by Larry Lagarde

Fun, Guilt Free Shopping
Even for someone that hates to shop, shopping with the Mobiky is a blast. People are friendlier and the errands go a lot faster. Shopping is limited to what can fit in a backpack or handlebar bag so expensive impulse buying is kept to a minimum. Errands can be run without worrying over the high cost of gasoline or guilt about polluting the environment.

Recently, I used the Mobiky Genius folding bike for shopping at Walmart, Kmart, Big Lots & Walgreen's. Here's how it went.

Over the weekend, the tires I had ordered online for our Saturn Vue arrived at Walmart. Like virtually every business in the New Orleans area since Hurricane Katrina, Walmart is short staffed. They advised me to bring the car in early and expect to wait for several hours. I brought the Mobiky so I could run other errands without a car.

I dropped off the Saturn, unfolded the Mobiky & rode a half mile to Kmart to exchange a defective high output (80 lumen) Rayovac LED flashlight I was testing out as a bike light (a story for another day). I rode right up to the door, folded the Mobiky and walked straight past all the registers to the Customer Service desk. By the time I was being waited upon, if a person had driven a car from Walmart to Kmart, they would just be getting out of their car. Ha!

K mart's manager needed someone to go way over to the other side of the store to see if any of these flashlights were left so I could complete the exchange. As all the employees were busy and I knew exactly where to look, I offered to do this myself. The manager said "sure" so I zig zagged through the store pushing the Mobiky confidently past shoppers and merchandise. Unfortunately, they were out of stock on the flashlights. I returned to the Customer Service counter, accepted a refund and left the store.

At the exit, a Kmart shopper named Betty asked "is that a bike" so I showed her how it folded and unfolded. She was amazed. I told Betty that the bike costs $699 and she asked for a business card - as did another customer that was walking into the store. By the time I had reached the end of the parking lot, Betty had not even made it to her car.

I knew the Saturn would not be ready yet so I decided to go browsing at Big Lots. I bicycled over to the strip mall where Big Lots is located, rode up the ramp to the store's sliding doors, folded the bike and walked in.

Being an older Big Lots, this particular store is relatively small so the aisles are narrow and overflowing with goods. Making my way easily through the cramped store, several impressed store employees commented about how a bike like the Mobiky would be great for getting to and from work. A stocker that took the bus liked the bike because it would save him on the time it took to walk to/from the bus stop (over a mile away from his home). Since bus service is also infrequent, he said the bike would be a great alternative to walking home if the bus didn't show or if he missed it.

I rode back to Walmart. Waiting at a stoplight, a guy next to me in a pickup truck didn't know what to think of me standing in the next traffic lane on this bike with teeny 12" wheels. As usual, traffic was heavy. Despite pickup truck guy's obvious horsepower advantage, we moved along at the same speed...

I turned into the parking lot for the Walmart strip mall, biked past the Garden Center and pedaled around the side of the building to the Auto Center. According to the mechanic, the Saturn was next so I folded the bike and went shopping at Walmart. Several Walmart shoppers and employees asked about the bike. I did 2 demos in the store.

With at least an hour before the tires were ready, I had time to ride 3 miles away to Walgreen's to pickup a prescription. Again, I pedaled right up to the store's front door, dismounted, folded the bike and walked in, pushing the Mobiky next to me. The prescription was not ready yet so I strolled aimlessly through Walgreen's. Several more shoppers stopped me to talk about the bike. I did another demo; a child looked on, dumbfounded.

The pharmacist announced over the Walgreen's loudspeaker that my prescription was ready for pickup. I pushed the bike back to the pharmacy window, paid for the medicine, dropped it into my backpack, walked outside, unfolded the bike & sped away.

The award winning Mobiky Genius folding bike sells for $699 (including shipping within the USA lower 48 states) and comes in a variety of colors. For fun, guilt free transportation, it's definitely a winner.

Mobiky Genius Specs, Photos & Ordering

Labels: Mobiky-Genius