An Amusement & Diversion for The Genteel Cyclist. Daily.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

From the Mailbag: Why Americans ride normal bikes, wear funny clothes


I wanted to draw your attention to a most astute comment received in the mailbag from Matt, a PFN loyalist and bike-commuting blogger in his own right. Having attended the Handmade Bike Show out in Portland, he is uniquely qualified to address a couple of questions that have recently been simmering on the old Pinch Flat News potbellied stove: Utility bikes and Danish bike-fashion police.


Whilst busy wetting myself at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show I did visit Clever Cycles and tried out both a load-carrying upright and one of the Bakfiets. The
upright had a beefy front rack that mounted to the downtube, not the fork, so it didn't affect steering. They loaded me up with a bag of chains on the front rack and two panniers full of chains on the rear and off I rode. It rode just fine, with an 8-speed Nexus hub and roller brakes, and I briefly thought about bringing one home ("Look honey! A 50 pound black bike that only cost me $1700!") but decided to wait until the kitchen makeover has finished running over its budget. There is a regal, indeed statuesque, bearing to the rider of these things that's hard to describe. And the Bakfiets, loaded with my riding buddy in the front box, was a total hoot! ("Look, honey! Only three grand! But I can bring loads of manure home from the garden center!") Some of the snarkiness about how we just don't ride in regular clothes doesn't recognize that our climate is both hotter and colder than Copenhagen's or Amsterdam's or even Portland's. At the NAHBS, Portland held an organized "Worst Day of the Year Ride" with a couple of thousand cyclists. Their Worst Day of The Year was 50 and sunny. Wussies.

As we say at the old dayjob, thanks for the consumer insights, Mr. Matt!

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