Better let a robot park your $12K bicycle

In Tokyo, more people commute by bicycle than in all of the United States. That’s a lot of bicycles (about 700,000 a day, according to the Washington Post). All those people need places to put their bikes, so the city spent $67 million to build a gigantic, underground robotic parking garage. That’s right. For about $18 a month, you can let a robotic arm valet park your bicycle within the bowels of the garage.

And once you get your bike back from the robots, you want it to stand out, right? Of course you do. Any stylish person in their right mind wouldn’t want to get caught putting around Tokyo on the same ol’ boring two-wheeler that 699,000 other people happen to have. So, of course, the only real option is this $12,600 bicycle from Chanel. It’s got all you really need to get around town: eight gears, a comfortable upright riding position, and three ridiculously expensive Chanel luggage bags. Prices seem to vary, since there are only 50 in existence and only 20 of those available in the United States, according to some purse website that I’d be embarassed to source. If you want to check one out, why not ask this guy (or girl). He’s in Sacramento and is asking a paltry $16,995 for it. What a steal!

I can only imagine the amount of searing jealousy this bike would cause riding past all the scenester fixie-riding kids who couldn’t even dream of affording one. Seriously. It’ll make you cooler. That’s why it’s so expensive.

P.S. They have those garages for cars, too, in several flavors: