Bicycle inflation? 20 August 2009
The NY Times—as part of their longtime fixation on Portland—has an article arguing that the price of bicycles is inflated in Portland. There definitely aren’t easy deals there, but having now seen the $200 junk bikes that are for sale on the street in Williamsburg I think they are exaggerating. I’m pretty sure that a if they got a ZipCar and drove out to Beaverton they’d find all kinds of deals on jenky bikes.
But here’s some of my thoughts (which you can also find on page five or so of the comments):
- Bikes in Phoenix and Austin are going to last a lot longer due to the difference in climate. Seattle and Portland get much more rain that’ll rust bikes locked up outside.
- Having bought a bike from Costco back in the day I can tell you that it’s either un-assembled or incorrectly assembled, and probably unsafe. Knowing that I’d send my friends to a bike shop.
- You’re shopping in the summer. the worst time to buy a bike in portland is when the weather’s nice. Wait until the week after the rain starts back up and you’ll find a lot more deals—you’ll also have a lot easier time finding places to lock your bike