I spent about an hour on the phone with Haniya from Urbana bikes the day that I put this thing together. Haniya almost dared me to break the Urbana. Well, she told me that I wouldn't break it, and wanted some action shots if I decided to try to break it. That sounds like a challenge, right? I'll save the video and other highlights for my final review, but let's just say this is one of the more tame things I subjected the Urbana to this afternoon.
Urbana is trying to position themselves in the niche of hard-working, durable utility bikes for the urban, car-free lifestyle. They're meant to be comfortable and bomb-proof over everything else. sturdy alumimum frame, CrMo fork, quality welds, beefy drop-outs, well-built wheels and flat-resistant balloon tires mated to high-quality hubs means that it'd work fine for weekend strolls down the bike path or boardwalk, but it'd be a waste. Comparing it to my wife's dainty Townie cruiser also made it clear that this isn't a beach cruiser.
I put another 15 miles on it today, and some of those miles were over some of the worst railroad crossings I know of, and on some of the most blighted streets near my place. Lots of curbs were taken at speed without making any attempt to pop over them, and, as you see here, I did the obligatory stair descent. I also ramped it off a shorter stairway, but couldn't get an action shot of that.
I'm having quite a bit of fun with this bike, and I haven't even been able to knock the wheels out of true.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Things I would not do on a beach cruiser
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3 comments:
how much one of these mugs retail for?
Does "built like a tank" equate to "rides like a tank?"
I'm looking for something I can put on the back of the RV and use to ride with the kids around the campground(s), possibly some fitness (but I don't need a road bike), and then errands.
The way I see it - more time on the bike is good.
So... is this a bike you'd use day in and day out? Or does the extra weight slow down the commute relative to something like the Trek SOHO or other commuter style bikes?
Jason: They are working on getting distributors in the US, but they don't sell direct. The bike I'm riding would cost upward of $1000, but less than $2000. The frameset, cranks, seat, rims, tires and handlebars are all the same. The main variable is drivetrain, which can add hundreds. Rack, fenders and kickstand are also extra. From what I can tell, I might have the most expensive build you can get from Urbana.
Michael: It rides like a tank, but not in an expressly bad way. If you've ever driven a heavy car with big, cushy tires, that's kind of what it feels like. It takes some effort to get it moving, but once it's up and running, you don't notice the weight too much.
I'd use this bike daily so long as everything I needed was nearby. If I were to get another job with a round-trip commute over 10 miles long, I probably wouldn't be looking at this bike. Since I have a TON of stuff close to me, though, it's a practical bike for hauling stuff. Almost all the stores and errands I go to are within 2 or 3 miles. This bike makes a lot of sense for that type of stuff.
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