Linus Bikes
As cities with hills steeper than black diamond ski slopes go, San Francisco is exceptionally bike-friendly. Drivers are trained (most of the time) to look for cyclists before opening their car doors, many businesses provide bike parking in their employee lots to encourage low-carbon commuting, and of course bike messengers on fixed-gears are a more common sight along trolley tracks than the street cars themselves. While fold-ups and fixies are popular, diehard and novice cyclists in any city are bound to love the classic European style of a new line of bikes known as Linus.
Linus Bikes launched recently in a cottage-like showroom in Venice, California. Founders Adam McDermott and Chad Kushner, both natives of South Africa, have been friends since high school, and have spent years traveling and surfing around the world together. "We always envied the bicycle-centric cities of Europe and Asia," says Kushner, "We loved the classic old bikes and wished there was something similar back home. Eventually, we decided to make them."
With just a handful of styles and colors, the company keeps it simple, but detail isn't lost on them. Both the slim-lined roadster and the chunkier cruiser have leather handlebars and are equipped to accommodate baskets and Linus's exclusive house-designed line of saddle bags and snap-closure pouches, which will be out soon. The frames come in shiny black, off-white, cherry red, and iced blue.
Probably the best thing about Linus, besides its good looks, is the extremely wallet-friendly price. Starting at $300, it'd be hard to find a functioning secondhand bike on Craigslist for much less. If you're in LA you can take one for a test-ride along Abbot Kinney and by the beach (I took one myself a few weeks ago and it was great), and fortunately for you Easterners, Linus will also be debuting at the Steven Alan store in East Hampton—so you can initiate your bike outside the city, then take it to the streets when vacation is over.
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There's something so happy about the look of these bikes. Perhaps we should make them standard issue.
made in China
nice, simple, classy. It's great to see a cruiser that doesn't look like it weighs 100 lbs
I like the Dutch. May have to get one. How do they do in the hills (Hollywood that is)?
I rode the classic around Venice last weekend on a test drive. These bikes are indeed made in China but have a nice solid and quiet feel to them. Not very heavy. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I think the bike I tried was around $350- it was a single speed. The only thing wrong with mine was that the front tire wasn't quite true. An easy fix. For the price you can't beat it, they seemed well made and of good quality. I didn't buy one but I'm thinking about it. The people at the shop are super chill, very friendly.
These look really good. Simple + functional = everything you need. Sure they may be made in China but a lot of bikes are these days. Even some of the heavily priced brands with names that go way back.
love these bikes want one but...... how much?
Great design, wonderful colors, the details are classic. And as far as the Made In China, Let me tell you the Chinese know a thing or two about bikes.
Seriously guys? What bike isn't made in China? Even the Tour de France is riding Chinese manufactured frames. Kuota, Prince, Cervelo...made in China. Give them a break. They made a cool catchy looking totally affordable bike!
Definitely a good price for a Dutch bike -- you can't find that type of frame shape very easily. I'd pass on the linus -- its just a standard diamond frame with a nice handlebar. Just start with an SE Draft which is HI-TEN steel, get the exact bars and seat you want, and you'll be out the door for less. Everyone is pumping out single-speeds, nothing bad about the HI-TEN, but spend the extra $50 bucks and get a cromoly bike (a.k.a. "4130" or "520") Mission Bikes Republic Bike Performance Scattante Courier Series SE Lager/Draft Its not about china being a bad place to make bikes, just know that most frames are made in just a few factories.
Interesting style, just not sure where bikes like these fit into the scheme of things. There is a HUGE bike explosion on the west coast. You can pick up some amazing bikes on craigslist and ebay that need a little tlc, for half the price. Get bikes made the way you want (ala custom fixies). Carbon is becoming more prevalent in roadbikes at all price points. So I guess I'm trying to find the innovation here. I guess the draw is... "Ride a bike made in China, designed in Europe, ridden in Venice?"
The draw is, ride a nice little bike that doesn't cost too much. These aren't "fixies" and they aren't supposed to be. And comparing this to carbon is ridiculous. Carbon=overrated anyway. These may be high tensile steel(not 4130) and made in China but you should see one in person before trying to say you can find anything this nice for less on Craig's. You can't.
Rode one of these today, also test drove a Jamis commuter 3 and a KHS green bike...this was absolutely my favorite, as I rode down the street I just kept thinking "this is my bike" so comfortable...I am 5'4" tall and have owned 15" and 18" frame bicycles in the past, one was too small and the other too large, the one size fits all on the mixte felt perfectly proportioned for my size. I loved it in cream....was just really the most beautiful bike I've seen besides shopping for secondhand vintage bikes! Pretty sure I needn't look further...
Just bought this bike yesterday, picking it up today. Took it for test drive and loved it. Felt like the bikes I rode in Amsterdam. Comfortable cruiser.
Would love to get one of these bikes to our son who is a Peace Corp volunteer in Mbazwana South Africa. Awesome! Sand, rough roads and enormous pot holes. The PC volunteers are not permitted to own cars and bikes would be a wonderful means of transportation!
oh bummer. i was interested until I saw they're made in China. Stop the greed folks, keep the manufacturing here in the US please.
These look awesome! I'd love to buy one. Let us know when they're made in the US. Or anywhere else where fair labor practices are enforced by law.
Your "fair labor practices" are one of the reasons why industry has largely left the USA. Labor laws tend to be pr union which increases wages while increasing costs which are then passed on to the consumer. High prices and restrictive trade practices have made US industry noncompetitive. So with high prices US consumers have looked elsewhere for lees expensive products. It is a sad state of affairs when it is cheaper to build something overseas and ship it on a proverbial slow-boat-from-China then it is to make it here. I am not saying that we can't make things here because we do it is just that we have become a country of cottage industries because production costs have skyrocketed. Just sayin...
You can buy comparable bikes for comparable prices from any one of most US builders but you will wait for it. AND even if the frame is built here most of the other components are built overseas. Especially in Taiwan, the bicycle-building capitol of the world.
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