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Okay, cruiser's definitely look cool. They are funky and fun. But, what I don't get is why so many of the fashionita's riding them won't wear a helmet.

While "retro" might be in I think it shouldn't mean folks devolve into stupidity when it comes to safety!

I customized my bike once and it was soooooo cooooool. And it cost me a lot less than $1500 . All it takes is an old baseball card and clothespin and you too can make your cruiser sound just like a motorcycle. It's all the rage!

Pedal power rocks! So great to see new and evolving sectors in the biking community. Whether its biking, walking, hiking or running. The more people who use and enjoy BC's great outdoors the better. It will be the ONLY way to protect and support clean air, clean water and reduce automobile dependency. Great story.

It is sufficient that one rides a bicycle. Please, don't let's try to set up classes.

Living in the flatlands of Ladner, as I do, any heavy clunker of a one-speed would suffice, but venturing to Surrey or elsewhere, I need my drop-handled, 12-speed lightweight machine - minimum.

Another thing, to what degree will would-be cyclists be ripped off for this nostalgia trip?

i'd rather ride my mountain bike and eat a granola bar than ride a cruiser and drink bottled water.

bikes are for transportation not image.

So true billy pilgrim. All these saggy-bottomed folk suddenly 'discovering' bicycles. Ironic that in less than a decade, people will be riding their bikes out of necessity. My 15 year old (used $350) bike will still be going, and the roads will be safer. A banana seat and elongated forks might look good in a display window, but where the rubber hits the road I'll take my old Kuwahara any day.

Houses are for living in, not looking at. I hate it when people customize their home to reflect their personality.

Sheesh, as long as they're ridin' they ain't drivin'

Anything to get people off the ass and out of the auto but, banana seats, balloon tires and plastic flowers?

You'd have to toss in a good mask and the dark of night to see me peddling one of those thingies around.

Hey, on second thought, if all you neo-hipsters will just do a couple of slow cruises across the Burrard St. bridge out of disrespect for the doubledealers who axed the bike lane I'd be happy to slow down and take part on my 21-speed cross as long as the lady with the plastic flowers keeps her distance.

bikes are for transportation not image." Pilgrim.

Please tell me this woman is a fictional creation. Though eh, it takes all kinds, I understand. :-)

I've cycled virtually everyday, rain, sleet or snow, all year round, for many years now. (Started it to keep from getting fat sitting on my ass all day, driving a transit bus on the coast.) Do it 'cause it gets me around, I've got no room to keep a horse, which is another whole set of problems anyway at my age, like chasin' women :-), it helps to keep me in shape, and I love it. I've got two mountain bikes, one with skinny slicks for around town, grocery shopping 'n stuff, and another set up for heavy duty off road touring and pulling a Bob Yak. In winter, I put stud tires on the off road, and it becomes my plowing snow and ice bike.

I operated heavy machinery, trucks and buses for most of my life. These rigs have lost their romance for me-, long ago. My bike helps keep my life simple and human scale, and down to a humanly comprehensible pace. Good enough for me.

I sure as hell ain't out to prove anything to anybody or do the "keeping up with the Joneses trip." That's a whole other head banger thing which I'll leave to the likes of this McWalter woman. (Assuming she's for real, for the moment.8-D

I just had to sign in to comment in defence of Ms. McWalter. She's being very harshly judged here and I wanted to assure you all that her comments look different in print than they sounded in person, and the spirit behind them is not coming across at all.

(Also, there was a little miscommunication here, as she's only thinking about decking out her bike with flowers, but in fact, hasn't yet done so.) :

I assure you, that no one I interviewed for this story was intending to be mean spirited and that McWalter is far from bigoted. I included her comments (which are of course being read separate from everything else she said about biking, and which were said in jest) for the purposes of being funny, and left many of the lovely things she said out for the same reason.

Perhaps more to the point: I have noticed that is it's often not very easy to be initiated into a BC community, like the biking community for example, if you're not already a long time member who follows all the implied “rules” of the culture. I think many people feel that because they don't have the "right" bike, the MEC gear, and a similar attitude to other community members they're not considered real BC bikers. (I've experienced this at yoga classes as well.) McWalter was just making a joke. She's an avid granola muncher herself.

