I'm buying the Beaumont City Bike – 7 Speed to commute from work to home (14 miles). It'll be my first bike since I was like 10, now 18 years later. I don't really know what good brands are but this one seems affordable and looks nice. Has anyone bought their products?
by Present-Contact-4022
4 Comments
Respectfully, I don’t think this bike will be a good purchase. The marketing and photos look good, but I kind of doubt this is going to stand up to the wear and tear of daily rides of either 14 or 28 miles a day. For $300 you’re almost certainly getting a heavy, cheaply made steel frame, heavy steel wheels that won’t stay trued, and bottom-shelf components that you will eventually want to upgrade anyway. My best advice would be to look at getting an aluminum frame bike that fits you — check facebook marketplace and craigslist and your local bike shop. They’re everywhere and will probably hold up better than this admittedly cute but heavy af soon-to-be scrap.
I ride a lot. I have a wife and children who going in I knew would probably ride their bikes ten times a year. I bought a Retrospec for my wife. It’s great for her. Represented a good value based on how much she’d use it. It’s a tier above a big box store bike, but I would never get one for myself. If youre getting something because you want to ride a bike in the park a few times a year its fine, even good, but if your’e looking to buy a bike that will be ridden everyday you can find something great used with that $300 that will be way better.
What is your commute like?
* Concrete path? Smooth asphalt? Rough asphalt? Dirt/gravel paths?
* Very flat? Hills? Mountains?
Any bike that costs $300 in today’s dollars is going to have to make some compromises to hit that price point. In this case, they are using cheaper/heavier hi-tensile steel for the frame and fork, a low end 1×7 drivetrain which is geared for flat riding and small hills.
Retrospec is one of a few bikes focusing on this area of the market (affordable commuter bikes), others would be Priority bikes (who has Costco exclusive discounts) and Public bikes
Please talk with a bike shop in your area, ideally one that sells used bikes. At this price point a new bike will likely be far worse than a used one. Once you get close to 1k it’s more debatable on the deal.
Even if the bike shop doesn’t have anything for you they can likely at least give some good ideas and tell what important aspects to look for.