City or Folding Bike Routes

City bikes and Folding bikes are perfect for gentle pootling: be it around town or even out in the country on flatter lanes and trails.

By City bike, we generally mean the “sit up and beg” style so popular in the Netherlands, but now resurgent in the UK with city hire bikes. The chain is often neatly shielded from trousers while the handlebars bend backwards (known as North Road, moustache or Dutch-style) to allow the rider to sit perfectly upright and still have full control. Mudguards and lights can be built right in.

Folding bikes are completely different but with similar capabilities in terrain. The big selling point is of course the ability to easily carry a whole bike onto any bus, train or tram; to just plonk it in the boot of the car or store it in the hallway without being asked “how long is this bike going to be here?”

Even if Bromptons have been ridden (literally) around the world, downsides for all these bikes are obvious in their daintiness off-road, over bumps, and some City bikes have only a single fixed gear. However, with a more step-through design, they’re excellent for those who struggle with mounting, dismounting or the sportier lean-forward riding position of other bikes and are the most common type of Electric bike (e-bike). They could well be the key to get you out on two wheels at all, and that’s the most important thing.