"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

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

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

"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

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

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

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

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

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.

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