Jennifer, don't get too tight over this. I suspect most of us are having fun with this article as well.

I thought it was funny and hey, I'd much rather share the road with a 1,000 cruisers or whatever they are called even if they are all decked out in cheap plastic petunias than to worry about some yahoo driving behind me in a Hummer or some equally insane piece of heavy machinery.

I do agree with your concerns about those who think you must be in some full cyclist uniform to ride one.

The only clothing you need is a helmet and enough cloth in several bodily areas to avoid blisters or indecent exposure charges.

the first time i was on a bicycle,i was around a year old and my uncle placed me in his basket and we rode down the austrian mountainside.he said all he could hear ,was me screaming, faster, faster.

i have ridden bicycles since i was three years old and i am 57 now...

I LIKE MY BIKE !

Hey allan,

I guess it's true that anything with a part called a "banana seat" is rather implied to be funny, but I just wanted to defend. People call me names all the time and I rather like it, but I don't want to hang any of my sources out to dry.

But oh no - now you've mentioned the Hummer and this could spiral into a whole 'nuther debate. :)

Helmet?

In the big city traffic, always. In my small town and about the countryside, unless I'm going to be dropping down steep slopes etc., nahhh. Damned nonsense. When I see pedestrians wearing helmets here, I'll take it more seriously. You're more likely to get nailed walking across the street.

Show me the stats.

The Statistics Canada article claims several studies have demonstrated that head injuries can be prevented through the use of helmet (p31). But several other studies have concluded the opposite also. No reduction in the rate of head injuries, serious head injuries or deaths in jurisdictions (New Zealand, Australia and US) where helmet use has been heavily promoted and mandated. Why were these other sources ignored?

http://www.magma.ca/~ocbc/StatsCan.html

Coyote, I'm a tad younger than you, more like Jim Beams' more youthful age, but I don't turn a wheel without the helmet in place anymore.

You are either an extremely good, lucky or sloooow rider if you have never taken a flip over the bars, into an unseen object or been forced off the road by a guy with a tiny little head in a great big pickup truck.

I started wearing one about 20 years ago when a lawyer who lived in my neighbourhood somehow kept turning up at traffic lights when I did with my hair slicked back by the sheer power of those G forces.

All he had to say was 'when are you going to start wearing a helmet Allan.'

He caught me once with my son riding with me and then of course I didn't have a chance of ignoring it any longer.

Good thing too because I took a tumble a short time later and managed to just about knock myself out (the stars came out for a moment), but the helmet took the brunt.

Had to go and buy a second one just like that.

The other thing that keeps it on is having talked to some people with brain injuries.

Many of them are quite willing to talk about their accidents and how with a helmet they might still be riding, working and a lot of other things they did before the accident.

They are a pain at times, just like condoms or, for that matter rubber boots on a rainy day. They chafe my legs. No, not the condoms.

And as for the stats. What can I say, Most of us ignore them until we are one.

Jennifer, you just let that imagination of yours run wild on hummers and anything else that moves people. Thanks for the humour.

God, I love my bike. It is not one of the cool new cruisers, being a gigantic heavy old mountain bike of uncertain provenance. However, I like to put stickers on it, strange objects, a radio, and good fenders cuz it's Vancouver. It is my daily driver and I love it.

One of the things that makes it all possible is that the city has actually put in good bike-controlled intersections and routes. Maybe not as many as I'd like, but you can get from A to B really well. Also, my employer has put in a bike room and a shower. These things make the car and --urgggh! -- bus even less desirable.

Vancouver's bicycle system is great. At least I always though it was. Even now, out in nature's great outdoors all the time, every once in awhile, I still miss riding around Vancouver. (There was a place on... What? ...In China town? ...Near Hastings? ...coming out of Vancouver, say maybe after I'd been to Sikora's music store, heading for Victoria/Commercial, there was a little yuppyish grocery store with all kinds of interesting soda pops, excellent coffee, neat treats 'n stuff, (near the Chinese old folks home or hospital, just before Clark/Knight). Loved to stop there and take a break before heading back into Burnaby/New West up the Skytrain cycle path.

