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TECH NEWS
Speedvagen launches Urban Racer "super commuter" road bike + video
Speedvagen is a Portland-based company that has been producing bikes since 2007 in the Vanilla Workshop, a collaborative community with framebuilder Sacha White at the heart, and its latest creation is this awesome looking Urban Racer.
The Urban Racer is described by the company as a “super commuter” and is built to accommodate 650b wheels with 42mm tyres. There’s some speculation that the 650b wheelsize, after becoming almost standard in a few shorts years in the mountain bike industry, is set to make an appearance in the road market, especially on gravel and adventure bikes.
The main advantage of the smaller wheels is that you can run much bigger tyres, with the same outside diameter as a skinny tyre on a 700c wheel, but get the comfort benefit from the bigger tyre. That’s obviously an ideal trait in a bike built for traversing rough city roads littered with potholes, as the Urban Racer is.
Made from stainless steel tubing, the Urban Racer has a neat integrated chain guard and is built with a coaster brake, the company choosing it for its “utter lack of complication, leaving you free to focus on building speed and spotting jumps,” and paired with a two-speed internal SRAM gear hub. It's worth pointing out here, that this braking set-up would be illegal on UK roads - where you need two independent means of stopping. Can't help feeling a coaster brake alone is also going to be heavy on the tyres.
It’s highly likely this bike will be used for commuting so Speedvagen has built a custom rack that attaches to the fork, and is able to hold a bag big enough for a laptop and clothing, or a few groceries. The rack also acts as a useful mount for the Supernova LED light powered by the dynamo front hub.
The pictured bike is fitted with an optional one-piece integrated handlebar and stem, which has been designed and fillet brazed in-house. It’s made from steel and is based on a Nitto handlebar and intended to complement the aesthetic of the complete bike. Other handlebar and stem options are available as the photos show.
The Urban Racer can also be specced with full-length Japanese Honjo mudguards custom painted to match the frame and fork, to provide a seamless appearance.
Check it out in full detail at www.thevanillaworkshop.com/speedvagen-urban-racer/
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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11 comments
it's a play bike, it looks really cool and is beautifully made, but it's incomplete... you can't "race" in the city and on the road with only a coaster brake.... I've tried it and it's fraught with risk... In the city you often need to stop NOW.... and the fenders are bobbed too short, you'll get mud and water all over your back and your feet... fix the fenders, make it a single speed, and give it brakes, and it would be awesome... As it is now it's a really expensive kids toy for play assing around in parks...
How would a coaster brake be any different on the tyres than a standard braking system? The only way we have of braking is via friction between tyre and ground.
Having ridden a coaster brake many years back though I think they suck. When you coast they brake. And there you were thinking a fixed was hard work.
The wheel/tyre size idea I like though.
That is one of the silliest quotes I have read on this site for a long, long time!
...it has disc brake mounts on the fork.
We're really scraping the barrel here with all the "no way to mount brakes" cries. It still stops, just not in a conventional British way.
I do wonder if any fixed wheel riders have ever been stopped by the law on account of not having visible breaks? No pun intended!
The Vanilla waiting list for custom frames is years long. I don't question for a minute that these will sell quickly considering it's the only way, inside of 5 years, that people can get a Vanilla-badged bike. Speedvagen is all about clean lines, nice paint, and thoughtful spec, and this has all of those things.
It's extremely common for bicycles in the US to be only equipped with a coaster brake, particularly things like cruisers and many children's bikes. Being reminded of that idiot on a fixie who ran into a bus recently in the UK after his "front brake failed", I don't see how having a consistently working coaster brake wouldn't be considered a much better idea. I'd be much happier on a coaster brake-equipped, 2-speed than a stupid "fixie" that doesn't allow you to coast at all.
Where is the second independent braking system? Oh! It doesn't have one?
Why would anyone buy this instead of a fixie, single-speed or flip-flop and save themselves a ton of money? Its looks aren't good enough to justify the price for a bike that is not legal for the public roads in this and other countries.
There do not appear to be any obvious mounts for a front brake.
No shit! The price alone proves that, but with only a rear coaster brake and ability to control a skid to stop you this bike claims a Darwin award on behalf of its owner.
Rich boys toys. Back in the 1970s we used to convert a single speed bike into a "tracker bike" which looked a lot like this does. Fit a motor bike handle bar and remove the front brake and that was about it. Had to look out for your front teeth!
Needless to say I'd want a lot more for my money than a "designer" name badge! A lot more, the integrated chain guard looks rediculous.
How much??!!! Good look with selling those. Meanwhile mango bikes approaches £1 million turnover
"It’s highly likely this bike will be used for commuting"
It costs $5000 doesn't it?
Without a front brake?
About as likely as me winning the Tour this year...