Road Cycling - future of road bike???????

Yep, Mt. bikes own all. but road bikes are almost non exsistant!!!!! Most bike shops dont even sell them any more, the few that do sell just 2 or 3. So whats gonna happen? are they gonna disapear in 10 years?:mad: Or will it go full circle? Mt. bike --->Mt. w/ slicks---->hybrid-------->back to the road bikes.

Dollar wise out bike sales are probably 25% road, 25%mountian, 50% comfort. Road bikes are more exspensive so it is a more intimidating purchase for something you might not like. There is also the fear factor, A tree is unlikely to bounce you into a ditch or throw a beer can at you.

While mountain and comfort bike sales may exceed road bike sales in some areas, I suspect (but have no data to support my gut feeling) that the road bikes represent a higher percentage of bikes sold by bike shops that see extensive use after the sale. Again, I'm not aware of any good data that can quantify this opinion -- it's just my take based on what I see.

Wow, around here mountain bike sales are dying and road bikes sales are skyrocketing. I work at the LBS so I see it first hand. Granted, I live in Iowa which isn't known for good mountain biking but we stock very few high end mountain bikes. We usually only have a couple models above $1000.00 because we just don't sell that many. With road bikes though we go almost up to $4000.00 and we sell lots of moderatly high end bikes like Trek 5200's, Lemond Zurichs, etc.

From what I'm seeing mountain bikes sales are going down and road sales are going up. From what I understand, this is the basic trend nation wide.

I see the same in my neck of the woods. Road biking is making a huge resurgence and this is Northern Ontario where the roads are pretty much crap.

Long live the road bike.

Road bikes are definitely in here in the Pasadena, CA area. The few bike shops I frequent dedicate roughly half their showroom space to skinny tires. But maybe I'm biased because our Sat morning training ride usually consists of nearly 200 roadies and obviously those are the only people I always interact and ride with.

I'm pretty good friends with the owner of my FBS. From what I can tell, road bike sales are steadily on the rise in this area too. MTBs hybrid and comfort bikes are still top-sellers I believe. I think despite some of the stories about aggresive drivers, and sometimes poor road planning, road biking is becoming more and more accepted by the general public. I also think that the public is starting to wake up and look for healthier ways to live. And the people who start out on the comforts and hybrids generally move into road biking. I too don't have any quantitative figures... just casual observation.

Originally posted by George
Road bikes are definitely in here in the Pasadena, CA area. The few bike shops I frequent dedicate roughly half their showroom space to skinny tires. But maybe I'm biased because our Sat morning training ride usually consists of nearly 200 roadies and obviously those are the only people I always interact and ride with.

Ditto for Perth, Western Australia.

There are hundreds of roadies out in group rides every weekend and lots during the week too.

Same over here. I don't see any danger of road bikes disappearing in the near future.

roadbikes? where? where?

I need to go on a 6hr. drive to get to the nearest bike shop that sells road components. They don't even have the complete parts... Instead, I am forced to buy MTB components and put it on my roadbike(ex. stem, hubs, seatposts, etc)...

There is a more complete(still not complete) store(w/c is still a store that primarily sells MTB stuff) about 7hrs away by boat...

How many roadies I see here? I can only see 3. 4 including myself.... Hows that?

Well I guess you dont have cable tv in your area that covers the Tour de France,Lance Armstrong has caused the rebirth of the road bike and also of cycling in our schools . MAC WEST NYC

Evidence of the road bike resurgance - Went to Canadian Tire last night and saw a Schwinn RD700 road bike for $600 Cdn. Not that it's a great bike or anything, but they've never sold anything remotely resembling a road bike in the past, nor have they tried to sell a bike for that kind of money in the past. Their previous top bikes have been FS MTB's up around $300-$400.
In the LBS in this area, there are definitely more road bikes in stock than they've had in previous years.

I think people are too often sold the wrong kind of bike. How many couples have you seen ambling down a "rails-to-trails" on low end full suspension wanabe downhillbikes, or a guy wanting to get a bit fit, doing a ride on a full competition skinny tyre racer.
Im sure that competition road bikes are being oversold. How many times have we heard people asking how to convert a racer to a commuter.
Its a pity the bike companies can't market a high quality general purpose road bike, like an Audax/light-touring bike. This seems to be the domain of specialist builders.

Are triple chainset roadbikes selling better than doubles?

Not sure where Dexmax is from (old geography I guess - mine) but road bikes are definitely either increasing in quantity or holding their own around here. We have many road rides every week and no MTB rides in the good (read that as warm) weather. MTB is only for the cold weather with our local riding clubs. And then only us hardcore riders who want out year-round. The LBSs in this area are all about equally stocked on road/MTB/comfort bikes. Also need to throw BMX in there as are popular amongst the kids in the area.

