[sustran] Re: Guangzhou bans electric bicycles

[Chris Bradshaw]

Thanks for the references.  I have heard that bikes are now being offered as 
an accessory to some new car models.

I viewing the sites, I was surprised to find no folding bikes in the lot.

Carrying a bike on the outside of a car, or dissembling it to carry it 
inside (and taking up all the space behind the front seats) seems to not 
make sense.

I have been a folding-bike owner (and user, as I haven't used 700-mm-wheeled 
bikes for 40 years) for this reason: a full-sized frame and large wheels 
reduce the utility of a bike, reducing its ability to fit into mixed-mode 
trips, reducing its cargo carrying capacity (one can hang bags from the 
front handle bars without them rubbing the front tire), and they usually 
come with a full set of accessories.

My latest, a Brompton, has fenders with mud guards, a rear carrier with two 
double bungie cords, a chain guard, a full generator-run light set (which is 
not turning out to be very reliable), a pump, and a bell.  And it has 3x2 
gears (internal/external) and rear suspension.  It folds in 12 seconds into 
a 20"x20"x10" locked shape that can be carried over one's shoulder.

Yes, this one is high end ($1200 U.S., bought in June from a shop in 
Manhattan).  But our Wal-Mart sells an off-shore Next model for $150 Can.

Chris Bradshaw

p.s. re: "positional goods": Litman's reference to this neglects to point 
out that the concept shows up in people who use their lack of a car or their 
folding bike as a "prestige" acquisition (the term was first coined by Fred 
Hirsch in his 1978 book, _The Social Limits to Growth_).