Pootle bike
- Thread starter samsbike
- Start date
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- Location
- Egham
I use my commuter, Boardman CX which has rack and guards so easy to carry lunch etc etc. I suppose the Brompton would be good for it also, but tends to be limited to shopping trips.
Elswick Cotterpin
Veteran
- Location
- South Wales
Any bike is a pootle bike!
ChrisEyles
Guru
- Location
- Devon
I love my Raleigh Royal tourer as a pootling bike too
This is the go to bike for longer rides where I want to take a packed lunch, spare jacket, OS map etc and can just bung it all in the panniers. However, my favourite pootling bike, for rides best described as the pootler's pootle is my 1950s Raleigh Sport. Impossible to do much else but pootle on this one
I'd say the most useful features on a pootling bike are panniers, mudguards, and a relaxed seated position. Other than that it's all good, tourer, MTB, hybrid, whatever
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Upgraded Dutchie Dapper 3, but pretty much any old English roadster would work. The swooping long wheelbase steering and uncomplicated efficient gear hub make for very relaxing pootling - unless the wind starts kicking your head in!
Oh yes, I remember your thread from when you were renovating that one - it's lovely. I really could be tempted by an old roadster bike or frame to rebuild.However, my favourite pootling bike, for rides best described as the pootler's pootle is my 1950s Raleigh Sport. Impossible to do much else but pootle on this one
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I'd say the most useful features on a pootling bike are panniers, mudguards, and a relaxed seated position. Other than that it's all good, tourer, MTB, hybrid, whatever
Vintage roadsters are best imo, 28" wheeled versions might be hefty but the huge wheels roll majestically and silently over just about any road surface with only the gentle tick of a well oiled Sturmey to break the silence. I also find my 1951 Rudge surprisingly effortless to ride, it might take a bit of effort to get it moving and up to cruising speed but once there momentum does the rest in normal terrain. Apart from going round it with an oil can now and again, it hasn't needed any maintenance in the years since I restored it and it must have clocked up a fair few miles by now. I had the wheels built with new rims which was expensive at the time but because they are in perfectly true and in good condition, the rod brakes are pretty effective in the dry but need a written notice of intention to stop in the rain. I just keep it for leisurely summer Sunday rides mostly.
I genuinely have put thousands of miles on this, including several 80+ mile rides and worn out a Michelin World Tour tyre and it's replacement is now also ready fro replacement now. I believe the original frame originated in Czechoslovakia but was badged as something else for our market and despite it's humble eastern block origins it is deceptively good to ride and pretty responsive although it lacks the laid back feel of a true vintage roadster.
I genuinely have put thousands of miles on this, including several 80+ mile rides and worn out a Michelin World Tour tyre and it's replacement is now also ready fro replacement now. I believe the original frame originated in Czechoslovakia but was badged as something else for our market and despite it's humble eastern block origins it is deceptively good to ride and pretty responsive although it lacks the laid back feel of a true vintage roadster.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
For me, a pootling bike first and foremost needs to have a long wheelbase and relaxed frame geometry. Anything twitchy and racy is no good. Steady & stable is the name of the game. So, the starting point would be an old-school English-style roadster if the terrain is fairly flat and you don't need anything lower than the L gear on a 3-speed SA hub. However, a lot of rigid framed MTB's, especially old ones from the 80's and early 90's, also offer the same sort of laid-back ride quality, but with a wider range of gearing, and they can easily be equipped with mudguards and rear racks. Out of my fleet, the '89 Raleigh Mustang ATB would be first choice, followed by the '85 Puch Elegance 3-speed. If I was to fit a 20T rear sprocket on the 3 speed in place of the standard 18T, it would be a very tough call, but ATM the SA gearing is just a shade on the high side to make it a really easy-riding bike.
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Unless you live somewhere very flat it is definitely worthwhile to put a larger sprocket on a 3 speed. Raleigh in particular gave gearing better suited to time trialling than commuting. No idea why. A change from 15 to 18t sprocket will turn the Raleigh Twenty into the bike it should have been in the first place and also a very suitable pootling bike.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
They must have been real men in those days!
IIRC, with a 48T chainring, high gear on a SA 3-speed is 92 inches!
The highest ratio I've got on any of my derailleur geared bikes is 89 inches, and none of them is as heavy as the 3-speed either.
Mrs M
Guru
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Can get a speed up if needs be, although a leisurely pace is preferred. Also like the clicking Sturmey Archer, like a wee engine.
DCLane
Found in the Yorkshire hills ...
- Location
- Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
My Raleigh Pioneer. Simple, usable, enduring.
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They must have been real men in those days!
IIRC, with a 48T chainring, high gear on a SA 3-speed is 92 inches!
The highest ratio I've got on any of my derailleur geared bikes is 89 inches, and none of them is as heavy as the 3-speed either.
I suspect it probably worked okay for most people at the time. For most, a big black roadster was the only transport they could afford and plodding along in a big gear on the flat without putting too much effort into it gives a decent turn of speed once you build it up and they were prepared to walk up the hills. They couldn't afford umpteen changes of clothes a day and nobody had the option of a shower at work and many didn't even have hot running water at home so the object of the exercise was probably just to get around with as little effort as possible and not to become a sweaty mess.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
They need not be heavy but I've often wondered why the default gearing as supplied on 3 speeds (well SA and Shimano at least) is so astonishingly high. That must have done much to limit their popularity
