A few years ago, most people riding bicycles, including me, were on mountain bikes. Given Winnipeg's rather...interesting...streets, they seemed like a very good choice. And I enjoyed off-roading and playing in the mud as well. My knees liked the geometry of a mountain bike while increasingly, my neck did not. So, while I can still think when my knees hurt, I am totally bazooey when my neck hurts. Enter Eselin.
While perambulating about the neighbourhood on my lunch hour the last couple of days, I noticed that there is a shift happening. While it may well be that I am ambling around the granola parts of town, there are many more classic bikes than mountain bikes.
What do you think?
What do you think?
8 comments:
Great Pictures...I think there has been a shift as more and more people realize you don't have to be a hardcore cyclist to get on a bike and have fun. I certainly know my mindset has shifted just in the last year from when i first purchased my hybrid to more classic bikes such as the Pashleys,Vintage Roadsters and the Dutch bikes:)
Exciting too:)
If you want a great general purpose ride, get yourself a cyclocross bike. They can handle most off road situations and are almost as fast as a road racing bike.
I think a lot about this at the local bike co-op, where the yard is choked with so many donated mountain bikes. I think fashion (I mean in the broader sense - I'm not talking cycle chic here) and status has a lot to do with it. A mountain bike used to be a status symbol, but now a vintage cruiser or road bike is. Maybe 10 years down the road, we'll be regretting all the mountain bikes we sent to the scrap yard, just like we now regret all the old cruisers and 10 speeds that got scrapped back when mountain bikes and hybrids were all anyone wanted.
I think about this a lot at the local bike co-op, where the yard is choked with donated mountain bikes, but vintage cruisers and road bikes often go out the door the same day they come in. I think it has less to do with function and more to do with status and fashion. A mountain bike used to be a status symbol, but now a vintage cruiser or road bike is. Maybe 10 years down the road, vintage mountain bikes will be all the rage, and we (at EBC and other bike co-ops) will regret all the mountain bikes we sent to the scrap yard for lack of space, just like we have some regret about all the 10 speeds and step-throughs that were unwanted and trashed back when everybody wanted mountain bikes and hybrids.
MTB's hurt my neck too, but not as much as road bikes with drop bars, which are now fashionable amongst the hipster set. On bikes, like clothes, fashion trumps practicality, and once in a while we get lucky when something comfortable comes into fashion.
Maybe people are realizing that you don't have to be super-mega-hardcore if you want to ride a bike... not everyone needs 40 gears and knobby tires just to enjoy a ride to work in the morning!
Such a beautiful shift to see!
After seeing barely any other Dutch bikes for the past two years, I've suddenly seen 5 in the last week. Very interesting.
It seems to be a worldwide movement - here in Australia I'm seeing an increase in older, classic bikes which are either in their well-worn slightly-rusted state, or refurbished with modern components. Or new bikes built in the classic style. This is particularly true in the 'downtown' areas rather than the outer suburbs.
I guess it's all a trend - here in Copenhagen you suddenly see Fixies everywhere.
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