Bowery Lane Bicycles - Have you ridden one?
 

I've heard a lot of chatter both for and against these bikes, but I have not heard one peep in any review online from someone who's actually ridden one.

If you have, I want to know how you liked it, how does it stack up as a practical city bike? No speculation. If you have ridden other Worksman-made bikes feel free to share that experience also.

I own a Worksman bike w/7speed hub & a Worksman PAV trike w/3 speed hub. The whole Worksman line is designed for work and long life in a harsh factory setting. I find both my Worksman are ideal for city/urban use carrying whatever loads I place on them. No Worksman is designed for racing since they are to heavy built for that.

That said, if you want a bike that will outlast you then buy a Worksman. If you want to race then look elsewhere.

Its a practical city bike. You might also look into the Batavus Bub. Even BD is looking at the city bike market and its not a just hybrid with fenders and a rack slapped on.

The classic city bike is the Raleigh Sports, the finest city/utility bike ever made, period.

Thanks. I've considered buying a used Raleigh on CL - my one hesitation is that I like to work on my bikes and dealing with whitworth threading seems like a hassle if I want or need to replace/modify stuff.

Otherwise this thread wouldn't be here and I'd already be on a Sports.

A Raleigh Sports' parts seldom need to be replaced. A good bike shop can strip the threads to 24 TPI British standard if they need to be replaced.

Fortunately the Sports was built to last.

Many parts can be replaced, but I don't know why. I have a several Raleighs, my old faithful is a 38 year old Raleigh Sports Standard that has somewhere well past 30,000 miles on it and is still ticking along. It has currently been re-purposed as my beer bike.

I will be interested to see how many of the current crop of bikes are still rolling 25+ years from now.

Aaron :)

http://inlinethumb07.webshots.com/14...500x500Q85.jpg

Yes, I agree. The oldie goldies like your bike are steel whereas the frames today are Aluminum. I can just see vast piles of decayed corroded aluminum bikes now!!

Not if I get MY hands on them, they head straight to the recycling center...last time I took a bunch in they were averaging almost $10 a frame scrap value. :D

Aaron :)

I have a Bowery Lane bike and love it. It's not a light bike and is pretty simple, but I knew that going in (it's a steel frame) and I like that it's no tech.. On the plus side, it'll last forever. They have a new lighter model now- looks like a skinnier frame..

BTW- I don't think they use Worksman's factory anymore, I heard they wanted a better quality bike than what Worksman's could make. The two are not the same company as far as I know.