"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show



On Sep 27, 10:31 pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]>
wrote:

> > I think Performance had the better plan with the World Avenue. Sell a
> > relatively low priced commute bicycle with racks, fenders, and most
> > importantly a chain guard. I wish they'd included a hub dynamo too. OTOH,
> > all of the factory hub-dynamo equipped bicycles I see around here (mainly
> > Joe Breeze and REI Transfer) have additional lights installed because
> > they're used in an environment where the included dynamo lights don't cut
> > it. If the owners knew about the SolidLight for dynamos, and had a way to
> > buy it here for $150 or so, I'd think it'd sell reasonably well, since the
> > battery powered systems on these bikes are always of the expensive
> > variety.

>
> It's almost impossible to get customers to buy practical bikes. We've
> stocked fully-decked-out commuter bikes, and they sit & rot on the floor.
> We've dressed up stock standard bikes, showing people what's available for
> them, and they just collect dust and sales of fenders & lighting systems
> only go to those who already understand their value, not new converts to the
> cause.
>
> It's possible that the new widespread awareness of global warming may have
> an effect, along with a general feeling that we ought to do a better job of
> protecting the planet for the next generation. But I'm skeptical. We, as an
> industry, are relatively powerless. We don't control the media, or at least
> the parts that influence the lives of everyday people. The bicycle industry
> is finally beginning to band together for common marketing causes, of which
> utility use bicycles is a big battle cry. The feeling is that, if we can get
> utilitarian use of the bicycle seen as a mainstream activity, it will raise
> sales of *all* types of bicycles, thus avoiding the pitfall of creating a
> beast that becomes a non-profit commodity item.
>
> Would be nice that we actually had reason to be scared of creating such a
> beast...
>
> --Mike Jacoubowsky
> Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
> Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA


Dear Mike,

Chain guards, lights, pricing, global warming, all the media's fault,
blah-blah-blah . . .

Here's a hot new city bike that should scare us sissies, no fancy
fenders, no silly clipless pedals, no high prices:

http://www.pbase.com/kayakbiker/image/27685415

It's your basic 80-tooth front-sprocket 1907 fixie--simple, reliable
transportation with head-light, tool-bag, sprung-seat, cruiser
handlebars, and front suspension. (Okay, 40-tooth inch-pitch.)

Cheers,

Carl Fogel
 
"datakoll" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> sew? make a cereal type box with cardboard and packing tape then lay
> fabric over the box, double stick tape the fabric or spot glue then
> sew it up. or go green and tack it with thread and pins.


Guess you missed the part about "modern mounting hardware".
 
"Don Wiss" <donwiss@no_spam.com> wrote in message
news:eek:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 27 Sep 2007, Gooserider <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>The shocker for me? The $2000 Breezer "commuter"

>
> Huh? Breezer's most expensive "town" bike is the Uptown 8. It goes for
> $850.
>
> Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).



Ya need to keep up with what's going on at Interbike.

http://commutebybike.com/2007/09/26/the-ultimate-commuter-bike/

$1900 Breezer Finesse. You're welcome.
 
"SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
>
>> It's almost impossible to get customers to buy practical bikes. We've
>> stocked fully-decked-out commuter bikes, and they sit & rot on the floor.
>> We've dressed up stock standard bikes, showing people what's available
>> for them, and they just collect dust and sales of fenders & lighting
>> systems only go to those who already understand their value, not new
>> converts to the cause.

>
> I think it's a matter of pricing. The reason the Schwinn World Avenue has
> done relatively well is because they priced it well. On sale, with the
> Team Performance discount, it goes for around $320, sometimes less. They
> can't keep it in stock. It's going to be very different for a $700-1000
> commuter bike, even if it includes some dynamo lights.


Cheaper is better for a dedicated commuter, I think. Of course, that depends
on the type of commute. But for something that may be locked to a rack all
day, or will be used for stops at the grocery store on the way home from
work---yes. They're making a big deal about the dynohub lights, but I don't
know how bright these lights will be. I know that there are good generator
lights(Lumotec, etc), but are these cheap ones good?
 
