Heels on Wheels: Irish Times

tomasrojo

Has anyone posted this already?

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/magazine/2009/0905/1224253514383.html

I thought it was interesting as part of a general, fledgling trend of portraying cycling as a "normal" activity in the Irish media.

Obviously quite influenced by Copenhagen Cycle Chic (which has now linked to it).

DeepBlue

Yumm!!! What a gorgeous.......er........bike........:pac:

Caroline_ie

I said it before on a different forum .... i say it again here ... this saddle is too high for her.

Morgan

DeepBlue wrote: »

Yumm!!! What a gorgeous.......er........bike........:pac:

Too big and too clean. But yeah

cheerspal

and not one helmet in sight!

tomasrojo

Very stylish. Even down to the sneakers.

tomasrojo

Caroline_ie wrote: »

I said it before on a different forum .... i say it again here ... this saddle is too high for her.

Wow, you're right. The saddle is way too high. That's quite rare; too low is the more usual error.

Raam

cheerspal wrote: »

and not one helmet in sight!

helmets are never chic!

DeepBlue

Anyone recognise what make bike this is? It looks comfy.

petethedrummer

cheerspal wrote: »

and not one helmet in sight!

This is disgraceful of the Irish times, encouraging people to break the law AND engage in life threatening behaviour.

Lumen

Caroline_ie wrote: »

I said it before on a different forum .... i say it again here ... this saddle is too high for her.

Quite possibly, but it's difficult to tell how her pelvis is oriented - she is wearing far too many clothes for me to make a definitive assessment.

Morgan

petethedrummer wrote: »

This is disgraceful of the Irish times, encouraging people to break the law AND engage in life threatening behaviour.

It is indeed an outrage - someone should pen a sternly worded letter.

tomasrojo

Morgan wrote: »

It is indeed an outrage - someone should pen a sternly worded letter.

I'm sure the Peter Bradley Foundation will be on the case shortly.

Lumen

DeepBlue wrote: »

Anyone recognise what make bike this is? It looks comfy heavy.

Looks a bit like a Huffy Cranbrook.

07Lapierre

DeepBlue wrote: »

Yumm!!! What a gorgeous.......er........bike........:pac:

+1 .. Iread this article €1400 that bike cost!..even has WOODEN Handlebars???

DirkVoodoo

How come I never see girls like her riding bikes? It's always middle aged chaps like in the ass-crack thread.

Caroline_ie

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

How come I never see girls like her riding bikes? It's always middle aged chaps like in the ass-crack thread.

feck off dirk

Raam

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

How come I never see girls like her riding bikes? It's always middle aged chaps like in the ass-crack thread.

I may show my ass, but I am NOT middle aged.

DirkVoodoo

Caroline_ie wrote: »

feck off dirk

Chaps, not chicks! You are exempt, far too euro!

Lumen

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Chaps, not chicks! You are exempt, far too euro!

Here you go.

CheGuedara

07Lapierre wrote: »

+1 .. Iread this article €1400 that bike cost!..even has WOODEN Handlebars???

and she can't even track stand it for the photo. Noob.

Spec of the bike is nice enough, not sure I'd go for wooden bars if I was getting hit by taxis that often though

DeepBlue

Lumen wrote: »

Looks a bit like a Huffy Cranbrook.

Thanks. It also looks* pretty nimble and somewhat sturdy and ideal for bunny hopping up on kerbs and the like.



* Of course looks can be deceiving.

petethedrummer

Morgan wrote: »

It is indeed an outrage - someone should pen a sternly worded letter.

In fact some of them are smiling, I think this shows a lack of awareness and appreciation of just how dangerous cycling is.

tomasrojo

petethedrummer wrote: »

In fact some of them are smiling, I think this shows a lack of awareness and appreciation of just how dangerous cycling is.

The article is also missing the standard headline of "On Yer Bike!".

