Which Lady's step thru bike

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mikesbytes
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Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby mikesbytes » Sat Jan 03, 2015 6:51 pm

Her requirement;
- step thru lady's frame size small
- handlebar basket big enough to carry some shopping
- pink
- no gears
- cheap

I can talk her into getting gears if they are easy to understand and change. Her current bike has a triple on the front and about 7 on the rear. She get confused between the front and rear gears as they work in opposite directions. It also has the twist grips for changing.

She will only be riding a few K's on it, its for local stuff

Doesn't need mudgards, she won't be riding in the wet, but if the mudgards make it look nicer then that's good.

Example (wrong colour)
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby mikesbytes » Mon Jan 12, 2015 9:30 pm

*bump*
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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rodneycc
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby rodneycc » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:12 pm

What about this one from Reid Mike.

http://www.reidcycles.com.au/reid-vinta ... speed.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pink, singlespeed, basket, rack and fairly cheap...

Or there's the 7 speed but not sure it comes in pink.
http://www.reidcycles.com.au/reid-vinta ... speed.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby mikesbytes » Tue Jan 13, 2015 9:06 am

Thanks Rodney, well worth the extra $20 to go 7 speed. The basket in the picture is not in the base price so add $40 bringing the 7 speed up to $280 still quite reasonable. She likes the baby blue colour.

How does the reliability of reid bikes compare with other bikes in the same price range?
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby rodneycc » Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:18 am

mikesbytes wrote:Thanks Rodney, well worth the extra $20 to go 7 speed. The basket in the picture is not in the base price so add $40 bringing the 7 speed up to $280 still quite reasonable. She likes the baby blue colour.

How does the reliability of reid bikes compare with other bikes in the same price range?
Hi Mike, Personally, for me I wouldn't touch any of their bikes except maybe in the Falco range as they have some really low end bikes on offer at Reid. But they seem to be spruiking their ladies vintage range a lot at the moment and their prices are pretty cheap (cheaper than Cell) so for a lightly used up the shops type of bike I think they will be fine.

Also look at the 3 speed twist shift model. A little dearer but if she is having a few troubles with the gears then that's an easier option (but agree the 7 speed on Sale is prob more value for money).

Anyway hope that helps.

Cheers, Rod.
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby bychosis » Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:58 am

How unreliable can a simple bike be? True it might need a bit of grease when you get it, but for a capable home mechanic a quick check over the hubs, BB etc would surely keep it running for many years to come.
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby rodneycc » Tue Jan 13, 2015 11:08 am

It would only take 1 drop of the chain on the 7 speed for my Mrs to tell me where I can stick the F$%^&ing bike :-)
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby mikesbytes » Tue Jan 13, 2015 4:07 pm

bychosis, agree that I'll be able to do the maintenance. I've heard stories of people coming to grief with a maintenance problem that we could of fixed in 5 minutes. The issue is when she is out by herself and the problem occurs.

Rodneycc that's what happened to her. She walked her bike home from the train station because it wasn't working. Turned out to be a chain drop
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby rodneycc » Tue Jan 13, 2015 5:33 pm

Yeah maybe don't trust the tourney then. Single speed or I'm liking that 3 speed grip shift more and more. I'm sure they could stick a basket on the front if rather it on the front. Worth a haggle.
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby Parker » Tue Jan 13, 2015 5:39 pm

I never had a problem with my Reid ladies bike but my mechanic partner says they're not as good as what they were when I got mine.

That being said if it's not going out in the rain it should be okay

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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby mikesbytes » Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:17 pm

Her current bike is a BSO with a triple on the front and about 6 on the rear with twist grip gear changing. She finds the gears confusing and specified no gears (influenced by a fixie riding partner :) ) but I'll talk her into getting some gears, as long as there's only one shifter

Parker, did your partner articulate what was wrong with the current ones
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby Nobody » Wed Jan 14, 2015 9:37 am

mikesbytes wrote:She finds the gears confusing and specified no gears (influenced by a fixie riding partner :) ) but I'll talk her into getting some gears, as long as there's only one shifter
For a female not interested in being a cyclist, I would think it would be more likely to get continued use if it's a 3 speed hub geared bike. As much as she wants no gears, unless that SS gear is a low ratio (unlikely) it could become a problem. It's telling that Cell don't appear to sell a SS ladies bike.
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby bychosis » Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:16 am

Parker wrote:I never had a problem with my Reid ladies bike but my mechanic partner says they're not as good as what they were when I got mine.

