Another Interesting German Bicycle

Here's another neat looking bike from a shop in Dresden. I'm not sure how comfortable it would be with the bars 10cm below the saddle, but it's a neat looking design.

The weather has actually been clear the last couple of days, and I went for a nice little ride today, with Phil Collins pumping in the old earbuds. I normally never listen to music while I ride, but I was just feeling it today. I also rode in the forest behind my school a couple of days ago, and got the Atlantis nice and muddy. I also got sort of lost, and had to ask directions back which was kind of embarrassing. There is a large series of hills behind my school, and I rode over the top of them, only to find a bunch of fire roads leading through even more hills. I'll definitely be doing some exploring in the next few weeks. I should have brought my camera with me, but it was sort of a spontaneous ride.

I went to a local bike shop that sells the Patria touring bike from the last post, and I was suprised to find that the full retail price with the sliding Rohloff dropouts and your choice of 20 colors is only 380 euros. Subtract the 19% value added tax, and that works out to be $400 even. For the price of a Surly tig welded frameset from taiwan, you can buy a lugged frameset made in Germany with your choice of colors, and some custom options. these are made to order, so you have to wait a couple of weeks, but I really feel like there is a lot of value in these frames. If you wanted a derailleur model, it would be even less than the Rohloff version. Once could conceivably build up a complete bike with decent parts for around $1000-$1200. Not bad at all for a tough off-road touring bike. Patria also makes some really neat city bikes designed for fat 60mm tires, like this Potsdam model that I like. Big cushy tires, and a fully enclosed drivetrain! That would be a great city bike, and you can also choose between 26" or 700c wheels for every size.


Das neues deutsches Wort des Tages: gern geschehen! (my pleasure!)