1973 oil crisis and bike prices

[BoldonLad]

Would that have been possible given a three day working week.

@mustang1, Top Gear bicycle style!

Three day working week was early 1970's (1971-1972 from memory).

 

[classic33]

Three day working week was early 1970's (1971-1972 from memory).

Scheduled power cuts were part of the reason for the three day week

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Day_Week

 

[BoldonLad]

Scheduled power cuts were part of the reason for the three day week

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Day_Week

Quite. I was there. Wife was heavily pregnant with son no.1. "Blocks" of premises used to have power cut, for 3 hour periods. Fortunately for us, when our house power went off, local pub was in a different "block", and we used to walk round there to keep warm and have light. This must have been around end 1971 early 1972 (son was born June 72). Then, later, in the decade, (1973-74), there was a different pattern of power cuts, with different industries on a three day working week. I don't recall domestic power being routinely cut during the "3-day week" period, but, it may have been.

 

[classic33]

Quite. I was there. Wife was heavily pregnant with son no.1. "Blocks" of premises used to have power cut, for 3 hour periods. Fortunately for us, when our house power went off, local pub was in a different "block", and we used to walk round there to keep warm and have light. This must have been around end 1971 early 1972 (son was born June 72). Then, later, in the decade, (1973-74), there was a different pattern of power cuts, with different industries on a three day working week. I don't recall domestic power being routinely cut during the "3-day week" period, but, it may have been.

It was, we switched to a gas cooker so that we could at least cook a meal.
Neighbours also helped each other out. Those who were able cooked for those who couldn't.
Can't imagine this sort of thing happening today.

 

[Smokin Joe]

It was, we switched to a gas cooker so that we could at least cook a meal.
Neighbours also helped each other out. Those who were able cooked for those who couldn't.
Can't imagine this sort of thing happening today.

Not in the big cities like London, perhaps. But in most smaller communities it would.

I remember many pubs getting generators in so they could keep open, particularly those with live music.

 

[Fredo76]

The three-day work week was one reason Colin Laing moved to Tucson, Arizona to build frames, he told me.

IIRC, he built about five frames a week, and they sold for maybe $250 in 1975. I remember ads in International Cycle Sport at the time saying: "All the best Frames have NOT gone to the United States!" - the bike boom here was pretty big. I had bought a Schwinn Paramount frame from a shop in Ohio, at a very cheap price because Nixon had his Wage and Price Freeze going on, and they were caught with it quite under-priced, as Paramounts had been relatively inexpensive compared to other makes' premium bikes already.

"All I knew about Tucson was from old cowboy movies - 'Filmed in Tucson' - I thought I'd be working next to a livery stable!" - Colin Laing

 

[Smokin Joe]

"All I knew about Tucson was from old cowboy movies - 'Filmed in Tucson'

Jo Jo came from Tucson.

 

[Gillstay]

Energy security is why Trump was keen on US fracking, to be self-sufficient in meeting oil demand. When a country has energy self-sufficiency and a strong military, it doesn't have to dance to anyone else's tune. Just look at how countries like Germany are reliant on piped-in gas supplies and this gives Putin a stick to beat western Europe with.

He did it in a stupid way though, as if he had forced car makers to produce cars that were energy efficient as the French did, then the States and the the rest of the world would be better off. Being self sufficient in wasting your own resources is not a good thing.

 

[BoldonLad]

He did it in a stupid way though, as if he had forced car makers to produce cars that were energy efficient as the French did, then the States and the the rest of the world would be better off. Being self sufficient in wasting your own resources is not a good thing.

Agree with the bolded part.

Why "the French" surely it was not uniquely a "French thing" to produce cars with improved fuel consumption?

 

[Gillstay]

Agree with the bolded part.

Why "the French" surely it was not uniquely a "French thing" to produce cars with improved fuel consumption?

Yep, at around the time when British Leyland was in trouble the French car industry was also, but their government said they would help them on condition that they produced efficient cars. Hence the French being ahead of all for a great many years and reaping the rewards. With electric cars General motors could have been Tesla like years ago. See the documentary `Who killed the electric car'.

 

[DRM]

He did it in a stupid way though, as if he had forced car makers to produce cars that were energy efficient as the French did, then the States and the the rest of the world would be better off. Being self sufficient in wasting your own resources is not a good thing.

They did seem to think that their oil fields were an infinite resource, it’s seems so short sighted to be selling huge V8 cars with in inability to get even 10 mpg out of them, you see recognisable European cars on U.S tv programmes now, too little to late I think

 

[Gillstay]

Yep your right esp when you consider the big 3, Ford , GM and Chrysler were agreeing in meetings in the 80's to get an average of 30mpg out of their cars and how far off they they must still be off that target. Land of the free ! Free to mess it up.

 

[mpemburn]

I had a cheap “10 speed” in 1973, and was a fairly new driver, so the bike mostly sat in the garage. A couple of years later, I got a job in a mom-and-pop bike shop, and it was there that my real interest in cycling began. As you might imagine, a novice bike mechanic didn’t take home a fabulous wage, but I managed to get a Raliegh Super Course within a year, and later bought a Bottechia Columbus tube frame, and fitted it out with full Campy Record.

So, the price of bikes may have spike in ‘73, but they seem to have settled back down a little while later—and least on the East Coast of the U.S.