I want to start riding my bike for all local travel, including grocery shopping and going to work. I have an old road bike that I always imagined using for this purpose, but it's just never happened. There is always an excuse (transmission needs cleaning because it gets dirty simply hanging on the garage wall, I need to grab my backpack/gloves/whatever, I need to wear different pants/shoes, there are no fenders, etc.). As a result, I've ridden it like twice since it stopped being my primary road bike. I want to get a no-excuses bike where I literally just throw on a helmet and get on in whatever clothes I'm wearing and go (including work clothes - not an Italian Suit but definitely slacks).
I am imagining a cruiser type with the swept-back bars, but I'm flexible. I figure I want a full chain case to protect my slacks. And fenders. I guess the most basic thing I don't understand is how to carry things. A lot of bikes have racks on the back, but those racks aren't containers - you can't put anything on them unless you bungy it. The best I can tell is that they exist just to let you hang panniers. I guess that's an option but I'd probably prefer a basket back there that I can just throw my grocery bags (or laptop bag) in and done with it.
I've done a little research and it seems like I want something most similar to a Dutch bike. Here are some examples of what I've found:
Civia Cycles Twin City Step Over 7 Speed
Breezer Bikes - Bike Overview
Rendezvous 1 - Urban - Bikes | Schwinn Bicycles
Dutch Bike Co | Home
But you can really get up there - close to $1500 for a grocery bike seems like a lot (probably still come out on top vs driving a car, but still). I also have the ability to get a rusty version of this bike for 85 dollars: NEW MINT Mercury Sabre Flite Throwback - but again I don't really know how I'd carry anything on it since that rear rack doesn't even look good for panniers.
Any advice is appreciated, including just using my existing road bike (not sure if you can get a chain case for it - the biggest problem is the frame has no bosses on it for anything at all, my friend has a similar bike and put fenders on it but he says they always come out of place and are pretty crappy compared to bikes that were designed for them). Thanks!
I am imagining a cruiser type with the swept-back bars, but I'm flexible. I figure I want a full chain case to protect my slacks. And fenders. I guess the most basic thing I don't understand is how to carry things. A lot of bikes have racks on the back, but those racks aren't containers - you can't put anything on them unless you bungy it. The best I can tell is that they exist just to let you hang panniers. I guess that's an option but I'd probably prefer a basket back there that I can just throw my grocery bags (or laptop bag) in and done with it.
I've done a little research and it seems like I want something most similar to a Dutch bike. Here are some examples of what I've found:
Civia Cycles Twin City Step Over 7 Speed
Breezer Bikes - Bike Overview
Rendezvous 1 - Urban - Bikes | Schwinn Bicycles
Dutch Bike Co | Home
But you can really get up there - close to $1500 for a grocery bike seems like a lot (probably still come out on top vs driving a car, but still). I also have the ability to get a rusty version of this bike for 85 dollars: NEW MINT Mercury Sabre Flite Throwback - but again I don't really know how I'd carry anything on it since that rear rack doesn't even look good for panniers.
Any advice is appreciated, including just using my existing road bike (not sure if you can get a chain case for it - the biggest problem is the frame has no bosses on it for anything at all, my friend has a similar bike and put fenders on it but he says they always come out of place and are pretty crappy compared to bikes that were designed for them). Thanks!