For a while now I've been wanting a bike to ride around with the children. I'm not sure if I want a cruiser (an easy to handle and ride, versatile bike) or more of a street bike (for more speed and any future triathlons). My thoughts have been leaning towards a cruiser so that I can use it with more comfort.
Recently stephmodo posted about bicycles, specifically at the shop adeline adeline. They carry a bicycle by Kate Spade now and it is giggling-squealing gorgeous.
The problem with this bike is that it is $1,100. So, I looked at some more of their European bikes and really liked ones by the British company Pashley.
The above bike is the Princess Sovereign and is $1,295. The Kate Spade and the Princess Sovereign have covers over the gears and chains so that your clothes never get dirty. Nice.
This bike below, by Linus, is the Mixte and is $598 which is nearer to my preferred price.
And check out the popular Dutch bakfiet! What a fun picture! Who needs a car if you have this bike so why not spend the $3,000?
But then you have good ol' American Huffy and their good ol' Walmart prices. The Cranbrook is $90 at Walmart. Their most expensive bike is $150.
LLBean has the Runaround Cruiser bike in cute colors for $399 (I really like the mint) and of course you can add the chrome fenders to give it that old vintage look ($40).
Basically, lots of options. Some are much cuter but some are much less expensive. All are wonderful and I definitely, definitely am going to get one. Sadly, I can tell you right now it won't be either the Kate Spade or the Princess Sovereign! It will, however, have a huge basket in front, fenders over the tires, and a rack on the back! (Also, I have read during my previous bicycle research that bicycles should really be bought in a store with a professional helping you so that you can first buy the right size and then have it tuned to your build specifically.)
I got a Jamis comfort bike for $350 or so and I love it. When I bought it, we lived in a flat place. It only has 7 gears. Then we moved to the foothills of the Wasatch mountains in Salt Lake and I regret that I did not get the bike that had 21 gears. I would love more gears to help me up my street.
So even though you live someplace flat now, remember that you may not later and more gears really are worth the price!
I highly suggest the Jamis bike and you can get it any bike store. I agree that you should get a bike at a bike shop.
Posted by: Ily Murdock | 2011.08.05 at 05:55 PM
Thanks for the tip!!! I will check into them!
Posted by: Ingrid | 2011.08.08 at 11:25 PM