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#21
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What made the last big bike boom? The next?
Jeff Potter wrote:
I think the last big bike boom was in the mid-70's. It happened because of: *cheap light 10speeds hit US shores for 1st time *US bicentennial, with its urge to 'ride across the country' *high gas prices *low-traffic backroads *plentiful public cultu living downtowns, nonlitigious property owners, generous campsite finding, cheap tentsites The 70s bike boom was fueled mainly by teenagers and twenty somethings buying inexpensive ten speeds. You could jump on your ten speed wearing sneakers and cut-off jeans and ride. People liked the sporty look and feel of those bikes, but most ended up sitting in garages. In the '80s, mountain bikes became more popular because they were more comfortable and easier to ride. And they made more sense for the majority of casual riders. By then, road bikes were getting more expensive, and only the real enthusiasts were buying them. I think the drop bar road bike will remain a specialty item for enthusiasts. I hope that the overwhelming emphasis on speed, racing, and stupid-light everything will moderate, and people will get back buying stable, durable "sport touring" bikes. But I don't yearn for the days of toe clips and friction shifting. Will there be another bike boom? Not likely. I suspect that most people under 35 grew up not using bikes for getting around. They were driven or bused to school and other activities. If they rode a bike at all, it was probably to go a few blocks to a friends house, or to hang out at the local convenience store. They can't conceive of riding a bike even 5-10 miles. And they're probably not comfortable with riding in traffic. If there is to be another bike boom among the general public, it will likely be driven by some sort of hybrid bike that's easy to ride, comfortable, inexpensive, and can be ridden in ordinary clothes. Art Harris |
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#22
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What made the last big bike boom? The next?
I'm not sure it has to happen at the expense of cars. They appear to be here
to stay. Why can't bikes be ADDED to them? People getting out in the fresh air and exploring around could become popular---as long as some open roads remain. But maybe things are getting too built-in. I think that bikes work for fun and transit as long as there are options to the 'ring of death' that the car creates (especially in suburbs). But the last time I drove (a car) in the eastern part of the US, I was just SHOCKED at how hellish the traffic was everywhere including the countryside. I got immediately and intolerably claustrophobic. Yet it's where the people are. We in Michigan seem to have it about 5 TIMES EASIER in terms of car traffic congestion. Art Harris wrote: If there is to be another bike boom among the general public, it will likely be driven by some sort of hybrid bike that's easy to ride, comfortable, inexpensive, and can be ridden in ordinary clothes. -- Jeff Potter **** *Out Your Backdoor * http://www.outyourbackdoor.com publisher of outdoor/indoor do-it-yourself culture... ...offering "small world" views on bikes, bows, books, movies... ...rare books on ski, bike, boat culture, plus a Gulf Coast thriller about smalltown smuggling ... more radical novels coming up! ...original downloadable music ... and articles galore! plus national "Off the Beaten Path" travel forums! HOLY SMOKES! |
#23
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What made the last big bike boom? The next?
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#24
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What made the last big bike boom? The next?
