Originally Posted by
Jaywalk3r
BS. People buy what's available. If the US consumers had the same bikes readily available for purchase that people have in places where the typical person rides often, you'd see more people riding in the US.
People buy what their peers are riding. Not too many people riding IGH bikes. At the moment, there are more IGH bikes for sale than ever. Most people don't buy them, while similar style derailleur drivetrain bikes sell well.
Originally Posted by
Jaywalk3r
Funny how it's getting increasingly popular as it's becoming increasingly available.
It is not getting more popular. It might get more press, but that does not mean actual sales. Trek did a full court press with IGH bikes not too long ago, now they have dropped most of their IGH models. Because they didn't sell.
Originally Posted by
Jaywalk3r
You have no reason to believe you're seeing a representative sample of bicyclists. You're also ignoring three speeds, despite the fact that they're IGHs. Remember, the plural of anecdote is not data.
If a shop or co-op is not seeing a representative sample of bicyclists, I don't know who is. Even 3sp IGH bikes don't sell well, if at all. We sell Electra Townies in 8sp IGH, 3sp IGH, 7sp der, and 21sp der configurations. Descending sales order is: 7 (by far), 21, 3, 8 -- 21d + 3i + 8i sales < 7d sales...
Originally Posted by
Jaywalk3r
The good old appeal to authority logical fallacy. Gotta love it!
Where are you getting your statistics and bicycle ownership/ridership data from?