Good bikes should be had by all

So one of the few people I would ever have gotten a hand made bike from is closing his shop Jonnycycles.com. I've seen a number of his bikes on Fixed Gear Gallery and I must say, I like what he does and I like the way he does it. Sadly not everyone (including me) can afford a custom bike so little guys like him are going out of business. I see this more as a problem with the way our economic system works then anything. It is my personal belief that everyone (I mean last person on the face of the planet) should be able to have a quality bike that will last them a lifetime for a price that is not 2,0000 dollars U.S. for the frame alone. A lot of the people I see riding their bikes for transport can not afford a quality bike, they can afford the walmart special ($150-$200 new and I have a feeling that they aren't buying them new) and the bike is not going to last them. The parts will wear out in a year or so and they'll be forced to keep riding or throw it away and get another.

I remember while I was living in Salt Lake I would generally see the same guy dressed in commercial kitchen garb riding his bike to work each morning. It was an ill fitting walmart special that creaked and groaned as I'd pass him. Both he and I rode year round so I know he was putting some real miles on that bike.

My point is that bikes are a much less expensive form of transport then a car but if you have to go long distances (which more and more working people have to do as our inner cities become gentrified and they can't afford to live and work in the same city) you can buy a cheep car for 500 dollars that will maybe get you to work everyday but the cost of repairs and gas will push that well over the cost of a good bike but because that cost is spread out over months or even years people don't feel it as much as if it all happened at once. So Jonnycycles is closing up because not enough people can buy his product. There are so many reasons why this happens but the main underlying reason is the flaws inherent in capitalism. I would love for some day every city in the Emerica to look like Amsterdam, in regard to bikes anyway... I'd love to see the day when working people can afford to live closer to where they work, they can get there by bike with out fear of being killed by a car and they can do it on a bike that they won't have to replace unless it breaks. Oh well... I know I'll never live to see that day.