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#21
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
On Sep 27, 2:08 pm, Matt O'Toole wrote:
Wired has a nice article about how non-sport bikes are hot sellers again: http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels...ke_urbanbikers This proves what can happen when fresh, smart people like Ms. Yeager are put in charge of marketing, and allowed to try something different than the same tired old formulas (More carbon! Even fewer spokes!). This summer I spent 2.5 weeks in southern CA, where beach cruisers are back with a vengeance. Everyone is riding, and teenagers are again using bikes as their preferred mode of transportation. There seem to be 3x as many bike shops as 5 years ago, most of them selling beach cruisers and a few town/city bikes. Text of the article is below, for the Usenet archives, in case Wired eventually makes it unavailable. Matt O. *** "City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show --LAS VEGAS -- Some people believe that, right now, a quiet revolution is taking place. In cities like London, San Francisco, Boston and New York, the ranks of bicycle riders are swelling with the rise of a new breed: the urban biker. Traffic snarls, soaring gas prices and worries about global warming have prompted a big boost in cycling, affecting even places like Los Angeles -- America's freeway capital -- that have traditionally given bicycles the cold shoulder. "What's really happened in the past year is a cultural shift," says Monica Howe, 31-year-old outreach coordinator for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. At Interbike 2007, the bicycle industry's giant annual trade show, the shift toward the urban rider is loudly evident. Fancy road and mountain bikes are clearly no longer king of the roost -- or road. It's the scads of fixed-gear, town, single-speed and other urban bicycles that are drawing the crowds. The rise of the urban biker is reflected in Specialized's 2008 catalog, which lists 34 different models of city bike to choose from. The company is even rolling out six different versions of its ultrapopular single-speed, fixed-gear Langster. Each model is named after a city that's on the urban biker radar: the four cities named above, plus Chicago and Seattle. The New York Langster has narrow handlebars for speeding through ranks of slow-moving cars, while the Seattle model is equipped with fenders. "People really gravitated toward bikes with that urban feel," says Travis Widder, an associate production manager at Specialized. "We wanted to give nods toward cities where that bike sold well, where people really embraced that category." Interbike 2007 is a lot less sporty than years past. Clothing manufacturers have more messenger bags on show. Jerseys and shorts are more urban, less multi-colored lycra. Swobo, the trendy clothing maker, recently launched its first line of three city bikes, and is just one of several companies showing new urban rides. If anyone gave birth to the urban biker movement, it's probably Sky Yaeger, Swobo's managing director. Yaeger was responsible for designing a slew of bikes during her time as production manager at famed Italian manufacturer Bianchi. Some of her designs, like the fixed-gear Pista, have been elevated to cult status. Thanks to the bike's simplicity, it became the favored transport of urbanites like skaters and surfers. "What happened is we crossed over the bike culture into skate, surf," she says. "The kids that are doing it now wouldn't have bought a bike five years ago. That's a huge delight to me -- because they're on bikes." In L.A., the bike revolution is helped by shops like the grassroots Bicycle Kitchen. "It makes it easy for anyone to put together a bike cheap," says Howe. "And it made it hip, which can't hurt." Volunteers at the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective, a nonprofit that provides tools and training for riders to maintain their bikes, have experienced a huge bump in visitors. "It's gotten out of hand," says Michael Wise, the collective's treasurer. "We don't have enough volunteers to help the people coming in looking." San Francisco's trendy Mission District is a hotbed of bicycle activity. A bicycle lane running the length of Valencia Street is a major artery, as hipsters in hoodies and precisely rolled, tight-fitting jeans flow along the street. At Valencia Cyclery, which is often proclaimed the city's best bike store, sales associate Babs Brockaway says she's seen the number of customers leaving with shiny new fixed-gear ("fixie") and single-speed bikes skyrocket. The store stocks five or six choices, up from a single model two years ago. The simplicity appeals to neophyte riders overwhelmed by too much technology. "It's simple: You just pedal," she says. "This is shocking, but there are people who buy bikes with gears, who don't shift gears." Just across from Valencia Cyclery is Ritual Coffee Roasters, a popular coffeehouse often stuffed full of young hipsters glued to their MacBooks. It's also a favorite haunt of the urban biker. Outside, Matt McDonald, a 24-year-old photographer from Boston, talks about his fixie. "My friends in Boston were getting into these bikes, and it was just sort of appealing to me. It's like there's nothing to worry about, and they're just a blast to ride." *** Theres never been a shortage of bikes in lower Manhattan (NYC). Most seem to be low end mtb types. Just look at any traffic sign and see them all chained up, with no seats. Seems theft is a major problem, and people haven't found a good way of securing their seats (or maybe a seatless bike is just less attractive to thieves) Eric |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
In article . com,
landotter writes: I've been watching the news from Interbike, and there sure are a lot of commuter-centric bikes available. Some, I think, are going to do very well. I think Raleigh has a hit with it's Detour Deluxe. Fully specced out commuter(rack, fenders, dynohub, front and rear lights)--$710. Put that on the showroom floor and watch it sell. Nah, put a hip $500 3 speed with fenders and a rack on the floor and it will sell. Except perhaps for the "hip" part, you just described the Raleigh Sport I had in my youth. Except for the $500 part, you just described my Raleigh Twenty. cheers, Tom -- Nothing is safe from me. I'm really at: tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca |
