What are the "beater" road bike brands in your area?

In article ,
Dane Buson writes:
Tom Keats wrote:
In article ,
Dane Buson writes:
wrote:

What brands/makes/models do you see in your area?

Well, first of course there are the ubiquitous but servile Huffy and
Mongoose brands. But you probably meant something a little more
highbrow. Generally lots of bike boom bikes like Akami, Apollo,
Centurion, Sekai, Nishiki, some Raleigh, some unidentifiables.

What are your thoughts on what makes a great beater?

Cheap, not rusted through, aluminum wheels are a plus, 700c instead of
27" is nice.

Oooh! Oooh! Suzue one-piece, forged, no-tool-marks,
wide-flanged hubs!

Yeah, they've nutted axles instead of QRs, but that's
part of what makes a good beater too.

True, I'm not fond of quick release on anything that will be locked up
outside for more than five minutes at a time. Plus, at least the nutted
axles always work, some of the quick releases are pure cheese.

And those Suzue one-piece wide-flanged hubs possess
a classic sort of beauty that doesn't require fancy
colourization (hooker cosmetics.) As opposed to those
offerings by those guys who nowadays proffer their fancy,
high-falutin' hubs, all dolled-up in their fancy colours.

Suzue hubs have a demure, honest and ingenue beauty which
is neither apparent to, nor appreciated by everyone. That
only serves to enhance their beauty all the more.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

an aside: I was out at the Pro Criterium race here in Toronto last
Friday night and while the race was great, the real sideshow was
seeing such a concentration of beautiful and offbeat road bikes. Given
the crowd (primarily road bike afficianados and bike couriers), locked
to every bike stand and fence was another obscure frame make, usually
in rather weathered condition. It was like a spontaneous 70s and 80s
classic road bike trade show - Torpados, Marinonis, Rickerts...all
sorts of cool stuff.

Peter

On May 11, 5:16 pm, wrote:
I'm doing a survey on what kind of bikes are being used for affordable
mid-range road bikes, bikes that you'd use for running around town or
everyday commuting.

Sure, on Sundays keen riders trot out their pride and joys -- the very
high end Treks, Specializeds, Rossins, Colnagos, Cannondales, etc. but
there is a fairly limited set of names you see on every day road bike
frames, the ones that are locked to lamp posts outside the grocery
store and are most often converted into single speeds.

I suspect that certain brands are chosen because they are lightweight,
good quality, but not so sought after as to be expensive or appealing
to thieves. They are also, I suspect, not so precious that they can't
take the occasional scratches and dings that come from heavy regular
urban street riding or be "frankensteined" with mix-and-match
components.

And it seems to be quite regional. In this area (Toronto in Canada)
the Grade B brands I most often see include: Concorde, Miele, Fugi,
Fiori, Miyata, Nishiki. There is an Apollo brand that shows up on
bikes originally sold in the Vancouver area but which I don't think
was ever available around here.

What brands/makes/models do you see in your area? What are your
thoughts on what makes a great beater?

I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Peter