The PUBLIC C7 (and C series) Step Through Dutch Style Bicycle Review

man in baseball cap with a public c7 bicycle with a dog in the basket in oakland, california on a sunny day — I got a dog passenger for this ride around Lake Merritt in Oakland. He’s sitting in my bike basket, and I got my Seatylock Mason attached to the frame, as well as my anti-theft bike lights.

The PUBLIC C7 bicycle: a relaxed upright dutch style cruiser bicycle with a step through frame that has gears for hill climbing abilities. The PUBLIC C7 bicycle delivers surprising power with a great commute ready package along with some style points. I’ve recommended this bicycle to many people and got this bicycle for myself as well! I’ve ridden the PUBLIC C7 bike relatively long distances and up many hills, and while it’s not the fastest bike you can buy, it’s shockingly fast for a bike of this riding style, appearance, and weight. It’s felt better than hybrid bikes I’ve ridden too. Buy this bicycle! (check out used markets too, but check your size)

I love the PUBLIC bike brand since they’re clearly making bicycles for people to commute and ride for everyday transportation. These bicycles are made to be functional and stylish while you’re riding around town, and affordable too! While the C7 is one of their most popular bikes for good reason, their bicycle lineup has many commute ready bikes ready to take on city or rural streets.

Let’s take a look at why this bike is so great, my story of falling in love with it, and then why you’d want this specific bike depending on what kind of riding you want to do. Check out my commuter bike buying guide for more general bike buying info.

two public c7 bicycles in golden gate park of san francisco next to the LOVE blocks near the conservatory of flowers on a cloudy and maybe foggy day. The sunset is coming soon. — My friend and I riding our Public C7 bicycles through golden gate park after I encouraged her to get one. When Burning Man came around, I told her to just take the PUBLIC C7. It worked out great, cleaned up well, and was back city riding in no time.

Why You Want the Public C7 Bicycle:

The step through design is so convenient! Not having to throw my leg over the bike really makes stopping at a local shop that much easier. Reminder: this is a unisex bike. PUBLIC seems to have it sorted under “Women’s Bikes” but then in the description clearly states it’s for women and men. (Taller people may have to look into the M7 or V7 though)
The relaxed, upright feel makes it very comfortable to ride and easy to look around at your surroundings. This is all thanks to the comfy sweep and great handling of the “brunch” handlebars
- If you’re a more advanced cyclist and want to ride faster, you can try to bend over and get your arms crossed on the handlebars to get in a “dropped” position. I was quite pleased to find a dropped position to get more power when I wanted, even though it’s chill riding position otherwise.
The bike can climb hills AND go fast with only 7 speeds. This is thanks to the Shimano 7 speed cassette that has a super low gear for hill climbing and 6 more gears for faster speeds. I find that I rarely max out the speed of this bike, even going downhill.
- If you’ve ever ridden a folding bike with 8 speeds you’ll know what I’m talking about. Often 8 speeds will only allow a certain gearing range, meaning your hill climbing gear is too high (you might wish it was easier) and the top speed gear is too low (your pedals spin freely and you can’t push the bike any faster). Somehow this 7 speed cassette goes low enough and high enough, with the only drawback being a lack of gears between gear 1 and 2, which takes some getting used to but is a worthy tradeoff!
- Note: The PUBLIC C7i internal shifting model claims to have a similar gear ratio also with a super low hill climbing gear.te
The frame materials soak up bumps very well, and transfers your pedal power very well. This is not something easily provided or understood in a list of specs because it depends on so many factors. But I’ll say I was very surprised at how well this bike rides considering what it looks like.
- I wanted to make sure to contrast this ride feeling with the ride of a bikeshare bike. If you’ve ridden a bikeshare bike in the USA that Lyft runs, you’ve probably experienced how absolutely terrible those bikes are. You need the e-bike version just to make it feel like a normal bike, and if you hit a bump on it the frame materials are so stiff the bump just goes straight into your body. The PUBLIC C7 feels far different from those, even though it’s frame may have a similar shape.

Riding the Public C7 through Panhandle Park. That step through frame soaking up the bumps and transferring power to the pedals!