Lumen

DeepBlue wrote: »

Thanks. It also looks* pretty nimble and somewhat sturdy and ideal for bunny hopping up on kerbs and the like.

Yes, if you fancy bunny hopping 20kg of bike.

Diarmuid

I love fixies ... Mine cost €1,400 ... The only downside is the frequent near death experiences ... And God, no, I never wear cycling gear.

:rolleyes:

Caroline_ie

Pffff especes de poseurs ( poseuses) ... wait should be pauseur ...

lukester

I usually wear something casual and funky

Said with zero irony. Oy vey.

Captain Havoc

I'm wondering would anyone create someting like this thread about her?

flickerx

tomasrojo wrote: »

The article is also missing the standard headline of "On Yer Bike!".

Wait for the deluge the week after next when the bike rental scheme kicks off.

flickerx

I love fixies ... Mine cost €1,400 ... The only downside is the frequent near death experiences ... And God, no, I never wear cycling gear.

Hmm. Part of me gets slightly irritated by the current bling trends in fixieland. I get sucked into it as well (was seriously considering buying a blue nitto stem for 80 stg, just to match the colour scheme on my conversion), but I've got three fixies that cost just over €1400 in total rather than for just one, and all of them are good bikes. You can build a decent conversion these days, with good light new parts for around the 400 mark, maybe even less. Thats how much my own first self-build cost (excluding initial mistakes when I bought the wrong components... doh). It doesnt have to be all about high end stuff.

Raam

flickerx wrote: »

Hmm. Part of me gets slightly irritated by the current bling trends in fixieland. I get sucked into it as well (was seriously considering buying a blue nitto stem for 80 stg, just to match the colour scheme on my conversion), but I've got three fixies that cost just over €1400 in total rather than for just one, and all of them are good bikes. You can build a decent conversion these days, with good light new parts for around the 400 mark, maybe even less. Thats how much my own first self-build cost (excluding initial mistakes when I bought the wrong components... doh). It doesnt have to be all about high end stuff.

Sounds like you're jealous. What with you threatening to join a boards spin, I predict, this time next year we will have you talking about buying a carbon fibre road bike and wearing orange lycra while waxing lyrical about the pros and cons of red Look cleats versus grey ones.

flickerx

Raam wrote: »

Sounds like you're jealous.

Hush you, with your truth.

Doctor Bob

flickerx wrote: »

colour scheme

Don't you mean 'colourway'?

Interesting to note that the fixie ('as these fixed-gear bikes are called') lady claims that they 'are really suitable for city cycling' - the reason, apparently, is because you can't coast - and yet she's the only one to have had two incidents with taxis and 'frequent near death experiences'.

'Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.' (Thoreau)

(Not hating on fixies here, but let's call a spade a spade, eh?)

Húrin

I didn't like the article that much. It appeared that cycling is only for hipsters or young Dublin middle-class professionals in the creative industries (there's a lot of overlap there). They claim that Chris Judge advised to wear a helmet - even though he lacks one in the photo.

They also recorded one of them mentioning how she had been hit by taxis.
True perhaps, but that one line undoes all the good of the article by portraying cycling as dangerous. I've been cycling in Dublin all my life and have not been hit once by a car.

Harrybelafonte

I like her bag

ednwireland

flickerx wrote: »

Hmm. Part of me gets slightly irritated by the current bling trends in fixieland. I get sucked into it as well (was seriously considering buying a blue nitto stem for 80 stg, just to match the colour scheme on my conversion), but I've got three fixies that cost just over €1400 in total rather than for just one, and all of them are good bikes. You can build a decent conversion these days, with good light new parts for around the 400 mark, maybe even less. Thats how much my own first self-build cost (excluding initial mistakes when I bought the wrong components... doh). It doesnt have to be all about high end stuff.

€1400, god you could buy a proper bike for that !

tomasrojo

Doctor Bob wrote: »

'Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.' (Thoreau)

I love that quote.

