Sport Bicycles dominate 19/9/2010

Why do most people ride bicycles based on sport bicycles?  City Cyclist is doing a survey of all the City bike shops to see if any are selling comfortable, practical city bicycles, like the Allegro, Gazelle, Velorbis, Schwinn, Electra etc etc.  So far we have mainly found road racing bikes (drop bars), hybrids (mountain bikes), track racing bikes (fixies) and have found only a few bikes suitable for urban utility riding.  Our bicycle culture has really been hijacked by 20 years of helmet laws and unfriendly roads and turned into a sport-related culture. 

It is interesting that most of the sit-up bikes available in the CBD are not being sold by bicycle shops.  Is this an indication that the industry is out of touch with the changing bicycle culture?

Coming soon, an article on where to find sit-up bikes without going outside zone 1. 

• 239 Flinders Lane The Store.  Not a bike shop but a good place to see and buy some lovely Allegro bikes.  Some are sports bikes (fixies), some are sit-up bikes - very comfortable I found, and some are reconditioned vintage bikes.  One of the owners, Tony owns 4 bicycles himself.  For after sales service, he suggests Abbotsford Cycles (so do I).  Abbotsford aren't in this survey because (a) they don't sell bicycles and (b) they aren't in the City of Melbourne, but we recommend them for repairs and spares. 
• In the Degraves Street Subway, a CD shop has a few situp bicycles for sale.  These are low-cost Chinese imports, probably not bad bicycles though. 
• Cecil Walker Cycles one of Melbourne's oldest bike shops, at 395 Elizabeth Street.  We found two Bianchi bikes (ironically, distributed in Australia by BikeSportz) amongst the road racing bikes and the flatbar MTB hybrids.   
  
• The Little Mule, is a coffee shop and fixie shop at 19 Somerset Pl.  They design their frames with perfection in mind and build to order.  Looks like a great place to get a fixie!  
• BSC Bikes 7 Artemis lane, Melbourne (i.e.  the QV centre, off Russell St), don't appear to have a single bike for sale that isn't based on a sports bike.  Update 1/3/2011, on a recent visit there were several sit-up bikes, making this the best place in the CBD to find one. 
• CBD Cycles are up the top of Bourke St.  Yet to verify with another visit, but don't remember seeing any comfortable, sensible bikes there.  Their website advertises "Road, Track, Triathlete, MTB and adventure".  Don't go there to find a utilitarian, comfortable city bike such as you would find useful for CBD cycling. 
• IRideBikes are at 271 King St.  Their idea of a City bike is a single speed, fixed or not with flat handlebars.  I can see the Mums and Dads rushing in to buy these for their everyday transport needs. 
• Moving out of the CBD, Borsari Cycles at 201 Lygon St Carlton is a long-established store, and they do have some city bikes.  On the day I visited, they had both of the Allegro womens bikes, one Bottecchia (no gears) and a small Schwinn. 

In the meantime, read this article on why the trends in bicycle shapes should change (and are changing, if you look around the streets).