Sex+Design Magazine

Baby, Wanna Go For a Ride?

By Erin Feher

As anyone who has ever had an inexplicable crush on a deodorant-challenged, alcoholic bike messenger knows – there’s something hot about bikes. Biking is moving each day out of the clichéd confines of crunchy hippies, nerdy, fold-up bike-loving architects and directionless hipsters (unless you count “toward the tattoo parlor” as a direction). The latest proof is new kid on the block, Public Bikes. Started by Design Within Reach founder Rob Forbes, this new San Francisco–based bike company is out to prove to us what Europeans have know for years: biking is beautiful, especially if you’re doing it in Louboutin heels and your bike is one of the stunning candy-colored creations designed by Forbes’ team of worldly cycle geniuses. No tacky logos, transformer-style shocks, monster-truck tires, and definitely no folding.

I’ve been riding my beloved rainbow Peugeot for almost six years. It’s carried me through the streets of San Francisco, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam and even up a Tuscan mountainside to my own wedding. Loyalty to that ride runs deep. But last week I headed to Public Bike’s new shop in SF’s Mission District, took a test ride and had the kind of epiphany that rich housewives have when they realize that they just MUST have that Mercedes convertible…I mean, they’ve earned it. And I earned that eight-speed, powder-blue beauty (upgraded with Brooks honey-colored leather saddle, cork grips and matching powder-blue rear rack). After years of riding a vintage road bike (with suicide shifters, sawed-off drop bars and metal cages that wore charming indents into my boots) riding my Public is like cruising in an automatic Honda: smooth, comfy and just plain easy. I pick it up tomorrow (each bike is built to order) and pay it off a little later than that (bikes range from $550–$890, not including all the fun extras). I’m not gonna ditch my Peugeot, but now, like a proper rich housewife, momma’s got some good looking options.

Design, Main