You're right. It will be overpriced just because it's a TREK shop.

Wrong.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:G...edium_Term.png

Nice try though. And about gas prices in Europe: when I was living there last fall, my roommate was a guy from Sweden. One day we were talking about gas pricing and he said "man, you guys basically get it for free." It's true. Gas isn't sold by the gallon, it's by the liter; in Austria it was maybe 1.25-1.75 euro per liter. It doesn't matter if the pound or the euro is stronger than the dollar, it's still more expensive there. That's part of the reason so many more people ride public transportation (necessity = better developed = more people = necessity) on the other side of the pond.

FWIW I would never quote Wikipedia as an authoritative source.

Completely discredits his reply, eh?

But anyway, good for Lance.

What about the U.S. Department of Energy? You don't read citations very well, do you?

No need for the snide comment. The thing is you can put anything on a wikipedia page, including saying your info came from the US Dept. of Energy.

And FWIW I'm not arguing that the info isn't valid. I'm just saying it would be better to link to Dept of Energy's site than to a Wikipedia page.

Well, Wiki is faster and also those pages say pretty clearly at the top if they are missing citations.

Apologies. I founded Wikipedia, so understand if I took it a bit personally.

The reason it costs more in the UK and Europe is taxes, plain and simple, sometimes comprising up to 75% of the price in some countries, compared to about 20% in the US. Aside from taxes, MoGas is a free flowing commodity that, if all things being equal (taxes, tariffs, distribution network, etc.) should be priced the same over time (short term differences are common).

That being said, how many people would vote for adding two dollars in gasoline taxes to each gallon of gas in the US? In fact, when gas prices went to $3 last year, many areas actually capped the taxes to keep a lower price.

When I started driving 14 years ago, it was about $1.30/gal locally. I know we are a little more expensive that other areas, but I'd like to know where it is 79 cents/gal 9 years ago!

I thought it was founded by Wales and Sanger? I don't know the whole background of the Wikipedia story...

Anyway, Wikipedia is a great jumping off point and great for casual fact finding, but my personal opinion is that because the content can be created by anyone saying anything I like to verify the results elsewhere if possible - if its important. Again, that's just my opinion...

Dude (meaning ravenmore)...it's almost 90 degrees out there...why aren't you out riding? I'm hoping to get out around 5:00...I've missed the heat!

Oh yeah...good for Lance.

Where I was in Houston about that time, it was very nearly that cheap. I don't recall seeing it at 79 cents, but like 90 cents sounds about right. There was a while that it really was less than a gallon.

I've had the flu since Tuesday.

There was a brief period during the summer a while back when it was below $1 in most places. This was long after I had been paying $1.25 or more. I remember I was on a road trip and ended up seeing truck stops that had it for $0.89.

It was a college road trip so I would have to say it was in the 96,97,98 timeframe.

Regarding the OP, if I owned a bike shop in the Austin area or a Trek dealer anywhere in the US, I'd be afraid, very afraid.... Lance doesn't seem the personality type to do things in a small way, and if you think about it, you have nationwide retail stores for just about every product imaginable, apparal, home improvement, coffee, office supplies, whatever.

So why not bikes? And who better than Lance Armstrong to take advantage of an under-tapped market, he certianly appears to have everything one would need to make this a reality - name recognition, cash and the ability to raise huge amounts of it, a close relationship with one of the largest bike manufacturers in the world... not to mention all the non-tangible stuff it takes to build and run a sucessful business, ambition, ego, the drive to win, and the connections he has built over the years.

I seriously don't know his motivations, maybe he does simply want to give back to his community - I still think the local bike shops in the Austin area will suffer from this, but I also know that competition is what drives innovation and improvement, so maybe all bike riders in the Austin area will win as a result of this.

And maybe all Americans will win as if we have Lance bikes shops popping up in every piece of vacant land across America not already occupied by a WalMart, Lowes, Home Depot. Well all Americans who don't own bike shops that is.

time will tell...

BINGO! And guess where I am?

+1

where were we getting gas in 2000 for .79 cents? That's a mid to late eightees gas number.

I do recall a brief period in '97-98 where prices were down in that range.

Wow, we are off topic, aren't we?

Not being familiar with Austin is there a market for another bike shop that the current shops can't fill or will this be a large "supershop" unlike any other in the area?

Eh? Not even in Texas. I was in San Antonio from '94 (14 years ago) to '00 (8 years ago) and gas was nowhere near 79 cents. It was $1.19 when I started driving in '83.

On topic, I think it's a great idea and just the fact that Lance is behind it will bring a lot of people in the door. He's Austin's favorite son, and I'm glad to see him leveraging that for some good.

Here's a thought...who'll be the first to go in there and ask for a discount? And what will be the answer?

"Yo, Mellow J...hook me up, G!"

"Get the hell out of my store!"