Originally Posted by
jimmuller
Point taken. Of course I was posting partly in geste, but it is really a question of the social and economic environment, isn't it? In none of the social environments I've ever experienced is the term "working man's bike" applicable at all. Student's bike, recreational cyclist's bike, child's bike, yes. But the working man did not ride a bike. Not for fun, not for utility. There weren't no such animal. None.
Well, if you qualify it as narrow as "social environments I've ever experienced", you are correct.
But from post World War 1 to about 1950 in Europe, almost all working men rode bikes. They certainly weren't driving cars. And as a matter of fact, a bicycle was a means for them to escape the working man's life in the mines, fields and factories. It is why cycling is loved so in Europe, the working man could escape that life with something as simple as a bike.