Yea. Vancouver was a neat place to bicycle commute. There though, I always did wear my helmet, even if it was just for the illusion of relative safety. (Though I never did take a serious tumble, and for an old guy, I smoke... herb only. :-)

Jorg & Olif definitively do not sell cruisers.

Try Elektra. Very cool. If I didn't already have two bikes and nowhere to store them, I'd buy one to commute on. For sale at Ride On on 4th Avenue.

Pretty weak story though.

Incidentally, no one should take Coyote's comments about helmets seriously.

Wear one.

Always.

I with the A-G would make these mandatory for all.

You only have to almost die once and you will buy one and wear it happily. It's happened to me twice -- once out of foolishness, once out of foolishness offroad. Thankfully, the second time I had a helmet on.

Au contraire, Fibber McGee. Around my town, I scarcely see a helmet-, with exceptions of course.

Read the study I attached above. You are far more likely to get hit by a car walking across a damned intersection than you are on a bike. That's the reality. Especially in major urban centres. (Even then, I wear a helmet in the city.)

What ya gonna do, have all of us walking around in helmets?

Most serious injuries of all types on the street involve an auto.(1% involve an auto and a bicycle. 15% involve an auto and a pedestrian.) It is autos that are the problem. Deal with them, not forcing the rest of us all into helmets.

Bloody nonsense. Some things just need to be left to the good and bad judgement of folks. Big Brother Corp. may have his marketing needs and ploys to sell shite and get his hand into our wallets, ostensibly for our safety and all other manner of ruses, but that's another issue than real safety.

I almost died by drowning once. A helmet wouldn't have done dick. And I've been seriously injured otherwise twice, both times "in" a bloody motor vehicle. Nope, I wasn't wearing a helmet then either, though it probably should have been mandatory.

"The System" is just too full of shite and scams to be believable at almost any level, and often involving the bloody AG. :-)

Besides, though kids should wear helmets, until they get the skills down and the common sense, and there are other "special" situations, riding your bike without a helmet is beautiful, and liberating. The scalp needs it. :-)

And fug, one can drop dead or otherwise get unexpectedly killed just about anywhere. Life is for the living, not walking around inside a cocoon or a bomb shelter in-, for how e're long it lasts.

Happy helmet free cycling, for you adults who know more than the odd marketing ploy and how they often use the law. 8-D Besides ehh, it's not only the ladies who want to keep their hair looking good.

Coyote, you're being plain damned stubborn and cantankerous over helmets and cycling.

Here's the problem with humans and cycling, and please, I've been riding all my life so I am certainly not against cycling.

Your head is quite a heavy piece of various things all wrapped neatly under a skull of varying thickness.

When you fall on a bike (ya sure, some of us never fall, right), or are knocked off (if that makes you feel better), the weight of your noggin is going to mean odds are it'll reach the ground a long time (relatively) before your feet do.

Somewhere in between those two touch downs the rest of you is likely to crash as well, but that's all just bruising and scraping and quite unlikely to result in permanent, debilitating injuries.

But given that your head is supposed to be the depository for your brain, that means when you smack your head hard, real hard, chances are you may well lose a few things like motor control, memory, ability to speak, a whole bunch of things that'll keep you from being free and feeling the wind whistle through your already thinning hair.

Rather than going and finding stats that suggest that few people are seriously injured riding a bike in comparison to other activities, why not search out recovery rates for people who have had brain injuries from such accident?

It's not that many years ago that hockey goalies who thought of wearing a face mask were belittled as wussies. Jacques Plante was called much worse when he wizened up.

Now even the goons on defence have protection for their pretty complexions.

It used to be that kids could simply bounce around in the family car as dad or mom navigated at 100 Km./h or more down a congested road and if a serious accident occurred guess who became projectiles?

Despite the cries from freedom loving fools, seat belts and child car seats became law and the carnage per terrible accident began to fall.

You know, you might ask one of those daughters of yours if they want to see their daddy as an example of what not to do when riding a bike.

Remember those dinosaurs you spoke of on another Tyee thread yesterday. They didn't have protection either.

