Sometimes you just want to get round town in everyday clothes. The Charge Hob 3 is designed to make that easy – and we LOVE the purple.
You don’t see mixte frames like the Charge Hob 3’s very much these days, which is a pity. With a pair of tubes running the length of the frame, they’re almost as stiff as a diamond frame, but get that pesky top tube out of the way so you can wear a skirt.
The Hob 3 is very much set up as an urban machine, with a three-speed hub gear and full-length mudguards so you can cruise round town easily as long as you don’t live anywhere terribly hilly. There are fttings for a rack too, so if you need to carry stuff, that’s easy to add on.
The saddle is Charge’s popular Ladle, widely considered to be the best inexpensive female seat around, and the swept-back bars give an upright position for traffic alertness.
Most importantly, it looks lovely! Everyone in the TWC office remarked on the lush, shiny purple paint, nicely set off by the white grips and saddle. Practicality is all very well, but a city bike has to look good too!
We do think Charge might have missed a trick by not putting on some sort of chain guard though. Urban hipster points for the shortlink chain, but you’re going to catch anything loose in it, which defeats the object a bit. Still looks cool though.
Price: £569.99 (Singlespeed version is £499.99)
