The Reid Blacktop is a flat bar hybrid that looks to be ideally suited to commuting, with durable Continental Sport Contact 35m tyres and a 3-speed Shimano Nexus internal gear hub. It costs £379.99 and it has just rolled into the road.cc bike shed to be reviewed.
– The Best Commuting Bikes and Kit
Before we get it out on the streets of Bath, however, let’s run through some of the details of the bike. As mentioned, it comes with wide tyres that should take care of rough road surfaces, sunken drain covers and potholes. The tyres are fitted to Alex DC19 aluminium rims with a double wall construction
The Shimano Nexus gear hub provides three gear ratios paired to a 44t single chainring, which should be enough range for dealing with most urban riding, but it’ll be interesting to see how it copes with the hills of Bath. The Nexus hub is controlled by a twist shifter with a convenient gear indicator displayed on top.
The benefits of an internal gear hub for a city bike are that all the gear mechanisms are kept out of harms way, and so are much less likely to get damaged or coated in road filth, especially in the winter. That cuts down maintenance and prolongs the service intervals.
Reid has thoughtfully added a chain ring protector so you can ride this bike in regular clothes and not worry about getting chain oil all over your trousers.
Bringing the bike to a stop is a pair of Promax V-brakes with long brake levers providing plenty of leverage.
All these parts are built onto a 6061 aluminium frame and rigid fork. It’s available in four frame sizes, this is the XL in the picture because Big Dave is going to be testing the bike and he’s a tall lad. Reid has routed all the cables inside the frame to keep the lines nice and clean.
There are eyelets on the rear stays and dropouts for fitting a rack, handy if you want to use some panniers for the daily ride to the office. Mudguards too can be fitted, with mounts on the frame and fork. There looks to be plenty of clearance between the tyres and frame to fit some mudguards. The bike weighs in at 11.7kg (25.7lb).
And it’s all finished in a black livery, as befits the name. It’s purposeful and rather stylish, just the ticket for city riding, and it’s not going to attract a lot of attention. Reid is an Australian brand, it’s the first time we’ve tested one of its bikes, from a range that includes road bikes, mountain bikes and even e-bikes.
Reid Bikes have a large network of UK dealers and you can see where your nearest is on this webpage.
More details at www.reidbikes.com/bikes/commuter-folding/blacktop-3-speed/
8 thoughts on “Just in: Reid Blacktop, £380 flat bar commuter arrives for testing”
The looks remind me of Edinburgh Cycles’ Courier bikes, basic but just the ticket for shortish commutes. A pair of mudguards, some better tyres and off you go. A brilliant intro to cycling.
3 speed
3 speed aint an easy commute in Bath, east-west, west-east is quite doable, but north =south, south=north 3 speed, forget it. Looks like a good commuter, but choose a different town.
rojre wrote:
We’re actually based in Bath, most of us have lived here for years, I’m sure we’ll take that into account, thanks. If you’re here, why not come along to our next Bath ride out, there’ll be one arranged soon, I’m sure.
A Nexus 8 Speed would be fine
A Nexus 8 Speed would be fine…
Thumbs up for another non-Road Bike review, more please!
[quote=Geraldau
[quote=Geraldau
Thumbs up for another non-Road Bike review, more please!
yes indeed
[/quote]
Looks pretty handy, I like
Looks pretty handy, I like the idea of 3 speed (depending on what the gears are).
Still utter madness that the
Still utter madness that the default specification on this sort of bike doesn’t include full length mudguards.
Reid blacktop
I recently bought one from LBS. I had it altered to take a Shimano nexus Aldine 8 speed hub stitched into a Mavic rim. The only mudguards I found to fit were the Axiom Trekking. I replaced the stem from110 to 70 MM. to give a shorter handle bar reach. I also changed the saddle to a Brooks. Having big feet I changed the pedals to orange nuke-proofs flat pedals. In keeping with its rufty- tufty image I installed a Blackburn rack. I use it for local trips of about a mile. No,problems so far but Inshould mentionI weigh about 160 kilos and am 5 ft 10. What no one has commented upon is its 110 cm wheelbase which gives it a spacious cockpit compared to most gravel bikes that typically have a 100 cm wheelbase.