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豪华自行车已经成为中国一些时尚达人不惜重金购置的新宠。对他们来说，豪华自行车是超越豪华汽车、设计师手袋以及豪宅的另一种选择。
在于轶群看来，自行车是一种理想的代步工具。这并不是因为他买不起汽车。 事实上，现年40岁的于轶群拥有21辆自行车，其中包括Moulton、Cervelo以及Colnago等高端品牌。他说，不同的环境要骑不同的车。于轶群目前是深圳市主观广告有限公司(Geogrum Advertising)的创意总监。   Shanghai Tang 豪华自行车已经成为中国一些时尚达人不惜重金购置的新宠。对他们来说，豪华自行车是超越豪华汽车、设计师手袋以及豪宅的另一种选择。 抛开所谓的“理念”不谈。中国一档真人秀节目的参加者说过的一句话曾在国内广为流传：宁愿坐在宝马车里哭，也不愿坐在自行车上笑。随着豪华自行车引入中国，自行车这一两轮交通工具也被赋予了新的生命。此前由于中国中产阶级开始疯狂购买汽车，自行车曾一度受到冷落。 宝 马也已经加入到这一潮流中来。宝马在北京的lifestyle体验店展出的自行车价格从人民币1.7万元至5.5万元不等。印在车架上的宝马标识看上去就 像一个小圈（车架通常是黑色的）。宝马发言人Hedy Luo说，在中国卖得最好的一款自行车是售价人民币1.3万元的BMW Cruise。这是一款可以实现24档变速的铝制自行车。宝马没有回答记者有关其中国市场自行车销量的问题。 对 于部分中国消费者来说，豪华自行车得以让他们在豪华汽车、设计师手袋或豪宅之外有了另一种选择。在纽约研究机构Luxury Institute的首席执行长佩德拉萨(Pedraza)看来，这些东西无非是人类对于彰显社会地位的商品的一种“无法满足的欲望”。佩德拉扎说，自行 车是一个很好的例子，过去它们是生活必需品，后来你“升级换代”改开汽车，现在呢，你可能会想要一辆法拉利自行车。 运动生理学教师帕陶蒂 (Selman Pataudi)说，云南省会昆明大约有十几家专门针对富裕消费者的自行车专卖店。作为一名狂热的自行车爱好者，帕陶蒂曾经帮助中国进口高端自行车。他 说，昆明城内总是不断冒出新的自行车专卖店，这一迹象表明商家想要利用消费者对豪华自行车的渴望来赚钱。 曾经为Cycle China组织环游中国自行车骑行活动的Wu Bato说，这些豪华自行车专卖店的目标顾客是那些“已经拥有豪车的人”，这些人不介意额外花一笔钱去购置一辆非常昂贵的自行车。Wu Bato的一位朋友最近就用贷款买了一辆售价高达人民币2万元的公路自行车。 另外一些困惑不解的观察人士也注意到了豪华自行车的美学溢 价。在北京，坎贝尔(Rupert Campbell)就发现一些二十多岁的年轻人喜欢带着（不是骑着）他们的自行车在三里屯高档社区行走。他说，年轻人非常喜欢颜色鲜艳的死飞车，这和他们 在布鲁克林和伦敦的同龄人相比没有什么不同。 在线奢侈品杂志Luxury Insider最近刊登了一款主体为黑色但后车圈为橘色（或紫红）的自行车。图片下方的介绍文字说该车设计受“中国传统黑色自行车怀旧风的影响，同时选用 了死飞车运动群体推崇的奔放颜色”。这款自行车由香港零售商上海滩(Shanghai Tang)与荷兰自行车厂商Colossi Cycling联手设计，起售价为人民币8,000元。 帕陶蒂说，炫才是关键，只要是碳纤维造的，人们就买账；大家很容易被营销和潮流词汇牵引。 不是每个人都将自行车视作附属品。布鲁恩(Ines Brunn)创建的死飞车爱好者俱乐部已经有了大约1,000名会员，俱乐部定期举办晚上或周末骑行北京城的活动。 山 龙(Shannon Bufton)经营的创意空间Serk隐藏在雍和宫以南一条安静的胡同里，这是一个同时作为咖啡店和自行车专卖店的场所。山龙常常回答各种问题，这些问题 通常都与中国这个制造业大国有关。提问者既有对折叠自行车感兴趣的老年人，也有想骑死飞车拍照的时尚达人。 山龙说，各个阶层的人都来我的店，问有关自行车的种种问题，他们已经认识到骑自行车很酷，这是一种新时尚。 Yu Yiqun sees the bicycle as the ideal form of transformation-and not because he can't afford a car. In fact, the 40-year-old, who works as a creative director at Geogrum Advertising, owns 21 bikes, including high-end brands like Moulton, Cervélo and Colnago. 'You need different kinds of bicycles to ride in different kinds of environments,' he says. Mr. Yu has spent as much as 110,000 yuan (more than $17,000) on a bike and considers their versatility an advantage over cars. 'People in Beijing should update their ideas,' he says. Forget the idea, popularized by a Chinese reality-show contestant, that it's better to cry in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle. Two-wheeled transportation, which fell out of favor as China's middle class began buying cars with a vengeance, has been given new life with the introduction of a luxury class of bikes. BMW itself has gotten in on the rush, stocking its 'lifestyle' stores in Beijing with cycles that range in price from 17,000 to 55,000 yuan. The BMW logo appears as a tiny circle on the frame (which is usually