I love the helmet debate.

Personally, I wear one because I have a responsibility to a four year old. However, Coyote is spot on when he points out cars as the problem for cyclists, not riding per se. The average cyclist riding in a normal manner has no need for a helmet, until they have to deal with cars. If one did, as Coyote has pointed out, then we should basically walk around wearing a helmet at all times. While one's head and brain are important, they are also pretty durable all things considered.

Obviously, if you're off-roading, racing, or on a solo ride where chance of injury is possible you have to use your head re helmets (pun intended). But the idea that cycling is inherently dangerous to the degree that a helmet is required for all instances isn't true at all in my experience and does little to encourage using the bike as a means of transport.

And, when I'm older, and my little one can take care of herself, I'm looking forward to feeling the sun and the wind on my head when I ride.

Helmets wouldn't have saved the dinosaurs btw.

I saw a working air bag demonstrated at Expo 74, in Spokane Washington. How many years before air bags became standard equipment on automoblies? The rationale was that Americans, with (at that time) a seatbelt use rate of less than 15%, would benefit. Survivability. North American highway fatalities run at around 50,000 people per year. Why hasn't the oh-so-security conscious administration declared a "War on the Auto"? Makes a hell of a lot more sense, and would save a hell of a lot more lives. We could cut our car use by 40% with ease; our lifestyles would be healthier, gridlock would cease to exist, and the streets would be safer to pedal. No, no..let's 4 lane the sea-to-sky for 3/4 of a billion, and make it easier for Campbell and his ilk to streak up to Whistler at 120 kmh.

Stump and Tommymoore, hey guys, there is no doubt autos are a big problem that will get larger until they or we are phased out.

They are a disaster environmentally and economically and a complete rip-off for those who don't use them but must help pay for the blacktop anyway.

Cyclist no doubt, would be safer if they didn't have to compete with them also, but that has nothing to do with the danger of serious injury from cycling accidents that don't involve autos.

No one is suggesting pedestrains wear helmets unless they are on a construction site, but that's another issue.

I've had some close calls with autos while on my bike including the need to kick out at not a few yahoos who like to get real close in heir pick ups, but I have never been knocked off my bike by one.

On the other hand, I have flown over my handlebars a few times after hitting unseen holes or bumps or making a bad judgement call going downhill.

Inverably it's the head that comes into contact first in these situations and if you aren't wearing a helmet you might as well be riding without breaks too.

Chances are likely small that you'll end up brain injuries, but if you do then chances of recovering are also pretty small.

As I stated above, you don't have to wear one if that's your nature, but like condoms and rubber boots they do have a purpose besides making a profit for the manufacturer.

The Canadian Medical Association certainly recognised this a decade or so ago when it launched a refund policy for people who purchased bike helmets.

As cynical as I am, I doubt if the CMA was out to drum up new business.

as an ex club racer i agree with safety first ,helmets,gloves,clothes and education for everyone.

i have been i several bad accidents one while racing and the photogs in the car ahead were giving direction to the driver and somehow miscommunicated.

remember that word...miscommunicated

i rode into the back of that mercedes going downhill and did a faceplant kissing the bumper bigtime...i lost all my front teeth and broke my jaw.

you say that was racing thats different !

Vancouver,i was riding down boundary road(?) by the Telus building going downhill and the car in front turned right in front of me then decided to go straight ...face plant on the trunk ,broken dentures ,high end bianchi racer was thrown into traffic and totalled.

both times i had the right gear on,gloves,leather skeleton cap.

these things happen!
and a lot of us oltimers got the scars to prove it.

I once recall a bicycle (what we would call in England, a Grannie-upright) - All bright colors and dressed up with tassels, beads, spoke ornaments and other bric-a-brac. I feel it had to have made the cyclist very proud and happy - and must have brightened the day of all who came upon it.

the sun is shining the traffic was obliging and the ride was awesome.

I LIKE MY BIKE !

Next time someone on a bicycle suffers a massive head injury without a helmet and wants public health care, I'm going to get the guys who are protesting David Emerson to protest their health care.

