Roadster (bicycle)

For the article on the roadster car body style, see Roadster.

a Dutch utility bicycle

Riding the black Mamba in Uganda

Swedish military bicycle.

A roadster is a type of heavy utility bicycle once common in Britain and still very common in Asia and Africa and similar to the styles still seen in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands - although Danish and Dutch bicycles tend to be distinctive, with (among other things) much higher handlebars and no rod brake (they tend to use a coaster brake or disc brakes instead).

A classic roadster had a lugged brazed steel frame, rod brakes, flat handlebars, a single gear ratio or Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub gears, a chaincase, steel mudguards, cottered steel cranks, steel rims, and often a Sturmey-Archer Dynohub hub dynamo. The best-known maker was Raleigh, but BSA, Elswick Hopper and others also made them.

This style of bicycle declined in popularity during the 1970s and 1980s, in company with cycling generally in Britain. When interest in cycling recovered in the 1990s, different styles of bicycle predominated, notably the mountain bike. Although German and Dutch bikes are still imported into the UK, being relatively more common in Cambridge and Oxford, the closest modern equivalent is probably the hybrid. There is still one significant UK manufacturer of roadster cycles in the UK: Pashley Cycles still produce both ladies and gents models.

The roadster bicycle is still in many parts of the world the standard bicycle. Manufactured in Asia (especially India, China and Taiwan) in mass production it is exported to African and Latin American developing countries. Because of its cheap price and its ability to carry heavy loads it is the most common bicycle in rural areas. The largest selling bike in history is the Chinese Flying Pigeon, a single-speed roadster.

In East-Africa the roadster is also called the "black mamba bicycle" and it is used as a taxi by the boda-boda.

See also

• boda-boda
• Road bicycle

External links

• The Roadster Bicycle Taxis in Africa
• Texas Importer of Chinese Roadster Bikes