Bike Study Suggests Manhattan Has More Hipsters than Brooklyn

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Everyone knows that hipsters love fixed gear bikes, so it stands to reason that fixie sales should be an indicator of hipsterness. That, at least, is the premise behind a Priceonomics blog study that determined that Manhattan has a higher hipster quotient than Brooklyn—but that New York in general pales behind places like Denver and Minneapolis.

To create the graph above, the Priceonomics folks examined the number of used fixed gear bikes for sale per capita in each borough. They found that Manhattan had nearly twice the number of fixies for sale as Brooklyn, even though Brooklyn had more bikes for sale in general. Then they processed the data across the nation, putting together a spreadsheet with their surprising findings. Southern California turns out to have the highest ranking, with Portland only coming in 14th. New York City ranked 31, just after Tuscon.

Of course, as terribly scientific as these findings might be, the study's original concept has some flaws (as the authors acknowledge). Maybe fixed gear bikes don't actually correspond with hipsterness, which, after all, is a pretty vague concept to begin with. Or maybe the places with the most fixies for sale are simply the places where the most people are trying to get rid of their bikes, rather than riding them around. Either way, one thing's for sure: If you want to buy a fixed gear bike, look in Manhattan, not in Brooklyn.
· The Fixie Bike Index [Pricenomics via Waxy.org]
· America's Top Bicycle Cities [Priceonomics]