Here in Florida I see a lot of comfort/cruiser types, road bikes, and BMX. The few MTBs I see are see are usually Roadmasters of Magnas. This is on the coast so there are really no good mtb areas to ride in.

Hey George, I'm just down the road from you in St. Lucie County.

Here where I live there's not an awful lot of high or even medium range bikes of any type on the road. I think that has alot to do with there not being a LBS in the entire county that sells such bikes. A couple of cruiser shops and 1 guy who's great if you want NOS retro (still has Nishiki Olympics and shoes with the old style pedal cleat on the floor) but nothing new.

Indian River Dr. is a great ride (I'll be going shortly) and most of the few bikes I see are roadies. Every now and then see a group ride pass thru but they originate in either the county to the north, Indian River or to the south, Martin. Both of those counties have quality LBS's where you can buy a higher end bike.

Originally posted by mac is speed
Well I guess you dont have cable tv in your area that covers the Tour de France,Lance Armstrong has caused the rebirth of the road bike and also of cycling in our schools . MAC WEST NYC

Lance is a great cyclist but he certainly hasn't caused the rebirth of the road bike in Australia. Most Aussies wouldn't even know who he is.

Road bikes are popular even without Lance.

Originally posted by dexmax
roadbikes? where? where?

I need to go on a 6hr. drive to get to the nearest bike shop that sells road components. They don't even have the complete parts... Instead, I am forced to buy MTB components and put it on my roadbike(ex. stem, hubs, seatposts, etc)...

There is a more complete(still not complete) store(w/c is still a store that primarily sells MTB stuff) about 7hrs away by boat...

How many roadies I see here? I can only see 3. 4 including myself.... Hows that?

I have a solution.

Move.

I read an article sometime last year where a survey of Mt. Bike owners showed that over 80% never tale their bikes off of hard surface roads. Interesting!

Here in the SF Bay area there are plenty of both roadies and MTBer's. We had quite a turn-out for the Club "B" ride on Saturday of about 40. While we were stopped at a light, the "Spectrum" ride pulled up into the left-hand turn lane. There were more than I could count but at least 100 or so. The Sequoia Century on Sunday had the highest number of riders (~1300) in 10 years. So I don't think the road bike is dead here in NorCal.

I don't know about bikes sales, though. The shop I frequent deals primarily in road and tri bikes. There are other shops around that specialize in MTB and BMX. Other shops are more like neighborhood shops and sell lots of comfort bikes and BMX.

Originally posted by HOG-I
I read an article sometime last year where a survey of Mt. Bike owners showed that over 80% never tale their bikes off of hard surface roads. Interesting!

At least it's a better percentage than SUV drivers who take their trucks off-road.

Originally posted by HOG-I
I read an article sometime last year where a survey of Mt. Bike owners showed that over 80% never tale their bikes off of hard surface roads. Interesting!

Well at least that's improved since the last time I heard those figures. Back in the early to mid 1990s, it was estimated that only 5% of MTBs ever see trails. The MTB craze was almost like the SUV craze. Many people still buy bikes because "they look kewl" without giving any thought as to why a bike looks the way it does and what functions it's meant to serve. I know a couple who decided to take up cycling after hearing me talking about my riding. After I asked what kind of riding they wanted to do with the bikes, I recommended a few bikes... mainly hybrids or mid-range hardtails. Ignoring my suggestions, they each purchased a Sugar3-disc because they liked how they looked with the full suspension linkages and fat tyres. Over the course of a year they have managed to only log about 100 miles on them... all on pavement. I think the bikes are collecting dust or acting as expensive room-art right now.

Originally posted by 2k2S4
At least it's a better percentage than SUV drivers who take their trucks off-road.

Yeah... last I heard it was only 2% of SUVs that ever saw offroad driving and that number is gradually getting smaller still.

Just look at how many 2wd SUVs are getting sold now. It boggles my mind why anyone would buy a 2wd SUV. It's just a giant station wagon pretty much. A mini van for those who don't want to look like they are driving a mini van.

Originally posted by Paul L.
Just look at how many 2wd SUVs are getting sold now. It boggles my mind why anyone would buy a 2wd SUV. It's just a giant station wagon pretty much. A mini van for those who don't want to look like they are driving a mini van.
To transport myself, my wife and 2 bikes to events like
Ride for the Roses, or HHH which are both over 150 miles from
home (both bikes carried inside vehicle).
To carry Dive equiptment for 2 (tanks and all).
To take the dog for her daily ride.
to the best of my knowledge there are very few
station wagons around, and interior height is
an issue. Don't need a Van or MiniVan and yes
they are UGLY.
A 2wd SUV makes more sense than a 4wd
that will never see off road (and I don't count farm roads
as off road).
I drove 4wd in Africa where you had to have one (no paved
roads in Mozambique) and there is a difference.

Marty

Originally posted by khuon
Yeah... last I heard it was only 2% of SUVs that ever saw offroad driving and that number is gradually getting smaller still.