"David L. Johnson" wrote:
On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:44:20 +0000, Jeff Potter wrote: *cheap light 10speeds hit US shores for 1st time Actually much of that boom -- depending on how you define it -- was populated by people riding Schwinn Continentals. Which were light compared to what was before. Contis started the boom but cheap Flandrias really set it off (maybe). *US bicentennial, with its urge to 'ride across the country' I was there during the bicentennial, and do not recall such an urge being suggested. The bicentennial created its own urge for people to get out and look around their land. I definitely remember the public being in an expansive outdoorsy mood then. *high gas prices That was the big difference. This happened in 1973-74, and probably had a huge impact. Outdoorsiness in general was HUGE then, even faddish. Not necessarily at the expense of the car but I guess in general people were going nuts over the idea of the ecology. They wanted to stop pollution BUT ALSO to get outside themselves. These are somewhat separate issues. Today people probably are aware of distastrous contamination and would stop it if it was found...yet they don't go outside. *low-traffic backroads Not really. Most riding, then or now, is on city streets. Backpacking and bike touring were perhaps 10X what it is today. Hitchhiking was maybe 100X what it is today. *plentiful public cultu living downtowns, nonlitigious property owners, generous campsite finding, cheap tentsites What country are you talking about? Downtowns NOW are much more vibrant I don't mean urban areas. Bike touring brought people into small towns not big ones. Today the small town is dead. than they were in the '70s in the US. Look at Boston. In the '70s it was a pit. Same for Philadelphia (still....) and Baltimore. Many cities have made huge progress in terms of livability and ridability. Property owners were just as litigious then as now; the acronym NIMBY came from the '70s. There were no multi-use paths then. I also question your idealized version of campsites and campgrounds from that time, but that really isn't anything beyond the noise in terms of general riding popularlty. You could readily ask people/farmers if you could camp on their land and they'd say Yes, today they say No. Big difference! The difference supported many more thousands of tourists, travelers on the road back then compared to today. -- Jeff Potter **** *Out Your Backdoor * http://www.outyourbackdoor.com publisher of outdoor/indoor do-it-yourself culture... ...offering "small world" views on bikes, bows, books, movies... ...rare books on ski, bike, boat culture, plus a Gulf Coast thriller about smalltown smuggling ... more radical novels coming up! ...original downloadable music ... and articles galore! plus national "Off the Beaten Path" travel forums! HOLY SMOKES! |
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What made the last big bike boom? The next?
"rosco" writes:
"David Damerell" wrote in message ... David L. Johnson wrote: On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:44:20 +0000, Jeff Potter wrote: What will inspire the next boom? $4/gallon gas would go a long way. That would quickly empty the streets of all the big ego-boosting trucks, making it easier to ride -- and would give people an incentive. Petrol is about $4 a gallon here and we have an ever-increasing number of land barges. Admittedly, they're not as silly as American ones, but they're still a lot sillier than cars. Based on the commonality of BIG SUVs here in the suburbs you would think we had no paved roads. Without going down the anti-SUV rathole, I don't think $4/gallon gas would be the end of this SUV/truck silliness. Lexus is planning to release a hybrid SUV in a year that will probably get between 30 to 40 mpg. This show what can be done if a manufacturer applies some relatively simple technology. The auto industry won't let high gas prices get in the way of selling these very high profit margin vehicles. Well, I drive what gets sold in the US as an Isuzu Amigo. I don't know whether you would count it as an SUV, although it is by UK standards. I drive it mainly for pulling large boats around and for forestry work. It has a two litre four cylinder petrol engine and does better than 35 MPG on road. Living where I live (remote rural area) and doing what I do (among other things, secretary of a forestry charity) it seems a reasonable choice of vehicle, and I don't see it as 'silly' at all. -- (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ ;; my other religion is Emacs |
#26
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What made the last big bike boom? The next?
Jeff Potter writes:
I think the last big bike boom was in the mid-70's. It happened because of: *cheap light 10speeds hit US shores for 1st time *US bicentennial, with its urge to 'ride across the country' *high gas prices *low-traffic backroads *plentiful public cultu living downtowns, nonlitigious property owners, generous campsite finding, cheap tentsites What will inspire the next boom? Wrong, wrong, wrong. In the late 1960's and early 1970's we had a bike boom because : * The average Baby boomer (born 1945-1960) was 10-30 years old. Therefore, the "echo boom" from the baby boomers, which will take roughly 37 years to occur (25 for baby boomers to reproduce, 12 for the average echo boomer to reach the midpoint of bicycling childhood) has already occured. It happened in : 1952 + 37 = 1989. America has always been founded on the following idea : goose this pyramid-scheme of a country by allowing smart, hard-working immigrants into the country with nothing, nil, nada, in order to compete for all the existing capital and land owned by the existing fatcat citizens. Because of this principle, in the 1990's we more or less smoothed over the population bulge (and subsequent population vacuum) that came from the baby boom generation. In the 1990's we had more immigrants as a % of population than in any decade of the 20th century. These immigrants were allowed into the country specifically to screw the Gen-X'ers, who were moaning about being poor because all the boomers had houses and wouldn't sell. The huge mass of immigrants in their 20's and 30's was very effective at drowning out those moans. Ergo, the next bike boom will appear 20 years after world-war III. - Don Gillies San Diego, CA |
#27
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What made the last big bike boom? The next?