Why would you expect kids to wear a helmet if they see adults not doing it?

Lead by example. If you're example is that you're an idiot, so be it.

Benny's or the Union Street Cafe. On the union/adanac bike route.

Wear a helmet. Dress up your bike if you want to. Just stop driving. Even if the article was a little weak, it wasn't a car & driving article about the mazda whatever. bikes 1 cars 0.

so, ya, rather than discuss helmet laws, i thought i'd comment about the article... although cycling is more ethical than driving, i think the tyee might be going a bit too far with this new "Guilt Free Hedonist" section. it's not like bicycles just drop out of the sky, pure and perfect (as much as i'd like to think that).

ask yourself: where did it come from? was it shipped over from a asian sweatshop? how much energy went into it's production? what about those tires? paint is pretty toxic, isn't it? plastics are from oil, aren't they? where did that steel or aluminum come from? is the steel plant a destructive polluter? aren't there enough bikes already? maybe we could rebuild ones and save them from the garbage dump?

hey, before someone disagrees with me, which i'm sure someone will, i'm not saying we shouldn't ride, i'm just questioning the premise of this article. maybe "guilt free" is impossible when some kind of commodity is involved.

ps. take the lane.

Since I’m certainly a guilt-free hedonist, I won’t be guilted into wearing a helmet but would like to say that the article was all over the place and missed a lot.

Some of the cruiser riders are cliquish, and that creates the false impression that all Vancouver bicycle riders are snobbish.

It is true that not many wear helmets, but really just about any hat should do, compared to what motor-cyclists get away with?

As far as setting an example goes, I'd say the right thing to do is publicly disobey any laws known to be wrong.

The BC bicycle helmet law, is as just as a helmut law for cross-country skiers, to reduce head-injuries among downhill skiers!

bothfeet, you might opt to pull one of those feet out so you can tell us how helmeted X-country skiers will impact on the down-hillers.

Hey, while you're at it, why not explain how you determine which laws not to obey?

I mean "laws known to be wrong" is a bit broad. By whom?

i think bothfeet might have something !

i am going to wear a helmet,but!i'm going to stop paying taxes.

they don't clean the roads for cyclists anyways,they just sweep everything to the side where our lane is polluted with broken beer bottels and glass from accidents and screws,bolts,mufflers,driveshafts...and that's just some of the stuff.

chris_planb,
I think you're really reaching when you talk of materials going into the production of bicycles. You're right though on refurbishing bikes. Over the past few years, during the "large item" household pick ups, I've collected at least ten bicycles needing only minor adjustments.

a lot of the carbon fibre processing is very polluting,so is the manufacture of titanium and the fabrication of those bike frames.

that's why they cost so much...gotta clean up after making humongous profits on bikes(titanium) that will last longer than civilization.

the painting/powder coating is getting much better environmentally.

the new rubbers/latex formulations also cause a lot of pollution.

we are not as GUILT FREE as you think.

I believe the saying is 'tread lightly on the earth'... not 'levitate above it causing zero harm to the planet'. Let's be realistic. Even canned food exacts a toll on the environment. While bikes may cause some pollution, it's a far less polluting alternative to using a big metal box to move your body. I don't see anyone claiming bikes have no effect on the environment, though more than a few people might argue that the benefits outweigh the costs. I'd count myself in that group.

tread lighty,means be educated in what you do.

buying titanium,carbom fibre and other exotic materials to fabricate a bicycle is one of those me first things.i gotta have the newest,latest,upgrade,whatever.buying a $5000.oo cruiser fits right in there as hedonistic,not guilt free.

one of the places i grew to love visiting was holland.walk down any cobblestoned street and there is always a bike at your disposal,take it from here and leave it there,love that mentality.

it means all benefit because we care.so buying products that need the least processing/fabrication,leaves the smallest footprint.

and who would eat canned food these days when you can grow you own.

Not sure where you're riding, but I don't see roads swarming with titanium bikes. Not a problem worth worrying about IMO.

Titanium and carbon fibre composites are a dime a dozen here in Penticton all year round.Some of the Ironman athletes pay $5K to $7K for their bikes and the exotic materials are very expensive to produce.Plus they get custom paint jobs for easy recognition.