#23
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
It's almost impossible to get customers to buy practical bikes. We've
stocked fully-decked-out commuter bikes, and they sit & rot on the floor. We've dressed up stock standard bikes, showing people what's available for them, and they just collect dust and sales of fenders & lighting systems only go to those who already understand their value, not new converts to the cause. I think it's a matter of pricing. The reason the Schwinn World Avenue has done relatively well is because they priced it well. On sale, with the Team Performance discount, it goes for around $320, sometimes less. They can't keep it in stock. It's going to be very different for a $700-1000 commuter bike, even if it includes some dynamo lights. I really don't think it's a pricing issue, since the bike we set up as a "proof of concept" machine was built around a $260 model, so the whole thing ready to go was only around $400. Schwinn's present entry-level "commute" bike is the World GS, which is a basic hybrid with only fenders and a rear rack added, no lights. http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/...ail.php?id=981. In fact, there are no lights supplied until you get all the way up to their top-of-the-line model, the World Adventure- http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/...ail.php?id=954. If these bikes are selling well, it's not due to price & spec, but because Performance has gotten behind them. If so, more power to them! They're doing a much better job (given the apparent success) than I've been able to do. But suitability to task? In my opinion, a commute bike should be tough as nails, and part of that is keeping things simple. I'd ditch the suspension fork immediately, although I admit there are some environments where even the crude forks such bikes come with might add some degree of comfort. --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReactionBicycles.com |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
"BobT" wrote in message . .. "Matt O'Toole" wrote in message news Wired has a nice article about how non-sport bikes are hot sellers again: http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels...ke_urbanbikers "City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show Oh no! My commuter/touring bike and I might become hip! What else will I need to do to become a hipster? Dye my hair green (after some Grecian formula as well)? Wear my old, out of style (I'm not very good at determing this) clothes rather than taking them to the Salvation Army? Get rid of my Rohloff hub and get a fixie hub (it will be easy to put it back on when the fad dies out)? Are my fenders and lights now cool? BobT After reading my own post, I realized I made a mistake. I should have asked: Are my fenders and lights now really deck? BobT |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
In rec.bicycles.misc Gooserider wrote:
"datakoll" wrote in message ps.com... I'm betting on burlap, knobbies and 3 speeds. I wish someone would compete with Carradice and bring out traditionally styled cotton duck panniers with modern mounting hardware. :-) Err, you mean like the SQR type saddlebag I've been using for the past three years? http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/bags/sqr-products.htm -- Dane Buson - The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science requires reasoning while those other subjects merely require scholarship. -- Robert Heinlein |
#26
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
Gooserider wrote:
That being said, selling an expensive hybrid commuter is difficult. Selling an expensive road bike is relatively easy. "Hey, feel how light it is!", or "Hey, check out those lugs. That bike is hand made by a craftsman in Wisconsin.". Selling an MTB is easy, too---it's all about the cutting edge tech. "SMS" wrote I think Performance had the better plan with the World Avenue. Sell a relatively low priced commute bicycle with racks, fenders, and most importantly a chain guard. I wish they'd included a hub dynamo too. OTOH, all of the factory hub-dynamo equipped bicycles I see around here (mainly Joe Breeze and REI Transfer) have additional lights installed because they're used in an environment where the included dynamo lights don't cut it. If the owners knew about the SolidLight for dynamos, and had a way to buy it here for $150 or so, I'd think it'd sell reasonably well, since the battery powered systems on these bikes are always of the expensive varietyMike Jacoubowsky wrote: That being said, selling an expensive hybrid commuter is difficult. Selling an expensive road bike is relatively easy. "Hey, feel how light it is!", or "Hey, check out those lugs. That bike is hand made by a craftsman in Wisconsin.". Selling an MTB is easy, too---it's all about the cutting edge tech. I think Performance had the better plan with the World Avenue. Sell a relatively low priced commute bicycle with racks, fenders, and most importantly a chain guard. I wish they'd included a hub dynamo too. OTOH, all of the factory hub-dynamo equipped bicycles I see around here (mainly Joe Breeze and REI Transfer) have additional lights installed because they're used in an environment where the included dynamo lights don't cut it. If the owners knew about the SolidLight for dynamos, and had a way to buy it here for $150 or so, I'd think it'd sell reasonably well, since the battery powered systems on these bikes are always of the expensive variety. Mike Jacoubowsky wrote: It's almost impossible to get customers to buy practical bikes. We've stocked fully-decked-out commuter bikes, and they sit & rot on the floor. We've dressed up stock standard bikes, showing people what's available for them, and they just collect dust and sales of fenders & lighting systems only go to those who already understand their value, not new converts to the cause. It's possible that the new widespread awareness of global warming may have an effect, along with a general feeling that we ought to do a better job of protecting the planet for the next generation. But I'm skeptical. We, as an industry, are relatively powerless. We don't control the media, or at least the parts that influence the lives of everyday people. The bicycle industry is finally beginning to band together for common marketing causes, of which utility use bicycles is a big battle cry. The feeling is that, if we can get utilitarian use of the bicycle seen as a mainstream activity, it will raise sales of *all* types of bicycles, thus avoiding the pitfall of creating a beast that becomes a non-profit commodity item. Would be nice that we actually had reason to be scared of creating such a beast... Yet the same guy who walks past those bikes will spend a few hundred _more_ badly accessorizing a lesser bike (with much tedium) over the span of a year or two... -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
