Woollahra Bike

Riding down Queen Street Woollahra on Sunday I was shocked to see this amongst the displays of high-end fashion shops.

The bike is being sold at RG Madden: The Design Store. Follow the links through the website and the bicycle is listed under "Whats Hot this season".

ABICI Bicycle

The ABICI is a bicycle handmade in Italy; a beautiful hybrid product of old Italian hand crafting traditions teamed with modern design. Not only are they an object of beauty, but the craftsmanship and materials used in production are of superior quality ensuring that ABICI bicycles enjoy a long life. ABICI bicycles are not for sale in traditional cycling shops – exclusive to RG Madden. From AUS$2150

Colours

Pale blue, ivory, red, black, olive green and pale greyMaterials

18/10 stainless steel frame, leather saddle

Its easy to laugh at the idea of people actually buying these bikes and one wonders if they'd ever come out of the garage and actually get used. However, I think this display is a positive thing. The high-end bicycle market has for a long time been dominated by ultra-lightweight racing bikes and the blokey competitiveness over the latest wizbang technological gizmos. If the bicycle market is expanding to meet other desires, say something with a bit more style and fashion sense, then I think its ultimately a good thing.

Attitudes to cycling

I just read the research study Attitudes to Cycling: a qualitative study and conceptual framework (1997) by DG Davies, ME Halliday, M Mays and RL Pocock published by the Transport Research Laboratory in the UK. One of the most striking features of the the paper was its ability to distinguish between given "rationalisations" (rain, hills, traffic) for not cycling and some more latent reasons for not cycling. For what appeared as a rather mainstream scientific study, I was amazed that it looked at issues such as social status, gender norms, sexuality, and control of ones environment (spatial mastery). Check out some of these conceptual diagrams (click on the pics to view properly).

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Stop me

Via Copenhagenize


I'd never seen the original film clip to this Smiths classic. How could you not love Morrissey on a bicycle? It contains one of my all time favourite Morrissey lyrics:

An emergency stop
I smelt the last ten seconds of life
I crashed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald, buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder
Who said lied I'd to her ?

Bicycles for Humanity

I've been rattling the can for the last few days in support of Bicycles For Humanity. The organisation collects and repairs old bikes and sends them to developing countries. They are currently half way to raising $10000 to send a shipping container with 400 bikes to Namibia. The container will then be transformed into a bicycle workshop and an opportunity for employment.

I'm hoping to raise $1000 by swimming the 2km Cole Classic at Manly Beach in three weeks. If you'd like to sponsor me and support Bicycles for Humanity, please go to my page at everydayhero.com.au. I'm grateful to see so many friends have already kicked in and I'm almost a third of the way there.

Now, I better head off to the pool!!!