Comments on: More on bicycle prices: but what about the common people?

By: Fixed Gear Bikes

Fixed Gear Bikes — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:47:06 +0000

I’m seeing a LOT more fixed gear bikes around here. Example, I just went to a Matt and Kim show (they suck btw) and there had to be at least 10 fixies parked outside.

By: Sailing on Dry Land | Taylor Davidson

Sailing on Dry Land | Taylor Davidson — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:34:08 +0000

[...] Taste / Robin Goldstein, More on bicycle prices: but what about the common people? The more we look at the marketing strategies adopted by the modern manufacturers of luxury goods [...]

By: More on bicycle prices in Portland… « Knowledge Problem

More on bicycle prices in Portland… « Knowledge Problem — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:19:09 +0000

[...] …from Robin Goldstein, after he observed “an unexpectedly spirited and … fascinating debate” in response to his earlier post (commented upon here at KP, but also many other places, including Freakonomics). [...]

By: Scott Radtke

Scott Radtke — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:43:57 +0000

The fashionability of an object – be it a bicycle, a pair of shoes, or a McMansion – essentially tosses simple Econ 101 out the window. We cease to ask ourselves what we need and tend focus on what others have. Hence the inflated price of used bikes in cities like Portland. A bike selling for $450 now would have been roughly a tenth of the price six years ago. Why? Because gas was cheap and bikes weren’t cool. The opposite is true today. Bicycles are, for now, cool. They have become a status symbol that often has no basis in reality – how else do you explain the sight of somebody on a fixed-gear bike risking an aneurysm climbing a hill, when they could have bought a bike with a derailleur or simply taken their car. While riding a bike is environmentally friendly, sustainable and sensible, it is also a fashion statement, a signifier of a particular tribe, and a shorthand way of displaying a particular mindset. We are suckers for status, and to pay any less for the bike would be unsatisfying.