cooker

Good points.

storckm

I completely agree about the dynamo. A generator light makes a huge difference. You may also consider a front rack as well as a rear one. I have both a CETMA front rack and one from Velo-Orange. I'm considering adding a two legged Pletscher kickstand, as well. I don't know if you need them in SF, but I really like having fenders.

sauerwald

I am car-light (my wife has a car). I have three bikes that I rely on - one is purely for fun, and is not very practical. The other two are quite similar to one another - the one which I refer to as my utility bike started life as a touring bike - it has:

Steel frame
Fenders
3x8 drivetrain
rear rack - I have a variety of panniers that I can use depending on what I am doing.
Lights (generator powered)
Kickstand

I also have a trailer that I can attach to it to increase load carrying capacity.

It is similar to my daily commuter, so if something happens to one bike, I can easily grab the other and still get to work on time.

I live in CA where I don't have a lot of weather to deal with, but these same two bikes moved with me from Maine where they did see weather.

Newspaperguy

I'd stay away from the European city bike, at least in any place with a lot of hills. The city bike, as I understand it, is at its best in flat areas with temperate climates and if the original poster lived in such an area, the city bike would shine. For hilly country, I'd want something reasonably lightweight and with a good range of gearing. Also, a lighter bike with more gearing options will work admirably for recreational riding as well as in-town rides.

harshbarj

I live in a hilly city, a VERY hilly city, and my city bike does me just fine. Lightweight is simply overblown by the racing types! My city bike weighs 50lbs and I get around faster on that bike than on my 20lb mountain bike. There is far more to consider than weight.

Also the European city bike is most popular in Scandinavian countries, not exctally temperate climate. In fact it's downright cold there.

krobinson103

My do it all utility bike. Cheap 21 speed (love those 7 speed shimano gear sets.. never die). Home made snow tires, heavy duty rack and a basket/kid carrier. I've put 50kg bags of rice, my kids, a table, lots of groceries, a clothes rack, a computer, a large monitor.. in fact almost anything that fits on the back and it handles it fine. It also runs cheap parts so if something does break I can replace it for a fraction of the cost compared to my other bikes. The only concession I made was to install pad holders and cool stop salmons to get the brakes up to spec.

gerv 

Neat... is this winter in South Korea?

krobinson103

Yup. That was -16c after a fresh snow fall. fun ride. I like it when the snow is still powder and not that compacted ice mix that makes for slooowwww travel. They do however use really nasty road salt that corrodes anything in a matter of days so I won't be surprised if I need a new drive train come March.

frantik

yep... I've got three and they are great as utility bikes. can't imagine buying a brand new bike for utility purpose when there are so many excellent mtbs out there

my 1986 Diamondback Apex brings home the groceries and also pulls a trailer with ease. many mtbs have eyelets for racks/fenders and are already geared for pulling heavy loads. they also usually have more powerful brakes. put on some slick road tires and you are ready to go

I'm running a 1x7 drive train but i don't have any hills, but otherwise might need at least another chain ring





also set up this 1989 Apex as a single speed for light utility riding in rain/wet conditions. The fenders may end up on the green one above once I sell the '89

SPECELIZEDRIDER

I have a Specialized Rock Rock hopper that I love. I like the durability of the mountain bike and I load up my Ortlib panniers with 30 to 40LBS of stuff and commute to work its awesome!

gerv 

That Apex is a sweet looking bike. Personally I'd have some nice black SKS fenders on it.

frantik

hah, funny you should mention that.. i just installed the black fenders from the other bike cause the roads were a bit wet after the rain. No pics but it looks awesome, and kept me nice and dry too

frantik

did someone say black fenders?



(yeah crappy cell phone pic in the dark.. oh well)

cabledawg

I'm sure I wont fit in too well with my suggestion, but I am currently using (well once the weather gets better anyways) an older GT Karakoram mtn bike with a FreeRadical long frame kit. I've swapped the tires from the thick knobbies to a wide, road bike style tire. Last year I was riding for fitness during my lunch breaks and could maintain 16mph (gear limited) for an hour on gently rolling hills over rough and smooth paved roads. I'd take the V-racks and Freeloaders off while fitness riding, but re-install everything for the grocery runs and family rides I made on the weekends. I dont mind the front suspension fork because I dont like my arms being jarred from potholes/curbs. But thats just me. Using a mountain bike I get the low gearing needed for hauling loads up the hills, but my particular bike also has enough high end gearing to allow me a decent pace when riding unloaded. Its long and its a bit heavy with everything onit and I wouldnt consider it for use as a distance bike, but its great for work commutes, errands and family fun!

Steamerpoint

My wife is Dutch, now in her late 40's and still has her childhood Dutch bike made by Cyrus. The Dutch firm went bankrupt in 1971, so this gives you an idea how old her bike is. Each day as a child, she would make the 22 mile round trip to school and back, so this bike has wracked up some mileage and still works fine today.

Being half Dutch myself (On my mothers side) I have always fancied a Dutch bike and last week while visiting her family, decided to buy one. Of course my wife wasn't going to allow me to buy myself a new Dutch bike without her getting another one too, so we ended up buying two!

For me, there was only one choice. Gazelle make the best quality (Mass market) bikes in Holland accounting for 33% of all bikes sold each year in Holland and the authentic Rolls Royce opafiets (Grandad bike) is the Gazelle Toer Populair T3 with it's original styling including rod operated drum brakes.

These bikes are not light, but the T3 has 3-gears and once up to speed, glides and glides effortlessly. With a leather Brooks saddle as standard and upright cycling position, it is very, very comfortable to ride. In the short video below, you can see that we made the same childhood school trip with our kids to show them what kids in Holland had to do each day. After 2-hours on my Toer Populair, there was no soreness what so ever.

If you need a medium distance (Around 22-miles) reliable touring bike and don't have serious hills to climb, you can't go wrong with one of these quality Dutch bikes. You'll be paying around £650 for one, but if it lasts you the rest of your life, it will be cheap in the long run.

https://vimeo.com/73823910

Artkansas 

I've only had one frame fail, a steel one. The down tube separated from the bottom bracket. The bike got a very bizarre soft feel as it happened.

The bike was a Montgomery Ward 10 speed, my brother had abandoned it out on the porch in the rain for several years and I'm guessing that it rusted from the inside. I was riding it because it was weeks before college graduation, I was running on financial fumes and all my bikes needed new rims and stuff like that.

I was able to lash the frame back together with baling wire and turnbuckles and the bike got me through to graduation but died completely 3 days later.

fietsbob

scratch sensitive stress risers is one way they break (crank arms too..)

the thing a good Aluminum frame design has is Rigidity. so it won't flex. so the flexing that steel can cope with ,
is eliminated in an Aluminum frame ..

I too have Panniers to use for the grocery runs, and a 2 wheel trailer for bulkier stuff .

Nightshade

The Cruiser is the best choice for this gofer duty.

DX-MAN

I've broken 2, just commuting, in 10-1/2 years. Both full-suss mountain bikes.