I biked to work today because someone told me I was supposed to and while as I was approaching 17th on Harrison, I noticed something that looked very similar to a warehouse full of bikes.  Turns out Harrison is the new home to the week-old Public Bikes, a company selling commuter bikes targeting the “new to biking” demographic.

The bike industry is usually full of alcoholics and people that would rather ride bikes than sell bikes, so I was pretty impressed with how together they had their whole operation.  Rows of branded bike boxes, a clean image and mechanics that don’t looks like they have a hunting knife in one pocket and a flask in the other.

Their website is a shining example of what a bike company in this space should be doing:

1. Here are our bikes.
2. Here are the colors.
3. Here are some pictures of pretty SoHo moms riding bikes.
4. Here are some accessories that will make your bike better (LIKE BASKETS FULL OF BEER)
5. Give us your money.

They clearly are not targeting the Mission 20-something demographic, but there isn’t anything inherently wrong with that.  That said, the above picture made me WTF.  This is not the type of bike someone would bring to Bender’s + ‘drop mad game’ with, so why even play that angle?

Anyway, bikes start at $600 bucks, which is fair price for a relatively light-weight bike that actually functions.