A chain guard protects your pants or skirt/dress from getting dirty on the chain. You don’t need to roll your pant leg up or put on any kind of band to protect your clothing.
Full coverage fenders keep you dry and clean even on a wet day (and the color matches too!)
The COLORS are amazing. Plus getting the rims that are painted the same color, and a bike rack that can be the same color (or an accent). Pretty cool.
Competitive pricing! Even a new bike is pretty well priced, and you may be able to find used ones for much cheaper (check for the right size first!).
- The cost of this bike is the most appealing part of it. Brand new with all the extras it will run you a chunk of money, but still not bad for what you get. And I’ve had great luck getting them used on Craigslist. As I say in my used vs new post, once the bike is taken off the lot it immediately drops in value and you can get a nearly new Public C7 for $400 or less easily. My hunch is that it’s a pretty bike that people are often buying as a gift, and potentially people being gifted it just aren’t using it as much as they’d like. They need to be reading more posts on Bike to Everything to get them pumped up to go bike commuting!
With a generally low cost and inexpensive components, this bike is not a big target for thieves, so you can ride it around town, lock it up right, and expect it to be there when you return. Recently I left it on Haight St in San Francisco from 8am – 11pm. People have attempted to steal my road bike, but no theft attempts have been made on my PUBLIC C7 so far.

a red public c7 bicycle parked at a bike rack on haight street near a red curb near a red tesla near a sf muni bus with red on it. lots of red in this picture. — Here’s where I locked my bike all day on Haight Street. Definitely a red theme going on here.

The Public C7 bicycle makes it easily to the top of Dolores Park on a rainy day. Those fenders doing their job.

What Kind of Riding Does the Public C7 Shine?

Before I rode a PUBLIC C7 I would ride my road bike everywhere. It was great and fast, but sometimes I’d be riding these short, easy rides and I wanted a break from the more aggressive bent over road bike position. That’s when I started riding a PUBLIC C7 that I found abandoned in my shared backyard (for real!). I didn’t expect to like it much, but decided to switch things up, and I was shocked at how well it rode. While clearly not as fast as my road bike, I absolutely loved the chill upright ride and could still get some serious speed if I wanted to.

Since then, it’s been great to have both bicycles to pick and choose depending on how I’m feeling. The PUBLIC C7 especially shines for shorter rides on the flats. I still take my C7 on long rides and on hills, but I know that it will be more work overall. Discussing with other friends who have this bike, we all seem to come to the same conclusion. This bike is not the fastest bike on the block, but for an upright style stepthrough it’s shockingly good at riding. If you’re getting the PUBLIC C7 as your only bicycle it will still work great!

Personally, one great use for my C7 is riding it with friends who ride slow or have other slower/chiller bicycles. If you’re a faster rider and you want to ride with someone who is always slower than you, a bike that’s more upright and comfortable is often also slower, which can help for friendly group rides! One great example is Bike Party where you have a huge group of cyclists riding through the city (which likely happens in your city too). Bike Party goes as fast as the slowest people, so that means it’s usually going quite slow.

a public c7 bicycle with two yellow ortlieb backroller panniers on the rear rack. — Two panniers on my Public C7 bike to carry a day full of things on the rolling hills of San Francisco. A rear rack is very useful.

Maybe the C7 Bicycle isn’t for You:

The bicycle has a maximum rider height of 5’10”. If you’re taller than that, the M7 or V7 can handle taller riders with most of the same benefits except for the stepthrough. I’m 5’10” and it fits me but I can tell I’m right on the edge.
The gearing between gears 1 & 2 takes some getting used to. You’ll feel like you’re missing a gear if you mistakenly shift to gear 1 on a hill climb expecting a small change but ending up on the hill climbing gear. I’ve found it works quite well once you get used to it to have the “hill climbing” gear 1 and gear 2 for a faster hill climbing gear along with the rest of the gears for going normal speed on flats and faster on downhills.
Coming in at 32 pounds it’s not the lightest around, but this is also a reasonable weight for a bike of this style. Reminder: weight only matters when you’re carrying your bike up and down stairs. While riding around you’ll barely notice small weight differences. If you want something lighter, maybe try the PUBLIC C9 bike, as it has a lighter frame and drops the fenders and chain guard, which do add some weight.
The upright riding position is more comfortable but doesn’t lend itself to speed. If you’re riding with people who have faster bikes, this may not be a good bicycle for you. Consider a road bike like the PUBLIC R18 Drop Bar or another road bike if you want speed and efficiency.
Some bike aficionados will say that you can get a “better” bike for the price with *this bike* or *that bike*…which is true if you want to go and do that research. But those other bikes won’t have the same style or colors, and they won’t have any accessories for city riding prioritized. The components on this bike may not be top tier, but they are certainly good enough.
The wheels are not quick release, instead they’re solid axle. I personally consider this a pro since out of the box it’s a tiny bit harder for a thief to steal a wheel, and either way you should change out the nuts with locking nuts to keep your wheel secure from thieves!

