Eric Estlund of Winter Bicycles was kind enough to give us a second take on our interview after we botched the recording on the first go around. This was certainly worthwhile as Eric’s insightful considerations of the bike commuting related topics covered were that much sharper the second time around.
Bike commuting means very different things in different parts of the country. In the same country, same town, it might means different things for different people. Some people might want a really race inspired bike that they can put fenders on because that is the type of bike that they’ll enjoy riding. Some people might want to have essentially a car replacement with cargo capacity and a really upright position where they can be seen in traffic and see in traffic. I think that designing a bike for the individual so that they use it more frequently is maybe more important than designing the ideal commuter bike, because their isn’t one.