[SDCBC] Fwd: [CBC] Wired mag article on city bikes

[Jim Baross]

FYI.
Do you ride a fixie or one-speed yet?

>To: CBC <cbc at topica.com>, SB Bicycle Coalition 
><sbbike at lists.riseup.net>, UCSB AS BIKES list <bikes at as.ucsb.edu>, 
>Thunderhead Alliance <thunderhead at thunderheadalliance.org>
>From: Ralph Fertig <sb-ralph at cox.net>
>Subject: [CBC] Wired mag article on city bikes
>Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:35:33 -0700
>
>
>Wired magazine just published the following article online.  It's about
>the shift from mountain & road bicycles to city bikes.  Exhilarating
>stuff.
>
>~~ Ralph Fertig
>~~ Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition
>~~ www.sbbike.org
>
>==========( begin article )==========
>
>'City Bike' Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
>by Eli Milchman  09.27.07
>
>LAS VEGAS -- Some people believe that, right now, a quiet revolution is
>taking place. In cities like London, San Francisco, Boston and New York,
>the ranks of bicycle riders are swelling with the rise of a new breed:
>the urban biker.
>
>Traffic snarls, soaring gas prices and worries about global warming have
>prompted a big boost in cycling, affecting even places like Los Angeles
>-- America's freeway capital -- that have traditionally given bicycles
>the cold shoulder.
>
>"What's really happened in the past year is a cultural shift," says
>Monica Howe, 31-year-old outreach coordinator for the Los Angeles County
>Bicycle Coalition.
>
>At Interbike 2007, the bicycle industry's giant annual trade show, the
>shift toward the urban rider is loudly evident. Fancy road and mountain
>bikes are clearly no longer king of the roost -- or road. It's the scads
>of fixed-gear, town, single-speed and other urban bicycles that are
>drawing the crowds.
>
>The rise of the urban biker is reflected in Specialized's 2008 catalog,
>which lists 34 different models of city bike to choose from.
>
>The company is even rolling out six different versions of its
>ultrapopular single-speed, fixed-gear Langster. Each model is named after
>a city that's on the urban biker radar: the four cities named above, plus
>Chicago and Seattle. The New York Langster has narrow handlebars for
>speeding through ranks of slow-moving cars, while the Seattle model is
>equipped with fenders.
>
>"People really gravitated toward bikes with that urban feel," says Travis
>Widder, an associate production manager at Specialized. "We wanted to
>give nods toward cities where that bike sold well, where people really
>embraced that category."
>
>Interbike 2007 is a lot less sporty than years past. Clothing
>manufacturers have more messenger bags on show. Jerseys and shorts are
>more urban, less multi-colored lycra.
>
>Swobo, the trendy clothing maker, recently launched its first line of
>three city bikes, and is just one of several companies showing new urban
>rides.
>
>If anyone gave birth to the urban biker movement, it's probably Sky
>Yaeger, Swobo's managing director.
>Yaeger was responsible for designing a slew of bikes during her time as
>production manager at famed Italian manufacturer Bianchi. Some of her
>designs, like the fixed-gear Pista, have been elevated to cult status.
>Thanks to the bike's simplicity, it became the favored transport of
>urbanites like skaters and surfers.
>
>"What happened is we crossed over the bike culture into skate, surf," she
>says. "The kids that are doing it now wouldn't have bought a bike five
>years ago. That's a huge delight to me -- because they're on bikes."
>
>In L.A., the bike revolution is helped by shops like the grassroots
>Bicycle Kitchen. "It makes it easy for anyone to put together a bike
>cheap," says Howe. "And it made it hip, which can't hurt."
>
>Volunteers at the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective, a nonprofit that
>provides tools and training for riders to maintain their bikes, have
>experienced a huge bump in visitors.
>
>"It's gotten out of hand," says Michael Wise, the collective's treasurer.
>"We don't have enough volunteers to help the people coming in looking."
>
>San Francisco's trendy Mission District is a hotbed of bicycle activity.
>A bicycle lane running the length of Valencia Street is a major artery,
>as hipsters in hoodies and precisely rolled, tight-fitting jeans flow
>along the street.
>
>At Valencia Cyclery, which is often proclaimed the city's best bike
>store, sales associate Babs Brockaway says she's seen the number of
>customers leaving with shiny new fixed-gear ("fixie") and single-speed
>bikes skyrocket. The store stocks five or six choices, up from a single
>model two years ago. The simplicity appeals to neophyte riders
>overwhelmed by too much technology.
>
>"It's simple: You just pedal," she says. "This is shocking, but there are
>people who buy bikes with gears, who don't shift gears."
>
>Just across from Valencia Cyclery is Ritual Coffee Roasters, a popular
>coffeehouse often stuffed full of young hipsters glued to their MacBooks.
>It's also a favorite haunt of the urban biker.
>
>Outside, Matt McDonald, a 24-year-old photographer from Boston, talks
>about his fixie.  "My friends in Boston were getting into these bikes,
>and it was just sort of appealing to me. It's like there's nothing to
>worry about, and they're just a blast to ride."
>
>=========( end article )==========