Bikes

Since moving to Germany my bike has started a small mutiny. First the prop stand broke off leaving the fitting....the rusty fitting. So rusty, that I couldn't get it off. This led to my first encounter with the bicycle repairer. Who gave me a prop stand, that didn't fit onto my bike. Fortunately it fitted onto a colleagues bike, who had just lost the prop stand. Lucky....just not for me.
Bying another prop stand at the repair shop did not help since it didn't fit on my bike either due to my disc brakes. Back to the shop, return the prop stand and ask if they have one that fits.
I show the bike, he repairer looks at it and says: Yes, these brakes are very rare.
Well, depends on where you come from. ;-)
Generally a neat bike in Germany looks like this:

 

 While in Denmark this is a neat bike:

 

The main difference is the creativity. German bikes are of good quality and look comfortable....and boring, soooo boring. A slim saddel is not standard equipment, and people look with wonder at my bike, which is not exactly high tech.
Moreover Germans are big fans of dynamo sets. And led-lights. And big chunky bike helmets.
I will not succomb to this trend!