http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/23/tricycle-christiania-trikes-eco-transport
After the frustrations of the weekly commute, travel by bicycle at the weekend is a real tonic, be it bunny-hopping from bonnet to bonnet of trapped cars in a traffic jam with a cheeky wave; using your pump, specially lead-weighted for the purpose, to swipe at the passing wing-mirror of a car that has nearly forced you off the road - or the simple joy of negotiating a crowded pavement at high speed to avoid riding in traffic.
While happy to spend a reasonable amount modifying my bicycle (plastic bottle containing drink can be obtained for less than a quid in most supermarkets, so I suppose that having to stump up three quid for an empty plastic bottle has to be justified by the bike shop describing it as an ‘in-motion hydration system’), I do find that most trikes are ruinously expensive for what you get. How can the addition of an extra wheel result in adding an extra zero to the price tag?
There are obvious drawbacks to riding a trike. All of the usual hazards of the road are there (such as the idiot youth who has decided to finance the ‘mods’ to his Clio by selling off any sort of intelligence to the highest bidder in what I can only assume is some fort of ‘common-sense offset’ scheme*) but there are other hazards too, such as people diving out in front of you and attempting to buy an ice cream from you. Trikes are uncommon and there’s nothing like a trio of tyre-tracks across the startled face of a wailing toddler to bring trouble, and the rozzers, to your door.
The selling point of this trike is the ability, apparently, to take your children with you. Fantastic, this means that instead of the sullen little sods refusing to come out on a family bike-ride, they can sulk in comfort in the front basket, texting their friends and probably social services about this abuse.
How long, indeed, before those with ‘pimp-my-ride’ ambitions but a ‘pimp-my-bike’ budget latch onto this. When I were a laddo, the ultimate bike mod was a playing card through the spokes. This made a satisfying ‘brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr’ noise. With all that space in the front, might not some anti-social git decide it’s just big enough to fit in a sub-woofer that sets off earthquake warnings.
The bicycle is about freedom, not about being tied down – that’s why you are discouraged from attaching bikes to so many railings. More than one person on a bike? That’s what a tandem is for (that and for testing relationships to destruction, oh - ‘is she actually bloody peddling back there’ - you bitter, bitter thought). Or giving your mate a backie (which come to think of it sounds like a deviant practice). Two wheels are good, the world is your playground (well, the solid bits are). Three wheels and a kid in the front? Sounds like responsibility, not fun.
* This is an offshoot of the ‘rage offset’ scheme, already in use in many walks of life and especially in the media. Some issues cause far too much rage for one person to safely handle. So, the journalist writes an article about, say, foreign people and that rage is offset by literally dozens of people who read the Daily Mail.
While happy to spend a reasonable amount modifying my bicycle (plastic bottle containing drink can be obtained for less than a quid in most supermarkets, so I suppose that having to stump up three quid for an empty plastic bottle has to be justified by the bike shop describing it as an ‘in-motion hydration system’), I do find that most trikes are ruinously expensive for what you get. How can the addition of an extra wheel result in adding an extra zero to the price tag?
There are obvious drawbacks to riding a trike. All of the usual hazards of the road are there (such as the idiot youth who has decided to finance the ‘mods’ to his Clio by selling off any sort of intelligence to the highest bidder in what I can only assume is some fort of ‘common-sense offset’ scheme*) but there are other hazards too, such as people diving out in front of you and attempting to buy an ice cream from you. Trikes are uncommon and there’s nothing like a trio of tyre-tracks across the startled face of a wailing toddler to bring trouble, and the rozzers, to your door.
The selling point of this trike is the ability, apparently, to take your children with you. Fantastic, this means that instead of the sullen little sods refusing to come out on a family bike-ride, they can sulk in comfort in the front basket, texting their friends and probably social services about this abuse.
How long, indeed, before those with ‘pimp-my-ride’ ambitions but a ‘pimp-my-bike’ budget latch onto this. When I were a laddo, the ultimate bike mod was a playing card through the spokes. This made a satisfying ‘brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr’ noise. With all that space in the front, might not some anti-social git decide it’s just big enough to fit in a sub-woofer that sets off earthquake warnings.
The bicycle is about freedom, not about being tied down – that’s why you are discouraged from attaching bikes to so many railings. More than one person on a bike? That’s what a tandem is for (that and for testing relationships to destruction, oh - ‘is she actually bloody peddling back there’ - you bitter, bitter thought). Or giving your mate a backie (which come to think of it sounds like a deviant practice). Two wheels are good, the world is your playground (well, the solid bits are). Three wheels and a kid in the front? Sounds like responsibility, not fun.
* This is an offshoot of the ‘rage offset’ scheme, already in use in many walks of life and especially in the media. Some issues cause far too much rage for one person to safely handle. So, the journalist writes an article about, say, foreign people and that rage is offset by literally dozens of people who read the Daily Mail.
