cooker

Kronan is available at Toronto stores and has a North American office at

Kronan Cycle North America Inc
64 Fraser Avenue
Toronto, ON M6K 1Y6
(416) 533-3141

jordanb

^-- It'd be interesting to know if anyone has actually managed to buy one in Toronto. I had a friend in Toronto who tried and they had some other swedish offerings but the Kronan Cykel itself wasn't being sold.

I do believe that there is an importer in Conneticut who imports them, but they import the military version rather than the civilian version mostly for the collector's market (they go for like $3000 a peice!).

cooker

I see a few Kronans on the street, and the TBN website says Curbside sells them but the Curbside website does not, so maybe they are no longer sold.

unkchunk

I was having similar thoughts about 6 months ago. I can't remember the Cannondale European model, but it had internal hubs and 700 wheels. The US version looked very similar but had 26 inch wheels. I couldn't understand the rear drop outs that they had and I had a Cannondale once before, so I ended up getting a Surly Cross Check with an internal hub.

xB_Nutt

I agree with everything up to your last point about it weighing a ton. Cannondales are typically very light. I seriously considered the Cannondale Street, but wanted something with a steel frame for a change. I've only had my Bianchi San Jose SS for less than a week and I am already looking at fitting it with a Nexus or similar internally geared hub...

n4zou

The problem is CPSC. This is the federal agency in charge of how bicycles are equipped and sold here in the USA. It is illegal to sell a bicycle in the USA equipped with lights. You can put them on as accessories after you sell the bicycle. The line of thinking over at the CPSC is that it's very dangerous to ride a bicycle at night and providing lighting equipment on the bicycle would promote riding at night. Then they force the manufacturer to install reflectors on the bicycles before there sold. This confuses the typical consumer who thinks it fine to go riding at night without lights as the bicycle came with reflectors. The product manual warns you not to ride at night but says nothing about adding lights and no one reads it anyway. As lights are not required there are no standards set for bicycle lighting equipment sold here in the USA so its very easy to purchase junk bicycle lighting equipment. In Europe some bicycles are required to be equipped with lighting and that equipment must meet specifications such as CE, which is similar to our DOT requirements. As DOT has no control of bicycles there are no real requirements for equipment used on bicycles. As such the manufacturer can equip the bicycle with much cheaper components. If you want a bicycle from Europe you must purchase one there and bring it back with you as luggage. Considering European bicycles must use certified equipment the costs are going to be much higher than bicycles sold in and for the USA market and so your going to pay a premium price for that bicycle. You may run into importation taxes as well. There is a way around this. Simply take a cheap bicycle with you and declare it with customs. Ditch that bike and purchase your new bicycle and return with it. The chances of them catching the swap are very low as most people consider bicycles as toys and don’t pay any attention to what they cost.

rando

yeah, that ruins it for me, too.

14R 

used the picture of that bike, but the original purpose of the topic was about Commuter bikes made by Cannondale but not available in the USA.

I am really interested i nthe Street pro 07 from them. I understand the Bad Boy is not a commuter, neither would be the best for most of serious commuters. But I come from a Mountain Bike background and I don't believe a road bike or anything similar would survive my lack of "respect" for flat-roads-only. I Mountain bike with road tires may sound silly, but will give me some extra speed compared to a mountain bike without blocking me from doing my bunny hops, soft sand, grass, rocks and other crap that I find on my commute (for 3 years or so, but they are there...).

Anyone using a mountain bike with slicks on their commute?

I-Like-To-Bike

Sez who? Any credible reference for this line of BS? John Forester or the boogy man perhaps?

KrisPistofferson

Despite my colleague's obnoxious method of delivery, I think this might be a bunch of hooey, too. I've seen plenty of Breezers at the LBS for sale with all the bells and whistles.

rando

I used to commute on a Trek 820 Mtn bike with slicks. worked great... then I bought an old steel 10-speed road bike from goodwill and I love that for commuting. so the Mtn bike is going to be my "other" bike now. Mtn bikes with slicks are good for commuting.

KrisPistofferson

+1 that's whatI'm doing now, I've got a Trek MTB with a rigid fork and slicks, front and rear rack, a Brooks and trekking bars. It's a mongrel, but so's my dog,and I love him, too.

I-Like-To-Bike

I call it BS, you call it hooey. It smells the same, comrade. This fabricated stuff smells just the same, but if you feel better now with your sly dig, swell.

14R 

I don't speak English as my first language, so I wasn't really sure how Mongrel was being used in your sentence (good or bad) so I went to the dictionary and found the definition of the bike I want:

"Mongrel" must take on a new meaning that conveys the idea of positive, purposeful mixing -- a mixing that expands freedom while honoring the origins and preferences of those who mix. "Mongrel" also should not convey deracination, but the possibility of a rich specifically -- too rich to fit existing categories.

My new bike will be a Mongrel. That is for sure.

Rafael

donnamb 

How does Breezer do it, then? My Uptown 8 came equipped with lights on front and rear. Lights are standard on all of their Town Bike models but one.

Allen

Here is a fantastic list of commuter bikes sold in the U.S.
And almost all have lights, along with their fenders, etc.

