
For Wealthy Chinese, Bicycles Become Status Symbols - codegeek
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100338066
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pelle
In Denmark where I grew up we all grew up using bikes just like in China.

A lot of guys are also now spending ridiculous amount of money on hand made
bikes just like the wealthy Chinese in the article.

The interesting thing is that for women the fashion has been more towards
going for old wrecks also known as grandma bikes. See
<http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com>

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Luc
Do you mean the old grandma bicycles are valued over new ones in the same
style? Or is it just the style of bicycle that is becoming popular?

It's a very comfortable way to ride (on flat country) and I prefer it for non-
hipster reasons (i.e. my back).

~~~
pelle
It started out with people preferring the old ones. Then the bike
manufacturers caught on and started making fake grandma bikes as well.

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jordanb
"Grandma bike" is a pretty derisive term for a practical utility bicycle. It's
like a guy in a two-seat sportster with a tiny trunk calling a four-seat sedan
a "grandma car."

Here in Chicago, people realized many years ago that road bikes with tiny,
crack-seeking wheels, rigid suspension, aggressive posture and delicate
derailleurs made horrible utility bikes.

So people first started appropriating mountain bikes, adding fenders, racks,
new saddles etc. Then people discovered that old Schwinn three-speeds make
perfect utility bikes without any conversion.

Now, yes, bike manufacturers have responded by building purpose-built utility
bikes.

If you like road bikes then that's great. I actually love riding a road bike
from time to time. 99% of the time I'm on a "granny bike" though, and if I
weren't for those trips I'd be in a car.

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eropple
_"Grandma bike" is a pretty derisive term for a practical utility bicycle.
It's like a guy in a two-seat sportster with a tiny trunk calling a four-seat
sedan a "grandma car."_

I call my '96 Camry a "grandpa car". (In part because my grandfather owned it
before I did.) I'm not sure it's as derisive as you think.

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klenwell
Now might be a good time to recommend Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class for
anyone who hasn't read it:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class>

One of my touchstones for understanding the modern world.

~~~
rdtsc
That can also be used as a way to seek profit in the modern world.

Remember the Citibank "plutonomy" papers? Whether authentic or not they
basically made the same point. Invest in luxury goods. As the proverbial 1%
accumulates more wealth they will want to engage in conspicuous consumption.
They will buy Porsches and hand made watches and will pay a pretty penny for
it.

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sunnybythesea
I'm all for this. China had it right in the first place. What's not to love
about bicycles? Low carbon emissions (only CO2), good for the body, you
actually get to experience your surroundings, less fatal accidents assuming
more people are on bicycles,not noisy

~~~
jff
I love my bicycle, but they are:

Slow, one person at a time, low hauling capacity, no protection from the
elements, and easily stolen.

Like it or not, cars have their place. People who are so proud of not needing
a car? They do a lot of mooching off car-having friends.

~~~
meej
Allow me to introduce you to Portland's Emily Finch.

[http://bikeportland.org/2012/06/28/with-six-kids-and-no-
car-...](http://bikeportland.org/2012/06/28/with-six-kids-and-no-car-this-mom-
does-it-all-by-bike-73731)

Also of possible interest is the lead story in this month's issue of Portland
Afoot, which is about making a $200 grocery store trip by bike.

[http://portlandafoot.org/2012/12/mood-to-move-how-to-make-
an...](http://portlandafoot.org/2012/12/mood-to-move-how-to-make-an-
impression-at-the-grocery-store/)

These are extreme examples, perhaps, but the point is that there are plenty of
bikes out there with hauling capacity for both people and stuff (Extracycles,
bakfiets, etc), there's also plenty of equipment that can be added to a
regular bike to increase hauling capacity (racks, baskets, oyster bucket
panniers, trailers, etc), and a little creativity can go a long way, as my
second link shows.