And of course you have the weekend warriors that have the money for the LOOK.It's really a wake up when you walk into a bike shop in a small city and see a shop with a hundred thousand dollars in bicycles and stock,which is normal here.

talk about STICKER SHOCK,when i went to purchase some new tires for my mountain bike,the kid showed me top of the line Michelins at $120.oo a pop, plus tax. OUCH !

tread lightly.

Omfg! .01 Percent Of The Cycling Population Have Expensive Bikes. Stop The Madness! You're Killing The Planet!

Uh, are we really having a debate about helmets here?

Jesus. They're light and cheap, like, $20. And you can get them in funky colours including "exposed human brain." Why would you not have one.

No, they aren't going to keep you from getting run over, or shot, or being hit with one of those blue toilet icicles from an airplane, but they will help you in some situations, such as tumbling off the bike and cracking skull on the pavement. Isn't that good enough?

no.
the story is on GUILT FREE HEDONISM,something i know by stumps postings, he knows nothing about.

the point was enjoying something ethical that indulged our joy,like cycling.

$15000.oo cruisers are as ridiculous as $7000.oo racing bikes,they take CUSTOM FABRICATION in EXOTIC MATERIALS.
those materials are made with a large amount of pollutants ,more than the ratio per $ output compared to the run of the mill norco or kuahara or huffy and just because it's less than a car doesn't make it acceptable.

that cruiser was noted as a guilt free product which is pure bull$h!t and so are the racers mentioned,but they are still bicycles .but are they guilt free if you have the disposable income to purchase them .
$ to joy ratio is there regardless,it's a bike.

so,as usual more shoot from the lip,than actually read the article,meaning lots of empty rhetoric wasting space.

Guilt-free hedonism? Isn't hedonism by its nature guilt-free?

Any other little frills or luxuries besides a custom bike we should get rid of on our path to Mao suits and uniformity for all?

Geez, I own three bikes. You must consider me a complete wastrel.

Also, I'd be very surprised if high-end bike fabrication companies aren't more environmentally conscious than a Taiwanese factory pumping out low-end frames for a baker's dozen of brands. I think it would be great if you could back up your assertion to the contrary with some links or data.

Hm. What could be truly guilt free?

Breatharianism? Or perhaps that denies oxygen to other people.

Philosophical contemplation? Discrimates against the slow-witted.

I know! Lordly condemnation from supercilious, anonymous Internet pundits! Wait, that wastes electricity -- and sleep time (gosh look at the hour).

one without a dictionary,one that can't get his nose out of a dictionary,and both not knowing what the exercise is.

can you spell ethical? do you know what the exercise really is about?

or do you play the "BAFFLE THEM WITH BULL$H!T" game and hope for the best ?

learn how to read.

Can you spell priorities?

I'd rather worry about the thousands spending thousands on cars than the few spending thousands on bikes.

As to ethical... are you the final arbiter? Better provide us with a list of our ethically-approved activities asap.

i can see your education never taught you what a debate was or how to approach and execute your position in a debate.

the debate is on ethics in the ways we enjoy ourselves,whether they are ethical and the reasons we think they are GUILT FREE or NOT GUILT FREE.

costs are determined by your disposable income to enjoyment ratio,BANG FER THE BUCK,for the simpletons.

this is just a start,so maybe you can get your head out of your a$$ and google debate and find out what you are missing ,besides COMMON SENSE.

and speaking of COMMON SENSE read JONATHAN SWIFT ,you might find some intelligent offerings that you may use next time you suffer from a mental vacuum.

I can see you'd rather call people names than define a disposable income to enjoyment ratio (good luck with that btw). Are we supposed to just magically know what activities and in what proportion are haraldkann approved?

Face it, one person's guilty pleasure is another's god-given right. How many bikes am I allowed to own? How much can they cost max? Is it the same for all people? Do I catch a break and get to have another bike because I don't own a car?

If you want to sit on high and judge that's your choice, but at least let us know what your criteria is.

You mean Swift's Modest Proposal??? Are you volunteering? It might relieve your guilt.