The NY Post reports that the new strollers--BOB, Mountain Buggies, Phil & Teds, and Bugaboos and the like--have air-filled tires, which sometimes get flats. Which need to be fixed at the bike place in Park Slope. Which is just the excuse the kid-free commenters on Curbed needed to remind us of the Park Slope Parent/Al Qaeda connection.
Ironic since I'm sure the blowouts are no doubt caused by Prospect Park Westside bombs, and not parents overloading their rigs and over-inflating their tires. Bugaboo's recommended tire pressure, 15-16psi, still feels squishy to the touch, and I find myself always wanting to firm it up.
Of course, by writing about the brave heroes at the bike shop, Post reporter [and card carrying member of the media elite] Jeremy Olshan now gets to jump the line with impunity.
GOING (BABY) BUGGY: BIKE SHOPS NOW STROLLER PIT STOPS [nypost]
Slope Stroller Blowouts Lead to Line Cutting, Busier Bike Shops [curbed]
God when I was working in my tiny (tiny tiny tiny) bike shop in LES I hated people bringing in their strollers for us to fix them. 'Specialy when obvious things were broken in half or missing.
"nope, sorry we don't stock stroller wheels."
"why not"
"'Cause we're a bike shop, not a baby store."
"well where should I go"
"dunno how about a place that sells strollers"
[maybe it's a West Coast thing, but the Cougar Chariot stroller is sold primarily in bike and outdoor shops. -ed.]
NY Post - now hiring morons.
Worst. Lead. Ever.
My bike shop guys know that in a year or two, the stroller owners will be shopping for bikes for their kids, and are always very friendly.
[yow, that's kind of harsh. -ed.]
Ella: I fully cop to being a moron. After all, it was only after overinflating and blowing out the tires on our Phil & Ted's maiden voyage that I came up with the idea for this story.
But I am not sure it shows much intelligence to casually throw around statements like "worst ever." I, for one, am certain I have written far worse leads than that.
At least parents in Brooklyn know enough to get replacement tubes for their strollers at a bike shop. Here on the UWS, Albees has a steady stream of parents walking in to buy their "bugaboo" tubes for $10+.
[I was going to add a picture of the Bugaboo tire pump, which is identical to the Mt Buggy tire pump, the Valco tire pump, and every other tire pump--except that it costs $10 instead of $5. -ed.]
I'm confused. I thought these fancy expensive strollers were astoundingly overpriced luxury items embodying the insane consumerism of today's over-hyper parents. But now they're subject to so much wear and tear in the city streets that they sometimes need repair? Well, geez, why don't they just make 'em cheaper so we can toss 'em in the garbage when they break without feeling guilty? Monthly, say.
I got my BOB at a bike shop and always bring it there for service. Same shop does a hearty business in Chariots and, a couple years later, sweet trikes and bikes for the short folks.
I must admit the comments on the Curbed post were simply appalling. The hipster cyclists on Curbed seem to have a real problem with procreation.
Throkky's got the right idea when it comes to customer service. Help out the new parents with their stroller flats and they're sure to come back when the kid needs a like-a-bike.
Here in Capitol Hill DC, I don't see nearly the same levels of animosity between the new parents and the fixie hipsters. Perhaps its because we outnumber them 80-1. I did recently learn that Capitol Hill has bike polo (Yeah, DC!). I even spotted some fixie hipsters with mallets the other day coming home from playgroup.
Take that, NYC!