I don’t doubt that the Schwinn Midtown is a far inferior bike, from the point of view of a bike connoisseur, to whatever is being sold used in Portland. But you’ve got to love a city whose citizens put a set of moral/aesthetic principles — whether it’s riding a bike with proper disc brakes or refusing to support the Big Box stores — this far above their own financial well-being. And although every city has its bike aficionados, I think that in Portland, most people just buy rebuilt bikes locally because it feels right to do so, not because all these everyday bike riders can really tell the difference between Shimano TX-30 derailleurs and M-970 XTR’s.

The Freakonomics blog has an article on bicycle inflation . In cities where bikes are a serious form of transportation the value of bikes skyrockets while the value of cars falls off. According to the informal study done by the author, Robin Goldstein, Portland is matched with San Francisco for the most expensive bikes and least expensive cars. Seattle has even more expensive bikes and cheaper cars.

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Taking pride of place on Fisher Outdoor Leisure's stand at Cycle Show 2011 this weekend was this eyecatching Demo 8 – a collaboration between bike makers Specialized and custom paint masters Troy Lee Designs. A frame like this deserves a parts spec to match, and Fisher didn't disappoint, decking out the show bike with a RockShox. The paint job has been designed by Troy himself, with sparkly orange paint, 3D down tube graphics and rainbow stripes on the upper link to celebrate team rider Sam Hill's victory at the 2010 World Championships. The special edition TLD collaboration is available now for £1,999.

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