Gooserider wrote:

> Cheaper is better for a dedicated commuter, I think. Of course, that depends
> on the type of commute. But for something that may be locked to a rack all
> day, or will be used for stops at the grocery store on the way home from
> work---yes. They're making a big deal about the dynohub lights, but I don't
> know how bright these lights will be. I know that there are good generator
> lights(Lumotec, etc), but are these cheap ones good?


"Good" is such a relative term.

Let's just say it's extremely rare (like never), to see one of these
commute bikes out at night using only the dynamo lights. Of course the
integrated dynamo lights are the only dynamos you're going to see around
for commuters in most parts of the U.S., for technical and demographic
reasons.

I wouldn't say they're good. They're adequate "being seen lights" though
the lack a standlight. They're probably good enough for riding slowly on
familiar streets.

However nothing prevents the owner from buying some better headlamps to
use with the hub dynamo.

If some large company would make the effort to build a Cree based dynamo
light in large quantities then the cost of the components of that light
would come way down.
 
"Matt O'Toole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:p[email protected]...
> Wired has a nice article about how non-sport bikes are hot sellers again:
>
> http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels/news/2007/09/interbike_urbanbikers


> "City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
>


Oh no!
My commuter/touring bike and I might become hip!
What else will I need to do to become a hipster?
Dye my hair green (after some Grecian formula as well)?
Wear my old, out of style (I'm not very good at determing this) clothes
rather than taking them to the Salvation Army?
Get rid of my Rohloff hub and get a fixie hub (it will be easy to put it
back on when the fad dies out)?
Are my fenders and lights now cool?

BobT
 
On Sep 27, 2:08 pm, Matt O'Toole <[email protected]> wrote:
> Wired has a nice article about how non-sport bikes are hot sellers again:
>
> http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels/news/2007/09/interbike_urbanbikers
>
> This proves what can happen when fresh, smart people like Ms. Yeager are
> put in charge of marketing, and allowed to try something different than
> the same tired old formulas (More carbon! Even fewer spokes!).
>
> This summer I spent 2.5 weeks in southern CA, where beach cruisers are
> back with a vengeance. Everyone is riding, and teenagers are again using
> bikes as their preferred mode of transportation. There seem to be 3x as
> many bike shops as 5 years ago, most of them selling beach cruisers and a
> few town/city bikes.
>
> Text of the article is below, for the Usenet archives, in case Wired
> eventually makes it unavailable.
>
> Matt O.
>
> ***
>
> "City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
>
> --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."
>
> ***


Theres never been a shortage of bikes in lower Manhattan (NYC). Most
seem to be low end mtb types. Just look at any traffic sign and see
them all chained up, with no seats. Seems theft is a major problem,
and people haven't found a good way of securing their seats (or maybe
a seatless bike is just less attractive to thieves)

Eric
 
In article <[email protected]>,
landotter <[email protected]> writes:

>> I've been watching the news from Interbike, and there sure are a lot of
>> commuter-centric bikes available. Some, I think, are going to do very well.
>> I think Raleigh has a hit with it's Detour Deluxe. Fully specced out
>> commuter(rack, fenders, dynohub, front and rear lights)--$710. Put that on
>> the showroom floor and watch it sell.

>
> Nah, put a hip $500 3 speed with fenders and a rack on the floor and
> it will sell.


Except perhaps for the "hip" part, you just described
the Raleigh Sport I had in my youth.

Except for the $500 part, you just described my
Raleigh Twenty.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca
 
>> It's almost impossible to get customers to buy practical bikes. We've
>> stocked fully-decked-out commuter bikes, and they sit & rot on the floor.
>> We've dressed up stock standard bikes, showing people what's available
>> for them, and they just collect dust and sales of fenders & lighting
>> systems only go to those who already understand their value, not new
>> converts to the cause.

>
> I think it's a matter of pricing. The reason the Schwinn World Avenue has
> done relatively well is because they priced it well. On sale, with the
> Team Performance discount, it goes for around $320, sometimes less. They
> can't keep it in stock. It's going to be very different for a $700-1000
> commuter bike, even if it includes some dynamo lights.


