I ride a Simple City 8. It's the greatest bike ever. As a professional bike nerd I have several very fancy bikes for all sorts of purposes, but being able to hop on in my flip flops and cruise to the grocery store or work on this bike is GREAT! My mom who has given me a hard time for years about keeping my bikes in the house saw it in my living room and said "oh my god, this is a beautiful bike! i'd ride if i had one like this!"

I personally am a huge fan of the classic, simple road bike with drop bars and colored bar tape. Elegant, simple, $300-600.

I don't really understand how people use the cruiser bikes where you sit back with your hands up higher than your waist (like the black bike in the top right photo). You simply can't go very fast that way. I guess that might not be your goal, but if you're actually using your bike for commuting / errands then you want efficiency.

Maybe I am biased from living in the bay area....super hilly, so I need a light fast bike that can get me up hills.

I had some beautiful boys over the years-colnago, 84 paramount, vitus, gazelle..I don't road bike anymore but I would not mind having Simple City 8 if I did not live in SF.

Civia Loring
http://www.civiacycles.com/civiacomplete_loring.php

Brand New (late June release). It's now my main transportation around town. Love it!!

My beat up trek with the sit-uppy handlebars and I go everywhere together. Biking is joy.

Nice rig learnbydesign!

i love love love my bike, although it's not my *dream* bike, which i've posted about here:
http://otisandfrank.blogspot.com/2009/06/perfect-bike.html
i ride it to work almost every day and it makes me so happy.

Fast Boy Cycles does gorgeous bikes too.

@apf, cruisers are simple. They're meant for cruising, not speed, comfort over efficiency. I HATE being bent over to ride, so that particular design would work fine for me. Even for errands. After all, it's faster than walking or taking the bus. If you live in a hilly area, I'll grant you that they might not be the best choice, especially one of the ones without gears, but someplace like the California Central Valley or even a few places in the Bay they'd be fine.

fwiw, the simple-city pictured above clocks in at close to a grand. it's terribly ironic that the simplest designs are the most coveted... and expensive. there's no reason why someone couldn't take a simple track-style/touring frame, powder-coat it olive green with no graphics, slide a single-speed freewheel, brakes and some touring bars on there and sell it for $300... finding a simple bike for under $300 seems damn-near impossible (but would love some links)... SE did it with their "draft", but it's a bit too "racy", methinks... scattante did it with their emerald-city for $400, but the brand is a performance bike house brand... and it's called scattante. hard to trust a bike whose first syllable is "scat"...

My new bike is a Strida 5.0: No gears, a kevlar belt drive so my pants don't get dirty, disc brakes and I sit upright which is better for my back and I'm at eye-level with people walking as I'm riding down a busy street...

...and when it's folded, it takes up very little room in my apartment or office - I can even put it in the cloest!

http://www.strida.us/home-page.asp

I agree with redneckmodern -- there's no need to spend a grand on a city bike if you don't want to. I picked up an old mixte road bike via a free online classifieds site and renovated it with just a little elbow grease and a couple cans of spray paint.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59758123@N00/3713248113/

I'm in love with my new Cannondale Adventure 5! The online price is over $500 but I called a few bike shops and got it for $400. Plus if something goes wrong I have somewhere to bring it. The internet isn't always cheaper!

I kind of want the Simple City with a basket, but I don't actually know how to ride a bike so it is purely on the speculation that if I had a bike that cool I would learn to ride it.

have you considered building your own bike?
i bought an old Schwinn single speed off of craigslist for $100, stripped it, sold all the parts to buy new ones, powdercoated it, and converted it to fixed speed. using high-end parts i probably spent $450-500 out of pocket for a bike that would easily retail for double that. not to mention now i have a bike that's exactly how i want it and completely custom! plus it's fun to put a bike together and learn how everything works.

Cheers,
M

Several years ago I very sadly gave up biking bc I began noticing that I was losing balance, even falling...much to my distress. I chalked it up to putting on a few pounds and used to complain that my "center of gravity must have changed". Just now, clicking on the above link for the Simple City, I quickly discovered that it's b/c I was riding a man's bike (I really had no idea that it mattered much). So thanks for this post; now I want to ride again!

I just started riding a bike again after years of not having a bike. My childhood bike was stolen out of my yard when I was a kid. It was a Huffy and about two weeks ago I got a new Huffy cruiser and I love it! I cannot believe all the fun I have been missing. Its not a fancy bike but I love her just fine. I hope I don't get a twinkle in my eye for a $600 bike anytime soon.

My cruiser is perfect. I love sitting straight up single speed and taking in the sights. Its fun going down hills but most of the time I have to walk back up!

i have that bike and it's perfect. this one is around $1000 but they do have a bike that looks just like this that you can get around $600. the only difference is the one above has an 8 speed internally geared hub and the less expensive version has a 3 speed internally geared hub.

it may sound expensive but you really get what you pay for. cheaper bikes don't last long and it costs more to repair them than it did for the entire bike. if $600 is too much just look around at a proper bike store and avoid buying a bike from a clothing or grocery store!

my wife and I got new bikes last year for each other for our birthdays. We have a local schwinn shop here and that is what we went with.

