Updated September 30, 2003

New Bicycles That Use Internal Gears

If you go to places that sell the most bicycles you probably haven't seen these bicycles yet. Of course, in most cases, if you go to places that sell the most bicycles you are in the wrong place to buy a bicycle. What determines where the most bicycles are sold is usually the price. The lower the price the more will be sold. But the best bicycles are not the cheapest bicycles. And those who are settling for the cheapest bicycles are just cheating themselves. Some bicycle manufacturers are perfectly happy making it easy for these buyers to cheat themselves by offering the cheapest bicycles that will roll.

A good way to find out where not to buy a bicycle is by looking at what other products are offered. In general if you can buy many many items that have nothing to do with bicycles then you are not in a store that will treat bicycles seriously. Of course there are exceptions. If you haven't already learned it I want to tell you right here now that anything that deals with bicycles has exceptions. Just to name a few:

Many a bicycle company that is known for high quality bicycles has at one time or another allowed their name to be put on low quality bicycles. (The opposite is also true.)
You will sometimes be able to buy high quality bicycles where you buy your groceries. (The opposite is also true.)
Bicycles that are made in England use the English standards. (Except the ones that don't)

And the one I will be discussing on this page:

Bicycles that use internal hub gears are old fashioned and can't be found for sale as new any more. (Except the one's that aren't old fashioned and can be found new as well as the ones that are old fashioned and can be found as new.)

Yes, bicycles and bicycle buying can be confusing. That is one reason why, if you are not knowledgeable about bicycles, you should get to know someone who is knowledgeable about bicycles if you own a bicycle or you are going to buy a bicycle. An entire type of bicycle that is still being offered for sale has remained hidden to the general public in the United States. It is even disappearing from some of the countries where it has been very prevalent in the past. Is it because it's no longer useful? That is what you may hear where it is not being sold. No. The truth is twofold, to simplify the issue. The first reason is that fewer people are using a bicycle for transportation. And that is not as much because of the bicycle in general as it is because of the bicycles that are generally offered and the perception that traffic is too dangerous to consider riding on the roads. The simple fact is that if you ride obeying the law, watching out for road hazards, and realizing that you are sharing the road with pedestrians, cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other bicyclists, you can avoid accidents. As a cyclist you are usually the slowest, except for pedestrians, and usually the most alert, so it is up to you to avoid accidents. And the second reason is that the transportation bicycle is less profitable for the manufacturer and the seller. That could change if the demand came back. The manufacturer cannot cut corners as well when making a transpiration bicycle. He must include fenders (mudguards), lights, a kickstand, a carrier rack, a chainguard, and a high quality rear hub that houses the transmission. Anyone making a mountain bike, for example, doesn't need to include the fenders, lights, a kickstand, a carrier rack, nor a chainguard and the rear hub can be as cheap as he thinks he can supply and still have it last the duration of the one year warranty on parts.

Good News - New Bicycles are available made in the tradition of three speed bicycles of the past.

The good news is that there are still bicycles made like the three speed bicycles of the past. I have found one brand, Biria, to be excellent. That doesn't mean that other brands of similar bicycles aren't excellent. It's just that I have seen this one up close and have test ridden it. It is made in Germany and follows in the tradition of being of the finest quality in design, materials, and workmanship. It is not a copy of the bicycles of the past. Progress in the design of this bicycle is obvious. But the general design and quality is obviously more closely related to the classic English Roadster. But it sure doesn't look like one of the classic English Roadsters. That's why it doesn't negate the need for classic English Roadsters. I wouldn't be happy seeing anything that did or even tried to do that.

Biria makes other styles of bicycles using both internal gears and derailleur gears. But the one shown below is the most striking of their line. They call it the easy boarding. To be specific it is the model "EZ Trend" or "eb333". This bicycle has an unusual frame that makes boarding the bicycle easy.
eb333

There is only one frame style for the Biria EZ boarding bicycles. It is a lot like a Vespa scooter look but without the bulk. The frame slopes down near the ground between the handlebars and the saddle. The ground clearance is more than enough for street or smooth path riding. And getting on the bicycle only requires that you step over a frame tube that is not much more than six inches off the ground at its top.

This bicycle rides much like a classic English roadster. The wheelbase is about 45 3/8" and the steering angle is very relaxed. There is only a hint of the expected "wheel flop" but a high degree of the expected stability as soon as you get moving. The very pleasant handling characteristics could be because of the low center of gravity this frame design provides.

The Biria comes with many parts that you may not have seen on a bicycle for years unless you have tracked down one of the classic roadsters. The accessories alone are worth more than some complete bicycles at the local toy store, $130 or more by my estimate, and it's all included in the suggested retail price of $569.99. That's not much for an aluminum frame bicycle of this quality.

What is included is fenders, a dynamo(generator) lighting set with a headlight and tail light, a luggage rack with a tire pump held under the rack, a chainguard that covers the half of the chain nearest the rider and all of the chainring, a bell (in most areas an audible warning device is required by law believe it or not), full CPSC reflectors (in the USA), and a
kickstand. Yet it is quite light, 17 kg, that's about 37.5 lbs. That's much less than most cheap mountain bikes.

My impression is that this is one of the best bicycles ever made. That is the same impression that I had about my first bicycle. That was a 1960 Hercules Hawthorne made in Nottingham England. I picked it out and told my parents that it was the only one that I would consider accepting as a gift when I was eight years old. I was right that time and at least about bicycles I haven't been wrong determining whether any of them were either good or bad yet. I don't mean for that to sound like a boast. I apologize if it does and it offends you. But it is the only type of judgment that I have been infallible making. And it only partially qualifies me to be a bicycle mechanic. So it's no big deal.

What is a big deal is that I have found a high quality bicycle in a time when low quality seems to be the standard that many bicycle brands are unable to rise above. Biria has probably been making fine bicycles for many years before I found out about it. Here in the land where bicycles that appear to be mountain bikes can be found for $75 brand new (USA), we may be at least slightly disadvantaged when it comes to being a bicycle knowledgeable society. Doubt it? Raleigh bicycles weren't discovered by the general US population until the late 1950's. That was more than 50 years after Raleigh began making bicycles. On top of the news? Apparently not about bicycles.

That's why I'm spending so much time on this website. I have spent about 42 years studying bicycles. And now I'm ready to tell what I know to help those who are needlessly suffering with bicycles unsuited to what the rider wanted the bicycle for. Internal geared bicycles solve more problems than they create for those who don't need the fastest, lightest, or a bicycle that can go mountain climbing. Almost forgotten are the bicycles that adapt to the riders needs. Too many riders are being taunted, tortured, or tamed by a bicycle that demands too much of them when a three speed or seven speed bicycle with internal hub gears would have been a better choice.

An example is those who are riding on Rails To Trails trails. I just started to ride on one of those trails. Of course I was riding a vintage (41 year old) three speed bicycle. I was surprised to find that three gears is more than enough. Railroad beds were graded to be very flat because the trains could not go up much more than a 4% grade easily. So it doesn't make any sense to use a twenty something speed bicycle to ride a flat trail.

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