Darth Lefty 

It looks like an FX built up with roadster components in dreary trim. That doesn't sound like something I'd want around here.

Maybe Copenhagen and Denmark like this sort of bike because they're flat. When I visited Paris on my honeymoon in 2013, all the privately owned bikes seemed to be either 10-year-old front-suspension hybrids or 30-year-old 10-speeds. The bike share had 3-speeds with drum brakes which were adequate for most places but I guess they need to truck bikes up to Montmarte. We didn't see much bicycle commuting in Rome which is very hilly.

Andy_K 

The Breezer Uptown 7 meets your criteria: sub $700, IGH, dynamo lights, rack, fenders, not a dutch-style bike. It even has a chain guard. Yet it probably sells terribly in the U.S.

I think the problem is two-fold: (1) the transportation infra-structure in the U.S. is nothing like Copenhagen, and (2) the U.S. culture is biased against bikes like that.

Let's just get it out of the way and admit that there's a certain aspect of (2) that is just plain crazy. It's kind of like the fact that Big Macs are everywhere here, but it's nearly impossible to find decent Käsespätzle. The heart wants what the marketing machine tells it to want.

That said, it's not entirely crazy. Americans, for the most part, don't live within five flat miles of work and they almost never ride over cobblestones. Different conditions select for different bikes.

There's no such thing as typical, but I think my commute represents a fairly common species in the U.S. I live in one suburb and work in another one 10 miles away. My route is mostly along very well paved roads with auto traffic moving at 35-45 miles per hour and me cruising along next to it in a bike lane. My route is flatter than most people probably see, but I do have a tasty climb up a quarter mile of 15-20% grade just before I get home. Could I do this using a city bike like the Breezer? Absolutely. It wouldn't even suck much. BUT...is a bike like that the best fit for my commute? I really don't think so.

Here's a link to the bike that has evolved from my local conditions: https://www.flickr.com/photos/263825...57631105993272

And here's why it evolved that way:
-For rides 10 miles and up, I find the slightly less upright position of a cylcocross/adventure/sport touring bike to be more comfortable.
-The commute has enough longish (> 2 miles) uninterrupted stretches that a "faster bike" (I know...) makes an actual difference in the length of my commute.
-Because of the hill at the end I don't want an unnecessarily heavy bike. IGH may work well, but they're hideously heavy.
-I have 5 or 6 different bikes (U.S. suburbs = plentiful garage space) and it's easier to move a single rechargeable light between them than to set them all up with dynamos.
-I like doing my own maintenance and even though a derailleur system requires a lot more attention than an IGH (especially in my rainy climate) there's absolutely nothing that can go wrong with it that I can't fix. While an IGH may be 99% worry free, if it does break, I'm going to have to take it to a shop.
-I also use my bikes for recreation. In the summer that means 50+ mile road rides. When I had just two bikes, one of my commuters had to be capable of pretending it was a road bike (and so I got a CX bike). The other one was a lot more like the Breezer but with external gears. During this time I discovered that even on cold, windy, rainy days I enjoyed riding the CX bike much more than the "city" bike.

Turning my earlier self-questions around... could I do a typical Copenhagen commute on my Jake? Definitely. Would it be the best bike for that commute? Absolutely not. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to elaborate on the reasons.

acidfast7

Way too expensive. Should be half that price.

Andy_K 

price = f(supply, demand)

You may as well complain about the weather.

acidfast7

Nope, build the same bike out of cheaper components ...

https://www.lidl.de/de/prophete-alu-city-geniesser-2-5/

$295 without tax

Andy_K 

Then it's not the same bike.

But my point is, if people thought the Breezer was too expensive, they wouldn't buy it. Ease of availability is part of the supply factor and so those German bikes don't drive the price down on the Breezer, even if you do accept them as basically equivalent (which I can't say, knowing nothing about the components they use).

acidfast7

Fair enough ... just pointing out pedantically that you're formula for price is missing a few variables.

bkrownd

Internal gears are a little expensive for the US market. Dyno hubs are not popular vs. battery powered lights. Fenders are a niche market. (the niche being experienced commuters) It's a package of things that aren't terribly popular in the fitness/fashion-oriented US bicycle market, slapped on a dime-a-dozen flat bar road bike.

fietsbob

Because people want to Pay Less, as seen in this thread, The Bikes Shipped to the US are stripped down , Like I said earlier ...

and you Buy as few or as Many Accesories as you can afford above and beyond what the Bike costs .

jsohn

It's just strange. I would have loved this setup when I lived in Eugene, OR commuting to school...or when I lived in San Francisco, commuting to work. Part of what makes the trek st720 nice is that it is a bit pedestrian. That is what keeps the price down. The breezers are nice...really nice, though I would call the uptown a classic cycle not a city-bike (look at the geometry...it is way too upright) and when they do make a good city bike geometry, they slap on the Alfine component line instead of the nexus and or give it a belt drive, and the price doubles. Maybe it is something that is coming, but I still don't see why trek would make a product line in one country and not offer it in another country...if even only for special order...

Andy_K 

That raises interesting possibilities. I bet if you found the right Trek dealer, a place with a particular relationship with the company or the motivation to try hard enough, they could get you one of these. Trek is a big enough company that I'd guess everything is driven by market research and distribution channels. Stepping outside of the normal process is likely to break their profit model. But few things are impossible if you know who to ask.

acidfast7

It's analogous to why Volkswagen doesn't sell their 1.0l or 1.2l TSI engines in the US. They produce as much power as the larger engines currently sold in the US and even better fuel economy, but VW can sell the larger engined cars at more of a profit.