Jeff Potter wrote in message ...
I think the last big bike boom was in the mid-70's. It happened because of: *cheap light 10speeds hit US shores for 1st time *US bicentennial, with its urge to 'ride across the country' *high gas prices *low-traffic backroads *plentiful public cultu living downtowns, nonlitigious property owners, generous campsite finding, cheap tentsites What will inspire the next boom? *I don't know! While the Schwinn Varsity may have contributed to a boom in the 1970's, it wasn't the last boom. The last boom was mountain bikes, used as street bikes, because they weren't as prone to breaking down as "racing bikes," and the riding position was more comfortable. Everyone just had to have a mountain bike. Then people who didn't go off-road decided to go to "hybrids," though this was more of a shift in sales, not new sales. A gasoline shortage will inspire more riding, simply a price increase will not. I probably save $1.75 in gas every day that I bike to work, but I don't notice my net worth going up. I do it because I enjoy it, not to save money. I think the next boom or boomlet will occur when the manufacturers take steps to make bicycles that are more practical as an occasional substitute for a vehicle, while also being usable for recreational rides. Hence, the next boomlet may be in what are called "Trekking" Bikes in Europe, which are like a fully equipped city bike or commute bike. Trek has introduced them to the U.S. for 2004, though almost no dealers are even willing to take a chance in trying to sell them yet, especially since Trek has priced them extremely high (I found one dealer in the Bay area who had one in stock, but it was already sold, and they weren't ordering more). Fuji is thinking of also selling their trekking bikes in the U.S., and hopefully Trek's move will spur them into action. If Giant would also do so, it would drive prices to more reasonable levels. Kettler sells them as well. These are good bikes for college students, suburbanites, and city dwellers, who want to reduce their car usage. Chainguards, lights, racks, kickstand, sometimes even locks, are all standard (no skirt guards yet). Thing is, these should sell for $150 more than an equivalent quality hybrid, not $400-500 more. Bicycle manufacturers should learn from car makers on how to create new markets. You don't introduce a new product category at high prices and then give up because you think there is no market for the product. You seed the market with products at attractive prices, create the market, then upscale. |
#28
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What made the last big bike boom? The next?
On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 02:09:29 GMT, bb wrote:
of the beasts. Nothing can beat sloth and greed. That's why sloth and greed are my lord and saviour. G It doesn't matter who you think you are. If you own a bicycle which you actually ride, you are counter-culture. Aw, crud. I gotta get rid of my bike now. Wait, if you don't drive, and only ride a bike, you are pro-culture in two ways: 1. You need to live in a dense city to survive 2. You need to buy bicycle, supplies, parts from greedy evil corporations (and you need money with which to do it, so you have a job working for a company too). Hmm...maybe a bicycle isn't a political statement, but rather, just a fun way to excersize, get around, and enjoy life. Hey, I thought I promised myself I wouldn't get into these discussions anymore. *slaps self upside the head* bb -- Rick "Greedy Capitalist Pig Pop-Culture Whore" Onanian |
#29
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What made the last big bike boom? The next?
Jeff Potter wrote:
I'm not sure it has to happen at the expense of cars. They appear to be here to stay. Why can't bikes be ADDED to them? I agree; hope I didn't imply anything to the contrary. People getting out in the fresh air and exploring around could become popular---as long as some open roads remain. I agree with that too. But I think it has to start with kids riding bikes. Most kids don't seem too interested. I have to wonder whether I would have taken up cycling as an adult if I hadn't learned to enjoy it as a kid. Art Harris |
#30
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What made the last big bike boom? The next?
On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 11:44:18 +0200, trg wrote:
Plus they elected a politician who promised that cyclists will always have a tailwind! I don't remember where it was (I might even have read it in a local paper), but covered cycle paths with air blown through them with fans do/have existed. A bientot Paul -- Paul Floyd http://paulf.free.fr (for what it's worth) Surgery: ennobled Gerald. |
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