Selling Bike Friday's and replacing with???? Help!

[hulagirl]

Aloha all -

Husband and I bought new custom Bike Friday's last June with the expectations that we would be traveling a lot with them. Turns out we did 2 trips and due to company moves/changes, we no longer need a premium "folding bike".

The Bike Friday's have sat in storage for the last 6 months. So we are going to sell them and replace them with something a little less "attention getting" in terms of theft.

I race and do triathlons so I'm saving for a tri bike. (already have a carbon road bike)
Husband tools around on a fully tripped out Big Dummy. (usually with me on the back)
We both want a touring/kick around bike in place of our Bike Fridays.

I LOVE the Orbea Carpe - but that's a bit much for my needs. (My road bike is an Orbea so I sort of prefer them.)

Husband in looking at Surly Long Haul Trucker. And I think he knows exactly what he wants so he's not the issue.

I'm finding that so many things cross over to what I want. I want panniers or a basket, for tooling around town/grocery shopping on my own and not the back of the Big Dummy. I could get away with a cheap beach cruiser. But I'd love a nice touring bike like the Long Haul Trucker. But I feel that's overkill and perhaps the stable is getting too big!

Bike theft is common here so I'd need to haul a big lock if I want to leave a decent bike anywhere. So that also makes me want just a junky beach cruiser.

We live 1 mile from the beach and .5 miles from town center. A Long Haul Trucker would and could double as a grocery shopper/touring bike if we ever DID jump the gun and do the Ride the Rockies ride.

You may ask "why not keep the Bike Friday?" It's too much of a draw for theft here and it's not a cheap bike by any means. I'd rather have something half the price that looks more normal so I don't feel as anxious with it locked up near the beach.

Any suggestions? Oh and I prefer the 700c tires but the LHT doesn't come in my size with the 700c tires. UGH! I was really eyeing the Disc Trucker. Grrr.

Mahalo!

Denise

[Kiwi Stoker]

Choose something that looks butt ugly or is a strange colour like pastel pink. I would say most bike theives would be male so anything that looks "hello Kitty" would be a turn off and hard to flick off.

I heard this works for mobile phones.

[Owlie]

I'd go with the beach cruiser, honestly. The LHT is a little too much bike for me to be comfortable leaving outside. If you decide to do Ride the Rockies, then you can get the LHT.

[Catrin]

The LHT is great for tooling around town, rack and fenders enable you to make it a good utility bike. This bike is bomb proof, so it really serves well as an urban bike as it can handle crap*y roads. it is heavy, my 46cm LHT with rack and fenders weighed 35 pounds, but it was all-day long comfortable and smoothed out any road surface.

Personally I think it makes a fine urban/utility bike. The weight does make a difference in the hills, but it also gives you options if you want to go play in the country or do even light touring.

There are many good options out there. Don't discount the 26 inch wheels on the smaller Truckers, as a shorter person I find I strongly prefer the smaller wheels. Besides, with the weight and geometry of the bike it isn't made for speed anyway

In the end it is about what you want and the kind of riding you want to do. Good luck and have fun with whatever you decide to do!

[Blueberry]

Take a look at a cross check. They have full braze ons, and have 700c wheels in all sizes.

[Becky]

Honestly, I think I'd buy 2 bikes if I were in your situation: a cheap singlespeed for errands and beach trips, and a nice steel road bike with "road sport" geometry for long road rides and light touring. Something like the Gunnar Sport or Soma ES would fit the bill (for me). Of course, this all hinges on having enough storage space.

Have fun shopping!

[hulagirl]

Choose something that looks butt ugly or is a strange colour like pastel pink. I would say most bike theives would be male so anything that looks "hello Kitty" would be a turn off and hard to flick off.

I heard this works for mobile phones.

You do not know crack heads then. They don't care about color - they just spray paint it turd-brown, orange or matte white.