Just found a new Portland bike blog called “Ask the Wise Old Bicycle Guy“. It’s run by a former pro bike mechanic and it’s full of great advice.
He noticed my recent post about Electra Townies and makes a good observation. Apparently, despite growing in popularity in this city and their recent adoption as the official bike of the “BikeTown” promotion, Townies don’t fit on TriMet busses or the MAX! Here’s an excerpt from his post:
“According to a TriMet insider, at the recent kickoff for BTA’s Bike Commute Challenge, a Townie was ceremoniously placed in a TriMet bus rack for a photo op, only it didn’t fit.”
Apparently, the Townies’ extra-long wheelbase is the problem. Besides not fitting on bus racks, they’re also too long to fit in the hooks on MAX trains. The interesting thing is that TriMet is using nationwide standard for the bus rack. I guess the folks at Electra aren’t into the “multi-modal” thing like many carfree Portlanders.