Riding inside the city is a nightmare for many people. They don’t just get tired but also very angry after commuting to and from their office. Having witnessed this phenomenon myself, I began to wonder if there was more to this condition than bad traffic. Although I reached no conclusion because traffic is and always will be the number 1 source of agony, the thought process blessed me with another set of points which I think a city bike should have.1: Low seat height:
Placing your foot down is a thing which you will as commonly do as holding in the clutch. The process should be easy. You should easily be able to keep your foot down, without adjusting your seating position to one side. If the bike you’re riding, forces you to move one of your cheeks off the seat, so you can keep your foot down when you’re riding the wrong bike. Even tip toeing becomes annoying after some time. If you touch the ground the ground with both of your feet, emphasis on “touch”, then it’s a great seat height for you. If you can flat foot from your seat, then the height is perfect.2: Low down torque:
After pulling your feet up from the road you’d want to move ahead as quickly as possible. You don’t ever want to be that guy who causes the traffic behind him to stall because his bike can’t pick up the pace from a standstill. Traffic just like a quicksand is not a good place to be. The longer you will stay in it, the more easily you will lose your mind. A bike with a quick pick up is a boon in heavy traffic. 3: Not low handlebars:
The more upright your back will be, the better it is for your body, mind and soul. Human beings have evolved to walk and sit in a straight posture. If anything disturbs that natural position, our body retaliate in the form of lower back pain and pulled muscles. Jokes aside, extremely low handlebars cause back, shoulder and wrist pain. They are not ideal for everyday riding and will leave you aching in soreness after you get off the bike. Raised handlebars, raised clipons or straight bars, are the key to a happy ride.4: Big fuel tank:
The fuel tank of a good bike should be big enough so that once you fill it up, you can forget about it for at least 4 or 5 days. Lines on petrol pump are getting longer each day, despite sky-high fuel prices. For your own peace of mind, your bike should either have a big fuel tank or good mileage or both. “If it’s got none, then you’ll always be in constant worry, son.”5: Anti Lock Braking System (ABS):
It might seem overkill to have an ABS on a city bike but most of our riding and most of our emergency braking takes place in the city. ABS is always the preferred variant to go for.These are the fundamental points which you need to know before buying a good city bike. Rest of the stuff like a comfortable seat, or tyres can be fitted after you have your bike, but changing the volume of the fuel tank would be impossible.
By: Yetnesh Dubey