Eastman (Indian) Roadster Bicycle

This is a picture of a Indian-made roadster bicycle, a clone of the venerable English Raleigh DL-1. The bike has a full chaincase, a highly-sprung saddle, and somewhat marginal rod-operated brakes. It weighs 50 pounds unloaded.

The design is many decades old, and this style of bike represents over half of the bicycles ever made. Many people in China and India still use "heavy" roadsters for primary transportation, although in both countries their use is in decline.

I have not yet ridden one of these monsters, but I hold them in a certain awe. I did see my first one up-close - a green "mens" model - in a bicycle rack at Columbia University last month. Apparently some underground business person is assembling and selling these bikes through the New York City Craigslist - no check, no credit cards, just $150 cash and the bike is delivered on a Sunday morning anywhere on the island of Manhatten. Tempting.

Picture, once again, from Yellow Jersey.