georgiaboy

In Georgia, of course...

https://news.mywebpal.com/partners/68...ews657293.html

More people riding bicycles in Colorado...

https://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...063496,00.html

Joplin Missouri as well

https://www.joplinglobe.com/story.php...id=204714&c=87

Will this result in higher prices for bicycles and components?

FarHorizon

You're dreamin' - The average SUV driver may commute on their existing coaster-brake cruiser that they dig out of their garage, but they aint about to become regular about it. So long as they can afford the gas, they'll be driving. Or, as I heard one matron put it, "Gas prices are getting so high I'm going to have to quit smoking to afford my gas!"

madman91

why is it that american cars are so big... europe has +5dollar gallons and they arent whining....

ViciousCycle

Of course, cost can actually go down as demand goes up. Many people buy calculators and computer printers and movies, and these items are relatively cheaper now than in the early days when few people bought them.

the1jzahn

One reason that computers and printers can go down in price as demand goes up is that they are renewable. The oil in the middle east, alaska and the gulf is most unfortunately not. Eventually it will run out. Thankfully not during our lifetime!

cyclwestks

I laugh as I walk by the big SUV's, wondering if the gas company's had to put a lien on their house yet.

My wife works for Red Cross, & one of her volunteers actually asked her if I had an extra bike so he could start commuting to work.

worker4youth

Computers aren't renewable. Sure, you can recycle, but you don't get 100% return rate. Wonder when we'll run out of sand to supply us with silicon?

lilHinault

And that's just what they say in public, in reality they keep on driving and keep on smoking and just stop feeding their kids.

SteveRogers

The reason gas is so much cheaper here in the US is because of our high consumption. To put it in a different perspective, we are the Wal-mart of the petroleum market. We can negotiate lower prices because of our high volume. If consumption here is vastly reduced, then we start seeing Europe-level pricing.

By the same token, if substatially more people start riding bicycles, then you can expect prices to drop after volumes go up. However, the initial supply constraint as demand rises and suppliers race to increase production capacity/volumes would cause a delay before the price drop. Fewer deals would be offered, as MSRP would become the norm.

Reality? We are a "car society" in the US. Gas would have to hit $6-$7 per gallon before Americans would dream of giving up the beloved automobile. Heck, I'd have to cycle 15 miles to catch the train every morning (in business casual!) Moving closer to work would be way too expensive right now (+$100k min) just to move closer to work. Now imagine housing prices in the city when EVERYONE wants to move closer!

Give up the car? Not gonna happen....

folder fanatic

Americans are way too dependant on their cars. The suburban tracts, drive through windows, freeways or expressways, roads dominated by large motor vehicles, and other traps keep people in line (both figuratively and actually).

Cyclon

With more people buying bicycles I would say prices would go down. Why? Because bicycles and parts would be able to sell in higher volume.

This is the opposite of an auto company like Bentley which bases it's pricing on low volume sales with high prices.

MadScientist

Just relax. It will take sometime for the cycling fever to hit them all. We can be sure that all those lazy couch potatoes will not jump up and be zapped by the cycle love bug. Motorcycles may be the first. I am getting one in the spring to make some of my comutes a little less stressful. However, i need to figure out how to strap my bicycle to the thing? I'll figure something out.

cycle on!

FarHorizon

Agreed, but until practical, safe, and reliable public transportation is available and used, we'll remain an automobile society. If we were smart, we'd have started public funding and construction of elevated light-rail systems in ALL metropolitan areas with elevated high speed rail (passenger only) in the medians of all interstate highways. Sitting in your SUV, parked in bumper-to-bumper on the interstate, and watching the elevated train go by at 150 mph might motivate some to switch!

jabowker

Maybe very short term, however long term you could expect them to drop. When pricing bikes at a LBS in my area the comments sometime back indicated that relative pricing between bicycle styles varied inversely to volume. At the time higher volumes of ATBs resulted in lower relative prices.

dobber

No, Europe has a much higher taxation rate on gasoline.

Dolomiti

I think it's asthetics and also Mutually Assured Destruction, or something. No one wants to be left with a small car thinking they will be the ones killed in an accident.

Kind off odd, when you consider how bad drivers Americans can be... something that could be corrected at a much lower cost.

Cyclon

I remember seeing a thread on how to strap a bicycle to a motorcycle not too long ago. Not sure if the person figured it out though.

Dahon.Steve

I guess those of us living in the city have the best of all worlds. I live right next to a supermarket and the dry clearners is just down the block. The park is about a block and a half away with my $53.00 dollar a month, (unlimited rides) light rail just 7 blocks away. I have to say the price of gas has had no impact in my life.

You have a good point in that housing prices in the city when EVERYONE wants to move closer could go through the roof and I see this happening already! All new high rise construction is for luxury apartments costing 175k and up to 1 million for one or three bedroom apartments. People are moving back into the city in droves and for the first time in my life, I'm seeing construction in areas that have been abandoned for 75 years! Construction is happening everywhere in swamps, slums and toxic waste sites! It's incredible.

However, living in the burbs is not cheap either. Homes in the burbs (New Jersey) are not averaging about 275K and up if you want to live there. You're only hope for inexpensive housing are the exurbs or 125 miles away from the city. Traveling 225 miles a day to work in the city should be real fun. Of couse, you can move to Alaska and live with the bears. ;-)

Rev.Chuck

"I have to say the price of gas has had no impact in my life."

Just wait a little while. You know all that stuff you buy at the grocery store, it gets there with fuel. The public transit, might be electric, but that power gets generated somehow probably coal/oil/nuclear. The lights in your house, on the street, and in the store as well. Does not really matter which one as they are all tied to each other, same with propane and natural gas. So this winter expect that heating bill to be 30-50% higher.

cooker

Maybe not quickly, but long-term higher gas prices will lead to a gradual re-engineering of society to accomodate people who want to pay less for housing and transport or who simply can't afford the new higher costs of suburban life. Higher energy prices will mean large suburban homes will not only be more expensive to commute to, they'll also be more expensive to build, maintain, heat, and air-condition, it will cost more to fill the lawn tractor; also, it will cost more for municipalities to provide police and fire/EMT service, snowplowing etc., etc., etc. so property taxes will soar or services will whither. Young people looking to buy a first home will increasingly see the value of accepting less house...maybe an infill rowhouse in a re-gentrified inner city neighbourhood, or a new condo on a converted factory lot. Sure the upfront costs may be high due to high realty costs related to the "re-Manhattanization" (my phrase) of inner cities all over the country. However, offsetting that, they will they save what they would have spent on buying and fueling that second SUV and the other increased suburban costs I mentioned, and they will also save the time they would have spent in gridlock, and hey, time is money - they can invest it in family, more hours of work, or...biking!
Robert

carless

My heating bill = $0. I am disconnected. Avg jan temp inside is 50's. I work at 5am and find it easier to hit 40 degrees outside by acclimation, I do shorts until 48 degrees. If you think thats extreme I don't own a car (name).

Rev.Chuck

Not everbody lives in SoCal.

HiYoSilver

No so cal, but middle cal, sacramento. middle of the valley. they pay for it with 100 degree summers and fog in the winter. Oh, and horrible, impatient traffic.

allgoo19

I hope you are joking, ViciousCycle. In the short term, the demand pushes the price higher.

Actually you have skipped a few steps. It goes like this...

Demand goes up -> inventory decreases -> price goes up temporarily -> profitability goes up -> production goes up -> production surpass the demand -> inventory increases -> price comes down

SteveRogers

Granted, but that is only part of the picture. My dad worked for Chevron, and explained it in excruciating detail way too many times (wish he was still here to explain it just once more.... )