When I first started commuting on my bike, I rode a cheap hardtail mountain bike from a big box store. I switched out the knobby tires for smooth road tires and added fenders and a bike rack. It wasn’t the lightest or prettiest thing, but it got the job done.

After riding for a few years and finishing school, it seemed like it might be time to upgrade to a bike that was actually designed for the style of riding I do. So this past summer I purchased a new bike and in the process I got to get ride several different bikes.

Requirements

I use my bike mostly for commuting to/from work (~8km/30 min each way) and occasionally for grocery shopping and casual rides on the weekend. So I was looking for a bike with the following:

• Upright-ish posture
• IGH – more gears would be better but I could get by with only 3
• Fenders
• Rack
• < 35 lbs so I can easily get it on the bus if needed
• Step-through/mixte style frame
• $500 – 1000

And the following weren’t necessary but would be definite pluses:

• Disc and/or drum brakes
• Double kickstand
• Dynamo lighting
• Pretty looking

Options

So after doing some research online I was considering the following bikes (roughly in order from least to most expensive):

• KHS Green 3 [t]
• Giant Via 1
• MEC Origami
• Public C7i
• Brodie Section 8 [t][b]
• Brode Pax
• Linus Dutchi 3 [t]
• Linus Mixte 3
• Brooklyn Bicycle Co Willow 7
• Norco Cityglide 8 [t]
• Kona Dr Good
• Breezer Uptown 8

[t] = test rode | [b] = bought

A few of these I wasn’t able to find locally to test ride and others I just didn’t get to test ride them before I bought my bike.

Stay tuned for my next post with my impressions of the Linus Dutchi.