From the Urban Outfitters website:
Built by us & you. Urban Outfitters has teamed up with Republic Bike to bring you a personalized experience in bike design. We offer more than 100,000 component and color combinations for the fixed / single gear Aristotle bike. You just need to pick and choose. Republic Bike will build it, box it and ship it directly to you.
Your bike order will be processed and shipped by Republic Bike. If you’ve placed items in your shopping cart on urbanoutfitters.com, you’ll need to complete your purchase there separately.
Ouch! Frame color choices are pretty crappy.
whats next, Wallyword?
The fixed/single speed urban bike trend has truly jumped the shark.
I remember when full suspension mountain bikes started showing up in department stores and then the entire high end suspension world dried up because it wasn’t cool anymore. Oh, wait…
I hope they don’t just slap on designs that they steal from other artists like they do with their clothes.
You know it’s jumped the shark when you start seeing hipster [sub]urban fixed gears in Key West…
They suddenly appeared all over the island last month.
Anyway, I’m sure everyone knows by now that these UO bikes are made with disposable components and materials. It’s sort of like going to the K-Mart to buy your mountain bike.
For point of reference, the bike that first took me into the woods and led to where I currently stand was a Huffy White Heat “mountain bike” from Toys R Us or some such big box of the early 90’s. I eventually bent the frame and graduated to a “real” bike and whatnot, but without the Huffy in between my genuine kids bikes and that first bike shop visit I can’t imagine I’d find myself here.
Quite right, ‘brad’.
Last year a friend wanted to get into cycling, so she asked me for advice, and asked some other friends too. Her roadie friends told her she had to buy a carbon-fibre dentist bike. Her metro’ friends told her she had to buy a Pashley. Her extreme friends told her to get a 29er. I told her to get a passable hybrid for the city, until she knows how she wants to ride, and so she always has a bike she is not afraid to get stolen.
She got a decent hybrid on sale, and is happy to ride it a dozen times a year. She spent as much as she should. Someone who gets into riding, would be happy to upgrade later, keep the hybrid for short runs, or sell it on to someone else. Nothing wrong with mass-market bikes getting more asses on two wheels.
Exactly. For around 300 dollars or less, you can purchase a non-fashion/genre specific bike that’s good enough for utilitarian riding until you figure out what would suit you best.
The UO bike costs 400, is absolutely specific about its fashion aesthetic and riding style, and the price does not reflect the sub-par craftsmanship.
It’s kind of like buying one of their basic Tshirts for 25 dollars.
these bikes are shit. front to back. cheap cheap cheap. you’ll spend $150 the first time you bring it into a shop. buy used and build it up. don’t support.
Cheap bikes are good. I just think some standard shade reds, blues, greens, etc. along with the mainly funky colors might gain Republic Bike more customers. Their concept seems good, but not for those who don’t like blingy, look-at-me color combos. Can’t complain about the price in any case.
My guess would be that 95%+ of bikes are sold at WalMart/Kmart type stores. I would also guess that without low cost bikes, many, many people wouldn’t be able to afford (or wouldn’t buy) any bike.
Those colors, though, are still nasty.
Well, the parts may be dubious, and the pricing too high for it, but they sell it at that price because they think that’s what the market will bear. Also, people who will buy a bike at ‘Urban Outfitters’ wouldn’t at Wal Mart; it’s all good: more asses on saddles.
More Nikes on the road/ Less Cars. Doesn’t matter who or what the bike looks like. By the way didn’t Puck from the Real World start this trend?(sarcasm) Or was people who ride bikes in veledromes? (more sarcasm)
god there are going to be a lot more ugly bikes on the road (not that that’s a bad thing.)
those bikes will totally be space-docking each other!
$399 for a bike with fashion colors. Seems like an okay deal. I spent an extra $100 and got 24 gears.
I find it funny that people dump over $6000/year on average into a car without thinking, yet bitch when bikes cost more than a few hundred bucks. I could buy a new custom ti/carbon bike every year for the cost the average American spends on an automobile. Of course, most American think the car is a necessity and the bicycle is a toy so of course we get disposable products like these.
I guess they qualify as gateway bikes, but the owners are in for a RUDE shock when they bring their mail order/d-store bike into their local bike shop. I was at my LBS on Friday and watched several people drag in this level of bike, only to walk out discouraged when it was going to cost them $50-$100 to fix what ailed them (stripped out crank arm with lost crank bolt, trashed rear hub, etc). They didn’t want to pay the repair bill when they just bought the bike for not much more for a few months ago. So it’s back on the bus, Gus!
I’d rather not support ultra-conservatism by purchasing a bike. Read up on Richard Hayne, the president of Urban Outfitters.
I’ll wish it didn’t exist.
If only American Apparal decided to do something like this. They do the whole Made in U.S.A. thing so you would be getting a sweet frame. Probably cost more than 400bucks. But any bike should; we are just accustomed to low prices reap[ed from exploitation of foreign labor.
matt,
why are you surprised about fixies in key west?! they are pretty much the same thing as a conch cruiser, minus the rust….simple, one speed, little to maintain. but yeah, wow, lately there are a lot around and about….better than more cars out and about!
i hear ya about fixters, but so far most everyone i have met here riding fixed gear have been super friendly and just enjoy riding, no attitudes, just enjoying pedaling. are you the dude i met in jaunary with the russian bike?