What happened to the bike boom?

On 6/27/2017 8:04 PM, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 27 Jun 2017 09:06:01 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-06-27 08:44, Frank Krygowski wrote:
I've long thought that surges and declines in bicycling popularity are
chaotic, driven more by fashion than by policy or government action.

The author of this excerpt seems to agree:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...70s-cycle-boom


Want to get more butts on bikes? Instead of trying to influence
government to install paint stripes and concrete barriers, it may be
more effective to arrange to photograph a couple Kardashians riding.


Looks like there wasn't ever a dramatic drop-off, almost as many new
bikes are sold in the US today as in the boom year:

http://nbda.com/articles/industry-ov...-2015-pg34.htm

Corrected by the increased population it's less but OTOH the bikes that
are sold nowadays contain a larger percentage of "real" bicycles. Bought
at reputable bike shops and in the four-digit price range. Else
companies such as Trek, Felt, Fuji, Cannondale would not exist.

According to www.statista.com the highest bike sales in recent history
was 20.9 million bikes in 2,000. the lowest was 14.9 million in 2009
and the last year quoted was 2015 with sales of 17.4 million.

In per capita terms that would be 1 per 13.5 people in 2000, 1 per
20.5 in 2009 and in 2015 it was 1 per 18.4. In short bike sales were
substantially lower, per capita, in 2015 then they had been at their
peak, in 2000.

As to place of sales, nbda.com (National Bike Dealers Association) has
it that. "Department, discount and chain toy stores (mass merchants)
sell mostly price-oriented products. Approximately 74% of bicycle
units were sold through the mass merchant channel in 2015".


Which is roughly the same proportion sold through general
merchandise outlets 50 years ago.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Tue, 27 Jun 2017 20:07:51 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 6/27/2017 8:04 PM, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 27 Jun 2017 09:06:01 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-06-27 08:44, Frank Krygowski wrote:
I've long thought that surges and declines in bicycling popularity are
chaotic, driven more by fashion than by policy or government action.

The author of this excerpt seems to agree:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...70s-cycle-boom


Want to get more butts on bikes? Instead of trying to influence
government to install paint stripes and concrete barriers, it may be
more effective to arrange to photograph a couple Kardashians riding.


Looks like there wasn't ever a dramatic drop-off, almost as many new
bikes are sold in the US today as in the boom year:

http://nbda.com/articles/industry-ov...-2015-pg34.htm

Corrected by the increased population it's less but OTOH the bikes that
are sold nowadays contain a larger percentage of "real" bicycles. Bought
at reputable bike shops and in the four-digit price range. Else
companies such as Trek, Felt, Fuji, Cannondale would not exist.

According to www.statista.com the highest bike sales in recent history
was 20.9 million bikes in 2,000. the lowest was 14.9 million in 2009
and the last year quoted was 2015 with sales of 17.4 million.

In per capita terms that would be 1 per 13.5 people in 2000, 1 per
20.5 in 2009 and in 2015 it was 1 per 18.4. In short bike sales were
substantially lower, per capita, in 2015 then they had been at their
peak, in 2000.

As to place of sales, nbda.com (National Bike Dealers Association) has
it that. "Department, discount and chain toy stores (mass merchants)
sell mostly price-oriented products. Approximately 74% of bicycle
units were sold through the mass merchant channel in 2015".


Which is roughly the same proportion sold through general
merchandise outlets 50 years ago.

Who was it that said, "the more things change the more they stay the
same".
--
Cheers,

John B.

Heisenburg

Armstrong n Co presented cycling as fun n adventurous .. hard replacing the Co

But all systems rise n fall

The Lance time was anomalous

On 6/27/2017 11:24 PM, wrote:
Heisenburg

Are you certain?

--
- Frank Krygowski

On 28/06/17 01:44, Frank Krygowski wrote:
I've long thought that surges and declines in bicycling popularity are
chaotic, driven more by fashion than by policy or government action.

The author of this excerpt seems to agree:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...70s-cycle-boom


Want to get more butts on bikes? Instead of trying to influence
government to install paint stripes and concrete barriers, it may be
more effective to arrange to photograph a couple Kardashians riding.


There may be something in that.

We have had a national cycling participation survey conducted every two
years since 2011. There has been a statistically significant decline in
the number of people cycling in this country.

Most of the news that has anything to do with cycling is when one or
more are killed or injured in a collision, or a media beat up "war" on
the roads between cyclists and drivers.

Had the propaganda been a Kardashian like figure shown enjoying a fun
pedal with friends, cycling may well be booming!

https://www.onlinepublications.austr...tems/AP-C91-17

--
JS

Of course, entropic.

Search 'loss of energy'

On Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at 2:55:27 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Of course, entropic.

Search 'loss of energy'

also consider the seeming gro$$ expansion of the tech parts market for fiddlers in the upper brackets.

I doahn know the extent only its advertising.

On Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at 9:02:22 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 6/27/2017 11:24 PM, wrote:
Heisenburg

Are you certain?

--
- Frank Krygowski

As usual he's full of crap. It's a translation from French. It was in a book written by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. I believe he was quoted in a newspaper article about him in the mid-1800's. Heisenberg indeed!

On Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at 11:11:06 PM UTC-7, James wrote:
On 28/06/17 01:44, Frank Krygowski wrote:
I've long thought that surges and declines in bicycling popularity are
chaotic, driven more by fashion than by policy or government action.

The author of this excerpt seems to agree:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...70s-cycle-boom


Want to get more butts on bikes? Instead of trying to influence
government to install paint stripes and concrete barriers, it may be
more effective to arrange to photograph a couple Kardashians riding.


There may be something in that.

We have had a national cycling participation survey conducted every two
years since 2011. There has been a statistically significant decline in
the number of people cycling in this country.

Most of the news that has anything to do with cycling is when one or
more are killed or injured in a collision, or a media beat up "war" on
the roads between cyclists and drivers.

Had the propaganda been a Kardashian like figure shown enjoying a fun
pedal with friends, cycling may well be booming!

https://www.onlinepublications.austr...tems/AP-C91-17

It never hurts to have a national hero doing something that anyone can do - ride a bike.