Bike Business goes Begging on Waiheke

Over summer, what looks to be a thriving bike hire business operates from a small booth near the ferry terminal, complete with maintenance gear, yet according to the operator, if you live on the island and you need bike repairs "you learn to do it yourself". There is no bike retailer or repairer on Waiheke Island. You may pick up the odd emergency supplies from the el cheapo dollar stores in Oneroa but as for anything more demanding, you could end up stuck.
The Christchurch earthquake has reinforced all too clearly the immediate reversion to simpler technologies that occurs for many, faced with the sudden breakdown in infrastructure and damage to transport amenities.
The bicycle, invented in the early 1800's, has endured because of its functional ease and will continue to be of service in the ravaged streets of Christchurch as well as in the everyday lives of millions globally. So, a bike business goes begging on Waiheke, waiting for some small entrepreneur to activate a market niche, catering to not only present demand, but with a vision based on "what if" damage to the infrastructure in Auckland left the island isolated for any extended duration, no fuel deliveries, no cars, no buses. The bicycle endures.

Links: transport alternatives for Waiheke; blog with video re an initiative to bring more electric bikes