I really don't think it's a pricing issue, since the bike we set up as a
"proof of concept" machine was built around a $260 model, so the whole thing
ready to go was only around $400. Schwinn's present entry-level "commute"
bike is the World GS, which is a basic hybrid with only fenders and a rear
rack added, no lights.
http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/bikes_detail.php?id=981. In fact, there
are no lights supplied until you get all the way up to their top-of-the-line
model, the World Adventure-
http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/bikes_detail.php?id=954.

If these bikes are selling well, it's not due to price & spec, but because
Performance has gotten behind them. If so, more power to them! They're doing
a much better job (given the apparent success) than I've been able to do.
But suitability to task? In my opinion, a commute bike should be tough as
nails, and part of that is keeping things simple. I'd ditch the suspension
fork immediately, although I admit there are some environments where even
the crude forks such bikes come with might add some degree of comfort.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
 
"BobT" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Matt O'Toole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:p[email protected]...
>> Wired has a nice article about how non-sport bikes are hot sellers again:
>>
>> http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels/news/2007/09/interbike_urbanbikers

>
>> "City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
>>

>
> Oh no!
> My commuter/touring bike and I might become hip!
> What else will I need to do to become a hipster?
> Dye my hair green (after some Grecian formula as well)?
> Wear my old, out of style (I'm not very good at determing this) clothes
> rather than taking them to the Salvation Army?
> Get rid of my Rohloff hub and get a fixie hub (it will be easy to put
> it back on when the fad dies out)?
> Are my fenders and lights now cool?
>
> BobT
>
>

After reading my own post, I realized I made a mistake. I should have asked:

Are my fenders and lights now really deck?

BobT
 
In rec.bicycles.misc Gooserider <[email protected]> wrote:
> "datakoll" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>>
>> I'm betting on burlap, knobbies and 3 speeds.

>
> I wish someone would compete with Carradice and bring out traditionally
> styled cotton duck panniers with modern mounting hardware. :)


Err, you mean like the SQR type saddlebag I've been using for the past
three years?

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/bags/sqr-products.htm

--
Dane Buson - [email protected]
The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science
requires reasoning while those other subjects merely require scholarship.
-- Robert Heinlein
 
"Dane Buson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In rec.bicycles.misc Gooserider <[email protected]> wrote:
>> "datakoll" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm betting on burlap, knobbies and 3 speeds.

>>
>> I wish someone would compete with Carradice and bring out traditionally
>> styled cotton duck panniers with modern mounting hardware. :)

>
> Err, you mean like the SQR type saddlebag I've been using for the past
> three years?
>
> http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/bags/sqr-products.htm


Not saddlebag----panniers. Big, huge difference. Err....
 
>> Gooserider wrote:
>>> That being said, selling an expensive hybrid commuter is difficult.
>>> Selling an expensive road bike is relatively easy. "Hey, feel how light
>>> it is!", or "Hey, check out those lugs. That bike is hand made by a
>>> craftsman in Wisconsin.". Selling an MTB is easy, too---it's all about
>>> the cutting edge tech.


> "SMS" <[email protected]> wrote
>> I think Performance had the better plan with the World Avenue. Sell a
>> relatively low priced commute bicycle with racks, fenders, and most
>> importantly a chain guard. I wish they'd included a hub dynamo too. OTOH,
>> all of the factory hub-dynamo equipped bicycles I see around here (mainly
>> Joe Breeze and REI Transfer) have additional lights installed because
>> they're used in an environment where the included dynamo lights don't cut
>> it. If the owners knew about the SolidLight for dynamos, and had a way to
>> buy it here for $150 or so, I'd think it'd sell reasonably well, since the
>> battery powered systems on these bikes are always of the expensive
>> varietyMike Jacoubowsky wrote:
>>> That being said, selling an expensive hybrid commuter is difficult.
>>> Selling an expensive road bike is relatively easy. "Hey, feel how light
>>> it is!", or "Hey, check out those lugs. That bike is hand made by a
>>> craftsman in Wisconsin.". Selling an MTB is easy, too---it's all about
>>> the cutting edge tech.

