— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
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:
- Here are our bikes.
- Here are the colors.
- Here are some pictures of pretty SoHo moms riding bikes.
- Here are some accessories that will make your bike better (LIKE BASKETS FULL OF BEER)
- 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.
Comments (13)
I think that guy is cute!…. although he does appear to have some junk in the trunk. No comment on the bike.
You forgot to mention it was started by the same annoying Stanford MBA that started DWR. Not that I ever met him, but Standford MBAs in general annoy me, and DWR has always annoyed me. So by association, I presume Rob Forbes would annoy me. Though in reality, I’m sure he’s a really cool guy. He used to be a potter or some other artsy profession that gets one laid a lot. So I’m conflicted. But really, do we need yet another bike company? Plenty of used bikes out there for people to buy, for pete sake. I feel a rant coming on. Must compose myself.
Have you ever been to the Stanford campus? Everybody there bikes, EVERYBODY.
Outside of buildings there will be a huge bike rack that’s totally full, and then about 25 more bikes just thrown on the ground. None of them are locked.
Point is, anyone who’s gone to Stanford probably knows a thing or two about bikes (but not about bike locks.)
i’ve recently decided to buy my first bike since i was a young buck and was considering this joint. i am a twenty-something (for another year at least) and don’t want to be a total dwerd. anyway, my point is, are fenders and chain guards not cool? i want to stay clean and keep my pants in one piece. is that bad? i will do it anyway, but have no frame of reference here.
Sweet jesus, it’s terrible. A solid bike from Craigslist paired with some cool fenders from Woody’s Custom http://www.woodysfenders.com fenders will ultimately get you laid more than a PUBLIC bike. Especially since every yuppie between Noe and Hayes Valley will be riding one of these, a Trek district, or a bike from Mission Bicycles. And as a soon to be 30-something, getting laid should still be #1 or #2 on your list of daily activities. Just saying….
duly noted and appreciate the tip. the main problem was that i’m a sucker for orange. but now i’m sold on some wooden fenders (i’m easy like that). finding the bike to go with it is a bit trickier. the problem i have is that i don’t have enough expertise to evaluate a bike from CL to be comfortable buying it, although i’m certainly down with used. what to do?
I can only pay you in hookers, Old Crow, and property damage.
Shit, just because you live closer to the ladies of the evening on Capp than me, doesn’t make you a pimp. A fur jacket, a Caddy, a copy of Rosebud The American Pimp, a cane, and losing your weird seitan fetish, that would make you a pimp. I know it’s hard for you to believe, but I never had problems with the Capp St. ladies before, so that particular carrots isn’t really working for me. Property damage, that I survey every day when I leave the house. So I kind of get that for free living on Capp. Which leaves Old Crow, and to tell you the truth, I’m more partial to Pikesville or Old Overholt..
So here’s an idea, how about cold hard American cash, because gold like this doesn’t write itself. Leave it in small unmarked bills, under the planter in front of our door that we had to bolt down because some crazy mother fucker literally stole the previous 75 lb ceramic planter full of cacti from our doorstep. I love Capp Street for that. Cactus thieves. Long live Capp St. You condo buying yuppies stay the hell out, you’re fucking it up for the rest of us. Though Evan Williams or Biz Stone or Rob Forbes or [insert generic rich internet entrepreneur name of your choice] whatever your condo buying bastards names are, if you see anyone hawking our cacti next to your new condo, tell the thieves we hope they suffered multiple punctures and gashes when stealing them.
i’m a full fledged member of the bored at work club. the orange isn’t an absolute requirement though. i just need some tips on where to get a good, reliable bike at a decent price (used or new) that won’t make me look like a stinking yuppie. based on your previous comment, mission bikes is therefore out, i think.
Riding bikes was a lot more fun before all this trendy fashionista shit got big. It’s a goddamn machine - get something functional, not a fashion accessory.
c’mon anonymous coward. you know in your heart that everybody wants a sweet looking ride. would you rather drive a toyota camry or a bitchin’ trans amwith t-tops? unless you’re a mom, the correct answer is the trans am. sweat pants are perfectly functional pants, but you won’t ever catch me wearing them.
bringing it back to bike riding and when it’s fun, that shit was the most fun when you were 10 years old. and at 10, i know i sure as hell would have rather had a rad looking bmx in some gnarly colors than a top of the line bike.
keep it real. don’t try to be all cool. or maybe, looking at it another way, just because it’s a machine, doesn’t mean it can’t be aesthetically pleasing.
tl;dr: don’t be a dick
Com’on now, lets be honest, bike riding is so much more fun EXACTLY because it has become soo trendy. There are literally people who live off writing about and/or mocking the bike fashion set. OK, maybe I don’t really make a living out of it, but I get paid enough to buy a case of beer a month. And I can’t write for shit. Bike Snob, on the other hand, he got a goddamn book deal out of mocking these people daily. So please don’t hate on the cycling fashionistas. Encourage them. Give them hugs. Buy them playing cards for their spokes and hipster cysts to keep them safe at night. They pay for our beer and get us book deals. Especially the godzillas (hot chicks on bikes) those are not only gold for search engine SEO, but they’re pleasing to look at and nice to grope.
hey tim,
check out refried cycles. 17th and sanchez. they are legit.
(i am totally not paid by them! they are really nice!)