>>1852408these step through city bikes have absolutely flooded the market
I've overhauled/ serviced a few neglected ones as flips, like pic rel, and assembled one out of the box for someone. I used to love the idea of them because I thought more people would enjoy riding classic step through/ mixtes, and good ones are hard to find and not fit for purpose most of the time.
I now fucking hate these though.
In theory they're great, rigid steel frame, a basic plastic shimano thumbie and mech do actually shift quite well because even freewheels have hyperglide, 1x7 is sensible, fenders, rack/basket stock, wideish tires, all good.
In reality the quality is just -too low-. The price point is too low. The bearings are invariably too tight or loose, with shit tier or no grease in them, and they aren't even serviceable to smooth, they're so poor quality, the wheels are extremely badly built and tend to go out of true, the frames are typically not straight and often the wheels won't be centered in them, the brakes flex badly and have shit tier pads, all the bolts are prone to strip out or snap, and claw derailer hangers and the old steel seatposts make everything exceptionally annoying to adjust.
This, plus the tight gear range, heavy weight, and upright close position which you can't really ride comfortably for any distance.
These are bikes which might fit a short flat niche if they were made better and cost about twice as much, (like a linus or a big brand one).
Invariably what these bikes do is drive people (mostly women) to the conclusion that bicycles are horrible and inefficient machines, and that they need to pay $2000 for an e-bike or not ride at all.
Then these fucking pieces of shit just get sent to landfill.