Originally Posted by
Dave Horne
I started to respond to another thread but thought it would be better to start here from scratch.
I guess I'm spoiled by living in the Netherlands when it comes to shopping for bikes. I looked at the US web sites for Trek, Giant, and Jensen USA, and the overwhelming majority of bikes aimed at the commuter\urban market had dropped handle bars. Even when they offered a more upright handlebar they were woefully incomplete - no fenders, no lights, certainly no bell, all standard fare over here.
If you walk into a store over here or even shop online, the bikes almost always come complete. (Mine came without pedals but that wasn't an issue for me as the dealer simply gave me a set from another known brand.)
I haven't been in a bike store in the US for four years and all the bikes I saw reflected what I've already described.
There's no question here, just an observation.
Your observations are correct for the most part about the product found on the salesroom floor of U.S. bicycle stores, where a relatively small fraction of bicycles are sold. The preponderance of "road bike" is an LBS feature, and LBS bikes, are sold at far higher prices than found at the big box stores (Walmart, Target, K-mart etc) where the majority of bikes (mostly mountain bike style) are sold. Unfortunately the big box stores offer little comparable to the bikes well equipped for urban commuting that were sold in the U.S. until the late 70's-early 80's, i.e. English or Schwinn three speeds. The closest product to a Dutch commuter sold at the big box stores are the beach cruisers which will come equipped with fenders, chainguard wet weather capable coaster brakes, and wider tires.
Do not assume that the speed/efficiency obsessed dropped bar bike influence seen and talked about on the BF Commuting list are representative of typical bikes ridden in the U.S. urban environment. Might be representative of the bikes ridden by those commuters who ride road bikes with their club on the weekends though.