>> I think Performance had the better plan with the World Avenue. Sell a
>> relatively low priced commute bicycle with racks, fenders, and most
>> importantly a chain guard. I wish they'd included a hub dynamo too. OTOH,
>> all of the factory hub-dynamo equipped bicycles I see around here (mainly
>> Joe Breeze and REI Transfer) have additional lights installed because
>> they're used in an environment where the included dynamo lights don't cut
>> it. If the owners knew about the SolidLight for dynamos, and had a way to
>> buy it here for $150 or so, I'd think it'd sell reasonably well, since the
>> battery powered systems on these bikes are always of the expensive
>> variety.


>Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
> It's almost impossible to get customers to buy practical bikes. We've
> stocked fully-decked-out commuter bikes, and they sit & rot on the floor.
> We've dressed up stock standard bikes, showing people what's available for
> them, and they just collect dust and sales of fenders & lighting systems
> only go to those who already understand their value, not new converts to the
> cause.
>
> It's possible that the new widespread awareness of global warming may have
> an effect, along with a general feeling that we ought to do a better job of
> protecting the planet for the next generation. But I'm skeptical. We, as an
> industry, are relatively powerless. We don't control the media, or at least
> the parts that influence the lives of everyday people. The bicycle industry
> is finally beginning to band together for common marketing causes, of which
> utility use bicycles is a big battle cry. The feeling is that, if we can get
> utilitarian use of the bicycle seen as a mainstream activity, it will raise
> sales of *all* types of bicycles, thus avoiding the pitfall of creating a
> beast that becomes a non-profit commodity item.
>
> Would be nice that we actually had reason to be scared of creating such a
> beast...


Yet the same guy who walks past those bikes will spend a few hundred
_more_ badly accessorizing a lesser bike (with much tedium) over the
span of a year or two...
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
 
In rec.bicycles.misc Gooserider <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Dane Buson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> In rec.bicycles.misc Gooserider <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> I wish someone would compete with Carradice and bring out traditionally
>>> styled cotton duck panniers with modern mounting hardware. :)

>>
>> Err, you mean like the SQR type saddlebag I've been using for the past
>> three years?
>>
>> http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/bags/sqr-products.htm

>
> Not saddlebag----panniers. Big, huge difference. Err....


Doh! Mea Culpa! That's what I get for posting when I'm at about 20%
mental capacity. [1] I think when I get home from work, I should just go
lie on the couch and go "wibble" for a while (without the pencils up
nose and the underpants on my head though).

[1] Out 'Too Darn Late' riding and hanging about with disreputable
types. It was a mighty wet night. A sign of the coming monsoon
season most likely.

--
Dane Buson - [email protected]
"There's no set architecture in Linux. All roads lead to madness" -Microsoft
 
In rec.bicycles.misc BobT <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> "Matt O'Toole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:p[email protected]...
>> Wired has a nice article about how non-sport bikes are hot sellers again:
>>
>> http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels/news/2007/09/interbike_urbanbikers

>
>> "City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
>>

>
> Oh no!
> My commuter/touring bike and I might become hip!
> What else will I need to do to become a hipster?
> Dye my hair green (after some Grecian formula as well)?


Nononono, Chromium *red* is the new green. Keep up in the back there.

> Wear my old, out of style (I'm not very good at determing this) clothes
> rather than taking them to the Salvation Army?


That should work nicely!

> Get rid of my Rohloff hub and get a fixie hub (it will be easy to put it
> back on when the fad dies out)?


Probably for the best, you don't really need gears for trackstand
competitions and hanging at the coffee shop.

> Are my fenders and lights now cool?


Fenders, you might be able to squeak by with the really terrible clip-on
ones.

Lights - Bah! Hipsters are practically the new ninjas! Weaving
silently through the darkness, invisible, silent (no brake squeals!),
deadly (more to themselves than others though).

--
Dane Buson - [email protected]
A Difficulty for Every Solution.
-- Motto of the Federal Civil Service
 
In rec.bicycles.misc Gooserider <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> "Don Wiss" <donwiss@no_spam.com> wrote in message
> news:eek:[email protected]...
>> On Thu, 27 Sep 2007, Gooserider <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>The shocker for me? The $2000 Breezer "commuter"

>>
>> Huh? Breezer's most expensive "town" bike is the Uptown 8. It goes for
>> $850.
>>
>> Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).

