Catweazle

If that was serious comment rather than tongue in cheek comment then the 'problem' is the lack of vision and perception contained in it. There's a helluva gap between Mum buying a bike for one of the kids and baby boomer or Yuppie executive blowing big cash on a commute.


The biggest 'problem' I see when looking around me is in the area of the young (or old) couple who want to buy bikes so they can ride WITH the kids, or perhaps have leisurely outings together. Not all of them, of course. The ones who have limited resources, either because of income restraints or 'time of life' commitments. It shouldn't really surprise anyone to hear that there are lots and lots of couples like that who, with good intent, have purchased the 'x-mart' bikes only to end up NOT riding, because after a few trips the wheels are buckled, the gears don't change any more.

They end up NOT riding mainly because that step up to a bike shop bike would oplain and simple break the bank. It shouldn't need to be like that!



In our local 'KMart' equivalent of the big retailer a Kent or Northern Star imported cheap jobbie sells for (Australian dollars) about $130 to $150. The cheaper bike shop bikes start at about $350 to $400. That's a big jump. There's nothing on offer in the 'in-between'.



But hey? 'Serious' or 'experienced' riders might well turn up the nose at those cheap, bouncy chain store bikes but the frames of the things would do perfectly well for the casual cyclist to pedal about on, and keep doing so for a long time. A bike built around that, but including 'acceptable' wheels and gear change, should be no problem at all to proiduce and sell at a price point between the figures mentioned above.


Yep, it's hard to convince hard-up mum and dad to make the jump from $150 to $400. But the jump to $250 or thereabouts looks a helluva lot more attainable, and it seems to me that people 'serious' about bikes just aren't seeing the hole that's there to be filled