Someone Needs a Makeover
 

Maybe I’ve been living in a cave, but when did old bike stuff become so fashionable? http://www.velorbis.com/

not sure, but kinda cool if you ask me

I think it's a reaction from a demographic that thinks half-melted looking carbon bikes with wild neon paint jobs and garish team lycra bikewear are uncool and unnecessary for just getting around.

Something needs to fill the void, now that fixedgears have taken a crap.

Sort of Velo Orange meets Ikea meets Pottery Barn meets Rivendell

"seems pretentious"

Jazz, Rock-n-roll, Beatniks, Hippies, Punks, Rappers, Hipsters... it's every Generation's sacred duty to shock its predecessor.
I came along somewhere between the Hippies and Punks; as long as they attempt to shock me with busty women in tight-fitting clothes, The Kids Are Alright...

http://www.velorbis.com/images/stori...hion-Fair6.jpg

Ooooh, lots of bad feeling here. What's the real issue?

The Real Issue? Why, busty young women in tight-fitting clothes of course!

Thank you for regaining consciousness. Would anyone in the class like to bring Mr RFC back up to speed now that he's awake?

That should always be the issue. Bikes are just bikes.

Someone hand that man a PBR.

http://swimwearandlingerie.files.wor...pg?w=359&h=500

I would also have accepted "buxom young hipster girls in tight-fitting clothes."

I like these new retro classic designs, Soma, Civia and a few others (I dunno much about). There's one UK brand thats particuarly outlandish. Hey, I'm partial to CV, so why not?

Where I live in Denver it seems to be that in the last 3 years or so old bikes have really risen in popularity. My thinking is that the Hipsters that got into older bikes with the fixed gear conversion fad have realized that gears and brakes are a good thing and have started riding proper C&V bikes. For me I kinda miss the days before the fixed gear thing when you could get a decent C&V bike in a thrift store for as little as $20.

I can't wait to get my 60euro "crate carrier" http://shop.velorbis.com/accessories...ier-crate.html

http://s4d8c921601d12.img.gostorego....rontbox4_1.jpg

:thumb:

I may steal this for a new sig line.

Velobs

Pretty funny stuff right here!

Urban cycling is in, along with old-esque forms of bicycles that are practical and comfortable for the average person to ride in the city. And hipster track-bike-wannabees speeds are on the way out, I think.

I'm in favor of anything that get's more people on bikes, especially if it means they're riding bikes instead of driving cars. At the same time, I'm suspicious and uncomfortable with the "fashion" element of this urban bike fad. First, I've always associated fashion with shallowness, since it focuses on appearance rather than merit, and snobbery, since fashionable things cost more simply because they're fashionable. Second, like any fad, if someone buys a bike for fashion, it may spend a lot of time in the apartment or garage once the "look what I bought" photos are posted, tweeted whatever. But then, the same thing happened during the 70s bike boom--everyone had to have a 10-speed, riding it was purely optional.

But if the urban cycling craze can be the entry drug for more people to get on bikes, I'll overlook the parts I find distasteful.

I don’t really have any issues with them selling a cycling lifestyle; I’ve just not seen such a polished web site about the Ikea-fication of bike stuff before. As far as being pretentious, you should check-out the BF Road Forum some time. I like the idea of demystifying and humanizing cycling for the masses; the good news is that it will increase the value of old bikes, the bad news is that it will increase the value of old bikes.

I've got a bunch of old freewheels and chain stored in my wood carrier crate.

Go right ahead. :)

F@($ fashion. Gimme style.

AND FURTHERMORE!
(now that I've got my dudgeon up to a good head of steam)

What are they doing that Raleigh et. al. weren't doing cheaper and better in 1953?! GRRRR.... This really, really grinds my gears. I agree, anything that gets more people on sensible bikes is a good thing. I just resent the appropriation of something that was never intended to be "fashionable," at least not in this sense. It reeks of a pretension that is unbelievably shallow.

Bicycling was "never intended to be fashionable"? Where have you been? ;)

http://www.pembrokestory.org.uk/imag...ppedimage1.jpg

I'm not saying that the industry hasn't bowed to fashion from time to time, or even pandered to it shamelessly. My POINT is that utilitarian cycling is, by definition, utilitarian. And as such, the cycles designed for urban and suburban commuting have always been ruthlessly efficient for this purpose.

Why can't useful cycling also be fashionable? Like Mercian Rider pointed out, if being fashionable gets people on bikes, some of them might stay with it for the utility.

You sound very much like your territory is being invaded. That said, I'm not in Mpls -- I'm happy when I see anyone on a bike in my area. ;)

On the other hand...

"Velorbis bicycles were part of a historic day in Copenhagen politics when Denmark's first ever female prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt met with the Queen to ask to form a government. All ministers from the Liberal party - De Radikale Venstre - who are part of Denmark's new coalition government, decided to arrive in style at the Queen's residence on Velorbis Victoria Classic ladies and Velorbis Churchill Classic gents bicycles. It was an entrance to remember and highlights perfectly the chic cycling culture that Danes of all professions and walks of life hold close to their hearts as part of their everyday lifestyles. The new government has announced that it will integrate green policies as a main element of their administration in order to make Copenhagen even more bicycle friendly."

Sure, there's an off-putting trendiness to all this- but I wouldn't mind seeing a new Congress riding to the Capitol en-masse on new Schwinns. Industries are always going to ramp up whatever fashion advertising they think will sell product, but I suspect most Danes who buy those bikes will be riding them, not posing next to them. And the fact that the site is in English makes me wonder if it was created primarily to troll for the American market. I wonder what Velouria (lovelybike blog) would make of all this, seems right up her alley.

Same here. I'd like to get through one day without being honked off the tiny strip of road called the "bike route" in my neighborhood by drivers that don't signal or understand why there are bicycles next to them on the road. I could care less if other cyclists are riding a Pasha or unobtanium, just as long they're on two wheels like me. In my neighborhood, electric mopeds seem ti be gaining on bikes, but at least they're BI-CYCLES and they have pedals. Style is one of the reasons I'm a CV fan, so let's get that out of the way.

I think woodrup joe makes a good point. What may seem like a sudden shift to trendiness to us might be part of the evolution of a long standing and already entrenched bicycle culture in Denmark, as well as elsewhere in Europe.

Congressman on bikes? Check Pridmore and Hurd's The American Bicycle from the library. On page 151 there's a 1962 photo of Dr. Paul Dudley White leading a bicycle ride joined by Secretary of Treasury Douglas Dillon, Congressman Silvio Conte (Mass), and Secretary of State Stuart Udall.

Nonetheless, whereas cycling as transportation has long been entrenched in most of Europe, automobiles are even more entrenched in the U.S. If cute versions of older forms of bikes helps us move from the latter to the former, I'm for it, even if I have to hold my nose.