Outrageous, or Just a Good Idea?
I see a lot of things float around the blogosphere that mostly go unnoticed. However, every now and again, one catches my eye. The latest was a bike being make by some folks in Missoula, Montana dubbed Freeman Transport
In case you don’t want to click through and decipher a store which is camouflaged as a blog, they are building a single type of bike: a fixed-gear with S&S couplings in order to transport it on a plane with no extra baggage charges.
Well, except the fact that a lot of airlines are starting to charge for a second, or even first, bag regardless of weight or size. But that’s besides the point.
It sounded like a good way to cash in on the trend of fixed gears, and so initially I thought it was nothing really out of the ordinary. Until I saw the rest of the blurb. Steel frame, comes with a custom leather carrying case, and according to the goat costs a mere $2475.
HUH?!
That’s right, steel frame, custom leather case, $2475.
Now, I won’t say that this probably isn’t a nice bike, but it’s a steel frame fixed gear for 2.5 times the price you’ll pay for a ritchey break-away frame which comes with a carbon fork. Now, I know that it’s not ‘custom’ and doesn’t come with a leather case, but for the $1500 you just saved, you can buy whatever case you want, outfit your bike with paul’s high-flange track hubs, carbon components and even some trendy velocity deep v rims and have some cash left over for some $145 chrome pants.
I will commend them on the S&S couplers, as I think it’s a good idea with all the airline charges, but I can’t imagine that the fixed gear is really the most versatile bike to travel with. Maybe something more along the lines of a cross bike?.
On a related note, I saw an article today which made me think twice about how to travel by airline with all the baggage charges. It seems as though more and more airlines are charging for every bag you take, the gap between the cost of shipping a bag versus taking it with you on the airline decreases. With more airlines charging for the first bag that gap should get even closer as time goes on. It starts looking especially appealing as the standard charge for a bike box, regardless of the weight or whether it’s your first or second bag usually comes in at $80-$100 each way, all of a sudden a $50 shipping charge looks a lot more appealing.
