Originally Posted by
Colorado Kid
I got the current copy of L.L. Bean and on the cover is a woman with a very nice commuter bicycle sitting beside her. (Lights, rack etc.) Is bicycle commuting getting so hip it appears on a national mail-order catalog? I just thought what we are doing is fun.
Hip? Gawd.. I hope not. Now that the fixed gear thing has totally flamed out, I can get back on my track bike again after a multi-year repreave. I've been commuting daily for 14 years and I would hate to have to give that up.
Plus, this is obviously first-world advertising. For 99% of the world's population, bike riding is an unpleasant and dangerous activity, and a stigma of poverty. Everyone really lusts after a BMW 7XX.
My caucasian pal who after a visit with his in-laws in China, was coached with 2 key messages: that we eat meat we are not seen out in the 'hood on bikes. Poor people eat veggies and ride bikes.