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Beautiful bikes for Wellington

Home » Blog » Su Yin Khoo » Beautiful bikes for Wellington

By Su Yin Khoo

Do you live in Wellington? Cycle everywhere or planning to? Oh how I envy you!

Above: Jason's mamachari

The past year or so has been an interesting time to be a commuter cyclist in New Zealand. You notice more and more people using their bikes in lieu of the car and yet there are few shops that stock bicycles to suit those needs—modified 'Frankenbikes' a consequence of this gap in the market.

Jason and Sarah Penny in Wellington decided to do something about it and started Mamachari to beautify Wellington with pretty bicycles.

Mamachari (ママチャリ) is a term of endearment for bicycles in Japan that loosely translates as 'housewife bicycles' because the womenfolk use them for their grocery run and to transport the children around.

Don't be fooled though—everyone in Japan uses these type of utilitarian bicycles. These upright step-through bikes almost always come with a basket, bell, full mud-and chain-guards, a kickstand, rear racks and dynamo-powered lights—everything you need to get about your everyday business in comfort.

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Jason and Sarah are planning a trip to Osaka soon to scout for more mamachari. In the meantime, have a look at their collection of beautiful bikes on their Facebook page.

Su Yin Khoo is a designer for Good magazine and a proud owner of a Frankenmamachari

Comments

Annabel McAleer
 
Mon April 12, 2010 @ 08:23 AM
I lived in Japan for a year and LOVED riding my mamachari everywhere. I even rode to work in the snow. It's great to sit so upright, you can really be aware of what's going on around you, and also it's just a cruisey and relaxed way to ride.

Drivers in Japan are fabulous (well … if you're a cyclist they're fabulous!) as they're so used to cyclists and give way to absolutely everything, but it's also completely commonplace to ride on the footpath if the road is a bit busy and scary. Wish we could do that in Auckland!
Su Yin Khoo
 
Mon April 12, 2010 @ 09:32 AM
A driver didn't even give way to me when I was walking on the footpath this morning. He just stormed his way through feeling all-important on his Jeep.

But for one of him, there are many other nice drivers I encounter daily. One even smiled and waved at me and that totally made my day :)
pioverten
 
Mon April 12, 2010 @ 09:17 PM
yuk!!, they look slow, un-chuckable, inefficient and heavy!
bikes like this serve to cement in motorists minds that cyclists are only capable of 20-25km/h....
Annabel McAleer
 
Tue April 13, 2010 @ 08:50 AM
What's wrong with drivers being reminded that bikes are slower than them? Isn't it when bikes go super-fast and therefore seem somewhat unpredicatable that drivers get p'ssed off?
Su Yin Khoo
 
Tue April 13, 2010 @ 09:01 AM
Hi pioverten, thanks for your comments!

I'm not quite sure what you mean by un-chuckable?

For me, these bikes are practical for getting around town and carrying my load of groceries. I can't do that on a racing bike just like how people wouldn't drive an F1 automobile to the supermarket.

The functionality of these bikes may stay the same over the decades but with the availability of new materials, you'll find that some of them are pretty light and can hold their own on the road!

But since bikes aren't overly expensive, in theory I could own one mamachari, one racing bike, one mountain bike, one foldable bike ... :)
Mamachari lover
 
Wed April 14, 2010 @ 08:56 AM
I've been riding my Mamachari to uni everyday and absolutely love it - saving myself time and money spent on the bus. I can nip to the supermarket & sunday vege market without having to worry about finding a park and carry my load home quite comfortably. My bike is light weight and faster than riding a mountain bike on the road! I couldn't live without my Mamachari now
Patrick Morgan
www.can.org.nz
 
Thu April 15, 2010 @ 05:53 PM
Nice ride Su Yin! Like the man-basket on the back.
I'm convinced that mamachari is the way to go. It's kinda the opposite of lycra.
Pedal on.
Su Yin Khoo
 
Thu April 15, 2010 @ 07:40 PM
Ah, that's actually Jason's bike in the top photo ... I can't take credit for it ;-)

I do have a unisex basket though.
piover
 
Thu April 15, 2010 @ 07:50 PM
unchuckable meaning not that rapidly or violently manouverable.  I survived 4 years riding to uni in auckland (about 13k each way), and a big part of that was having a bike (and a body) that could swerve,stop and go fast.

motorists continue to take liberties against cyclists working on the premise of 'he's not going that fast' or 'its easier for him to stop' (part of the asian 'might is right' traffic rules).  

anyway, i'm just angry because i have blown out knees and cant ride that much anymore.

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