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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
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." *** |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:08:39 -0400, Matt O'Toole
quoted, in part: If anyone gave birth to the urban biker movement, it's probably Sky Yaeger, Swobo's managing director. Bulldadda. Urban cycling has been with us for over 130 years We can look forward to scooping some nice equipment at garage sales after these trend following fixey clones get their knee replacement surgeries. If anyone is responsible for cyclists regaining their senses it was you, me and freds the world over who never knew transportation/utility/commuting cycling was ever out of "fashion". Our "beaters" are the real progenitors of this new bicycle breed. Ms. Yeager just happened to pick up on the meme at a time when cities are becoming untenable for occupants of those stinking lesser vehicles that we've been brainwashed to accept as normal. -- zk |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
I'm betting on burlap, knobbies and 3 speeds. |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
"datakoll" wrote in message ps.com... I'm betting on burlap, knobbies and 3 speeds. Trikes. |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
Gooserider wrote:
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. But will the dealers put it on the showroom floor? Trek had some good commute bicycles but almost no dealers carried them. Specialized had the Globe, a very good deal (about the same price as the Raleigh), but only a couple of shops in my area carried them, and none close to me (one dealer in San Francisco, one in Palo Alto). They always say, "we can order it for you, just pay first." This is a recipe for failure. The dealers don't believe they will sell and don't want to use floor space for inventory that they can't move at a good margin. At least the REI Transfer ("http://www.rei.com/product/744802") is a bike that you can actually try before you ride. |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
sew? make a cereal type box with cardboard and packing tape then lay fabric over the box, double stick tape the fabric or spot glue then sew it up. or go green and tack it with thread and pins. |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
On Sep 27, 9:18 pm, "Gooserider" wrote:
"SMS" wrote in message ... Gooserider wrote: 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. But will the dealers put it on the showroom floor? Trek had some good commute bicycles but almost no dealers carried them. Specialized had the Globe, a very good deal (about the same price as the Raleigh), but only a couple of shops in my area carried them, and none close to me (one dealer in San Francisco, one in Palo Alto). They always say, "we can order it for you, just pay first." This is a recipe for failure. The dealers don't believe they will sell and don't want to use floor space for inventory that they can't move at a good margin. At least the REI Transfer ("http://www.rei.com/product/744802") is a bike that you can actually try before you ride. The suggestion from manufacturers is that "things are different now" and "the market is ready". Whether shop owners will commit to stocking them remains to be seen----but the Raleigh has a much better chance of being stocked than the Civia. 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. How do you convince someone to spend $3000 on a Civia, a bike which is pretty much single purpose? If I buy a Trek Portland, I can commute on it, race cross on it, tour on it, or put light wheels on it and go fast. You can't do that on a hybrid, realistically.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - piker |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
On Sep 27, 7:30 pm, "Gooserider" 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 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. 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. My LBS has been selling out of the Electra Amsterdams @ 550, and this is freaking Nashville Tennessee. Mind, it is in a pocket of weirdos, artists, and queers. The Amsterdam is quite nice, and has hit a big niche--but I think that there's a parallel niche for a more mildly retro/modern and less severe bike that's more like the standard modern utility bikes you see in Sweden, basically hybrid geometry, with North Road type bars and a gear hub. |
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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. 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. |
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"City Bike" Hot New Category at Bicycle Industry Show
SIZE: One; step-through available WEIGHT: 30.1 lb. FRAME: Aluminum alloy FORK: Single-crown steel COMPONENT HIGHLIGHTS: Shimano Nexus internal 3-speed hub, Revo shifter, 19t cassette; 700x38 tires the amsterdam weighs 30 pounds! giveum a 3 speed calloi with flourescent orange paint and a puke green fade anyway, are yawl sure these guys wanna sell to poor people? |
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