tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post1023997796849304424..comments2024-03-18T08:41:35.438-04:00Comments on Lovely Bicycle!: My Bike is Not a Vacuum Cleaner! (or, a Little Romance Goes a Long Way)Velouriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-62674610155002015482014-04-09T03:30:47.048-04:002014-04-09T03:30:47.048-04:00I think your missing the fundamental point that MC...I think your missing the fundamental point that MCA is making, that for the masses to use bikes daily, they need to have the functionality that enables easy, instant, comfortable use. Alluding to their construction as much as anything. He doesn't dismiss the love affair that many have with their bicycles but rather shines a light on the fact that it is the cold function of a bicycle that firstly influences a decision, with perhaps the "love affair" being a secondary factor. It is indeed the function that will enable the 1st world to fall 'in love' with the Bicycle again, mixed with a little sexy i'm sure. (MCA can put me right if i'm wrong). The analogy is fine if it works for you, but many people do find bicycles an object that represents a chore...but it is or will become the easiest way to move locally, hence the analogy, people will need function, will want function, and that an area of bicycle marketing and design that in the USA and UK for sure, is being neglected. <br />Rob (Really UsefulBikes.co.uk)https://www.blogger.com/profile/06433336979916444013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-15119894224605253022013-09-26T08:26:37.389-04:002013-09-26T08:26:37.389-04:00Ooh I love this blog post so much, and completely ...Ooh I love this blog post so much, and completely agree. I don't need someone telling me I shouldn't be thinking about my bike all the time. Fact is, I do, and I don' have a problem with that!hazymathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16741792919308534613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-22848255795196410352013-09-03T22:55:52.519-04:002013-09-03T22:55:52.519-04:00Performance is much more important that a thin ven...Performance is much more important that a thin veneer of romance. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-71105424234634117552013-08-18T00:31:15.106-04:002013-08-18T00:31:15.106-04:00No. Don't know that name at all.No. Don't know that name at all. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-68185656623829135832013-06-12T23:06:10.741-04:002013-06-12T23:06:10.741-04:00Have you been reading Baudrillard?Have you been reading Baudrillard?CollegiateKinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03519093095209593639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-48337978622072291692012-10-24T15:35:20.997-04:002012-10-24T15:35:20.997-04:00In the US, we are a small tribe. Cyclists in most...In the US, we are a small tribe. Cyclists in most American cities are, if riding for utility, traveling longer distances through a much more hostile environment than Dutch or Danish riders are. Like fighter pilots who nickname their planes, we develop an emotional attachment to our traveling machines. A friend of mine once compared working in the bike industry to "an alternative gig, like being a musician." She could not have been more right. And, like a musician's instrument, an American cyclist's bike is more than an appliance, it's something that sees you through your best and your worst times--like the guitar of country musician Dave Alvin with which he's both written his best songs and had the finish chipped by beer bottles thrown at him by hostile audience members.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-12897072755432088642012-07-05T13:25:30.017-04:002012-07-05T13:25:30.017-04:00I agree. There is a weird mass missing of the poin...I agree. There is a weird mass missing of the point here. I think something like 1% of Americans ride bicycles. If it were a common everyday activity for the majority as it is in Denmark and the Netherlands, cycle enthusiasts would still be the same tiny minority they are today.Green Beetlenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-26904467490470416752012-06-21T06:41:09.441-04:002012-06-21T06:41:09.441-04:00I pootle about in Cambridge on my very dignified P...I pootle about in Cambridge on my very dignified Pashley Princess-Sovereign, or in London on my cute-as-a-button, flamingo-pink Brompton. And I for those pleasures, I have great affection for my bikes. I get the utility out of them, sure, but there is more to it than that. I get where I want to go, very efficiently, and with a richer experience than if I used a car, a but, a train or the tube.Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07999376486037922369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-13798998502092652342012-05-11T18:03:31.790-04:002012-05-11T18:03:31.790-04:00not to be too sensitive, new-age, but cycling is a...not to be too sensitive, new-age, but cycling is a lot like meditation, there's rhythm, a mantra of activity, a refocussing of attention and then, suddenly, a kind of eerie just being-in-the-world, which i greatly like. part of this is the way the bicycle as an object becomes a bit of a medium, to me (and, no, I haven't smoked anything), and very personal, and not all bicycles achieve this. so, it's definitely not a vacuum cleaner, if it were we'd all be on electric powabykes, for all their efficiency.derfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15596980838764306792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-78278837998356748272011-12-28T07:15:15.729-05:002011-12-28T07:15:15.729-05:00Here in Colombia, is very common to call bikes &qu...Here in Colombia, is very common to call bikes "caballitos de acero", in english it would be something as "steal horses". My bike is not a vacuum cleaner for me neither. I named her. Is a girl. And she is called Floripondia.