--A

n4zou

I am pretty sure this will back up my statements.
https://www.johnforester.com/Articles/Lights/cpscreq.htm
The bike shops can sell accessories for the bicycle and install them including lights. It's the factory that can't or will not put that stuff on and you wont find any of that stuff in any unopened bicycle-shipping box. The link to the commuter bikes has a statement about boxing up and shipping you one of these commuter bicycles. They obtain the accessories like lights and put them in the now opened shipping box or repackage the bicycle in another box after the accessories have been included.

cooker

Forester is very long-winded but I don't think it says anywhere in that article that it is illegal to sell bikes with lights, it says that reflectors are required by the CPSC. Forester's point is that this may make some consumers naively assume reflectors alone are adequate at night.

rando

yep. that's mine except for the Brooks and front rack. the trekking bars are great, I recommend them to anyone doing a conversion.

KnoxBreezer

My Breezer came straight from the shop with generator lights attached. I'm pretty sure this isn't something the shop purchased seperately and installed on their own accord, considering EVERY Breezer Town Bike sold in the USA comes out of the shop with lights attached. I can't say for 100% certain if these are attached from the factory, but I'm assuming they're shipped with the bike to be assembled in the shop. Don't know of may bikes that come 100% assembled straight from the factory...

That said. We DO have European style commuting bikes in the USA. At risk of sounding like a shill: Breezer makes an incredible product for a very attractive price. Try pricing out all the goodies included on their town bikes and you'll see why they are a freakin' steal.

I think the problem in the USA is that most people SAY they want a true Euro-style commuter, but are unwilling to give up the idea that they really want some kinda svelt bike (like the c-dale pictured), or a drop bar cyclocross bike, ect. I suffered from the same affliction...

Nightshade

Maybe, however most new commuter / utility bikes sold in America are now being sold to
baby boomers who are sports freaks from way back. These same BB's will want a bike that
does 'work' with a bit of flair that the OMA (grandma) bikes of Europe have grown to love
due to their simplicity. Given enough time the oma bike will get a strong foothold in America.

I-Like-To-Bike

As I suspected, the so-called CPSC Law is just a misinterpreted paraphrase from another believer of John Forester BS/Hooey. Forester's theory that some bicyclists don't know the difference between a reflector and a light is NOT a law.

Try again with some facts, not BS/Hooey.

ducati

I am warming to the idea of a sealed gear hub. My favorite commuter bike right now is a fixie. But as the weather cools, and all sorts of 700c-skittering forest detritus starts to cover my path, I'm starting to find myself dreaming of some fatties. As in MTB sized tires.

When I think of this perfect vehicle (which I haven't yet come across) I imagine fat slicks, disc brakes (I have become quite enamored with them on my MTB), and an internal hub. I'm cool with singlespeed/fixie, but with fatties I may want some gears. I'm an equal opportunity guy that way.

For me, fenders and a rack aren't a given. I use a SKS Xtra-Dry that clips to my seatpost and no front fender, although I may try one this winter.

Right now the closest thing I've found is a wacky shaft-driven Biomega (Copenhagen). Not sure if I can fit fatties on that thing, but the 1.5's that come with it might be fine. I rode one on my regular commute route this weekend and it performed like a... normal bicycle. I rather liked it. I enjoyed the internal geared hub, and the rhythm of the beast was a bit slower and more deliberate than a road bike, but once I settled into it's comfort zone I came quite close to my fixie commute speeds with similar effort.

I think I'd enjoy one of these Euro style bikes, but I tend to travel a bit lighter than they suggest (by their racks and such). Not sure if I would like or dislike more upright riding position on my commute. The Biomega is more MTB-style with flat bars and a bit more leaned over position. I do have a beach cruiser style bike, I guess I could ride that to work one day and see what I think over a 28-mile day. Who knows. It is always interesting to evaluate alternatives.

fender1

I have a 2005 C'dale 50/50 w/ nexus 8 spd hub and had a difficult time getting it. I eventually drove to NYC from Philadelphia to pick it up because the LBS was having some difficulty in getting. They kept tryingt to "show" me bikes in the store, even though I specified I wanted something w/ internal hub as they had none in stock. That said I like the bike quite a bit and have been using it as my winter/ bad weather bike.(about 1500 miles) My only complaint would be that for longer distances it is not as comfortable (wrist pain even after installing stem riser and trying different bars) as my 1977 Trek road bike w. moustache bars.

As project for myself I am converting a Schwinn World Voyaguer (1973) one piece at a time, to accept a nexus 8 spd internal hub so as to replace the Cannondale for winter. The cannondale will be relagated to around town/ride w/ the kids, shopping etc. Don't count out creating your own "mongerel" to get exactly what you want. The cost differential is not as great as first thought if you aquire parts incrementally and shop around. I think it is more important to be sure that the bike you purchase fits the need you have. I shyed away from the road frame style bikes more from fear & ignorance on my part, but have come to find I prefer them for my ride. Just my experience.

ellenDSD

I have to second these thoughts on the Breezer. I have a Villager and it is THE BOMB for around town biking. And to think I almost didn't get one because of the 26" tires; For some reason I had a real hang up about those. I'm not fast and I'm not going more than, say... 12 miles on my Breezer but everything I need in town is within such limits so no worries. And I have to add, I don't know Joe Breezer from Adam but at least he is promoting the idea of a bike as transportation - that was another reason I bought one as I felt it would be a good idea to buy from a company that shares my attitude.

Happy biking everybody