Electra Ticino 16D

I talked my wife into a trip to the bike shop after we had lunch. I want her to get a bike when we get our tax refund early next year. The two main brands this shop sells are Specialized and Electra. When we got done looking at bikes for her, we walked around the rest of the shop.

One of the bikes I really like the looks of is the Electra Ticino.



Here's a link to the manufacturer's site.

I am intrigued by this bike for two reasons. First, I like the retro looks. The steel fenders are hammered and while I would strongly consider replacing them with wood fenders, they look pretty awesome. That color is called putty, by the way. Looks fantastic. The bike is begging for a Brooks saddle. The only thing cooler than the bar-end brake pulls would be shifters on the downtube.

Then there is the handlebar issue. There are two things I'm not particularly fond of. The first is front suspension. The second are flat bars on a road bike. This bike has neither.

The bike was handy in the rack so I pulled it off and sat on it. Very comfy. It was cold as a bugger outside or I would have taken it for a spin. Maybe in the future.

The one thing I don't like about this bike is that it is aluminum. Why? The other bike I would compare it to is the Trek Belleville, which is steel. It's a looker too. The only thing it is lacking is a few more gears (it has three), but it has an internal hub, so it can easily be upgraded to a seven. It also sports a front rack. This bike, though I did not look closely, I would assume has 16 gears. Very practical for a neighborhood bike. I wonder if it might suffer as a commuter, though. Something about it makes me think it would be uncomfortable on long journeys, but then again it's a Hell of a lot more bike than they used to race in the 1920s. Except for the aluminum thing.