Goodness, I've been asleep too long!
Here Civia offers us this lovely cycle truck, the Halsted. Actually, I don't care for the aesthetics of most of the Civia products, and this one is no exception, so lovely is not the right word.
FUNCTIONAL and NOT-TOO-EXPENSIVE are more apt, and certainly qualify this as a bike-for-the-rest-of-us.
FUNCTIONAL and NOT-TOO-EXPENSIVE are more apt, and certainly qualify this as a bike-for-the-rest-of-us.
Noteworthy features:
- Nine-speed drivetrain. Not enough gears for some folks, but plenty for many. (I've learned not to over-generalize, following several firm scoldings. People! Chill!)
- Disc brakes up front. Probably a good idea.
- The big front rack deck is made of recycled HDPE. It comes off easily too, so you can fashion your own out of birdseye maple, or whatever. Recommended load: 50 lbs.
- The bike in the picture appears to have a double kickstand, though I didn't see it listed on the spec sheet. I will inquire.
- Tough steel frame. Civia is a division/child of Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), and to my knowledge, they've never done anything poorly.
- What else do you need?
MSRP: almost $1000
(I know, it's a lot. On the other hand, this is an out-of-the-box cargo hauler. Start yourself a Saturday "I'll get your stuff home from the farmer's market" delivery service this spring and you'll have that $1000 back by the end of the summer (probably sooner), and probably some good looking legs too.)
[Aside: I've stopped short of posting full spec sheets for my BFROU selections, in favor of editorial observations. I hope this is ok with y'all. I will try always to provide a link to the nuts and bolts, so to speak. --d]
UPDATE: Bicycling magazine has a video about the Halsted.
UPDATE: Bicycling magazine has a video about the Halsted.
2 comments:
Stoked to receive our order of these very cool bikes.
IMO - this bike could be a "game changer" in the cargobike market for a few reasons -
- it's affordable at $1000
- it's the same length as a regular bike, meaning, people living in condos/apartments now have a viable "everyday" option
- add a rear rack or kids seat to the Halsted and cargo capacity will rival many other longer/bigger cargo bikes
We'll be reviewing this bike as soon as we get them on our blog as well.
Working in a bicycle shop, the two comments I hear about bikes like this is that 1) "$1000 is alot, I only want to spend about $200 on a new bike for commuting 2) "That's a heavy bicycle." Comment #1 comes from someone who drives up in a new Range Rover or Mercedes and #2 is usually from someone that is 50 - 100 pounds overweight. Go figure. I welcome bicycles like this. What a perfect city bike to use for trips of 10 miles or less. Another good bicycle for $1000 is the Yuba Mundo. Bikes in this range are perfect for people that want to replace using a car to run errands and commute distance of 15 miles or less.
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