10-3-07 // Online Exclusive: City Slickers

Kip Mikler

Appearing slightly out of place against the barren desert landscape of Boulder City, Nevada, utility-minded, urban-leaning bikes were plentiful at the Outdoor Demo as well as the Indoor portions of Interbike. With so many manufacturers featuring these bikes, the term "urban" seems to be getting nearly as common as "29-inch wheels."

We chatted up various designers, product managers and marketing people, which revealed a couple reasons for the bike industry’s newfound focus on transporting people and things through daily life. One is the trend of highlighting the altruistic qualities of bicycles as alternative transportation. Another reason: These are the types of bikes that are currently most interesting to the people who design, build and sell them.

Wandering through the blazing sun and dust of the expo area at Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City—and later the halls of the Sands Convention Center on day one of Interbike—several city slicker rigs caught our eye. Here’s a look at some of them.

The Verve must be one of the shwankiest urban bikes on the planet.

Alan L. Davis

Seven Verve
Seven production manager Matt O’Keefe came up with this extravagant Ti beauty to ride on his 18-mile work commute. This one has a 9-speed hub, but it can also be built up as a singlespeed. It comes with Avid mechanical disc brakes, cork grips and a stylish Brooks saddle. Custom touches include the front rack and riser bar, both made from titanium. The frame will retail for about $2,400, and a complete bike for around $4,800.

The Marin Hamilton represents the economy end of the urban market.

Courtesy of Marin

Marin Hamilton 29er
On the other end of the price spectrum is this daily driver from Marin, which will retail for just over $400. We saw Marin-sponsored downhiller Shaums March cruising around the Outdoor Demo on the Hamilton. With a butted chromoly frame and eccentric bottom bracket, it’s a simple, value-priced singlespeed for getting around town.

The Curbside comes complete with a top tube pad, matching saddle and axle wrench mounted on the seat tube.

Courtesy of Felt

Felt Curbside
This is another urban machine that was born from employees’ desire to have a bike they could use every day. The Curbside is the most whimsical model in Felt’s Urban Alternative line, which also includes two other bikes, the X-City and Dispatch. With narrow, flat bars and small BMX-style brake levers, the singlespeed Curbside is a tribute to bike messenger culture. Check out the nifty quick-release axle wrench, which conveniently has a bottle opener on it.

This is Bionicon's rendering of the complete Urban Cargo bike, they only had a frame on display at Dirt Demo.

Courtesy of Bionicon

Bionicon Urban Cargo
Haul ass or haul stuff with this radical machine from German manufacturer Bionicon. The Urban Cargo appears capable of surviving just about anything the mean streets can dish out, including a runaway steamroller. With beefy aluminum tubing, disc brakes, a double crown rigid fork and a SRAM 3-speed transmission, the Cargo was one of the most striking machines at the Outdoor Demo. It’s not available yet, but keep your eyes out for this burly crusher.

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