black), and according to spokeswoman Hedy Luo, the top seller in China is the 13,000-yuan BMW Cruise, a 24-speed aluminum model. The car maker didn't respond to questions about bicycle sales in China. For some Chinese consumers, luxury bikes take them a step beyond the fancy car, designer handbag or lavish home, part of what Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the New York research firm Luxury Institute, calls an 'insatiable thirst' for such status symbols. 'Bicycles are a perfect example,' he says. 'They used to be something you had to use, then you graduate to cars, and now you might actually want a Ferrari bicycle.' Kunming, located in Yunnan province, has about a dozen bike shops catering to wealthy buyers, says Selman Pataudi, a sports physiology teacher and avid cyclist who previously helped import high-end bikes. The 'endless sprouting' of new shops around the city, he says, is a sign that entrepreneurs want to capitalize on the hunger for luxury bikes. Their target shoppers 'already have the fancy car,' says Wu Bato, who organizes bike trips around the country for Cycle China. 'They don't mind spending extra on a really expensive bike.' A friend of her recently took out a loan to splurge on a 20,000-yuan road bike, she adds. Other bemused observers have also noticed the premium on aesthetics. In Beijing, Rupert Campbell has spotted twentysomethings walking, not riding, their bikes through the upscale Sanlitun neighborhood. Young riders gravitate toward brightly colored, fixed-gear bikes, he says-not unlike their hipster counterparts in Brooklyn and London. A neon-green-and-black bike recently appeared in Luxury Insider, an online magazine, with a caption noting its influence by 'the nostalgic Chinese black bicycle, as well as the bold colors favored by the fixed-gear sporting community.' Designed by Hong Kong retailer Shanghai Tang and Colossi Cycling, a Dutch bicycle maker, it starts at 8,000 yuan. Bling is key, Mr. Pataudi says. 'People want everything in carbon fiber. They go for the marketing and go for the buzzwords.' Not everyone sees them only as accessories. Ines Brunn, who founded a club for fans of fixed-gear bikes, or 'fixies,' counts some 1,000 members and organizes regular evening and weekend rides around Beijing. Tucked in a quiet hutong neighborhood south of Lama Temple, Shannon Bufton operates a bike store and café called Serk. He fields questions, often about the country of manufacture, from everyone from senior citizens interested in fold-up bikes, to fashionistas looking to take their picture while on a fixed-gear bike. 'People from all walks of life are poking their heads in and asking about the bikes,' he says. 'And they already get that it's cool and that it's a new thing.' Debra Bruno |
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