Thursday, March 11, 2010

Bikes outside: excess

UPDATE! So, I came home and Johanna told me that this post was kind of mean. She's right, so I apologize to the owner of the gold Bianchi. Since my New Year's resolution to stop being a jerk, I hope he accepts my apology. Although, I won't rescind my comments on the upside down handlebars. Upside down handlebars aren't right!



I hope Chris doesn't get mad that I'm stealing his project, but I saw a bike outside today that I wanted to comment on briefly.


I had lunch today with Marisa at Ichiban. This Bianchi was chained out front. It had weird aero bars and upside down handlebars, something I never understand, and it had upside down brake levers. It also looked like it was prepared to ride across the continent. Inside, the owner looked like his was simply riding to lunch. Doesn't that strike you as slightly excessive? Does he bring eight changes of clothes to walk around the block? What does his car look like? How many bomb shelters does his house have?

Sorry.

4 comments:

Interstatement said...

If this is the gold Bianchi I think it is, I've seen this bike.I chatted with the owner while riding down Capitol Ave a few months back-- seemed like a nice guy. He's an avid all-weather cyclist who definitely likes the gadgets. It has a Rollhoff 14 speed I.G. hub and a full chaincase. I don't recall it being so laden.
If you're gonna try to steal my serial thunder, at least zoom in and get a couple of good shots. Marisa can share her photo club knowledge over lunch.

Brendan said...

I only have a cell phone camera, though.

Interstatement said...

Good on ya for apologizing. The purpose of Bikes Outside as I see it is to spotlight people using their bikes to get around, which I happen to think is an excellent thing for them to be doing. While I do offer my observations and opinions on the bikes I see, I see no point to resorting to a snark-attack. There's still a relatively small percentage of the area's population using bikes as their primary means of transport. We'd do well not to alienate any of them, especially those who carry a lot of stuff on their bikes, because they usually carry tools and could easily flip over your handlebar when you leave your bike outside. Just sayin'...

BTW, the cell-phone camera zoom function is operated by your feet.

Brendan said...

Yeah, but I'm an asshole and you're a nice guy.