Just in: Reid Blacktop, £380 flat bar commuter arrives for testing

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/