Curb climber

Curb Climber CartI just placed an order for a bonafide, practically all-terrain, city cart. They show up all over the city, used equally by hipsters and the homeless, for groceries and laundry. But I haven’t really found any in stores. You’d think there’d be a Carts “Я” Us or somesuch, but instead people told us they brought theirs with them from another city, or they picked it up on craigslist.

Stephanie says this model is exactly like one her mom used to have back in France, but when she first tried to pantomime the action of its stair-climbing wheels, I had no idea what she was talking about. That is, until tonight, after a little searching around on Google, when we discovered it at The Vermont Country Store, Purveyors of the Practical & Hard-To-Find. Indeed.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006 11:55pm
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Jason
8/24/06 7:36am

This is an aspect of city living that I am completely unaware of…people really use these to just haul things around?

It reminds me a little of my most recent bag purchase, a Zuca. It’s a wheeled bag with an aluminum frame that doubles as a seat/table/stand. Mine is used for conferences/laptop/book stuff, and it is freakin’ amazing. Highly recommended if you need a wheeled case.

As for this…what are the uses of your new curb climber?

matt
8/24/06 9:45am

I…I don’t know how to feel about you purchasing one of these. While I understand the practicality of it, having adventured in San Francisco numerous times I tend to associate these carts more with the tortoise-like elderly.

justin
8/24/06 10:10am

Jason, the primary purpose is going to be laundry, which we don’t have in our building), and secondarily groceries, some of which are nearby, but not far enough to make it worth driving (and parking). Oh, and we live on the second story of our building.

Matt, so far half the usage I’ve seen is by homeless folks loading the thing down with innumerable quantities of recyclables, and the remainder have been hipsters at the grocery store and laundromat. Hopefully the mars-rover-esque curb-climbing wheels will put us more in the latter camp than the former.

Jessica
8/24/06 8:53pm

GREAT site Justin!! Please don’t ever shut your website down :-) This picture grabbed my attention instantly since I have tried several kinds of carts to haul my stuff upstairs and have found nothing that rolls up the stairs easily. Most are horribly cumbersome so I end up making several trips to the parking lot in the complex. Please do a follow up story with what your opinions are about the cart. Plus I would be curious to know how smooth it truly goes upstairs…otherwise there’s a big bang 30 times up the stairs ;-) Thank you kindly. PS…looks be damned, you do what’s best for YOU!

matt
8/25/06 12:09am

I think the wheels lend more of the “hipster” air than “stolen shoping cart.” Still, wouldn’t hurt to pimp it out. Get some spinnaz for the front wheels. Maybe paint some flames on it or tie streamers to the handlebar. And you should defninitely drop a 120+ watt sub in that beyotch.

justin
8/25/06 1:03am

Dude, I’m totally swapping in some knobby tires (a la the Segway x2) for the occasional off-road laundry run. Though I think I might need to pick up a more homely specimen for some more extreme modding.

Jessica, believe you me, my city experience will be blogged. I’ll report back after the cart arrives.

Speaking of carts, I thought I’d add that Jason just posted about his recently acquired Zuca. Looks pretty freaking awesome.