I ride a schwinn voyageur GS hybrid and my wife rides the sierra GS comfort.

Both are great bikes. Mine uses a 700x35 tire, and hers is a standard 26. They were around $375 each.

Such a great purchase. I ride them to work, to the store, and we don't live in a tiny cute town, we live in some midwest sprawl.

I can't bend over that good for a road bike either. My back just doesn't do it. so the sitting upright is key for me. I also got my dad back into riding, he took mine for a spin and was basically like "this is what i need." Since beforehand like most people he had just bought a mountain bike when he needed one. Now he clocks double the miles a year that i do.

You can get them nicer with disc breaks etc.

Plus my wife's is baby blue, she has a color matched helmet, and then she is the Gracie basket in white by design house stockholm, came out very cute. I am planning on putting a basket on the back of mine soon too.

oh, and those simple city bikes are beautiful, love the woman's white and light green, and the brighter teal, but at the 1k price, out of my range til later in life. Gotta get a penny farthing and fix up the tandem first.

Love the bike! If you're into affordable, beautiful bicycles, you may want to check out the Moof as well:

http://www.vanmoof.com/

OK....one comment to @muirwoods08...no such thing as a man's vs woman's bike! Only difference is that you might need smaller parts, a woman's seat, and a proper adjustment. (A woman will ride with her seat relatively higher than a man and will want narrower bars.) There is no difference in the frame. Most of the nonsense about "women bike frames" is just that they swap out large parts for smaller ones and then charge you a lot extra. Bike shops will usually switch parts for free for you!

@muirwoods08 I had a similar issue. My balance was very bad, and I eventually gave up biking related to that and shaking uncontrollably. Once I got my Graves Disease under control, I could ride again.

I had a woman's bike, but there really isn't much of a difference between a woman's and man's bike. I rode a girl bike so it was easier with a skirt, that's all.

I just sunk $600 on a similar comfort/utility bike. I can't do bent over. It sure makes a difference when you buy a nice bike. Smooth shifting, easy pedaling, and comfortable as all get out.

holy crap!

i just re-did my schwin cruiser in this color and i've got a brown leather seat and matching handle bars!

looks like mr. fisher and i are on the same train of thought :)

@LoriSF - thanks, the Loring gets attention ALL the time :) It's the only one in town...so far!

as for "mens" and "womens" bikes - yes, there is a difference. For instance, your local bike shop (LBS) may carry brands that have a line designed with women in mind. I know Specialized makes women-specific bikes. The geometry is different to account for general female body types (i.e. short torso, arms, legs.) So not for everyone (this gal included). That's why it's best to try lots of bikes and decide what you like and what feels right.

If one was having trouble balancing - it could be supposed the bike was too large for the rider (top tube too high, seat too high, etc, etc and all of the above)

I love my road bike and my fixie, but for commuting give me this baby...
http://www.pashley.co.uk/products/roadster-sovereign.html

and, please, please wear a helmet!

I have a brand-sparkling new Trek road bike and a Trek hybrid I hung onto for the days when I can bike commute again. Currently I live in bike-hating CT and haven't figured out a safe route to the Hartford Hospital. Aw, gee. I also have a 70 mile roundtrip in the other direction. :-P Luckily it's temporary, and my hubby doesn't mind that I keep bikes in the living room on a double wall rack. It's not gorgeous, but it works! Grab bike, go ride, no going down into scary basement of apartment building.

The man v woman fit is so individual- it's worth it to have your local, individually owned bike shop fit you. I ride a man's frame with women's seats and bars, and that fits (I'm tall but still female). My hubby is currently on a one-size-too-big-but-serviceable dumpster dive I fixed up for him.

Bike shops often have trade-ins they'll sell- a shop in Newington has great deals if you don't mind older and less snazzy parts...

great post! The sweetpea bike is gorgeous!

Does anybody have an advice on refurbishing a bike on the cheap?

I've got a decrepit (but lovely) old cruiser that I bought out of a van in Brooklyn for about $100 and since I can't afford a new one I'd love to spruce it up with a favourite colour or something....

I'm so happy with my brompton :-)
http://www.brompton.co.uk/

i ride a simple city 3W (couldn't stomach the 8W price tag) and love it to pieces.

Roundup of my full bike kit: http://5thjoy.com/2009/10/06/isnt-she-lovely/

Great bike info - thanks for the cool post! Can't wait to make a purchase for summer.
More wonderful retro bike resources in this article at http://www.hiptravelmama.com/luxe-style/luxe-style-retro-riding/

I just came back from visiting my brother in The Hague. The Dutch, they take their biking seriously.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50294796@N03/4618239417/