Streetsblog tends to be in a perpetual state of intoxication as a result of the fumes of its personal smugness, however every now and then they sober up do a extremely good story, and right here’s certainly one of them:
A number of years in the past, motor scooters (or what Streetsblog and others name “mopeds” despite the fact that they actually aren’t) rapidly supplanted bicycles because the small-scale supply car of alternative in New York Metropolis. I figured some enterprising individual had seen a chance and found out a strategy to cheaply import crappy motor scooters to promote to supply employees, however I by no means really regarded into it or something as a result of, you understand, I’m lazy and I’m not a journalist. However fortuitously Streetsblog has completed the legwork and right here’s the story behind Fly E-Bike, that model you typically see on the contraption that just about ran you over:
Once you examine stuff like micromobility and app-based supply and road design and all the remainder of it, the discourse surrounding it’s typically slightly high-minded and idealistic, however the actuality is far totally different:
[I don’t think that’s how aviation is supposed to work, but the name certainly fits.]
And whereas the smuggies are invoking Jan Gehl and Peter Norton or whoever, this man’s modeling himself on Jordan Belfort:
And it’s fairly spectacular, too, apart from the folks he’s burned–like, actually burned:
Alas, it’s a narrative as previous as the town itself:
It’s nearly as if all of the progressive pantomiming received’t change the truth that New York Metropolis is about one factor and one factor solely, and that’s creating wealth:
Most significantly, this text an excellent instance of how the very best (and presumably solely) strategy to make actual cash from bicycles is by changing these bicycles with one thing else solely.
In fact, these of us who don’t depend upon making deliveries with a view to feed ourselves can afford to make extra rarefied selections with regards to two-wheeled transportation:
The weekend began out heat and moist, and the be-fendered Homer noticed me by way of the sunshine rain and melting snow:
Then on Sunday the temperature plummeted, and so I regarded to the Roadini:
Sorry, I meant Roaduno!
Do I want a Homer, and a Roaduno, and a Roadini? No. However by that logic I additionally don’t want Beethoven and Brahms once I can simply take heed to Mozart, or Fortunate Charms and Cap’n Crunch once I have already got a field of Froot Loops:
Anyway, everyone wants a devoted three-speed one-speed road-and-frozen-trail bike, clearly:
In fact all these bikes are equally comfy–not due to the elements, or the match, or the geometry, or something like that. No, they’re comfy due to the sq. taper cranks. Sure, in keeping with the Desert Hipster web site, “crank flex results in all-day using consolation:”
Now I’ve heard all the pieces.
