First of all, hi all! I have spent my afternoon trawling through the forums looking at recommendations for good hill climbers but haven't found anyone who had quite the same requirements as me so thought I would ask for your advice.
I live in Hebden Bridge, land of endless stupid hills. When I lived in London I was pretty comfortable cycling 16 miles a day on the flat, but I moved house to south London to avoid having to cycle up hill on my commute so you can imagine how much of a fan I am of the hills around here.
I don't have a car so I'm looking for a get-me-around bike, I don't need a lot of range as my journeys are likely to be under 5 miles each way. What I need is something that is going to get me up some steep hills with minimal effort on my part so that heading out to the shops or into the next town is a quick and painless trip. I have a mountain bike for days out on the downhill, so this bike is an a-to-b type affair.
It's going to be stored in the basement so weight is a concern as it'll need to be carried up and down stairs.
As I'm only 5'3 something with a one-size-probably-doesn't-fit-all frame is likely to be big and uncomfortable for me, I need something with a small frame though I'm not fussed whether it's step over or step through.
And one final point is that it needs to be something that is stocked by a shop that will offer finance options as looking at the prices it's not something I'm going to be able to fork out in one go. I'll take all the help and recommendations you can offer me!
I live in Hebden Bridge, land of endless stupid hills. When I lived in London I was pretty comfortable cycling 16 miles a day on the flat, but I moved house to south London to avoid having to cycle up hill on my commute so you can imagine how much of a fan I am of the hills around here.
I don't have a car so I'm looking for a get-me-around bike, I don't need a lot of range as my journeys are likely to be under 5 miles each way. What I need is something that is going to get me up some steep hills with minimal effort on my part so that heading out to the shops or into the next town is a quick and painless trip. I have a mountain bike for days out on the downhill, so this bike is an a-to-b type affair.
It's going to be stored in the basement so weight is a concern as it'll need to be carried up and down stairs.
As I'm only 5'3 something with a one-size-probably-doesn't-fit-all frame is likely to be big and uncomfortable for me, I need something with a small frame though I'm not fussed whether it's step over or step through.
And one final point is that it needs to be something that is stocked by a shop that will offer finance options as looking at the prices it's not something I'm going to be able to fork out in one go. I'll take all the help and recommendations you can offer me!