Because the sierra club keeps closing trails to SUV's, and mountian bikes. How many MTB people fight to keep thier trails open?

Originally posted by lotek
To transport myself, my wife and 2 bikes to events like
Ride for the Roses, or HHH which are both over 150 miles from
home (both bikes carried inside vehicle).
To carry Dive equiptment for 2 (tanks and all).
To take the dog for her daily ride.
to the best of my knowledge there are very few
station wagons around, and interior height is
an issue. Don't need a Van or MiniVan and yes
they are UGLY.
A 2wd SUV makes more sense than a 4wd
that will never see off road (and I don't count farm roads
as off road).
I drove 4wd in Africa where you had to have one (no paved
roads in Mozambique) and there is a difference.

Marty

A minivan, with it's lower floor, holds more than a SUV with hit's higher floor. Very few SUV's can carry bikes like vans can. And many wagons can carry what a SUV does.

I'm pro SUV, but anti because my image says so.

I think america is going in the better (not right) direction with Cross overs that are more fuel efficient, AWD for wet roads, lighter, safer, and present the "image" that people so desire.

But, it's a free country, and it's everyones right to choose what they want.

When i go to the bike shops,they have mb on top of each other because they are not moving but fewer road bikes because thats what riders are buying.When i am there,most are in the road bikes.In the fourms,most new riders are X mb riders.

Originally posted by William Karsten
Because the sierra club keeps closing trails to SUV's, and mountian bikes. How many MTB people fight to keep thier trails open?

My point was that the offroading crowd hasn't grown as much (it might even have shrunk due to conditions such as you've pointed out) as the masses who buy SUVs yet never take them offroad thus causing the relative percentage of offroaded SUVs to decline. In short, more people are buying more of what they will never use.

Originally posted by khuon
as the masses who buy SUVs yet never take them offroad thus causing the relative percentage of offroaded SUVs to decline. In short, more people are buying more of what they will never use.

Good news for me: parts will be available!

It's a shame because there are some beautiful places out there.

Anyway, I think I've hijacked this thread enough, sorry to the originator.

Originally posted by William Karsten
A minivan, with it's lower floor, holds more than a SUV with hit's higher floor. Very few SUV's can carry bikes like vans can. And many wagons can carry what a SUV does.

Exactly. I said this exact same thing in a thread about a year ago. Although an SUV may look like a large vehicle from the outside, the inside actually has much less room than a comparably sized van due to the need to tuck away components from damage and provide better ground clearance.



Originally posted by William Karsten
I think america is going in the better (not right) direction with Cross overs that are more fuel efficient, AWD for wet roads, lighter, safer, and present the "image" that people so desire.

I must admit that I thought the cute-utes were silly and stupid when they first came out but I was blindly looking at them from the standpoint of someone who takes their SUV offroad. Since what most latte-drinking yuppies and soccermoms really want from an SUV is AWD and not true 4WD and a higher seating position without the stigma of the station wagon or van/minivan (I personally see nothing wrong with a station wagon or minivan), the new generation of less offroad capable cute-utes serve the role fine without the penalty (or higher penalty rather) of an offroad capable vehicle. Also, being that they have more car-like handling means that those who would have purchased a vehicle for which they have no desire to learn true SUV handling traits will not be stuck driving into handling conditions for which they're not prepared. I will probably never own a cute-ute but would instead opt for an AWD station wagon for pavement-only hauling.

i've been all sorts of happy with my little AWD station wagon. mmm, subaru impreza wrx.

Originally posted by ParamountScapin
Not sure where Dexmax is from (old geography I guess - mine) but road bikes are definitely either increasing in quantity or holding their own around here. We have many road rides every week and no MTB rides in the good (read that as warm) weather. MTB is only for the cold weather with our local riding clubs. And then only us hardcore riders who want out year-round. The LBSs in this area are all about equally stocked on road/MTB/comfort bikes. Also need to throw BMX in there as are popular amongst the kids in the area.

Here, it is all about MTB... There are just a few of us roadies left.. All have shifted to MTB especially DH. They tell me we have one of the best DH courses( yeah, right -- not an excuse if you ask me).

I can see so many(in fact too many bikes with XTR's and XTs) MTbikes. Well, MTBiking is very popular here(locally). But major races are still on road but it is not held locally.. So roadbikes are very popular in the north, not here(south).

The last time I saw a report on bike sales statistics in the U.S., from bikeretailer.com, I think, road bikes were still the smallest segment of bicycle purchases, behind hybrid/comfort, BMX, and mtb. Still, road bikes were increasing in their share of the bike market relative to the other sorts of bikes.

I don't know that this fact means that more road bikes are being sold now compared to past times, or whether road bike sales are more or less constant over time while sales of other bikes decline a bit.

There will always be a stable, if small, market for good road bikes, because their advantages on the road are too great for them to become obsolete.