The other day, I fawned over the beautiful polished Alfine internal gear hub like it was a guest on the "Chris Farley Show." And now, the dramatic reveal of the bicycle it resides on:
Huh. This is the Jamis Commuter 4, and it's, um.... got a great personality? When I first saw a pic, i thought it looked a bit like a llama [am I allowed to say that about stuff we sell?]
But let's look past this swan's feathers. For under $900, it's got the Alfine hub (in the very pretty polished silver, not the me-too black), disc brakes, aluminum frame and steel fork, and fenders. It's also got an adjustable quill stem, which is odd, but allows for a lot of adjustability. That big poofy saddle, perched on a suspension seatpost, it's a great deal more comfortable than the tractor seat it closely resembles. And a step-through (what used to be dubbed "women's") frame version is also available:
You may note the presence of vertical dropouts, a chain tensioner, and double front chainrings. Unusual, for sure, but the vertical dropouts will certainly ease tire changes, and the double chainrings (48/34 i think) gives you a huge gear range to play with.Everybody is all hot for this first wave of Alfine bikes. But this particular one just isn't getting any buzz. It's a shame, because it's a great value, and a fundamentally good and useful bike. We have a size run in stock at our Chevy Chase store, pop on by and have a look.
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1 comment:
The multiple chain rings and requisite chain tensioner are deal breakers for me. I want Alfine for simplicity of drive train and less parts to go bad, and this bike goes about Alfine in all the wrong ways.
It's too bad, really. There's no way I'm going to spend $2k on my next bike, so it's going to mean a compromise between disc brakes (not on the Breezer Uptown) and hub (a number of nice bikes with discs have lesser Shimano hubs).
Tragic.
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