>
> Ya need to keep up with what's going on at Interbike.
>
> http://commutebybike.com/2007/09/26/the-ultimate-commuter-bike/
>
> $1900 Breezer Finesse. You're welcome.


$1900 and no chain guard? Fail.

--
Dane Buson - [email protected]
XML is like violence -- if its not solving your problem, use more.
 
"Dane Buson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In rec.bicycles.misc Gooserider <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> "Don Wiss" <donwiss@no_spam.com> wrote in message
>> news:eek:[email protected]...
>>> On Thu, 27 Sep 2007, Gooserider <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>>The shocker for me? The $2000 Breezer "commuter"
>>>
>>> Huh? Breezer's most expensive "town" bike is the Uptown 8. It goes for
>>> $850.
>>>
>>> Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).

>>
>> Ya need to keep up with what's going on at Interbike.
>>
>> http://commutebybike.com/2007/09/26/the-ultimate-commuter-bike/
>>
>> $1900 Breezer Finesse. You're welcome.

>
> $1900 and no chain guard? Fail.


No chain guard. No cargo carrying capacity. Crappy light. So you spend this
much money on a "turn key" solution, then the dealer hits you up again.
Kinda defeats the purpose, no?
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"Gooserider" <[email protected]> writes:

>> I think it's a matter of pricing. The reason the Schwinn World Avenue has
>> done relatively well is because they priced it well. On sale, with the
>> Team Performance discount, it goes for around $320, sometimes less. They
>> can't keep it in stock. It's going to be very different for a $700-1000
>> commuter bike, even if it includes some dynamo lights.

>
> Cheaper is better for a dedicated commuter, I think. Of course, that depends
> on the type of commute. But for something that may be locked to a rack all
> day, or will be used for stops at the grocery store on the way home from
> work---yes. They're making a big deal about the dynohub lights, but I don't
> know how bright these lights will be. I know that there are good generator
> lights(Lumotec, etc), but are these cheap ones good?


The old Union U-100 headlights serve my purposes well,
as they have done for decades. I'm sure the latest
headlight profferings have improved on beam shaping etc.
But after all, the ol' U-100 was specifically designed
for bicycling purposes too. I luv that big, fat, shiny
disc of glow that its lens displays to onlookers.
I figure, it's not just how bright it is -- it's also
how /big/ it is.

I also have a plastic-shell'd cheap-o version of it,
which performs just as adequately.

And I have a couple of Tung-Lin headlights which are
quite fancy but have a design flaw -- the bracket
which attaches to the front brake bolt is just riveted
onto the headlight shell, and under the weight of the
headlight the rivets eventually loosen.

Anyway, the guts of an efficient headlight is the
Fresnel-ish lens, and they've been readily &
inexpensively manufactured since Hector was a pup.

Generator taillights also have some qualities I prefer
over blinkies. For one thing, they don't disappear
from a coming-from-behind drivers' view at certain
angles as readily as many blinkies do. And they
cast a sort of big, red aura in the air around them,
much more than typical blinkie LEDs do. Generator
taillights penetrate slight->medium fog better
than LEDs. Neither type of light penetrates really
thick fog very well.

Generator taillights can look sharp when fender-mounted.
Mine doesn't; I kinda quick-&-dirtily kludged my
jerry-built mounting. One of these days maybe I'll
concoct some sort of streamlined housing built right
into the fender (when I get a round tuit.)





--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"BobT" <[email protected]> writes:
>
> "Matt O'Toole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:p[email protected]...
>> Wired has a nice article about how non-sport bikes are hot sellers again:
>>
>> http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels/news/2007/09/interbike_urbanbikers

>
>> "City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
>>

>
> Oh no!
> My commuter/touring bike and I might become hip!


Not if you're over a certain age and your bike is
under a certain age.

Actually, I doubt touring bikes will ever become hip.
But then, ya never know.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca