Moving to Chicago and need tips on bikes.

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Permalink Reply by chixieonfixie on June 25, 2011 at 7:11pm

ha, I am envisioning that image!  I want a Batcycle too!!

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Permalink Reply by JTO on June 29, 2011 at 4:59pm

Your best bet is just go around to bike shops and see what you like.  Chicago is flat and paved, so you don't really need to go for a Yeti SB66.  My daily ride is a hardtail mountain bike that I got for a few hundred dollars off of eBay.  It works fine in Chicago's two seasons (Winter and Construction).

If you want something with a vintage feel, there are lots of great cruisers or even Dutch Bike.  If you want a real vintage bike, try Bernard Schwinn in Oak Park.

Whatever you get, make sure everything with quick-release is replaced with bolts (wheels, seatpost, fenders, etc.) or you might have a swear-filled walk home.

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Permalink Reply by Joel on June 29, 2011 at 5:09pm

I might get blasted for this, but don't get tires any narrower than 28mm.  Ideally, go 32mm or even bigger.  The city is covered in potholes and the open grate bridges would be even more terrifying on anything narrower.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on June 29, 2011 at 5:19pm

+1. This doesn't quite sound "right," but I'll get blasted with you Joel.

Joel said:

I might get blasted for this, but don't get tires any narrower than 28mm.  Ideally, go 32mm or even bigger.  The city is covered in potholes and the open grate bridges would be even more terrifying on anything narrower.

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Permalink Reply by Joel on June 30, 2011 at 8:13pm

Riding home I remembered the other half of this tip: puncture resistant tires are the way to go.  I like Vittoria Randonneur Pros, but there are plenty of good brands to pick from.  There is enough glass and stuff around to make them worth the extra weight.

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Permalink Reply by Megan S. on June 30, 2011 at 11:56pm

If you want an affordable vintage bike, I'd check our A Nearly New Shop in Lakeview or Hoard Antiques in Ravenswood. I purchased my first non-childhood bike at Nearly New, and they gave me great advice about city riding. They have a nice selection of old Schwinns and vintage English and Japanese bikes. While Hoard isn't exclusively bikes, the owner (Jason) restores vintage bikes in his spare time and then sells them at the shop. He does a nice job -- I bought an old 1965 Schwinn from him a few months back. There's a tandem version that he currently has outside the shop that I'm absolutely drooling over, but no more new (used) bikes for me right now!

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Permalink Reply by Carly on July 1, 2011 at 8:39am

agree. I have 23mm tires, and sometimes certain textures make me nervous. 

Kevin Conway said:

+1. This doesn't quite sound "right," but I'll get blasted with you Joel.

Joel said:

I might get blasted for this, but don't get tires any narrower than 28mm.  Ideally, go 32mm or even bigger.  The city is covered in potholes and the open grate bridges would be even more terrifying on anything narrower.

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Permalink Reply by John Wirtz on July 1, 2011 at 8:50am

If you're going to be doing long distances on the lakefront often, it's nice to have some kind of road bike or cyclocross bike with drop handlebars to be low and more aerodynamic on windy days.  This doesn't really fit with the vintage idea though.

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on July 1, 2011 at 9:25am

Here is a great example of vintage and aeordynamic, and I think it fits the OP's needs perfectly....

 

(Yes, that is a 1967 Renee Herse Randonneur)

John Wirtz said:

If you're going to be doing long distances on the lakefront often, it's nice to have some kind of road bike or cyclocross bike with drop handlebars to be low and more aerodynamic on windy days.  This doesn't really fit with the vintage idea though.

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Permalink Reply by John Wirtz on July 2, 2011 at 2:23pm

Nice

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