Nice CNN Article

[KelOnWheels]

@Steve 35896 wrote:

While we’re making our wish list….

I’d like bikes to be sold with a key that goes to a headset lock (the way my old motor scooter did), so that I can lock the functionality of the bike (I think there are a few aftermarket versions of this). I’d also like a swing arm or something like that on the fork and stays that allow the frame to lock to the wheel, for the same reason. These are my wishes….

YES! Some sort of integrated lock. Or at least a place to carry a lock that would come with the bike.

[dasgeh]

@KelOnWheels 35901 wrote:

YES! Some sort of integrated lock. Or at least a place to carry a lock that would come with the bike.

They sell these on bikes in Europe too. In fact, a few years ago, Tschibo in Germany (which is kinda like the Costco of coffee shops, if that makes any sense) was selling a bike for around E400 that came with: fenders, racks, chain guard, lights, integrated hub, good brakes, and the integrated lock thing (that has a name I can’t think of). I almost had a friend buy one and ship it to me, which would have still been around $700. Actually, I tried to justify a trip to Germany with buying it, but I think we had just had kid #1.

[Megabeth]

So, full confession, when I did the tweed ride, I wore bike shorts under my outfit. (Comfort *and* style, oh yeah.)

When I first started bike commuting every day, folks would ask me what I would wear. I’d answer: sometimes jeans, sometimes shorts, sometimes dress pants, sometimes flats, sometimes skirts, sometimes heels, sometimes boots, it just depended on the weather (and what is clean, I suppose). And, there would be this look of wonder and surprise that I didn’t get all spandexed up.

So, yes, one of the biggest misconceptions women have with cycling continues to be that you to have special bike clothing to ride. And, sometimes it really does take someone to show that you can ride in anything. But, then, the more of us that ride in “anything” the more people will see that to believe you can ride in “anything”. (And, if gussying up in tweed or seersucker attracts more people to ride, then sign me up and dress me up!)

I am also drawn towards clothing that will stand up to the rigors of cycling, I’ve (almost) worn through dress pants and jeans in the upper inner thigh region and have torn up the hem of some of my dress pants (because the fabric was too slick and the reflecty band slid down making my pants flop around). But, that’s one of the costs of biking as much as I do.

On the other hand, we have a friend that started biking several years ago, but *refused* to wear spandex (for modesty reasons), so he’d wear soccer shorts for 30 – 40 mile rides. He was miserable. We tried to explain that there were other, more modest, and more padded options out there for sport riding (from shorts to underwear) that would help him out on the comfort side. (He wanted to ride the long distances so a little more padding would have helped him out.) He utimately stopped riding his bike because he just couldn’t get over the uncomfortableness and didn’t want to spend the money on padded shorts. There was no convincing otherwise.

[vvill]

I like commuting in more regular clothes but accept that it feels more comfortable to be more spandexed, especially if you ride hard/long enough to sweat a lot, or just sweat easily. Although, given the versatility of merino wool and the wider availability of riding pants for men it almost comes down to just having bike shorts underneath in this weather. The last two days I’ve commuted in the same shirt I’ve worn all day at work… yay for wool! And casual workplace dress codes.

@dasgeh 35933 wrote:

They sell these on bikes in Europe too. In fact, a few years ago, Tschibo in Germany (which is kinda like the Costco of coffee shops, if that makes any sense) was selling a bike for around E400 that came with: fenders, racks, chain guard, lights, integrated hub, good brakes, and the integrated lock thing (that has a name I can’t think of). I almost had a friend buy one and ship it to me, which would have still been around $700. Actually, I tried to justify a trip to Germany with buying it, but I think we had just had kid #1.

One of my good friends lived/worked in Munich for a while and loved biking to work everyday. I’m pretty sure he had one of these bikes, and when he left he sold it almost at cost. He was a bit surprised/annoyed he couldn’t find anything similar when he moved back to Australia.

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