buying a bike

Just flipping through ebay, im posting these as "types" not actual bikes- for example the first one has spoke issues- you don't want that one, but it's of the sort that might work for the role:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Specialized-TriCross-Sport-bicycle-56cm/332381525584?hash=item4d637b9650%3Ag%3AjFEAAOSwFPRZvQTl
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2017-GENESIS-Equilibrium-4-months-old-Bought-for-950/122710787329?hash=item1c92220501%3Ag%3AtToAAOSw~gxZq~rg
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boardman-2016-CX-Comp-Mens-Cyclocross-Bike-Bicycle-Alloy-Frame-18-Speed-700C/182726175598?hash=item2a8b542b6e%3Ag%3AOZUAAOSwr2ZZmqWs

basically, these are drop bars with rear rack and mudguard mounts. 9/10 speed shifting is good and current, 7 and 8 speed sets might be harder to get quality replacement parts. a double chainring crankset will usually be enough. i think caek's advice is solid- flat bars in traffic are nice for visibility and maneuvering. drops are nice for those longer rides where you want multiple hand positions to stay comfortable.

if your bike storage is on street locking, keep it cheap (tho i obv have no idea what bike theft is like in your hood, maybe it's pretty safe).

i had a drop road when i lived in bristol and it was great for extreme hill climbs on deserted streets back from the pub and doing the cycle path to bath and back, but i hated riding it on e.g. gloucester road with the potholes and buses. i'm a fairly comfortable cyclist in traffic, but that was a bridge too far for me.

i just bought a tern gsd electric cargo bike.

any tips? (especially looking for advice about how to deal with all the people who are going to want to do it with me now that i've got a bright yellow cargo bike with a child seat.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx4ctRpjEjM

Read something once that said something like "I assume every door I ride past is going to be flung open by an opera singer about to belt out an aria" - the one time I got doored was turning a corner, those can be tricky.

Have fun!

i've done tons of city riding, but never with a bike that weighed 75lb (with a 30lb child on the back), and also never in los angeles, where the people/roads are bad.

luckily most of our daycare commute is going to be along a bike path by the river. just one insanely dicey intersection to start the day haha good times.

Ah okay. Yeah no special wisdom to share, I am just constantly paranoid and always expanding my library of threat models. I actually sort of enjoy that part of riding.

not dead yet. having a great time. we now go passed a park every day and my son has hidden a stick that we have to check on each afternoon. without that it would probably be a little faster than the car.

I bought a half decent bike! A late 90s Marin Pine Mountain rigid. Almost all my riding will be on streets & in alleys, with maybe a few city trails here & there, seems like a good all-rounder. It’s a damn sight lighter than anything I’ve owned before & is kind of a joy to ride.

It’ll replace the shitty shitty Schwinn I bought last year & have never enjoyed riding (& so, of course, I rarely rode it), which in turn replaced the $50 Peugeot I rode for years but which was stripped to the frame when my daughter borrowed it & left it at the train station inadequately secured.

I wasn’t looking for a bike but it was right there in an antiques/junk shop & it called to me. $300, which seems ok (esp as there’s a bike shortage cuz everyone & their new Covid dog wants one)

just put the 2000th mile on the GSD (used for an 8 mile round trip 3-4 times a week). been carrying two kids on it for maybe a year.

around about 6 months ago we reached the point here where people with kids on e-bikes stopped waving and nodding to each other because there are so many of them.