In rec.bicycles.misc Gooserider wrote:
"Dane Buson" wrote in message In rec.bicycles.misc Gooserider wrote: I wish someone would compete with Carradice and bring out traditionally styled cotton duck panniers with modern mounting hardware. :-) Err, you mean like the SQR type saddlebag I've been using for the past three years? http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/bags/sqr-products.htm Not saddlebag----panniers. Big, huge difference. Err.... Doh! Mea Culpa! That's what I get for posting when I'm at about 20% mental capacity. [1] I think when I get home from work, I should just go lie on the couch and go "wibble" for a while (without the pencils up nose and the underpants on my head though). [1] Out 'Too Darn Late' riding and hanging about with disreputable types. It was a mighty wet night. A sign of the coming monsoon season most likely. -- Dane Buson - "There's no set architecture in Linux. All roads lead to madness" -Microsoft |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
In rec.bicycles.misc BobT wrote:
"Matt O'Toole" wrote in message news Wired has a nice article about how non-sport bikes are hot sellers again: http://www.wired.com/cars/coolwheels...ke_urbanbikers "City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show Oh no! My commuter/touring bike and I might become hip! What else will I need to do to become a hipster? Dye my hair green (after some Grecian formula as well)? Nononono, Chromium *red* is the new green. Keep up in the back there. Wear my old, out of style (I'm not very good at determing this) clothes rather than taking them to the Salvation Army? That should work nicely! Get rid of my Rohloff hub and get a fixie hub (it will be easy to put it back on when the fad dies out)? Probably for the best, you don't really need gears for trackstand competitions and hanging at the coffee shop. Are my fenders and lights now cool? Fenders, you might be able to squeak by with the really terrible clip-on ones. Lights - Bah! Hipsters are practically the new ninjas! Weaving silently through the darkness, invisible, silent (no brake squeals!), deadly (more to themselves than others though). -- Dane Buson - A Difficulty for Every Solution. -- Motto of the Federal Civil Service |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
In rec.bicycles.misc Gooserider wrote:
"Don Wiss" wrote in message news On Thu, 27 Sep 2007, Gooserider wrote: The shocker for me? The $2000 Breezer "commuter" Huh? Breezer's most expensive "town" bike is the Uptown 8. It goes for $850. Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom). Ya need to keep up with what's going on at Interbike. http://commutebybike.com/2007/09/26/...commuter-bike/ $1900 Breezer Finesse. You're welcome. $1900 and no chain guard? Fail. -- Dane Buson - XML is like violence -- if its not solving your problem, use more. |
#30
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
In article ,
"Gooserider" writes: I think it's a matter of pricing. The reason the Schwinn World Avenue has done relatively well is because they priced it well. On sale, with the Team Performance discount, it goes for around $320, sometimes less. They can't keep it in stock. It's going to be very different for a $700-1000 commuter bike, even if it includes some dynamo lights. Cheaper is better for a dedicated commuter, I think. Of course, that depends on the type of commute. But for something that may be locked to a rack all day, or will be used for stops at the grocery store on the way home from work---yes. They're making a big deal about the dynohub lights, but I don't know how bright these lights will be. I know that there are good generator lights(Lumotec, etc), but are these cheap ones good? The old Union U-100 headlights serve my purposes well, as they have done for decades. I'm sure the latest headlight profferings have improved on beam shaping etc. But after all, the ol' U-100 was specifically designed for bicycling purposes too. I luv that big, fat, shiny disc of glow that its lens displays to onlookers. I figure, it's not just how bright it is -- it's also how /big/ it is. I also have a plastic-shell'd cheap-o version of it, which performs just as adequately. And I have a couple of Tung-Lin headlights which are quite fancy but have a design flaw -- the bracket which attaches to the front brake bolt is just riveted onto the headlight shell, and under the weight of the headlight the rivets eventually loosen. Anyway, the guts of an efficient headlight is the Fresnel-ish lens, and they've been readily & inexpensively manufactured since Hector was a pup. Generator taillights also have some qualities I prefer over blinkies. For one thing, they don't disappear from a coming-from-behind drivers' view at certain angles as readily as many blinkies do. And they cast a sort of big, red aura in the air around them, much more than typical blinkie LEDs do. Generator taillights penetrate slight-medium fog better than LEDs. Neither type of light penetrates really thick fog very well. Generator taillights can look sharp when fender-mounted. Mine doesn't; I kinda quick-&-dirtily kludged my jerry-built mounting. One of these days maybe I'll concoct some sort of streamlined housing built right into the fender (when I get a round tuit.) -- Nothing is safe from me. I'm really at: tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca |
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