I am thinking about a basketed bike for use as a townie/grocery bike. I use
a flat bar road bike with rear panniers now, but my capacity is limited. An
Xtracycle would be great but my storage space is limited, so a basket bike
seems good. Being able to carry 2 or three bags of groceries easily would
make shopping easier.

The first thing that comes to mind is to build up a Kogswell P/R with a 3 or
8 speed hub and a big Wald basket on a front rack, but that's a bit
expensive for its intended purpose.

Gary Fisher showed the Simple City at Trek World (
http://arsbars.com/?p=203 ). Looks great, and they claim the geometry makes
it comfortable and easy to ride with a full load. Low trail? Plus the
optional basket looks really strong and is designed for the bike. No price
is set yet, but several sites say $400 for the 3 speed and $800 for the 8
speed, with the basket being optional. Still, even if the basket is a
hundred bucks that's cheaper than the Kogswell. BUT---Fisher showed the
Simple City with a coaster brake at Trek World, and I don't like the idea of
a coaster brake on a bike I ride in traffic. It does have a front caliper
brake, but the coaster makes starting a hassle, b/c you can't just spin the
cranks to get the pedal in a starting position.

Schwinn has introduced the Coffee for the 2008 model year. It's a
re-imagining of classic Schwinn commuter type bikes from the 60s.
http://www.schwinnbikes.com/products...il.php?id=1027
Looks sturdy and stylish, plus it will look like an old bike so may keep
thieves from being interested, not that I live in an area with any bike
theft. But I'd have to rig up the big Wald.

I think I'll probably go with the Fisher, even if it has a coaster brake.
I've written the folks at Gary Fisher a letter asking them to spec the
Simple City with two caliper or canti brakes, but we'll see what happens.