General Cycling Discussion - is cycling more popular ......

is cycling more popular now than it was say, 5 years ago?
Do you think that Lance winning the TDF the last 3 years make cycling more popular here in the U.S.?
He's one reason that I decided to buy a road bike.
I'm 39 and just got into cycling last year. I Guess i'm still a newbie at cycling.

Heybulldog,

I had the same thought, that Lance Armstrong's victories have made cycling more "acceptable" to Americans. You know how we treat our sports teams: win, and we love you; lose, and we never knew you. So maybe it takes a Lance Armstrong to inspire us Americans to ride.

So my hat's off to him!

The whole Lance/TDF thing does apparently have an affect on sales. I heard on NPR "Marketplace" that bike sales are up and the road bike segment used to be at about 5-6% has increased to some 15-20%

hey guys,

I never really new that the cycling thing was as big as it is. I thought if u wanted a bike U went up to Wal-Mart and bought one. I got started riding a 10 yr old Huffy MTB to work because of the gas prices going up 2 springs ago. I thought I'll show em and save a little money too. Then a guy at work told me that he went on these organized bike rides and had been since 73'. he told me about the TDF and after watching it last yr I went out and bought a Trek 1000.

I think It needs publicized more.

Are there any LBS owners out there?
Are Sales up in u'r shops?

I need to get my signature on a bike shirt or something....

Originally posted by heybulldog
I need to get my signature on a bike shirt or something....

I'll buy one.

Jonathan

Originally posted by heybulldog
I need to get my signature on a bike shirt or something....
TEAM HEYBULLDOG --that's kinda catchy. :)

actually I kinda stole the line outta James Taylors song Traffic jam. I was reading in the forums somewhere about the song so I went and downloaded it and was listening (Long Long time since I've heard the song). sounded go for a signature. and on a bike jersey.:) :) :) :)