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16811057621450181126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-71140967306837329012011-08-13T16:28:35.067-04:002011-08-13T16:28:35.067-04:00I know these comments are getting old, but I just ...I know these comments are getting old, but I just wanted to follow up on the horse analogy. When I was a bike messenger in WADC, we routinely referred to our bikes as horses. Of course our "careers" came with a certain Pony-Express kind of cache, but that's beside the point. When you spend that much time on your bike, and it provides your living and you maintain it in turn, it begins to take on that sort of significance for you. When something breaks you are sad. When things just aren't working right, you get mad at it and curse it like it's some kind of semi-sentient thing. In the end it becomes your friend and companion and you go everywhere together until some jerk pulls a u-turn in front of you and kills it :(. <br /><br />Obviously, not everyone ends up having this kind of relationship with their bike. And that's okay. But for some of us, it works out that way. <br /><br />I still have my messenger bike (a 1992 Bridgestone MB2 frame set up for street use) and recently have begun riding regularly again. My old friend has been waiting for me all this time and seems happy to have me back. But I also worry that he's more worn out than he seems and one day soon he'll falter. That will be a sad day. Meanwhile, we have fun together driving up the hill and flying down the back side. Hopefully that will last for a long while.Andrew Sackville-Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01000548530750598012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-37371299316895029632011-06-10T11:19:53.672-04:002011-06-10T11:19:53.672-04:00I use a cane to get around. I have a rack full of...I use a cane to get around. I have a rack full of canes, standing in my living room. I do not name my canes, not do I dream about them. I do however spend some time improving them from an incomplete and imperfect means of getting about to a more improved means of getting about. (Most canes do not come with a requirement of mine, a cane retention strap, so you can drop the cane, freeing up your hand to open a door, or to shake hands, or many of the other uses for hands. Do I fetishize a cane. No, don't think so. <br /><br />I don't wave at the small group of people that also use one, don't honk at them as they pass. I don't put cute flowers on them either. A CANE is a convenience, not an absolute necessity, (though I NEVER leave the house without one). Yes, I can get around without one, no, I have not developed a cane culture. (Who, ME?)<br /><br />So I find Mr Colville-Anderson spot on, and I agree with him.<br /><br />Now Vacuum Cleaners, THERES a machine...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-78476220601117539472011-06-06T18:37:58.512-04:002011-06-06T18:37:58.512-04:00My favorite objects, the irreplaceable ones I woul...My favorite objects, the irreplaceable ones I would rescue from a fire after securing my family, my 40 year old Rosignol Strato skis, my string bass, my 35 year-old steel bike. With my skis I learned how to make things go right in fall-you-die slopes, that I could be right though death would be my punishment for failure. With my bass I learned patience, gradient accomplishment, perseverance and communicating an aesthetic. I dated my wife on my bike in a time when courtship *standards* demanded a car. <br />In each of these, the object was my partner in a major life lesson.<br />Is it possible to gain a life lesson with a vacuum cleaner? What a great assignment for a creative writing class!Phil Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06588332937109449568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-42089950015497239352011-06-04T11:08:36.426-04:002011-06-04T11:08:36.426-04:00I agree with the comments made earlier about Ameri...I agree with the comments made earlier about Americans attachment to their vehicles, be it horse, car, motorcycle or bicycle. But I also realize that, while I pamper my bikes and my beloved little car, there are other who see a car as a utilitarian device to get form point A to point B with as little inconvenience as possible, just like many Dutch cyclists. <br /><br />I value my own attachment to my vehicles as it connects me directly to it and fills me with an urge to protect and care for them -- be it car, scooter or bike. I am less likely to act recklessly or let them fall into disrepair. In our consumerist economy, I think that is a very good thing.Anahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14035565677611992715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-44449664936828759002011-04-13T15:28:53.028-04:002011-04-13T15:28:53.028-04:00I almost would trade one of my bikes for an Electr...I almost would trade one of my bikes for an Electrolux.Loishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781359668142633379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-14231665307644873632011-03-31T18:14:04.292-04:002011-03-31T18:14:04.292-04:00Being passionate about bicycles may disqualify me ...Being passionate about bicycles may disqualify me from agreeing with copenhagenize.com, but I concur with several other commentators. Coleville-Anderson is talking about getting beyond the image of the "lycra-and-helmet" crowd that glorifies the sport nature of cycling. No machine is devoid of personality or at least intrinsic value, even vacuum cleaners. However, the less we deify them, the more likely they are to be seen as ordinary and essential.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-18982760949195991542011-03-28T03:47:03.740-04:002011-03-28T03:47:03.740-04:00If it was "a vacuum cleaner" approach in...If it was "a vacuum cleaner" approach in Dennmark, what about Jorn Utzon, Arne Jacobsen, Paul Henningsen ...<br /><br /><br />Petar Breskovic<br />Split<br />CroatiaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-48342152517555612772011-01-13T06:56:40.443-05:002011-01-13T06:56:40.443-05:00I don´t for a secont belive in the way my fellow S...I don´t for a secont belive in the way my fellow Scandinavians down in DK purportely feels about bikes. I belive they love their bikes in a very relaxed way, like they do most things in DK!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-75843414599653061622010-09-19T04:21:19.317-04:002010-09-19T04:21:19.317-04:00Sorry, I have to agree with Mr. Copenhagen.
