: Mini Cooper… does Singlespeed

By: g | No Comments » |

By even mentioning this it’s encouraging the continued proliferation of the SS/Fixie fad amongst urban trendies, so shame on us. But the sheer fact that Cooper aka Mini Cooper is now making bikes, and so surprisingly, SS/Fixie bikes, is a sure indication that this is now a ‘scene’.

It’s only a matter of time before these appear in the show room with all the branded accessories and matching roof racks.If you are so inclined for a wee bit of a chuckle, point your browser [here]

It should of course be noted that Cooper is not the first auto company to attempt to make matching ‘lifestyle bikes’…

Audi has had a go with this wunderkind mountain bike.

Porsche held up their hand in the late 90′s by re-branding this German made (Vortec?) mtb.

BMW have been at it since 1992 or so. While they came up with a few wunderbikes of their own over the years, including a very Whyte looking mtb (a follow on from their own ‘Telelever’ motorcycle suspension system), more recently they have been more restrained and seem to be making a genuine effort to do ‘real’ bikes, as an seen by the two bikes above.

Mercedes Benz, like BMW, have had a good go over the years. Their recent range is far more ‘real’ and look like rebranded builds from elsewhere, such as this mtb above. Their folding bike, below,  is more interesting, though they have ditched the belt drive it seems, which they used on a city bike a few years back, long before Trek even though about using belt drives.

And last but not least is Ferrari.

Unlike the rest, Ferrari said ‘screw it’ and usually go straight to Colnago to do co-branded road and mountain bikes. Unlike just about all of the above, with the Ferrari bikes you know what you are going to get, other than a ragingly large hole in your pocket.

What is interesting here is that while all these bikes to some extent are very much ‘lifestyle’ orientated, they are at least solid attempts to offer real usable bikes; some of them even a genuine attempt at being innovative. BMW and Mercedes Benz, who hopped on the mtb bandwagon during the heydays are still offering them, so show a commitment to the line. The Cooper SS/Fixie though seems just like a blatant fad cash in….

Your view?

 

Tags:auto,fixie,mini cooper


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