A white Public C7 bicycle on the embarcadero near fisherman's wharf of san francisco. The bicycle has a nice wicker front basket. — The PUBLIC C7 in white. This bike doesn’t have a rear rack (recommended!), but it has a front basket and bell add-on.

The Public C7 bike is not a road bike

Most of the reason I’d leave the PUBLIC C7 at home is because I want to be riding fast and efficiently without working too hard, and sometimes I’m happy to sacrifice the upright riding position for that by riding a road bike. Think about what the hillscape of your locale is and who you’re riding with before you take out the C7 bicycle.

When I’m planning to climb more hills or simply ride efficiently while putting the least amount of effort into it, I want to have a fast, efficient bike for those tasks, and while the Public C7 bike is fast and efficient, road bikes are more-so. If you want a faster bike I’d recommend trying out the PUBLIC R18 Drop Bar road bike, which is a commute ready road bike with fenders and inline top bar brakes. Or find a less commute ready road bike and build it into what you need.

Since I’m often riding with new bike riders who are slower than me, this is a great bike to take on those slower rides since it keeps my pace closer to that of my friends while allowing me to still push hard. It’s a bit more unpleasant to ride my road bike slowly.

A public C7 bicycle on the embarcadero of san francisco with a view of the bay bridge and yerba buena island and treasure island. The bicycle has a rear basket with a lock and a bag in it. — My PUBLIC C7 bicycle looking out onto the bay at sunset.

What’s the difference between all the other PUBLIC bikes and the C7?

Here’s a quick rundown of all the other bikes PUBLIC makes other than the C series which is the step through style. On the PUBLIC website it’s also marked as a “women’s” bike but this is nonsense (except for the unfortunate fact that riders above 5’10” won’t really fit this bike).

C1: The same as the C7 except it has only 1 gear. If you’re on the flats all the time or you don’t want to have gears, this bike is a tad lighter and has all the other great features of the C7. However, I wouldn’t recommend this. I love having gears even on the flats, and especially for a commuting bike where I’m always feeling a little different. Maybe the headwind is strong, or you’re a bit tired from a long day, or your knee hurts a little and you want to take it easy. These are all reasons to be shifting to different gears even on the flats.
C7i: The same as the C7 except has an internal shifting hub. I prefer the external gears since they’re a tad lighter and more efficient, but if you ride in lots of inclement weather or want the feel of an internal hub, there’s an option!
C9 Aluminum: This bike is lighter, so if you care about weight, go for this one. Remember, weight is important when carrying your bike up and down stairs, but when riding it makes little difference. They got rid of weight by making the frame aluminum, which might make for a different ride & handling, and they dropped the full fenders and the chain guard…so in my opinion this is quite a downgrade. But if you don’t need those things go for it and tell me how the ride feels!
C8i Alfine Disc: essentially the C7 with more gears (so you have that gear you’re missing between 1 and 2) in an internal shifting hub and disc brakes for better stopping power in inclement weather.
The M series bikes have a different frame style with a low top tube but not quite a step through frame. I’d prefer the step throughs, but the M series does fit riders up to 6 feet, so if you’re a little taller that would work better!
The V series bikes have a classic frame style with a high top tube and they look like a more stylish hybrid bike, but all the other parts of the bike are pretty much like the C7. However, the V series fits riders up to 6’3″.
The R18 bikes are made to be a bit more like a road bike with more gears and much lighter than the rest of the public lineup too (maybe partly bc of different fender material and some frame changes). Which brings me to my next point…

a public c7 bicycle at dolores park with a spoke card in the wheel that say I Bike to Everything — The C7 at Dolores Park showing off my I Bike to Everything spoke card.

Conclusion

The PUBLIC C7 is a great bicycle to ride around town for all your short commuting needs! Relaxed, chill, fast, hill climbing, rugged, easy mounting and dismounting with the step through frame, it does it all! Buy this bike from PUBLIC or check out Craigslist or any local marketplaces you have (don’t forget to ask about sizing!).

If you can only buy one bike and want to ride faster, I’d recommend a road bike like the PUBLIC R18 Drop Bar or potentially a fancier, lighter one. But hopefully not too expensive so you can still feel comfortable locking it up outside and using it for everyday transportation too!

Happy Biking!