Originally Posted by
cyccommute
You misunderstood or, perhaps, I wasn’t clear. I’m sure they sell a substantial number of bikes. But I’m fairly certain that they aren’t selling tens of thousands of units per year. In a bike market with 143 million units worldwide, even 100,000 units per year would be a blip.
To be clear, I’ve maintained for ages that a touring bike would be a better all around bike for people who aren’t racing than just about any bike on the market.
- Want a gravel bike? A touring bike can do that and carry a load while doing it. I’ve done many hundreds of miles on gravel roads while touring.
- Want a utility bike? A touring bike is made to carry stuff.
- Want a bike to go for a ride in Colorado’s mountains with their volatile weather where it is likely to be freezing, broiling, snowing, raining, and have hail all in the same ride? Take a touring bike because it can carry the 4 changes of clothing you need. Jersey pockets only go so far in carrying stuff.
- Want a bike that is good enough for fast rides? Touring bikes really aren’t that bad at going fast.
- Want a bike for “bikepacking”? Well that’s what touring bikes were built for.
Agreed, that whatever amount of touring bikes Koga sells represents a blip in the worldwide market. But they're apparently selling a satisfactory number, what with having six different models. So whatever the market is in Europe for touring bikes, they likely have a good chunk of it.
That number of models represents just their "trekking" (loaded/grand-touring) bikes, by the way. They have another bunch of flat-bar bikes that they call their "city" and "touring" bikes.
Also agree that touring bikes are underappreciated for their versatility. The only category that's even more underappreciated is that of hybrids.
I have a house full of bikes (it's a small Baltimore row house, so that's not saying much), but the one I've put the most miles on for the last couple of years is a 1995 Cannondale H300 hybrid. They used the same frame for their touring bike.
As did a number of manufacturers. It's funny to think of people visiting bike stores and bemoaning the lack of touring bikes while walking past a dozen hybrids on the sales floor. Where did the touring bikes go? That's where.
I don't tour, but I use my hybrid for all the other kinds of riding you listed. Adding fenders, a front low-rider rack, and panniers turned it into the best all-rounder I could desire.
Plus the aero bars that I bolted onto the stock flat bars actually make it a bit faster on level roads and even rolling terrain than my drop-bar bikes.
The other great thing about hybrids is that a decent one has all the versatility of a traditional touring bike and yet generally costs less than a comparably equipped tourer.