Bike Lover

+1

I'm waiting for the clearance sales right now...

Basscycle

Exactly what I was thinking.

cooker

Everyon'e correct. Cycling is cyclical. If it's on the upswing there'll be a downturn in a while, if it's in decline it will bounce back at some point.

laterider

if hybrids sales are on the rise that might lead to future skinny tire bike purchases. No, only I am that dumb. Don't get me wrong, I think hybrids are great for around town + commuting (I can't commute-interstate only route with 3.1mile bridge) I just wish I had figured out to get a road bike BEFORE the hybrid purchase!

Ryleeryno

Americans are getting too fat and lazy; and that ladies & gentlemen is a big contributor to the decline. 20 years ago more people rode bikes than today. There is always an excuse now to stay home... It's too hot/cold, I'm tired, my favorite show is on, my back...

roccobike

[QUOTE=godspiral]High hybrid sales is a good indicator of future road bike sales. As people who actually use them are likely to be interested in trading off comfort for speed.[QUOTE]

In the past you would have been correct, IMHO jimbud hit it right.

[QUOTE=jimbud]With the baby boomer's retiring recreational hybrid bike sales have doubled in the USA. Road bike and Mountain bike numbers are up also. I have a hard time believing Trek is having money problems due to sales numbers.[Quote]

The babyboomers I know look at those sleek road bikes, try the dropped handlebars with those older backs and necks and move right to the hybrids. I have two freinds right now who are looking at hybrids. I don't beleive this group will move to road bikes.

Grasschopper

Here is an article that is on the cover of today's local newspaper.

No doo and gloom here.

https://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/15209258.htm

laterider

Just like when you buy a certain car, you notice more of that car on the road. When you start cycling, you notice more bikes on the road. But I really could not believe it on my tuesday night ride, I use a route that is popular for riders & group rides and on my way back I passed the biggest group ride I've ever seen. Usually I pass about 30 riders (by pass I mean going the other way), on this past tuesday I must have gone by 3 groups of at least 30 and that may be conservative. The last group was across the road stuck at the same light I was waiting for. Like I said I couldn't believe the numbers, shiny looking cf's and aluminum abounding, tcrs, treks, specialized, etc - it was cool. Its just great to see it for the sport & industry. I may need to re-think my ride schedule and go on non-group days for a little extra room on the road! I want to part of group rides someday, but I'm just getting into the mileage and hopefully a little more speed will come eventually.

azwhelan

My local Cannodale shop just got 3 Synapses and put them on sale right away, most of them sold before they were even assembled. They said Cannodale was trying to move them before the 07s start coming out so that would support the extra inventory story. But some of the previous posts are correct in that there are going to be some good deals to be had.

fmw

Your LBS obviously isn't doing well. Some people assume that when they don't do well, nobody else does well either. I see this behavior regularly. My own impression is that the bike industry is pretty stable and dollar sales seem to move at a rate similar to inflation. It's a mature industry, not a dead one.

Markedoc

Bike sales could be declining and the sport could be more popular than ever. If people cure themselves of upgrade-itis, most have bikes that will last a lifetime if taken care of. Unless bike manufacturers can convince riders that they NEED a new bike, their road bike sales will be cyclical at best.

donrhummy

Maybe your LBS guy is trying to send you into a panic to BUY, BUY, BUY before they all disappear! LOL.

bormoglot

Except that bicycle industry is bi-cyclical...
I have no clue what does it means tough.

steve_wmn

By hybrid do you mean a fully upright comfort road bike? That's what I see a lot of where I'm riding. I guess they're hybrid because they put mountain bike gearing on a comfort bike designed for the road but they're not really hybrid in purpose. They're multispeed recreational bikes designed for slow paced riding on roads and sidewalks. Unlike mountain bikes I don't see that many people that buy these trading up to a drop-bar roadie. The riding position change is too extreme. Instead I see these things getting ridden on 2-5 mile jaunts once or twice a week fora few years and then gathering dust in a garage for a while.

Dewbert

I think the industry's on the upswing and I say that because I'm seeing cheap road bikes on the shelves at Wal-mart. That tells me that there's volume and interest in the sport (even if the cheap bike is not a good value). You can tell a lot about America's leisure activities and disposable income by what shows up in that store!

+! on the comfort bikes. Those baby boomers are going to spend a lot of $$ over the next 30-40 years.

Treefox

I imagine Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale won't be doing quite as well in Europe as they might otherwise, given the joke status of the US dollar and transportation costs... but I doubt the European market is particularly critical for them.

(for instance the end of season sales going on now here in Britain still price Treks well above what would be MSRP in the States)

bigbossman 

I don't think this is true, at least not around here. 20 years ago there were definitely fewer riders than now. Now, you can't get across town with out running over 2 or 3......

smoke

"...By any measure, his is a lifestyle on a steady rise in the Centre Region. The number of registered bicycles here has topped 12,000, up more than 50 percent in the past five-or-so years...."

huh? *registered* bicycles? WTF? you have to get a license for a bike in PA now? have to take a biking test? proof of insurance? hey, the west wasn't won with a registered bike. by god, if you can't drink and bike in PA, i'm not going there

smoke

gpelpel

I recently read (about 2-3 months ago) that the road bike part of the business is actually booming. The main market is the 40 to 55 year old bracket and one of the main reason is knee trouble. These people are coming to the low impact sport of cycling because their knees cannot endure running or other high imact sports any longer.

bormoglot

On contrary, cheap US dollar makes US produced stuff (or at least US part of the cost) cheaper in countries with strong currencies. So all price difference you see is due to your local duties and shop markups.

DonPenguino

The roads in Europe and the riding styles are far more conducive to hybrid style bikes, so that's what the majority of people have. However, the number of bikes is far larger in any city area than it is in a city centre in the states. Think, every bike rack has every slot filled and a few thrown on the top for good measure.

Since they're close to cheap manufacturing as well (think Eastern Europe) they get most of their bikes from no-names there. As for the road scene, it was pretty ethnocentric from what I could see. Lots of Raleighs and Dawes in England, Italy had Ciocc's and Cinelli's. The one universal road bike brand I saw everywhere was Orbea, based in Spain.

cyclintom

10 years ago you'd see a major club ride here and there.

On our Wednesday morning ride the other day we must have passed 100 cyclists riding mostly on their own.

I'm seeing a huge upsurge in road riding. I don't know if those people are mountain bikers that have converted because of all the crap they have to take from the parks these days or if they're more or less new riders coming to the sport.

I will say that we put on some beginners rides that are a lot better attended then they were 10 years ago.

Treefox

Oh right... that's what I was thinking... I got confused there - why there aren't so many nice Italian bikes in American shops, perhaps?