Drummerboy1975

It seems that more and more people are buying and riding bikes. With the economy like it is and gas prices soring we are seeing more getting into cycling. Their is also a huge number of bikes being built by more and more builders.

Could we be experiencing another Bike Boom?

Henry III

I honestly think we're in another bike boom. Do you ever notice also how often bicycles are in commercials nowadays be it directly or just as a backround prop? I'd say at least a quarter of commercials I see have bicycles in them. Also the amount of cities adding seperate bike lanes to streets seem to be increasing a lot also. We've got quite a few just in town and our town is just about 25k for the population. I never got to experience the original bike boom so I can say what it was like living through it to compare it to now.

auchencrow

If there is one, you sure wouldn't know it around here: The market is dead dead dead.

Gas is up though.

Standard Issue

The conditions seem right. Along with the rise in gas prices (though not as bad as what helped trigger the original boom) there is also a high amount of environmental awaremess. Either one of these two factors could enduce a bike boom on their own but the fact that we are experiencing both at the same time seems like a perfect storm. I notice bikes in ads, too but I think its just because I'm more aware of them. What i do notice is any ad that features hip youg adults in a large studio apartment, you're bound to see an old "10 speed" leaning against the wall.

robtown

As gas hits $5 a gallon and the weather is warmer I expect to see double the normal commuters in my area of the burbs. That is still a very small number. In Washington D.C. and nearby Arlington VA, however there are easily 20 times the commuters in my area. Our Craigslist is active, even through the winter.

jsigone

I'm noticing more riders on the road in the mornings where I'm at. Me being one of them.

frpax

I also think we're in another bike boom. My LBS is busier than ever! I see more and more people riding bikes. I have more of my frineds telling me that they've just went out and bought a such-and-such bike.

I think it's fantastic!

Speaking of bike boom, I was waxing nostalgic last week and was looking through an old high school yearbook (1975, my Freshman year). One photo that caught my eye was a pic of a few guys at the bike racks at the school, and the veritable SEA of bicycles there. I should scan it and post it. It's truly amazing. You'd think it was Amsterdam and not Southern California!

gomango

Well, I have noticed evidence of this here in the Twin Cities.

On the way back from my son's soccer tournament this morning, I must have seen several dozen riders out there on the city streets.

Hard to believe the culture shift here in the last five years.

...and they weren't all riding Cross Checks.

I stopped at an intersection and a young guy flew up and stopped next to us.

What was he riding?

A Speedvagen!!

So, that's another thing I've noticed.

The incredible amount of custom bicycles being built and ridden in this area.

Just staggering.

BentLink

Here's a current bike boom (Lars Boom) riding for Rabobank. (I couldn't let this pass)

johnny99

Not just the economy and gas prices. The younger generation is a lot more environmentally conscious than their parents, so bike commuting is way up in many US cities over the last few years. Also, cities are realizing that space and money prevent them from building new urban roads (and parking lots) and bike paths/bike lanes can move a lot of people for relatively little money. Safer bike routes do attract many more bicycle commuters.

Recreational bicycling has probably not grown much or maybe even declined since Lance Armstrong retired, but bicycle commuting has doubled in many cities in recent years.

zukahn1 

I have the same issue where I live in Denver the used marked seems dead as hell for nicer used bikes that should sell for a good price. I have had a nice Gitane with a 531 frame and Wolblers on sale for a while now and have dropped the price to $200 with little interest. Yet in the same time I have sold sold several just Ok riders in the $100-150 dollar range in a day or so.

busdriver1959

Don't know where in Arkansas you are but just across the river in Memphis, we're definitely seeing a big increase in all types of cycling. Part of it is due to the recent opening of a rails to trails path that has brought out riders of all shapes and sizes. I'm also seeing a huge increase in the number and size of group rides around town. Also, finally, Memphis drivers aren't trying as hard to kill all of us. I've been riding here for 20 years and all of the change has occurred in just the past few years.

Poguemahone

I think every craigslist has a magic point where bikes just don't sell. Here, it's about 200$. Every now and then, a VCU student will contact me looking for a bike. I ask them their price range, and they always tell me 150$. Judging from out local CL, you can sell Huffys and Murrays (not Serotta ones) for that. But a Serotta at 300 would just sit there like a turd.

I suppose we're in a boom, and I guess it will continue to slowly increase. It's more like a steady expansion than a boom, though. It's happening quite gradually.

sykerocker 

Definitely not a Bike Boom. At least not in terms of the original 1890's, or the later 1970's versions.

The first Bike Boom was the sudden emergence of personal, individual transportation that a working man could possibly afford (as opposed to the then-current usual - the horse). We're talking major social change, not just transportation.

The second Bike Boom was the sudden shock that adults could ride bicycles, and not be considered wierd. And the return of the idea that adults could use a bicycle as part of daily transportation (a concept that had died completely between 1910 and 1970). Once again, we're talking a major jarring of 'life as we know it'.

