On Jan 27, 5:50*pm, (Tom Keats) wrote:
In article ,
* * * * " writes:

It really is very useful to be able to ride the bicycle in the same
clothes you will wear to the office, or church, or a restaurant. But
that concept is unknown in America, where cycling is hard and dirty
and lacks the common graces, if our friends here on RBT are
representative witnesses.

We should remember: much of the population of North America
is somewhat rarified and distributed across vast tracts of
real estate. *What is viable for city dwellers may not be so
viable for far-flung folks in the boondocks or penboondocks.
In a way I share those people's frustration, as I live in
a city (Vancouver, BC) but my place of work is way out beyond
the borders of urban civilisation (in the wholesaler/warehouse
netherworld of United Blvd in Coquitlam, BC.) *So I resort to
public transit, which itself inflicts a 1.25 hour one-way commute
onto my daily routine.

I commute in cycling clothes. *Sweating in the clothes I will wear all
day at work is not for me. *The idea of puttering along at such a
pathetic slow speed you would not sweat at all would be torture. *No
joy at all in riding a bike like that. *Might as well drive the car.

I regularly and sweatlessly pass all nearby runners & joggers
while towing a trailerful of wet laundry on my return home from
the laundromat. *If I can pass /them/, I don't consider myself
to be "puttering along." *If the bicycle makes me faster than
I'd be by walking or running, it's doing its job.

Anyway, it seems to me Andre is talking about bikes more
purpose-built for intra-urban uses than for commuting. *

Reread what you aid above about distances, Tom. To a European,
commuting and what you call "intra-urban" use is the same thing. For
an American it has overtones of coming by train from Connecticut to
work in Manhattan. It is no surprise that Lou and I and the other
Europeans feel the Americans (and the Canadians too) are talking about
something entirely different when we talk about city bikes: by that we
do mean a commuter's bike, a shopping bike, even a holiday bike, all
in one; a commuter for us is a utility bike, not a long-range tourer.
The Dutch in recent years invented something called a stads-sportief
or town and country bike, which is a city bike as above with slightly
more sporting geometry for faster handling and also the ability to
take a tour with panniers, possibly even a loaded tour because in fact
the wheelbases are not all that short. Such a bike, of which I have
two in ali, would make good allweather commuters even under adverse
conditions (Chicago is an example we've discussed here) and up to much
greater distances than most Europeans actually do ride to work. (I was
surprised to hear how far Lou travels to work.)

My newest bike, the Utopia Kranich, appears to lean the other way. It
is a utility/commuter/world tourer with proven 170kg load capacity and
a very long wheelbase to preserve the rider's comfort for many hours
on the road day after day, load distribution, and so on. It makes a
weight saving (over the ali Dutch bikes) by clever use of steel and
throwing money at various areas of the bike (a SON hub dynamo at three
times the price of Shimano one, to save a few grammes, as an example
of a consistent programme ruthlessly applied -- these people tell you
what your paint choice will weigh!) and by leaving off some of the
luxuries of the Dutch bikes (coat protectors, a frame lock). The
longer wheelbase does make it slightly less nippy in traffic (and the
Rohloff gearbox is no slick jewel of a close-ratio roadburner from a
low speed either) but it is time anyway to adapt my riding style to
the dignity of a greybeard.

And
it's ridiculous to get all kitted-out for a 3 or 5 klik run
in the pouring rain to the supermarket or laundromat or
Dairy Queen. *Heck, that's not even worth changing shoes for.

Yeah, I work in my studio or study at home but when I want to go for a
ride, or am sent to buy milk, I just want to put on my shoes (I go
barefoot or wear pseudo-clogs or sandals most of the time) and go in
whatever I'm standing up in.

For a city dweller with destinations within the city, it
just feels so free to be able to just hop on and go.
(Maybe after donning a rain cape & spats.)

Thanks for reminding me that I have a rain cape. Spats be damned;
while the weather is still cold enough to wear longjohns, my trousers
can get splashed for an hour or two without my knees becoming cold.

cheers,
* * * * Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Off to ride!

Andre Jute
http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/Andre%20Jute's%20Utopia%20Kranich.pdf