Originally Posted by
nasiralpharia
I was in REI yesterday, and I looked at the Electra Townie. It looks really good, I was impressed. I wanted to know if anyone out there owns it. Most of my trips right now are under six miles, to the library, grocery store, and such. I don't really care about speed so much, so its ok if its a little slower. They say this bike has "flat foot technology" where you can put both feet on the ground at lights and such. I don't have a problem starting or stopping now, I use clips and straps, but sometimes I try to come to rolling stops so I don't have to pull either foot out. Anyway I'm just imagining riding the townie with a messenger bag in regular clothes and jumping off to my destination. It will be a little while before I can get it though, right now I have no space... What do you guys think about the townie, and why is it that they don't seem to be hugely popular, or is it just me?
Haven't read all the other replies, but we own one. By we, I mean my wife. And I've ridden it a bit.
It's slow but comfortable and fun. My wife got the Townie 3S model. It has a chain guard, a nexus 3-speed internally-geared hub and front suspension. The front suspension is somewhat ridiculous, but it does smooth out the bumps that the front fork would otherwise pass off to your hands. The internal hub is nice for relatively flat areas. The lowest gear isn't low enough for a leisurely rider to tackle steep grades, and the highest gear isn't high enough to obtain high speeds. Pushing it pretty hard, you'd be unlikely to get to 25 MPH.
For comfort and just having a nice ride, though, it's an excellent bike. If you're not much for being in a hurry, not much for climbing hills, and just want to get around town to run errands and whatnot, it's a great bike. Even if you have a long way to ride, it's fine as long as you aren't hurried.
The bike itself IS HEAVY. It's at least as heavy as my steel mountain bike. Part of this might be the front suspension. I'm sure a Townie without front suspension would be a few pounds lighter. If you don't have to carry your bike up or down any stairs regularly, this isn't even an issue. I personally don't mind lugging a bike up and down stairs, but it gets on some peoples' nerves.
It has braze-ons on the back for a rack, and my wife picked up a rack and a trunk bag to go with it. The rack itself was from Electra specifically for the Townie and I don't know if generic mountain bike racks will work on it. The pedal-forward design is nice because there's absolutely NO chance you'll hit your feet on the panniers if you decide to go that route.
All in all, it's a good, solid bike. For my 30 mile hilly round trip, it wouldn't be practical. For my wife's fun rides on paved paths and running short errands, it works great.