chiefhoser

I just thought I'd post a few notes about the 2007 bowery as I have now given it a few good commutes and short rides. Note, that the only thing I have changed from stick components is the pedals. I added shimano clipless pedals with platforms and have ridden both with cleats and without.

I bought the Canadian edition (for full disclosure, not sure if there is any difference). I live in Halifax, NS, and while it isn't as hilly as San Francisco it does have its share of long-steep hills and the roads are terrible, large cracks and pot-holes everywhere. The bike soaks it up amazingly well. I was a little worried about the rim at first as I am a heavy (>200lbs) person, but as yet there is no problem.

The bike rides fairly smooth, a little stiff, but better than other bikes I have test ridden. It rides along flat stretches very quickly and is very nimble in traffic and avoiding the prementioned road hazards. The climbing is also great! It climbs at least as good as my single speed mountain bike ('94 kona fire mountain with 2" knobbies) if not better. It seems as if the common complaint about the bowery is its weight, but for me, the bike (at 22lbs) is plenty light and the heavy components add to the durability of the bike itself which is good for a commuter.

So, to wrap this up, I love this bike so far, and will follow up this review at the end of the summer. The long of the short of it is:

9/10

Aves

Congrats. Mine's been good to me, it's last years model, put somewhere around 900 miles on it in the past 6 months. Do you have the army green? It's a nice color.

chiefhoser

I do, and although I don't think I would buy/not buy a bike based purely on colour, the green is very nice. It provides an elegant-but-tough look.

Bklyn

Wow. This bike wasn't even on my radar. $500 for a nice-looking fixed gear? What's the gearing? It is stock brakeless, or did you add a front brake?
And . . . pictures?

chiefhoser

I think it is 48:17

It comes with brakes, you'd have to remove or get the LBS to remove them for you if you want.

And when I get a picture, it'll be here.

Aves

mine: (i've recently gone back to drops though). My gearing is 48x18 stock.

TourDeHood

I have been searcing and test riding bikes for the past two months (Specialized Langster,Raliegh Rushhour,Cannondale Capo, etc) and finnaly decided on the 07 Bowery. I have only ridden it a few times so far but I love it. I will provide more detailed info soon.

chiefhoser

Hope you like it. I have pushed my kilometres up to around 500km (maybe 600km at a high estimate) and still love it!

emptgrave

$400 new with warranty and lifetime tuneups a good deal?