Thank you to another AustinBikeBlog reader for alerting me to the existence of this week’s nominee for our Dumbest Product of the Week. This week’s winner once again attempts to solve a legitimate problem, being seen at night, but takes a wrong turn somewhere along the way and ends up at a dead end with no cheese.
I present to you the Cordarounds, reversible, reflect pants for your everyday, night on the town needs. The Cordarounds site says:
Bike pants make for silly work pants, and vice versa. So we set out to design a product for commuters that functioned equally well at both.
These are bold words indeed from a maker of pants so silly.
I think the people in the bike industry have a problem with specificity of design. They want a performance bike that will also serve as a transportation bike. Actually, they usually just give us a performance bike, put a fender on it, and call it “Urban”. I think we need to embrace the idea of the right tool for the right job. A bike light is going to be way more visible than reflectors. Are reflectors a good addition? Sure, on your bike, on your rack, on your bag, but are wearing reflective pants really necessary?
Cordarounds actually lost it for me completely with their demonstration of their most reflective setup, what they like to call Mudflaps show below. Now, a lot of people already think I’m pretty crazy for biking in Texas. If I were to start riding around with my pockets out in such a fashion, it would not be long before the little yellow school bus would be coming by to pick me up.
The Cordarounds website tries mighty hard to be edgy, daring us to invent our own way of wearing them. (On my head? Both legs in one pant leg? How many ways can you really wear pants?) As if wearing safety reflective pants can ever be a rebel statement. If I’m raging against the world and don’t care about my future, safety pants are not going to be in my wardrobe.
In the end, I suspect urban hipsters aren’t going to be the ones wearing these. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to be shoot the moon ironic to pull these off as cool. These cyclists are not going to be punkish fixed gear riders or velo couture Dutch bike mavens. No, helmet mirrors and socks with sandals are going to be more the standard fare. These kind of riders don’t need anything more to single themselves out fashion refugees. Let’s help our less fashionable cycling brethren by steering them away from such products. I can only hope someone will be so kind to me.
Enjoy your weekend, and get out and ride your bike.
Read the previous week’s Dumbest Product of the Week.
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on Sep 26th, 2008 at 10:41 am
That’s definitely a “good idea gone wrong.” I thought they were “neat” up until I saw the “mudflap pockets”…that’s just a little over the top. Wow, this “comment” has been riddled with quotes…
on Sep 26th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Cycling like this would make you much, much more noticeable in traffic…
on Oct 1st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
This product has to make your next dumbest products of the week
http://bikehugger.com/2008/10/off_the_beaten_path_at_interbi_4.htm
Is it that horrible to be partly naked in public for like 5-10 seconds? Oh my!!!
on Jan 29th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
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