Utility bike advice please

I'm looking for a secondhand utility bike- nothing flash but it needs
to pull a trailer, take racks/panniers but still be reasonably fast on
the days that #1 bike doesn't get used for my commute.

This is the first time I've strayed from a mountain bike in the past
err...18 years (ouch) and the last road bike I had was crap so I
haven't got much clue what models/brands to look for.

I know I want:
Flat handlebars
Index gears with suitable range for pulling a child trailer
Dynamo (preferably hub dynamo)
Easy to maintain brakes (possibly caintilever bosses I can put Vbrakes
onto)
Braze ons for racks and mudguards.
A fairly light bike.

Budget is approx £300

Any suggestions? ANyone in Herts got something suitable for sale?

z

zaphod wrote:
I'm looking for a secondhand utility bike- nothing flash but it needs
to pull a trailer, take racks/panniers but still be reasonably fast on
the days that #1 bike doesn't get used for my commute.

If it's secondhand then your choice will be limited by supply. And one
thing that there will probably be few problems with supply of are old
MTBs. Since you're happy with them I'd get one of those and retrofit a
dynohub, rack and 'guards. And some Sensible Tyres, e.g. Schwalbe
Marathons. Though the cliff gears won't be much use on their own, you
may like them with lead ingots in the trailer!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

in message , zaphod
') wrote:

I'm looking for a secondhand utility bike- nothing flash but it needs
to pull a trailer, take racks/panniers but still be reasonably fast on
the days that #1 bike doesn't get used for my commute.

This is the first time I've strayed from a mountain bike in the past
err...18 years (ouch) and the last road bike I had was crap so I
haven't got much clue what models/brands to look for.

I know I want:
Flat handlebars
Index gears with suitable range for pulling a child trailer
Dynamo (preferably hub dynamo)
Easy to maintain brakes (possibly caintilever bosses I can put Vbrakes
onto)
Braze ons for racks and mudguards.
A fairly light bike.

Budget is approx £300

Any suggestions? ANyone in Herts got something suitable for sale?

The second hand market is the place to find bargains.

I doubt you'll get a new bike at that price factory fitted with a hub
dynamo, but the Shimano Nexus hub dynamo (which is good - we've got
one) costs about £80, so if you went for a bike with a list price of
about £200 you ought to be able to persuade the shop to supply and fit
one inside your budget.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Ring of great evil
Small one casts it into flame
Bringing rise of Men ;; gonzoron

Simon Brooke wrote in message ...
in message , zaphod
') wrote:

I'm looking for a secondhand utility bike- nothing flash but it needs
to pull a trailer, take racks/panniers but still be reasonably fast on
the days that #1 bike doesn't get used for my commute.

The second hand market is the place to find bargains.

And the only way to get a decent lightweight bike within my budget, I
think.

I've refined my search a bit- I think a lightweight old school rigid
mountain bike, retrofitted with a nexus hub gear and possibly a
dynohub would fit the bill. A Pace would be really nice.

Some questions..

Can you fit braze on rack/mudguard mounts to aluminium frames- if not
are there bolt-on alternatives?
Will I be able to fit a nexus hub in a frame designed for say a
early/mid 90's $himano XT (poss 7speed) hub?


....and does anyone have a good quality suitable mountain bike lurking
'unused but not unloved' at the back of the bikeshed? Loving home
guaranteed, daily excercise and regular oiling. Must like children....

z