urbanized bikes; urbanizedbikes.com; facebook.com/UrbanizedBikes
Urbanized city bike
Price ₤1,699, urbanizedbikes.com
Frame aluminium
Gears Shimano Nexus 7-speed
Weight 12.7kg
Cycling in cities brings with it a wealth of inconveniences. From glass-frosted roads and awkward staircases, to traffic problems and security issues, there always seem to be obstacles in our way. Which is where Hristo Tashev comes in. Rather than being defeated by these stumbling blocks, he decided to create a bike which relished the challenge of urban biking – and rather appropriately chose to call his new brand Urbanized. Based in Sofia, Bulgaria, but available with free EU shipping and a full 30-day money-back guarantee, the bikes aim to put the joy back into the city scramble.
The frames are lightweight, colourful, cool and practical. The unique hole-punched wheel rims are real eye-catchers. You can say goodbye to punctures, too, as the tyres are solid, airless rubber. You could stick a knife in one and be fine. The chain has been replaced with the award-winning oil-free Gates belt drive. And the gears are internal, weatherproof, mud and dust-resistant hubs from Shimano. But for me the winning detail is the brilliant grab handle to help you lug it up steps. Now you have no excuses not to take the bike.
Cool kit
Darker nights call for brighter lights, and you won’t get smarter than these from See.Sense. They are the only ones in the world which react to your environment. They’ll automatically flash brighter and faster at moments of risk (eg at junctions or filtering traffic) helping to increase your visibility to other road users. £79.99, seesense.cc
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MartinLove166
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