That being said if it's not going out in the rain it should be okay
It did occur to me that this is probably the let down point in cheaper bikes. Cheaper steel, paint and chrome plating will not withstand the elements as well. End result is that it won't look as pretty after a while, but should still function ok if given a through service before starting out and some ongoing maintenance. The clincher for me would be stainless spokes and alloy rims, if they aren't there, then the bike won't do.
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby Parker » Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:30 am

mikesbytes wrote:Her current bike is a BSO with a triple on the front and about 6 on the rear with twist grip gear changing. She finds the gears confusing and specified no gears (influenced by a fixie riding partner :) ) but I'll talk her into getting some gears, as long as there's only one shifter

Parker, did your partner articulate what was wrong with the current ones
He says that they're not built as well as they used to be and that they're not as sturdy, that they're more flimsy that the one I had. My concern is that since we're in WA, that maybe their is less quality control in how things are being built?

I never rode mine in the rain and she lived inside, she worked perfectly. I'd say go and ride one and see how it goes, sure the parts aren't fancy but if it's not going to be living outside and you've said your lady won't ride it in the rain then I suspect it would be okay.

You can look after it, if she gets a flat there's no way she can change it herself, I probably would've just walked her home and done it once home. But it never happened and I never changed the tyres and Nikki the lady I sold it too hasn't conplained or mentioned any issues.

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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby Parker » Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:31 am

bychosis wrote:
Parker wrote:I never had a problem with my Reid ladies bike but my mechanic partner says they're not as good as what they were when I got mine.

That being said if it's not going out in the rain it should be okay
It did occur to me that this is probably the let down point in cheaper bikes. Cheaper steel, paint and chrome plating will not withstand the elements as well. End result is that it won't look as pretty after a while, but should still function ok if given a through service before starting out and some ongoing maintenance. The clincher for me would be stainless spokes and alloy rims, if they aren't there, then the bike won't do.
You get what you pay for, personally if I'm wearing my dress and heels then I'm not going out in the rain on my bike.

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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby mikesbytes » Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:32 am

Durabity of the finish is of interest. Recently she cycled to the train station and got a lift hone from her destination from me. The following day when we caught the train. There was her bike still chained up at the train station.

We live at the top of a hill though the road isn't too steep. No gears = walking up
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby Parker » Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:34 am

I never found a hill that I couldn't cycle up on my ladies bike, but I was always prepared to walk in order to look glamorous over sweaty :D

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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby Parker » Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:35 am

Rocket fuel used to make a cute little Cape that I would wear to keep the chill out by the way... And a nutcase helmet would finish it off beautifully

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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby yugyug » Wed Jan 14, 2015 3:11 pm

It was a few years back when I bought my wife a step through, tried out a few like Linus and pappilionaire (both heavy), Reid (felt cheap, was cheap) and then settled on tokyo bike and she has been very happy with it. Light, reliable and has good 7 speed twist shift derailler gearing for hills and flats.

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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby mikesbytes » Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 pm

Is the tokyo the one with 650c ?
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby Venus62 » Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:02 pm

My daughter has the Cell Syren and it has been fine. She's no expert but handles the 7 gears just fine. And it is much admired by friends.

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Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby yugyug » Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:39 pm

Re: tokyo bike / The step through model the Bisou has 26inch wheels. I think their other bikes have 650c

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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby mikesbytes » Fri Jan 16, 2015 10:02 pm

By pure chance I happened to help someone move today who had two Tokyo bikes, a men's single speed and a ladies geared bike using twist grip. The bikes had pretty much been left out in the weather, however they weren't doing too bad under the circumstances
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby rodneycc » Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:11 am

Came across a large range of xds ladies bikes at Ivanhoe cycles which look good. Looks like they do them in steel as well if you want to check their website.

Eg.

https://ivanhoecycles.com.au/bikes/Retr ... ywood/4518" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No idea what the specs are but the blurb sounded ok and looks pretty good in bright pink.
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Re: Which Lady's step thru bike

Postby mikesbytes » Sun Jan 18, 2015 12:06 pm

Can't get the specs up for the Ivanhoe. If you want pink then that's certainly pink.

Looking at the Cell Syren its specified its weight as 14.5kg I'm assuming that's including all the provided accessories including the basket. Doesn't sound too bad but I don't know what weights the others are. And the blue looks good in the Syren

And the size guide for the Syren gives the options of Small and Medium but the sizing for the purchase is 15" and 17". My assumption is that 15" = small
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