-K2-

When I read the article I came to the conclusion that the author gathered together all her "cool" cycling mates - PR people, designers, photographers etc.. Nothing about your average Joe and his daily winter commute in from the suburbs on a 10 year old hybrid.

Whether you portray cycling as an activity for lycra-clad speedsters or trendy hipsters its still being touted as an elite minority activity which will do nothing to get people out of their cars and onto the bike.

tomasrojo

Húrin wrote: »

They claim that Chris Judge advised to wear a helmet - even though he lacks one in the photo.

I think they wanted to do something along the lines of Copenhagen Cycle Chic, which means no helmets in the photos really. No high-viz either.

Húrin wrote: »

They also recorded one of them mentioning how she had been hit by taxis.
True perhaps, but that one line undoes all the good of the article by portraying cycling as dangerous. I've been cycling in Dublin all my life and have not been hit once by a car.

What does 'hit' mean when she says 'hit by a taxi' anyway? I suspect a strong measure of exaggeration. I never know what people mean when they say something along the lines of "I get hit by a [insert motorized vehicle] every second week". What, you spend the intervening week in hospital? How can you be hit so often?

Caroline_ie

ElectronEng wrote: »

When I read the article I came to the conclusion that the author gathered together all her "cool" cycling mates - PR people, designers, photographers etc.. Nothing about your average Joe and his daily winter commute in from the suburbs on a 10 year old hybrid.

Whether you portray cycling as an activity for lycra-clad speedsters or trendy hipsters its still being touted as an elite minority activity which will do nothing to get people out of their cars and onto the bike.

i think it's the same reason why you will never see a D15, chips eating overweight mother of 4 modelling for Dunnes or even Penneys, even though, it's aimed at the average working class person (and me ). ( I might be a bit harsh there ... sorry )

flickerx

ElectronEng wrote: »

When I read the article I came to the conclusion that the author gathered together all her "cool" cycling mates - PR people, designers, photographers etc.. Nothing about your average Joe and his daily winter commute in from the suburbs on a 10 year old hybrid.

Whether you portray cycling as an activity for lycra-clad speedsters or trendy hipsters its still being touted as an elite minority activity which will do nothing to get people out of their cars and onto the bike.

Amen to that, its what I was talking about here.

tomasrojo

ElectronEng wrote: »

When I read the article I came to the conclusion that the author gathered together all her "cool" cycling mates - PR people, designers, photographers etc..

Definitely.

ElectronEng wrote: »

Whether you portray cycling as an activity for lycra-clad speedsters or trendy hipsters its still being touted as an elite minority activity which will do nothing to get people out of their cars and onto the bike.

Not sure about that. It is definitely better than the standard article along the lines of "Attention cyclists! Your chosen means of transport is INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS! Always wear a helmet. Now here are some anecdotes about death and mental impairment. Cycling numbers are down, we don't know why."

-K2-

tomasrojo wrote: »

Definitely.



Not sure about that. It is definitely better than the standard article along the lines of "Attention cyclists! Your chosen means of transport is INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS! Always wear a helmet. Now here are some anecdotes about death and mental impairment. Cycling numbers are down, we don't know why."

The casual references to being "hit by taxis" pointed in that direction, but on balance there were some mentions of "wonderful cycle lanes" in north Dublin - must go and have a look for them.

ROK ON

Húrin wrote: »

It appeared that cycling is only for hipsters or young Dublin middle-class professionals in the creative industries (there's a lot of overlap there).

ElectronEng wrote: »

Whether you portray cycling as an activity for lycra-clad speedsters or trendy hipsters its still being touted as an elite minority activity which will do nothing to get people out of their cars and onto the bike.

Guys, cycling is an elite activity. Do you not get it.
I am sick of been overtaken by some sweaty pob hobbling along on a bso. Where is the beauty in that.
Where I work, there are now too few bike spaces for all the bso's that have been cycled in once and dumped in the basement.

