A few posts ago jzZi aka "Mr Singapore Sling" showed us a pic of his famous Blueberry-Jopo. And surprisingly a combination of keywords "Jopo" and "Helsinki" brought some new visitors to our blog from Google, so thank you Sergey Brin and Larry Page for generating that traffic for us :-)
In his post Jzzi argued strongly that the old school Jopo is the only preferable choice, but I there have to disagree. The new Jopos might lack some of the style of the old ones (I specially like the main part of the old frame that has this box-like form and sharp edges, unlike the new round tube) but I think the new ones are pretty cool still. Like Tyler Brule had to say:
"Just as BMW has done much with the Mini, Helkama is sitting on a 1960s design icon called the Jopo that could become the urban runabout of choice everywhere from Nice to Nagoya."
Actually I think they're so cool that I had to get one for myself for urban commuting (mainly for that 5 min. ride to the office). I could have bought a classic Jopo just as well, but after a few months of serious e-baying (or huuto.netting here in Finland) I realized that it is a seller's market now for second hand Jopos here, they prices they were asking were insane. And they had this new down-to-earth-army-green color to match my needs, and I was sold.
I now dare you readers of this blog to vote: new school or old school, which is better? Your comments don't have to regard Jopos, we could widen this debate to ather areas of interest: cars, music, underwear, comic books, arts or what eva. I'd go for new school when it comes to bikes, consumer electronics, cars and such and to old school when it comes to skateboards, tv-series or music formats.
2 comments:
Congratulations on the new Jopo, it looks cool, the dark army green is nice touch!
yep, that nu-skool Jopo is a nice enough city vehicle. if i was to buy a jopo, i'd definitely go for the nouveau style. not only 'cos they are almost as cool as the originals, but i could never handle repairing an old bike, nevertheless have to time to find one on ebay/huuto.net. i'm quite cheap when it comes down to "vintage" (=used) stuff, so i could never pay more than 50-100 euros for a domestic vintage bike that i know everybody was giving away for free two years ago when they were not so hip. plus, i like my stuff shiny and new, until i've worn it and it becomes "my stuff". that's okay, but old and worn out stuff worn out by someone elese is just not cool.
otherwise, it'sa not so easy to rule out between old / new school... it goes alittle something like this: vinyl=cool, iPods and electronic gadgets=cool, old cars=cool as F**k, but not for me, new cars=cool, vintage clothes=are you friggin serious, that died with grunge, throwback clothes=now we're talking. So it really depends on the case. old style and design with new motoring and finishing touches is the key to successful products.
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