Wait! What? Last time we hung out you were living in Sorrento and working in Sanford. Or am I remembering it wrong?
Even further now, bought a house in Mt Dora and work in Longwood! Actually, I drive half way then ride the rest. I'll park at the Lake Svlvan soccer fields on 46 then ride to 434 by the hospital. Depending on the route it's between 9 and 12 miles one way. I think my gearing is 46,48 ish/18. Good Inbetween gearing. I like not having to touch the bike, just get on and ride. Takes you back to the simple times
I had a Specialized Langster for awhile and I regret selling it. It was 2009 or 2010, and was the San Francisco edition. I bought it used and it was set up as a roadie with drop bars. I hate road bikes so I eventually sold it. I should have put flat bars on it and heavier tires....oh well. The single speeds are one hell of a workout. It is easy to get lazy with gears, but not so with a SS. I believe I always got a better workout riding it, hence the reason I wish I'd kept and made some changes.
Go to any any beach town on the east coast of FL and you see that's what people are riding, and have been riding long before hipsters came around.
Back in the late 90's early 2000's I had visions I racing/ridng here; https://thevelodrome.com/ There is something about the level of power/endurance it takes to ride at maximum effort against another competitor. There is strategy involved with bicycle racing, such as, hiding your pain and weaknesses from your competitors.
Full Hipster ride: actually, I took the skinny bars off and put normal mt bike bars on so I lost some valuable peer points. I'll be shunned at the skinny jean gathering.
Did you look here? Dunno whatcha need... http://www.myronsmopeds.com/category/parts/motomarina-parts/
As long as it's not fixed gear and has some brakes front and rear, it's okay in my book. And hipsters suck.
I tried putting some brakes I had laying around on the back of this. The pads didn't reach the rim, need to hit the local shop and find a set that'll work. I hate not having a rear brake.
I was thinking the same out here on the west coast. Lots of people ride single speed beach cruisers. I wimped out and picked up one with gears, my wife has a single speed. I laugh at her when we hit the hills.
You just described my lesbian cousin. I have a 2009 Gary Fisher Rig, that I love. Have a few different sets of tires for either MTB or road use, can flip the stem upside down and put on a carbon rigid fork.
The good thing is that we have zero hills here. Hipster or not, I'm not ruling one of these out for riding around town.
LOVE my Redline Monocog 29er, my fancier geared bike never gets ridden. The whole concept of multiple chain rings and tensioners seems so incredibly archaic...they really haven't come up with a better system in hundreds of years? If I were shopping for a dedicated paved trail or town bike, I'd look at a internal gear hub model.
Way back Lee Acree had this single that was so beyond cool that it hurt. I think it was a Spot and had a belt in place of a chain. I always wanted on of those.
Ha! I was just looking at those because Tristan above talking about internal gear hubs. They are way cool, but spendy. https://spotbrand.com/collections/every-road
Wanna try something funky ? I tried the Mercedes designed Smart e-bike a few years ago. It's heavy as hell, but accelerates from a standstill pretty quick. It'll even leave skidmarks ! The top speed was kind of limited though and I could outrun it my my roadie. Would be a great commuter though, if you can park if somewhere safe, because it's pretty expensive. https://www.smart.com/id/en/index/smart-electric-bike.html