[TheThinkTank] bicycle shaped objects

[Gern Blanston]

When people ask me what the best bike to get is...I answer, "The best bike
is which ever one you will get on AND RIDE!, not just have it sit in
storage."

On 5/19/08, Cuper <cuper at neighborhoodbikeworks.org> wrote:
>
> And what about for the people are won't to come into your coop for all of
> the perceived social, racial, economic, and other barriers we all know way
> too well?  By telling folks *who are already intimidated by you* that those
> bikes are garbage, and implying that anyone who buys one is stupid, you are
> alienating potential shop users and customers.
>
> Those department store monsters aren't great, but can be "gateway bikes."
> If you find a more positive way to pitch your product (instead slamming what
> many people feel is the best they can do), the folks who are riding
> department store bikes now are light years more likely to come to you in a
> year or two or five.
>
> jimmie
>
> --
> Neighborhood Bike Works		tel: 215.386.0316
> 3916 Locust Walk		fax: 215.386.7288
> Philadelphia, PA  19104		www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org
>
> Providing opportunities to youth through bicycling.
>
> NBw has a listserv! To stay in touch, subscribe to BikeStreetJounral at NeighborhoodBikeWorks.org at www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org/mailman/listinfo/bikestreetjournal.
>
>
>
> veganboyjosh at gmail.com wrote:
>
>
>
> On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 8:17 AM, Bruce Lien <bikedadlien at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> how do low income families who can only stretch their budgets far enough
>> to buy their kid a bike for under $100, $70, or $40 do so? While some might
>> advocate they buy used bikes, check out the junk sitting at the Goodwill
>> with exorbitant prices on them, sold as is and you can see why that is not a
>> viable option. Garage sales are great alternatives, but again the bikes are
>> sold "as is" which often leaves a bike in need of some TLC from a good
>> mechanic.    Bruce
>
>
> several things the people on this list have or have access to:
>
> volunteer power/time/energy.
> bike knowledge.
> decent--better than dept store bikes.
>
> this is just a brainstorm that just came to me after reading gary, rafael,
> and bruce's emails....but what if we could somehow get the word out to these
> low income families with no LBS that the coops are the place to go. some
> kind of mailorder thing...i'm not sure how it would work, but if we're
> operating on a national level, then shouldn't we be able to address at least
> some of the basic needs of everyone in the country?
>  just an idea, i've been thinking about for all of 30 seconds. unlike
> gary's and rafaels, which both sound awesome and doable...
>
>
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