Re:
ljamesb":3hk6r2lp said:
I just had a look on ebay.de. Here are a few links of interesting bikes I found, which may work for you.
Thanks for all those bike links!! Unfortunately (and this is a problem I often find) all of them are too small (size 46 or smaller). Even in Germany it's not easy to find ladies bikes in the size 50 (20") that my wife needs or bigger. Nevertheless, thanks to your links I see that Kuwahara had quite a few models in their range, and I love their lugged frames, so I will include them on my search! Giant was also in my radar, they also have some nice ones. Instead of the normal ebay, here I use ebay kleinanzeigen (
http://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-fahr ... ebote/c217) which is just for regular classifieds, not auctions, and you can filter regionally and check only bikes in my city and surroundings. If I'm looking for a bike, unless I want a very specific model, I prefer to see it in person first.
hamster":3hk6r2lp said:
I bet you cannot find a single frame builder who will claim to make a step through frame both as light AND stiff as a diamond.
Probably. I never disagreed to that point, among other things because I lack the technical knowledge to confirm or negate it. What I was refusing is what many were saying here that step-through frames are a terrible choice, not rigid, or totally unsuitable for carrying luggage. I don't need a physics degree to see them in daily use on the German and Dutch roads, and the owners seem very happy about them.
hamster":3hk6r2lp said:
No, at least not to me. I said I was looking for an urban/touring bike. So lightness does not concern me and stiffness is plenty if I look at the many bikes with this frame loaded to the brim every week on the street market or the ones I meet on my cycling trips. Each use requires a bike (as the manufacturers love to repeat us) and for my intentions the step-through frame seems like a winner. If we were all looking for maximum lightness and stiffness I guess we would all ride Trek Madones.
hamster":3hk6r2lp said:
The fact that there is a market for such frames does not provide evidence for their merit.
To me it does. It means that, for a lot of people, they fulfill their purpose. In this forum we praise many retro designs even though they haven't resisted the pass of the time. The step-through frame has been with us since the beginning, and seeing their overwhelming presence on the e-bike market, it looks like they have a bright future too. If they keep selling so well, it means that even if they might have downfalls, they sure have merits enough for people to keep buying them.
hamster":3hk6r2lp said:
Tony Oliver is worth regarding as he took a first principles approach to frame design from sound engineering analysis not fashion or tradition.
Not saying his opinions are not worthy. Just saying that I've grown wary of framebuilders opinions, because every year they tell us with a lot of complicated computer simulations how they finally got their full suspension frame right (or optimal wheel size, or propietary alloy material, or bottom bracket "standard", or whatever) only to show us something completely different in the 2016 range because... now they finally got it right!. Again!
hamster":3hk6r2lp said:
German touring bikes are very different from the UK norm, generally having massively oversized ALU tubing. Probably you can make a very adequate mixte frame in that way. As German tourers also favour a very upright position and suspension forks are much more common it suggests very different usage. Probably as much of Germany is way flatter than the UK it plays a big part too and the need to bully the bike uphill is less important. Bavaria is of course a big exception!
I think you are mixing here "trekking" bikes (how the Germans call the normal commuter/hybrid bikes) with proper touring bikes. Agreed that trekking bikes are mostly ugly fat aluminium tubing with suspension forks (unfortunately like most brands everywhere nowadays). Also, Germans (and Dutch, and Danish, and Austrians, and...) like to ride upright and add things like mudguards, bells, dynamo lights, etc which no doubt increase the weight, but also the all-day all-season usability of the bike. That is why they usually come as examples on how to do it right in terms of bike promotion.
Touring bikes on the other hand are world known for their quality. Here you can find a compilation by country made by Tom Allen, a famous cycle traveller, and you can see he has quite a few choices in Germany, most of them in steel. And among the UK brands a few have a step-through frame too.. (the "miss Mercian" is gorgeous)
http://tomsbiketrip.com/list-of-expedit ... ing-bikes/
And here is a similar list done in a German speaking touring forum, where obviously they show way more German models (unfortunately they give the brand's link and not the specific touring models in their range)
http://radreise-wiki.de/Fahrradhersteller
I understand many English speakers assume most travellers go on Surly LHTs or Trek 520s and the like because that is what they read on English forums and blogs. But if you stop to think about it, Germans are actually the world leaders in cycle touring equipment, and that is not developed "on the flat cycle lanes around the biergarten"...
-best reputation panniers: Vaude or Orlieb
-best racks: Tubus
-most popular drivetrain for hardcore tourers: Rohloff hub, Pinion
-best bike lighting: B&M, Son Edelux
-best touring grips: Ergon
-best touring tires: Schwalbe Marathon
-best mudguards: SKS
-and a long, long list...