Ridgeback's Metro range is the brand's offering of light, low maintenance town bikes with hub gears, comfortable riding position, chain guard and kick stand. They demonstrate Ridgeback's acknowledgement of the importance of the town bike sector of the UK cycling market. Hub gearing gives the opportunity to fit a 3/4 length chain guard (we'd have preferred a full chain case, but hey!), and your best bell bottoms are reasonably safe from the mucky bits. It also means there's no oily, vulnerable derailleur mechanism, which has to be a maintenance gain.
Women's models feature a user-friendly, ultra-low step-through frame and a handlebar mounted quick-release basket. 2010 sees the introduction of a fourth bike to the stable, sneaking in at below £300.
We like the low weight, the low maintenance and the swept comfy handlebar. We also like the purposeful steps taken towards the holy grail of fully-equipped city bike specifications.
Ridgeback Avenida 3 Women's
£349.99
The Ridgeback Avenida 3 is still our most afordable hub-geared machine. Using Shimano's reliable Nexus Inter 3 hub to give a reasonably useable spread of twist selected gears, this is a solid, simple town bike with a very low step-through height. If you live in a town with hills, you should consider spending a little more for one of the siblings in the range with more gears.
We love the light weight, simplicity and proven reliability of the 3 speed hub and the inclusion of a basket. We remain puzzled by the excusion of the rack in favour of a basket - why not both? We would recommend fitting a rack as well, to avoid the temptation to overload the basket and affect the steering.
That minor gripe aside, we think the bike is good for light utility and short commutes and at £349.99 this bike is still a good deal.
Frame type: Low step thru monotube
Sizes available:
Colour/s:
See full specifications on the manufacturer's website
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