If you cant go to the trouoble of dressing appropriately, well honestly, I think that you should not be allowed to buy a bike.

I will go further, the bike to work scheme should have a lower limit. Say €1500. In that one should not be allowed to purchase a bike below this value. Obviously the bike should look beautiful, and the cyclist should be suitably atired while cycling their chosen mount.

ROK ON

Caroline_ie wrote: »

i think it's the same reason why you will never see a D15, chips eating overweight mother of 4 modelling for Dunnes or even Penneys,

and thank Christ for that.

-K2-

The more novice cyclists on the road the better - safety in numbers for the rest of us.

Lumen

Caroline_ie wrote: »

i think it's the same reason why you will never see a D15, chips eating overweight mother of 4 modelling for Dunnes or even Penneys, even though, it's aimed at the average working class person (and me ). ( I might be a bit harsh there ... sorry )

Hey, don't knock the fast food. Even the Queen likes to stuff her face occasionally.

Chips Lovell

The Irish Times weekend magazine is to a large extent a lifestyle magazine. It portrays fashionable people doing fashionable things, in order to give aspiring fashionable people ideas of what to do with their time and money (or more importantly be seen do) such as attending farmers' markets and buying vintage clothes. Ordinary Joes on hybrids in high-viz vests and helmets don't really fall into this bracket.

nak

Find it hard to believe that someone spent €1400 putting parts on a $260 pake frame, that being said it's a nice bike, and glad to see any positive coverage of cycling.

The people interviewed were not all trendy media types, they did also interview a courier, and I think the idea was to show that you don't have to be decked out in cycling clothes to ride a bike. Let's face it, the idea of lycra etc does put a lot of people off, especially us ladies.

Doctor Bob

Húrin wrote: »

I didn't like the article that much. It appeared that cycling is only for hipsters or young Dublin middle-class professionals in the creative industries (there's a lot of overlap there).

ElectronEng wrote: »

When I read the article I came to the conclusion that the author gathered together all her "cool" cycling mates - PR people, designers, photographers etc.. Nothing about your average Joe and his daily winter commute in from the suburbs on a 10 year old hybrid.

Whether you portray cycling as an activity for lycra-clad speedsters or trendy hipsters its still being touted as an elite minority activity which will do nothing to get people out of their cars and onto the bike.

Agreed, and the comment on Copenhagen Cycle Chic seems to agree too:

I saw this over the weekend. My initial delight was undermined somewhat by the choice of punters represented, or more specifically, by the narrow range of occupations- seven of the nine interviewees are young creatives of one sort or another.

I mean, if the point of the article was selling cycling to the masses, then a wider range of professions would have been far better.

It's hardly headline news that hip young things cycle around the city. They've - we've - been at it for years.

Where were the 40+ age bracket?
Where were the parents going to school?
Where were the construction workers, the lawyers, the engineers, the town planners?

Lovely photos and plenty of sensible advice (except for the helmet talk!), but a golden opportunity missed (and, possibly, the case for the 'mainstreaming' of cycling undermined, if the masses see it and think 'Well that's all well and good, but I'm not young/trendy/pioneering/etc.'?).

Wise words indeed- he seems like a clever chap altogether!

el tonto- I take your point, but I'd argue that the aspirational fashionistas aren't just the under 30s, and I wasn't proposing that the wider range of punters needs to be kitted out for a site visit. I was chatting to a middle aged woman in town last week (giving unsolicited advice on proper locking) who might have been ideal for that article- no helmet, no hi-viz, elegant jacket and skirt combo, nice burgundy Dawes three speed with a basket. Or how about the chap beside me at Sydney Parade level crossing yesterday- no 'safety equipment', smart casual clothes, and a drool-worthy WorkCycles Opafiets with a child seat on the back and a laptop on the front carrier.

The other advantage of using a wider range of types is that people who wouldn't consider cycling themselves might take a more benign attitude on the road towards those of us who do, if they understand it as not just the preserve of the young trendies.