0 Emission: Coming soon to a city near you: "The rise of the urban biker"

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Coming soon to a city near you: "The rise of the urban biker"

Filed under: Transportation Alternatives, On Two Wheels

I stumbled upon this rather gratifying article on Wired, and thought you might like to see it too. It's apparently become "hip" to ride a bike in many large metropolitan areas. Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco and London are all burgeoning bike markets, to the point where each of these cities and more have their own bikes named after them. According to the article, it's the simple single-speed bike that is becoming the most popular. I can totally understand why, with no gears to change and adjust, the appeal is in their simplicity. Sure, it might be nice to go down to the granny gear for that particularly steep hill near your favorite hangout, but you can always get off and push if need be. And, you'll probably get in good enough shape in a little while that you won't need to.

"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," says Matt McDonald, in the article. That they are, Matt!