So, remember the bike hustle I mentioned? The one where I text people who are selling bikes on Craigslist and ask if I can trade them design work for the bike instead of cold hard cash? Trying to hearken back to a simpler, friendlier time of sharing and barter between neighbors? The other day I said, "No luck so far – but in a city of 3 million people, I figure it will eventually work on someone."
I was wrong.
Because here's the problem: hipsters ride bikes. Most of the bikes in this God-forsaken city, it seems, are owned by hipsters. And what are hipsters? ANSWER: all members of the tiny cross section of society that doesn't need design work because they ARE designers or are in bands with designers or date designers.
(Bike pictured above? Ukrainian Village with a squished Dark Matter Coffee cup and empty pack of American Spirits in the basket. I mean, REALLY. AMERICAN SPIRITS.)
And it gets even better! If it's a road bike that says "vintage" in the description I can guarantee that the seller is a designer. If the bike comes from Wicker Park, Humboldt Park or Ukranian Village, the seller is a designer. If it says "fixie" in the description, the seller is a designer. Without fail.
I'm going to have to specialize my search. Like, try to target med students and sorority girls in Lincoln Park or something.
I'll keep you posted.
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