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Can't afford gas? Try a 'commuter bike'
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TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: There's some evidence commuting to work by bicycle is on the rise. A survey out from the advocacy group Bikes Belong says sales of what're called commuter bikes, those are bikes designed for short city trips, [is up]. There's some good reasons. Maybe it's a desire to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. Or maybe it's gas still at $3.75 a gallon, although you can drop a pretty penny on consumer bikes if you want to. Marketplace's Sean Cole got to ride one for nuthin'.
Sean Cole: Wow, I am once again in the saddle.
I hadn't ridden in years. But I had to try one of Mike Flanigan's bikes. Mike runs a one-man factory in Holliston, Mass., called Alternative Needs Transport, or ANT. Each bike takes him maybe a week to build. His waiting list is a year long.
Cole: My god, I really haven't ridden in so long this feels really
strange.
Mike Flanigan: Well, they say you can never forget.
I'd actually never heard of a commuter bike. It just means a bike with fenders and a chain guard, upright handle bars, maybe a basket, definitely lights and a bell. [bell rings] In this case a special bell from Japan. You have to be up close to see how well made Mike's bikes are, and you might never
guess the price. His base model runs $2900.
Flanigan: And actually mine is on the low end of the high end market.
Cole Really?
Flanigan: Oh yeah. People can spend upwards of $10,000 dollars for a bike.
Or as little as $400 to $1,000 for a factory-made commuter bike. But since Mike's bikes are handmade in America, they're gonna be pricier. Plus, he fits each one to the customer's height. He's been doing this for six years, long before there was so much interest in commuter bikes. He says it used to be that the big manufacturers would only dip their toe into the market now and then.
Flanigan: Like Specialized tried that in the early '90s, I think it was. They had a bike called the Globe. Very nice bike. Reasonable priced. Completely failed in the market. Gas was still cheap. Bicycles were still toys. It just, the market wasn't ready for it.
But last fall, he says, at an annual trade show called Interbike, a lot of the big brands were finally hawking bicycles built for commuting.
Richard Fries: It's not a matter of do they have it in their fleet, you know, it's sort of where they position it in their booth.
Richard Fries is development director for Bikes Belong, which did the survey we mentioned earlier. I caught him on his daily 15 mile ride to work. Like daily, daily.
Fries: Like January, I'm the guy out here.
Lots of Lycra, too. He owns a ton of bikes. He says for him it's like buying shoes. And right now he covets the Manolo Blahnik of bicycles, which is actually called a Bianchi Milano. But all that a lot of people really need to get around he says...
Fries: ...is the bike that Curious George had. You know what I mean? Fenders, chain guard, a little rack to strap your books onto. Does wheelies. Gets around town.
Cole: That's a commuter bike.
Fries: That's a commuter bike. Curious George had it dialed.
But when you really get into something -- anything, bikes, wine -- you develop a taste for the primo stuff, like a Mike Flanigan bike.
Susan Brady: Has an internal hub in the back, so that keeps the mud and stuff out of all the gears, like all the gears are inside that thing.
Susan Brady got one last fall and rides it almost an hour to her job in Cambridge, Mass., almost every day. She has another bike, which is cheaper and older, but this one's like kind of like a wedding ring. She says it symbolizes her commitment to cycling.
Brady: I mean, the cool thing about bikes is you can spend a little or spend a lot, and they're all gonna pretty much do the same thing.
Cole: That's what I'm wondering, why you would spend a lot.
Brady: Cause I thought I'm never gonna be able to buy a house, so I might as well buy a nice bike.
A nice bike with a really hard seat, I found out.
Flanigan: Well, the leather seats are hard when they're brand new, so you do have to break em in.
Cole: Uh huh. I also feel like my butt is a little hard.
Flanigan: Yeah, I think that's the biggest part of breakin' in a saddle is actually breakin' in your butt.
And seeing as my commute is like 10 feet from my bedroom to my office, that's not likely to happen any time soon.
In Boston, I'm Sean Cole for Marketplace.
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So how does that help us who live in the South and have been hit with heavy snow and ice, and where the roads aren't cleared for safe cycling? In our area, there is no "road salt". There are no snow plows. Yet it seems that the lower the wage, the more likely a person is going to be required to go in to work, no matter what-- unless you work where I do where we've been shut down for a week. That means no pay, and no money for gas or food. Please tell me how a bicycle will help me right now?
As its been said before, everybody has a thing or two they don't mind putting money into. Stereos, Ipods, cameras, Blingy rims for the hoopty, booze, smokes. (none of which make you healthy)
Bikes get you to and from and make you healthier in the process.
