There's the smugly overpriced Jorg & Olif which seems to be aimed at the Enviro-Yuppies. Rather than 'Stay Curious', their tagline could easily be "Ride our bike, look really unique, and save the world while you're at it. Just leave your Audi/BMW/Mercedes at home."
Then there's the Electra 'Amsterdam':
And who can forget the Kronan from Sweden?
Overall, I think it's great to see this fad/movement taking place. We could use more transportation/utility bikes in this country. It will be interesting to see which of these companies and bike models can stick it out for the long haul, and which ones will dry up. When someone brings over the Swiss Militärvelo, I might join the coup.
By the way, the title of this post was originally spoken by Gandhi. :-)
3 comments:
I've been trying to get some of the nicer euro-bikes at HC. Pashley, for one, but they never return my emails. I had contact with Koga-Miyata, but I'm afraid that I could tie up a lot of dough with them for products that would be hard to sell. I stock Breezers, fully equipped with lights, racks, and fenders, but they are hard to sell unless I cut the price. These bikes are in a precarious place, price-wise. They are generally too expensive for novices who see a $400 Trek hybrid with 27 speeds as a good reason not to buy a similarly priced or even more expensive single speed or a 3-speed or an 8-speed, no matter how cool it might be. And the more seasoned cyclists tend to see these bikes as nerdy, or they are inclined to equip their bikes with aftermarket options, rather than buying a bike that comes with the doodads as standard equipment.
I have seen them around, Cherry Bikes, on Nord Ave had one out in front of their store a couple months back. Not sure of the brand as I only noticed it as I drove by or rode by.
I think they look cool and aren't flashy enough for someone to rip off, so good for around town.
Something like that with a 8 speed internal rear hub would be more than enough around Chico.
That Bianchi you mentioned buying in the December 15th 2005 post you have linked in this post; was that a Bianchi Milano? I want one of those.
A friend of mine bought one of those and she loves the thing.
Nah, that Bianchi is my single speed San Jose. One gear is all you need to get around town in Chico. It's flat as a pancake! :-)
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