The v...Sorry, I have to agree with Mr. Copenhagen.<br /><br />The view that you hold is quite western and probably not shared by most of the world's bike riders.<br /><br />Living here in China, where millions of people are bike riders out of necessity, I can guarantee that none of them have the emotions associated with bikes that you mentioned.<br /><br />A bike is for getting from point A to Point B and as soon as the can afford something that will perform that task better, be it an e-bike, trike, motorcycle or car...the bike will be gone.<br /><br />Interestingly, the same bikes that they are so blaise about are the same ones you and I blog about.<br /><br />-JS<br /><br />http://www.flyingpigeonproject.orgThe Flying Pigeon Projecthttp://www.flyingpigeonproject.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-69013109511715786962010-09-08T17:17:20.196-04:002010-09-08T17:17:20.196-04:00Velouria, I appreciate your sentiment, and I certa...Velouria, I appreciate your sentiment, and I certainly like my bikes more than i like vacuum cleaners, but I also think you know that Mikael is using rhetoric to make a point. Perhaps an analogy that would be easier for most Americans to understand is to compare a bicycle to a car. Most Americans own a car or two, and drive them regularly, and most Americans don't think a lot about cars, or how they learned to drive them, or their "romantic relationship" with their cars. Certainly there are exceptions. I'm loath to align myself with the guy with greasy knuckles, out there hot-rodding his Camaro in the driveway surrounded by metal parts, but if you saw me trying to change the tire on my Christiana (up on blocks, no less) the similarities would be hard to ignore.<br /><br />I like liking my bikes, but I'd trade all that for a national culture of cycling that made it as everyday as driving, and dull as paste. This isn't about being cool or being bummed out when the masses catch on. This is about making our cities better places to live, for people of all ages. Let bicycles be boring -- our lives will still be full and rich. And you can still fetishize as many bikes as you want. (And you'll still be unusual in this society, just in the opposite direction. Weird, huh!) <br /><br />best<br /><br />Patrickpatrick barberhttp://velocouture.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-43137341142176829962010-07-09T14:53:42.750-04:002010-07-09T14:53:42.750-04:00I haven't read all the responses, so this may ...I haven't read all the responses, so this may be duplicative of someone else's observations, but I must say I find Mr. Colville-Andersen's sentiments misguided on yet another level: Even a fine vacuum can inspire love. I know a handful women who hug their Dysons.<br />Love, love, love your blog BTW!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-31130293935809396602010-06-25T20:24:37.734-04:002010-06-25T20:24:37.734-04:00MDI - That's very nicely said : )
I also agre...MDI - That's very nicely said : )<br /><br />I also agree with the basic *spirit* of Mikael's piece, which is that when the bicycle is normalised it no longer seems like anything extraordinary. I just think he goes too far in the vac comparison. Automobiles are also normalised and *overall* don't seem like anything extraordinary. Yet there are still automobile collectors, enthusiasts, racers, etc. It basically all ties in to what MDI above, and others, have said.Velouriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00359329171411037482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-7080794244011627422010-06-23T18:21:02.562-04:002010-06-23T18:21:02.562-04:00Mr. Colville-Andersen has had the benefit of livin...Mr. Colville-Andersen has had the benefit of living in a city with a historically established bicycle culture.<br /><br />Good for him, he's very lucky to live where he does. <br /><br />How this makes him an expert on developing bicycle cultures in other cities, especially in cities where the automobile has been the dominate form of transportation for the last 50yrs, is beyond me. He has no on-the-job training.<br /><br />In the U.S. we need every possible 'bicycle enthusiast' regardless if they're riding carbon fiber or vintage steel to work together. If our enthusiasm for what we ride or our fellow riders doesn't agree with Mr. C.A, maybe he doesn't know how important enthusiasm is for any social movement.<br /><br />Great blog by the way! Please keep postingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-89257966342731277642010-06-23T10:16:57.553-04:002010-06-23T10:16:57.553-04:00Is it really fair to compare the deeply emotional ...Is it really fair to compare the deeply emotional responses to sea ships, star ships, air ships, cars, bicycles, even trains, time machines, well, vehicles, with anything else? There will always be a special romantic place in our hearts for things that move us forward. Always.MDIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10810401918223629618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6467858377106451384.post-10903852776299820522010-06-22T23:33:20.303-04:002010-06-22T23:33:20.303-04:00Well said! I love my bikes and feel nothing for m...Well said! I love my bikes and feel nothing for my vacuum cleaner. It's true that people like you and me are bike-geekier than most, but there has to be some romanticism in bikes for most people who ride. The simple act of pedaling a bike and feeling the wind conjures happy feelings. Pushing a vacuum cleaner just makes me tired and grumpy.Dottiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03984050970208363927noreply@blogger.com