Paris Fixed
Just a few minutes off the train and walking to a cafe in Paris, I spotted this fixie last month. He was nice enough to stop for a photo and I saw more around the city. Velibs too. Today the NYT noticed fixed in Paris too
For years, they have been the showy accessories of the fashion-forward, urban 20-or-30-something set — hipsters, that is — from Brooklyn to San Francisco. They have long been fetishized, too, in Tokyo and London.
It has taken more time for the elegant fixed-gear bicycle to catch on in ever-reticent Paris, but the style is now decidedly in vogue.
The same thing happens whenever I travel in Europe and Asia. For whatever cultural reasons, we’ve aligned fixed-gear bicycles with hipsterism in the States. Meanwhile, they’re more popular than ever with youths abroad. I’d argue for reasons more than fashion. They’re like skateboards and skate culture instead of a fashion accessory.
Will rent a Velib for sure. Terns aren’t ready yet, or we’d travel with and unfold one of them there.