What's going on now is just a resurgence of the attitude that was implemented in the second bike boom, and has never gone away. It's waxed and waned, but it never completely disappeared. After 1975, bicycles didn't go back to being the total domain of the under-16 crowd.

You want a third Bike Boom? What you're going to need is for a large proportion of society to decide that the automobile has become economically untenable, and they'd rather return to the bicycle for personal daily transportation. Given what we've experienced over the past 130 years, that's what it would take to have another event that matches the importance of the first two.

Like Poguemahone said, we're in steady expansion, not an explosive boom. And I don't see that changing in the immediate future.

Fenway

Bikes became cool amongst the young hipster set. Then it became more tolerable for younger people into their 20s to still ride bikes. More on street infrastructure has been added in the past decade as a result of 'complete streets' becoming mainstream in traffic design making it somewhat safer and easier to ride for members of the general public. Figure in more expensive gas, cities becoming trendy nice places to live instead of crime infested Hellholes to avoids, people getting sick of long commutes from bedroom communities and a general dislike of many of the aspects of public transit and one has enough factors combining to facilitate a steady increase in cycling.

LesterOfPuppets

I kinda thought we've been in a bit of a lull since Lance was on #6 or 7, but I have no sales numbers to back that up.

Here's hoping gas prices get some cars off the road, though!

kroozer 

I think cycling is becoming ever more popular, but I believe (hope) it is a more stable growth than "boom" implies. Even here in a small provincial city in Mexico I can really see a difference over the last few years. A lot of young people are getting into it: I participate in an informal group that promotes cycling in several ways, and they're all young kids. Their environmental consciousness surpasses that of their parents by a factor of at least 10. But it's not just that, I think a lot of it has to do with that fact that urban driving sucks so bad and is only getting worse, whereas biking just feels good. Several of my neighbors have made comments to the effect that they'd love to bike to work, too, if they didn't have to worry about the #$%& cars. So I'm not viewed as such a pathetic freak as before, some of them are probably even a bit envious. There is also the health factor-- diabetes and obesity have gone through the roof in the past few years, and people are wondering what they can do about it. I teach at the local state university and all my classes feature at least one presentation on urban cycling. The students are always very interested and often quite surprised by some of the stuff I tell them. When I go back to Minnesota in the summer, south Minneapolis is full of bikes in a way that I never recalled when I lived there. I think all the factors contributing to this "boom" are going to be with us long-term, and by the time we solve the health, energy, environmental, and urban liveability problems, a lot of people will be hooked on cycling. This is great.

Velognome 

Once again, we're talking a major jarring of 'life as we know it'

Wait, What, huh?

I don't recall the 70's bike boom being jarring. What I remember was it being pretty much like what we are seeing now, bikes in commercials with pretty young women. Ok, so the bikes are in Viagra and AARP ads now but just the same I've seen them in a Chase banking ad, Pizza Hut and the like.

The second Bike Boom was the sudden shock that adults could ride bicycles, and not be considered wierd, Really?


My older brother must have been pretty weird cuz in the 50's he rode a Phillips 3 speed or as we used to call it, his English racer around town.....hey didn't the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew ride bikes too? Matter fact alot of people rode bikes in the 50's-60's? 10 speeds seemed to kick off the 70's boom. Maybe it's not a BOOM, but certianly and Pop and a Fizzle. Matter fact in the 70's it seemed like a Pop and Fizzle too! Hmmm?

big chainring 

My LBS owner calls it the Road Bike Renaissance. I dont know if he coined that term, but when he first opened about ten years ago he had maybe one, two road bikes in the store. Now he has a whole row of them, with cyclocross, fixed gear bikes mixed in.

LesterOfPuppets

Yeah, the 90s were dominated by MTBs, then Lance came along and...

illwafer

no.

kc0yef 

Absolutely
https://nbda.com/articles/industry-ov...-2010-pg34.htm
https://nbda.com/articles/u.s.-bicycl...2010-pg196.htm
if you want to know more
Greg Shoenfeld, retail relations manager for Leisure Trends Group, will provide analytics and insights gained from ongoing tracking of monthly Point of Sales data from Independent Bicycle Dealers. Leisure Trends Group tracks specialty retail sales for the cycling, outdoor, run, snowsports, and sporting goods industries. LTG will present a bicycle industry sales summary, discuss category trends, demonstrate applications for benchmarking your store’s sales versus industry averages, review top selling brands for key product categories, and provide a forecast for product trends in 2012.
https://nbda.com/

AZORCH

Yes, I believe when we look back a few years from now, we'll define this as another bike boom. And I really hope so, quite frankly... that has to be a good thing, no matter how you look at it.

Chris_in_Miami

I don't want to focus on the hipster aspect too much but there's a lot of truth to it, and it's pretty clear in my locale that cycling has recently experienced a wave of popularity, if not a boom. From my perspective, the wave peaked about a year ago, and we've been in a shallow decline since then.

LesterOfPuppets

Wow, 1973 was a pretty big year! Wonder if/when that record will be broken.
Highest recent peak 2005.
Sales really tanked in 2009 - the end of fixie craze?