I contacted a LBS to get a bike for my son who is joining college in the fall. They recommended the Breezer Downtown EX as a good choice for a daily college commuting bike.
I have only bought Specialized stuff to date and not steeped in bicycling lore, had not heard of Joe Breeze etc.

Question - would this be a reasonable choice for a commuter bike for him? The advantage is the LBS is quite close to campus.....

tx....

Nothing wrong with it that I can see. Is it a bike that your son wants?

Breezer Downtown EX City Bike - 2014 - Hybrid Comfort Bikes

Don't think he cares. I think he would trust my judgement (or lack thereof )

tx

How hilly is the college town?

I've test ridden these plenty and they are a solid choice. I recommend getting a quality headlamp, blinking red tail lamp, good bell & at least one pannier to complete the package.

- Andy

Lol, that's a great choice for college commuting. For the thieves, I am, who tend to take anything that attached to a bike...

It's fine. Biggest problem with a college bike is theft. You need at least a ulock (not a cable lock) to go with it.

agree , campus clusters bikes for theft convenience..

it makes a rat bike an advantage. funky but functional .. rusty but reliable .. but still lock it up much better than the next guy did..

My son rides a '73 Fuji Special Road Racer. He's 6'3, and the frame fits him perfectly. He says that the guy who runs the bike shop in town just down the street from the campus says he gets three or four people a week wondering where they can get a bike w/ an old-school frame like that.

The bike has never been stolen. I don't know if he locks his bike up really well, there's little crime on campus, or the other bikes at the rack are significantly more modern and better-equipped.

I know a stolen rat bike stings a whole lot less than a stolen $X00 bike.

Um, any good battery light should unclip and go with you, and the pannier goes with you as well, so i'm not sure what your point is.

- Andy

It is a pretty flat campus - Palo Alto.....
I love the LBS because whenever I am in town I rent a Specialized Roubaix from them. They have great service. There are other stores in town but tend to be more "mass market" if you know what I mean.

tx

<knock on wood> may luck remain.

Since you all ready have a relationship with them, that's a good place to try and get a good deal. The downtown ex (2014) comes in a slate gray and a dark brown color, so if you're going to order that bike, figure out which color your son would be most keen to. I would also order it ASAP, as stocks may be low due to back to school demand. Your son should also register the bike with ASI here https://www.advancedsports.com/register/ and campus police. In the event of a theft, photographs also help.

It goes without saying that on top of a good U lock you should think about getting a couple of spare tubes, a pump, and a simple tool kit for changing flats even if you don't get anything else. Worst thing is to be stuck with a bike that you cannot ride when you're used to riding it often.

- Andy

A vandal tried to steal my Philips Saferide headlight from my bike last weekend. It's bolted to the fork crown. He failed. He bent the light's mount, but I was able to bend it back.

Not sure why you think a pannier "completes the package". Go to a college campus - no one is carrying around a pannier. If you leave it on the bike it would get stolen, if you take it with you it's a total pain to carry around all day - and no one is doing that.

College students use bikes for transportation. They don't like taking stuff on and off of it, and if you leave stuff on it it tends to get stolen (like my friend had a wired speedometer stolen - who even steals that? it's useless without the wire part). But that's what happens, so college students tend strongly to leave their bikes bare bones.

So, classes at night = no bike, and carry x lbs in backpack while riding is your solution, then? You realize they sell panniers with shoulder straps, right?

- Andy

I'd check CL and get a decent used bike. Backpack for a student makes the most sense unless you have a long commute. Good locks make good neighbors.

If this is the university in Palo Alto I think it is (LOL... I worked there for 7 years), there is a bike shop in the student union. They used to be a Breezer dealer, but I don't think they are anymore. Great bunch of guys, I highly recommend them. You may still want more of a beater for him to chug around campus with, or at least a really good lock.

Like I said, just look around at what people actually do on a college campus - students don't carry around panniers, they use a backpack. And I repeatedly advocate for not using a backpack for work commuting, but for a place where you're walking around all day a backpack makes a lot more sense. But my opinion on what makes sense doesn't matter nearly as much as what pretty much every college student does.

I see a curiously large # of students on bikes without a light, but if one did invest in a light best way to go would be a cheaper dynamo hub (the Sanyo is $135 for the dynamo and wheel, another $50-$110 for the front light) and a dynamo light because it's permanently attached to the bike (might want to more permanently attach the light with special screws or something). This one depends on the particular student - at least carrying a light in a backpack is feasible if it's a small self-contained light, but when they bike, say, to a bar, they're not going to want to be carrying a light around inside either, and usually gets left at home.

But I've never seen anyone use panniers on a college campus, and if a few do they're definitely a tiny minority. Everyone wears their backpack while biking.

The #1 thing a college student needs that I see is a ulock to lock their bike. Otherwise they'll cheap out and try to use a cable lock.

I find myself on college campuses a few times a week year round, and i see panniers, lights, frame mounted pumps, all kinds of stuff. But, hey ok.

- Andy

Lol, well, if I remember I'll look around and take video the next time I'm on campus. Can't say I ever remember seeing a pannier, I know that I've never seen them be widely used.

In the meantime, why not a backpack/messenger bag carried in a basket or on a rear rack? Easy on-off no sweaty back, no appeal to bike thieves, inexpensive.

That i see more often than plain panniers.

- Andy

I actually won a Breezer Downtown EX in a contest a few years ago. Excellent bike. I love it, though mine is barely stock any more.

Photo?

- Andy