on a front loaded bike.

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

The basket tray and rear rack are available as accessories for non-Electra bikes. I have the powdercoated Electra black basket tray installed on my Rans Dynamik.

Looks cool!

Around $750 in the Austin area. I've been eyeballing one and considered putting two baskets on the rear for a grocery getter.

So I went to the bike store today and saw a picture of one of these, and now I want one, however i'd like to know if any of my fellow bike Forum buddys have one or know downsides and what not, looks very nice though, but has a high price tag, in the store like 1100$ here.




Heck! For that kind of money you can get a Big Dummy frame dumpster dive for a MTB to scavenge wheels and parts and have a real cargo bike compared to that fat tire cruiser with a big basket on it.:eek:

Another one that is out there that doesn't have the "cool" factor of the Electra but still should be serviceable at less than 2/3rds the list price is the Torker Cargo-T (http://www.torkerusa.com/cargo-t.html) It has a 3 speed hub and lists for $640.

Aaron:)

Another one that is out there that doesn't have the "cool" factor of the Electra but still should be serviceable at less than 2/3rds the list price is the Torker Cargo-T (http://www.torkerusa.com/cargo-t.html) It has a 3 speed hub and lists for $640.

Aaron:)

That one is way cool! :thumb:

If you just want a bike for pootling around the neighborhood, check out the Trek Pure. I love mine! I got the three speed hub gear with coaster brakes and front hand brake. It's hard to go wrong with a Trek - the components are better, and it's a simple, clean, smooth bike. (Electras are awesome, not knocking them.) I'd love one of those front pizza-style baskets like the Electras have, though.

That is a Steco front rack. Available separately from David Hembrow in the Netherlands!

For $1100, I'd look for an old Schwinn Cycletruck.

Hard to beat a Worksman though, especially for $520.

There's currently a Schwinn Cycle Truck on Ebay. Up to $525 with several hours left- I'll bet it will top $800 by the time it's done.

But, what I came here to write- I was in Richardson Bike Mart on the way home this evening, and they had some bikes with these type of baskets. I"m not sure if it was the same bike as pictured or not- it did have a center kickstand on it. Anyway, I noticed that the front rack/basket affair is very very light- just nothing there when it's empty. The giant Wald basket on my old industrial bike seems to weigh about 40 lbs, in comparison (perhaps I exaggerate). Anyway, that bike with that platform/basket, is going to handle a lot nicer than just some old bike with a basket when it's empty. How strong it is, I don't know. I'm sure it's fine for a few books, probably don't want to go stacking flats of Coke on it, though.

You're paying for pretty with some of the Electras, and I'm not sure that's a good idea if you plan to use it heavily for cargo, etc.

Well, I went by the bike store again, and those weren't Electra's that I saw. They were Fisher Simple City bikes with similar type baskets- only they come up higher in the front. So, like, never mind.

Found the bike here: http://www.fisherbikes.com/bike/model/simple-city-8W/bigimage

Wow, now I see what you mean by paying for pretty...