Same with TREK, why introduce that into the market in the US. It would reduce sales of their more expensive bikes that most people on this forum commute on. Anyone here that states they need a $1000 bike to commute on every day is being daft when one sees what the EU market offers.

jsohn

I guess that makes sense. If people will buy at roughly the same rate regardless of the price, why offer the cheap stuff...you'd just be cutting off your profits. I was just so excited that I found a trek that was so commute-ready...since unlike a lot of brands here trek also sells both here and in the U.S. ... and then I was bummed to find out that my brother in law in California can't buy the same bike on the U.S. market...

Maybe I can get him to up his budget though...the breezer city bikes have some really nice components...it really does look like an awesome bike...

dynaryder

Ok,first off,you don't get to wear commuting in Copenhagen as some kind of badge of honor. Way better cycling infrastructure than most US cities,way better weather than places like DC and NYC,and it's basically flat. I'd prolly ride a SS over there.

As for those style bikes,they do have them in the US,they just don't sell well. Partly because we like the image of performance road bikes/rugged MTB's,but also partly for practical reasons. You couldn't pay me to ride that Trek on my old commute. I've commuted with 8 and 9spd hubs and they just didn't have a comfortable gear range for me to use them on a daily basis. That 7spd just wouldn't cut it. As for the Roller brakes,the only brake issues I've ever experienced riding around DC have been on share bikes with Roller brakes. Being dragged down our steep hills just tears them up. I've twice almost been hit because a share bike's brakes didn't stop me,just slowed me down,and once almost went over the bars because the front brake suddenly locked. I also have no interest in dyno hubs since I own many bikes,and battery lights give me the flexibility to move them around.

I'm happy for you if that's your ultimate commuter,but remember this saying: "horses for courses". What works for you,in your area,for your commute,won't work for everyone.

acidfast7

Disagree. Such a cool city, puts just about every other metro area on the planet to shame for life quality.

jsohn

Fair enough that it isn't the commuter that you want...but that doesn't mean that it isn't good for someone else...apart from CPH, I've bike commuted in CA, OR, WA, and MN...and none of them had the same effect on a bike. I think part of it is cobblestones, but the other part is the way of life...most bikes are left uncovered outside all the time here. I can't bring my bike inside here (it isn't allowed by the hoa)...so that probably doesn't help...but the exact same bike (I shipped it along with my furniture) that did just fine for more than a year in minneapolis (literally still looked almost new) died in about three months here, and not for lack of maintenance...and yes horses for courses, and in this case I happen to have had a half dozen different 'courses' over the years where this style of bike would have been great. And if that was my experience, then others probably share it too...not to mention that the original impotice for my post was wanting a bike for someone who has a similar commute...

kickstart

I live in a very hilly area and find 8 speeds to be perfect adequate, and I've never had any issues with roller brakes on the mile long, 10% grade on my way to work every day. Brake pads and rims were a whole other story, none of it good.

noglider 

Unable to find work in my field (IT) this summer, I worked at a bike shop for a while. One memorable customer was an Italian fellow who had just moved from Amsterdam. He had a bike he had bought there. I fixed a flat for him, on the rear wheel. It was a very involved process to get the wheel off and back on, since the bike had the full Dutch treatment, with dynamo lights, fender and a full chaincase. I got to chatting with him to talk about international living, bike commuting, his field (statistics), and cycling. The funny parts of the story were the names. His bike was a Dutch market bike, made by Trek, and the model was: Manhattan! His name: Giovanni Motto, the same as a famous racer, and he had only recently learned of the racer.

Anyway, the Trek Manhattan is an impressive model, though some of the accessories are made of plastic rather than steel. I should have asked him what he paid for it. I'm guessing a lot.
@acidfast7, are you saying upright commuter bikes make less profit than the kinds of bikes that sell in the US? As far as I know, profit margin on bikes here is still quite small.

wolfchild

That's because commuting in USA/Canada is all about speed, performance and getting the fastest Strava time.

wolfchild

Well, most people here baby and pamper their bikes, keep them in climate controlled rooms, and give them regular baths and showers and other cosmetic treatments....That's why if you ever look in "commuter bicycle pics" you'll notice majority of bikes look spotless and brand new, sometimes I wonder if some of these bikes are ridden at all.

acidfast7

I never wash/lube my BSO, but it does stayi side because it will get stolen and I live on the ground floor.

Philphine

probaly most of y'all'll know this already, but i picked a complimentary mag called "momentum" at a bike shop that seemed to specialise in commuter/city type bikes. it might have just been the issue i happened to get, but if not, that would probaly be a good sourse to what's available in the u.s.

kickstart

Riding a classic roadster, aka "Dutch bike" seems to be like riding fixed, too often dismissed out of hand by those who don't get it.
I tried fixed and didn't like it, but I get it. Its a real shame what the obsession with performance road bikes has done to cycling in North America.

It cracks me up how some say save money and just get an old steel bike and slap some stuff on it to make it look "Dutch" without any clue that it will be nothing like a real roadster.

auldgeunquers

Buying a bike at Lidl? What an ... interesting ... idea - especially considering the ire and fire that the idea of buying a bike a Walmart draws on this forum. I am not sure that I would pay that much for a bike at a Lidl ...

I see that the bikes are only available online ... and the website had that "amazonish" look to it. I thinks somebody is out for a slice of that online shopping bonanza pie, I do.

Search for "fahrräder" and see what comes up ...

... actually ... I miss Lidl ... but I have never gone to one looking for a bike ...

acidfast7

I saw bikes at LIDL/ALDI/REAL/NETTO/PENNY quite often and was tempted to pick one up, but never did.

There's someone on here that bought a bike at a REAL and took it back to the US and got roughly 17 years out of it.

His reply in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...