Italian city bike maker, Gruppo Bici N.A, has just released their new 2010 line of high end city bikes, Umberto Dei Clodia. Similar to Dutch city bikes but with an Italian flare, these things could give Retrovelos a run for their money. I am a maker and promoter of European city bikes, but it does appear that other than a few models with traditional derailleurs, these are all equipped with single speeds and a coaster brake. They look good, but I think it would be impractical and possibly a little dangerous for our hilly city.
These might go better in Dallas than Austin
What I found even more Italian about this brand is the Gucci style pannier and saddle bags they sell with the bikes. They certainly aren’t my style, but I’m sure they’d go with a leather suit and square toed shoe combo. Che bella!
on Jul 15th, 2009 at 5:11 am
I believe the Umberto Dei Clodia and possibly other models that “appear” to have single speeds (as you put it) actually have the Shimano Alpine 8-speed internal hub.
on Jul 15th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Bill,
I quite familiar with internal hubs. In fact, I build almost all my bikes with them. I mention the single speed possibility because on the specs of all their bikes only one mentions having a Nexus hub and from the pictures I cannot see a shifter on the handle bars. Also those handlebars look too short to fit the grips, shifter, and brakes from my experience. They may have internally geared hubs, but they’re not letting people know that.