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Here in the northern hemisphere, winter is upon us. For those whose main transportation is a scooter, it’s an especially hard time of year. Having all that wind rushing by your body is cold, cold, COLD! Even a scooter with a windshield offers little protection, and wearing heavy-duty protective clothing is a real pain.

China thinks it has the answer for this cold conundrum, but your ego may not like it.

Behold the wind-resistant blanket! Now on sale in China, this puffy thing comes in many patterns and cuts and was developed for use with electric scooters, though it would probably work with motor scooters or even bicycles as well. If you don’t mind looking like a tool, anyway.

It does look like it would keep you warm. You’re basically wrapping yourself up in a big blanket. The thought of zooming along all nice and toasty sounds appealing, but… I mean, look at the thing! Every single pattern is hideous and it looks absolutely ridiculous! You might as well wear one of those inflatable sumo suits.

▼ Suck it, Old Man Winter!

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Image: Kean Miles

As so often in life, it looks like the choices for scooter-riders this winter are be warm but look ridiculous or be stylish and freeze your arse off. If you are of the brave practicality-first crowd, you can choose sizes from a handlebar cover to a complete body protector starting at the low-low price of about US$2.50. Just remember: dignity is priceless.

Reference: 淘宝網 [1] [2], 天猫[1] [2] (Chinese)

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[ Read in Japanese ]