Originally Posted by
caloso
This is great. And good business too, since the biggest growth is going to be the commuter market rather than racing.
One hopes! The truth is quite the opposite.
Walk into any LBS or LBBS and most of what they push and sell are road bikes and mountain Bikes set up light for racing and fitness. Why? Because it's the road and MTB racer (and fitness riders who think they are racers) who show up to buy the latest and greatest bike made of unobtainum and Jerseys and shorts for $80+ apiece. When you commute once you have your basic kit sorted out you really don't need to run back to the LBS unless you have some sort of critical failure or a change in your needs. A commuter doesn't need the latest carbon fiber lighter than a feather-more-expensive-than-a-divorce bike to do his thing.
In fact the bike market has long been flip flopped in the wrong direction. If LBSes where car dealers they historically would have been selling Indy cars, stock cars and (in the case of MTBs) Baja racers. Instead of Sedans(Or Monte Carlo SS for those who want to look the part of a NASCAR driver) , pickups, or those desiring performance Mustang, Corvettes, Ferraris, Porches.
Most riders ride in charity rides masquerading as races. Some of these rides like to play both sides of the fence. The MS150 comes to mind. They film and photograph you like your riding the Tour De France and most of the "racers" show up with their tricked out road bikes, but it is really a tour and a touring bike would be just as effective over the course. Probably more so based on some of the walkers I saw once we hit the hill country that were in need of "one more lower gear"
Instead of pure racing machines with no rack eyelets or mounting points the LBS should have been pushing touring machines all along. The only the real hard core true racers would know the difference. I'd be willing to bet that the only place a touring machine would show any shortcoming would be in a criterium. For centuries and the Charity rides marketing themselves as races the touring machine would work just fine.
In fact, whenever I see an ad for a classic road bike from the '80s on Craiglist or Ebay I have to laugh when it states that "It would make a great commuter" because most of them are pure race machines and have no eyelets for even a rear rack. Which means that carrying anything more than what would fit in a seat bag, or jersey pocket borders on the awkward.