Also, in this day and age of bike racks on public transportation and multiple
carsharing providers in many major US cities, there is little excuse for
mooching rides off of car-owning friends, and I question the validity of your
claim that the carfree are ride moochers. I lived car-free in
Oakland/Emeryville for almost a year after my car was stolen twice and then
totaled for mold, and I was a happy user of both. It never occured to me to
mooch rides off of friends, because it wasn't necessary.

~~~
jellicle
Bicycles that have significant carrying capacity cost more than cars.

Emily Finch is all cool and shit, but that's about $3500 of bicycle that she's
pedaling.

Someday that'll probably change.

~~~
shard
It's arguably a better ride for her and her kids than $3500 for car +
insurance + maintenance + gas could buy her.

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enduser
My girlfriend runs a small (~30 employee) full-custom* folding bike
manufacturer in Oregon. Asia makes up almost half of their market--and the
number is growing, especially the Chinese segment.

* they start with steel and build custom-fit bikes to order

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jellicle
This story is the future of journalism.

Instead of being subjected to fake-news fad stories about rich people in the
U.S., now we'll be subjected to fake-news fad stories about rich people in
China.

Could probably track the prevalence of China-rich-fad vs. U.S.-rich-fad
stories as a good marker of the changeover in superpower status.

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m0nty
They don't mention that in many crowded cities (many of those in China I would
imagine) a bicycle is faster than a car.

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pelle
Oh so just like in San Francisco :-)

~~~
codegeek
I always thought that in the US as well, having a bike is cool. We even have
"bike to work" day once a year. Not sure if i will call that a status symbol
but definitely cool and hip.

~~~
slurgfest
When you can hardly get a new bike for $600 any more, and it's not considered
abnormal to spend well over $1000, I would say it is a bit of a status symbol

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bane
I don't really think that's true. Walmart for example has a very large
selection of bikes around the $150-200 price. Are they great bikes? Probably
not. Will they go when you pedal? Sure!

~~~
jff
They're generally pretty terrible bikes, put together by some guy who didn't
read the directions and doesn't care. They're so heavy and unpleasant to ride
that sure, you could buy one for $150, but you'll never want to ride it.
They're also full of false-comfort "features" like front shocks and heavily
padded seats which sap your pedaling power and actually make your butt more
sore, respectively.

~~~
snogglethorpe
No doubt they're less nice than more expensive bikes.

But in many cases, it _just doesn't matter very much_. If you only want to
bike a few miles on flat ground, bop around the neighborhood, don't care so
much about speed, etc., a low-cost bike should do fine.

American biking culture is traditionally the realm of the hard-core biker who
races, tours, or bike-commutes long distances, and who obsesses about his
gear, but there are many other sorts of bike cultures in the wider world (and
indeed, "other sorts" are probably the vast majority, numerically). In many
places, practicality and cost are much more important than optimal efficiency
at high speed.

With biking becoming more and more mainstream in the U.S., at least in urban
areas, American biking culture will probably shift towards a more casual
stance too...

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leeoniya
$16k seems a bit much for a leisure bike while $450 isnt. top-end custom
racing bikes can cost $16k+ though. i'm currently on a $2k Specialized
mountain bike, though i wouldn't classify what i do with it as 'leisurely
pedaling'...

~~~
justincormack
I think there is a big markup (and probably tax) in that $16k as it is an
imported hand built bike.

~~~
scottkuo
Just throwing some numbers around, but I remember years ago when a friend was
trying to become an import supplier of similar goods, he freaked out at the
VAT & import duty being something like 120% on European made products. I
suspect that this may still be the case with the price tag on these bikes.

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MMXII
I can't imagine wealthy bike owners actually riding them in the cities for
health reasons.

The air condition in the cities is extremely poor, and riding a bike would
probably do more harm than good to your body.

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mikle
This holds true for Israel too. A lot of people in Hi-Tech are avid mountain
bikers, including myself. It's one of those sports full with technology from
bike parts to training computers to heart monitors. Also a great money sink :)

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godisdad
%s/Chinese/Americans/g

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ck2
Didn't several of the political leaders recently become millionaires in china?

Ah, per ABC News "There are now at least 300 billionaires and almost 1 million
millionaires in China. "

I guess china is also getting it's 2% running the 98%

~~~
enduser
1,000,300 Chinese people would make up only 0.074% of the Chinese population.