Yeah Mike and ANT!
I want one of his cool bikes...even if I have to sell the super mondo bass speakers out of the lowrider civic....
I own 3 of Mike's bikes, and ALL of them were custom made to fit me. I don't make a ton of money, due to the fact that I'm a bicycle mechanic, but I DO appreciate a custom fit, and beautiful craftsmanship.
Yes, it's a matter of perspective for sure, since one of the bikes is worth about 3200.00, and I drive a 1000.00 truck. But the truck only gets used to do things that the bike can't, like move fridges and the like.
Here in Ft. Worth, the bike is still viewed as either a have too option for the homeless/immigrant/dui person, or a toy for the wealthy. Myself and others have been trying to change that perception for years, and have finally started making a little headway. The bottom line is, cars will kill us all a lot faster than bikes will.
RIDE A BIKE!
While it is great to hear Mike Flanigan getting some recognition, I found Stuart Klipper's questions somewhat uninformative and his attitude kind of nasty. (NPR should have sent a cyclist to meet Mike!)
There is a dynamic commuter & recreational cycling movement underway here in the U.S.. ANT Bikes are part of that movement, as are Rivendell, Vanilla, and numerous others. Most of these small companies pride themselves on offering bikes hand-crafted in the U.S., which is in contrast to the large bike companies that sell "affordable" bikes built primarily in developing nations (often from sub-par materials), bikes that are part of our throw-away society--if your $300 bike breaks then you get another...and another...
I understand that we all cannot afford a custom built bike, but don't knock people like Mike who are trying to make an honest living doing something they love, which not only contributes to the American economy, but also contributes to making environmentally sound transportation choices.
Obviously you're not going to start off buying a $3,000. I started commuting with a cheap used mountain bike, rode it for a while until I got a better feeling for what I wanted and needed in a bike, then upgraded to a new commuter bike from a larger manufacturer in the $300-700 range (Bianchi Milano) and in a few years I'll get over my penny pinching and buy a custom commuter bike from someone like Mike or a family/cargo bike like this http://clevercycles.com/store/?c=web2.68.
Like others I'm sorry that Marketplace (a show I love) sent someone who never rides to do this piece, but I'm also surprised at myself that I'm willing to spend $10-20K on a car that I rarely use but haven't yet been willing to put out $2+K for a bike that I'll ride every day. As I said above, the shift will come eventually.
I've seen too many articles about bike commuting with someone who hasn't ridden in years trying to bike every day for a week on a bike they're not familiar with and being amazed that it doesn't go well. Start gradually, get advice from other commuters, and you'll get in better shape and more comfortable/savvy riding in traffic.
Simon Firth was too modest to tell you he built the bike that he commutes on. Ride what you like, ride what you can afford, support your LBS, support your bespoke builder, support your local thrift shop. Just ride.
This 'Mike's bikes are too expensive' argument goes nowhere. Everybody, unless you are some sort of monk, has a hobby/habit/sweet tooth or what-have-you that someone else can point to and say 'you can get one cheaper, I'd never spend that kind of coin.'
Also, not using this opportunity to pimp my blog.
I think it is great that these quality bikes are being built, but if you ask around you will find that a lot of people have old bicycles sitting in their basements that they are not using. They are more than happy to let you reintroduce these bicycles back into the wild. I keep one for my ride to the station, one at work, and one as a spare. The locks & lights cost me more than the bikes themselves. Also I don't worry too much about them getting stolen.
Interesting story. What most people think is a "nice" bicycle is something that costs somewhere between $250 and $500. Our definition of a "nice" bicycle starts at $1000 and goes up from there. My husband and I own a store in St. Paul where we give away bicycles that we get from area recycling centers. People drop them off, we pick them up, fix them up, and give them away. A lot of our "customers" are homeless men who need the bicycle to get to job interviews because they can't afford the bus. They can't afford to buy even a cheap thrift store bicycle, so we give them one. We have heard from some of the social workers who assist these men that when one gets a bicycle, he gets a job, then gets an apartment, and gets off the street. Our work changes lives, one bicycle at a time. The need is great - we have 240 people on our waiting list. Bus fare is going to go up again - what will the poor do? Many turn to us to get bicycles. Bicycle commuting is on the rise among those who find it to be the most affordable option.
I bought my high quality long distance bike in 1984 at an equivalent of $2500 present-day dollars, which puts it in the "expensive" category. I have now clocked more than 30,000 miles on it, and the bike will probably outlast me. We have to get away from the idea that everything has to be as cheap as possible. You get what you pay for.
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