Bike sales in decline

[derrick]

I really don't get this. It's just snobbery of the highest order.
The more cyclists out there on bikes, what ever they ride, the better it is for all of us.

There are as many nonce cyclist as there are car drivers.

 

[ianrauk]

There are as many nonce cyclist as there are car drivers.

What is a nonce cyclist?

 

[derrick]

What is a nonce cyclist?

Probably the wrong word, What about tosser?

 

[pawl]

To me Cycling is a simple pastime.I was talking to a family in the cafe last weekend about there ride.They were riding bog standar hybrids,the father said of course your a proper cyclist.I asked why do you say that, you have all the gear.I asked if he and his children had enjoyed the ride,yes he said .I responded by saying that in my oplnlon he and and his kids also are proper cyclists.

He went onto say he had studied all the current cycle magazines and the cost of what these sc called entry level bikes cost made his eyes water and that the cost of proper cycling clothing was prohibitive.

There is a lot of technical stuff he didn’t understand such as VO2max,interval training,power out put etc.I had to agree with him.I was at a loss to advise him were to look for information other than he and His family enjoy what they were already doing and if they become really keen to speak to the local LBS our search for websites such as this

I must ad mit my eyes also water at the price of technical clothing and the difficult of servicing my bike eg press fit bearings and the array of tools required.

 

[fatjel]

I feel kinda responsible for the decline..
Havn't bought a new bike since July

 

[jefmcg]

I feel kinda responsible for the decline..
Havn't bought a new bike since July

Fingers crossed that @vickster will revert this decline.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It says lowest in past 17 years , which means....

They have sold at least 42.5 million bikes in that time. Most of those bikes are likely to be perfectly servicable still. Plus there will be a healthy second hand market. It would be interesting to see a breakdown between kids and adult bikes. As kids bikes is the one area where the kid will need a new bike after a tear or two as they grow. Adult bikes just fit and you keep riding them (or not)

 

[bozmandb9]

I think all this decline means is that bicycle manufacturers have failed to achieve built in obsolescence to an adequate degree. As has been pointed out, bikes don't evaporate 12 months after purchase, they accumulate. Personally, I tend to buy bikes which were previously bought new 5 years or so ago, I suspect many buyers do similar!

 

[Slick]

Could be partly due to the millions of barely used bikes available secondhand from people who didnt stick with it.

I'm not sure that's really the problem. There's 2 guys at my work who after watching me cycle continuously into work decided to get back in the saddle after a few years away. Both of them bought a second hand bike from gumtree and both still had the stickers on them from the shop. One man's "didn't stick with it" is another man's opportunity.

 

[boydj]

How much is overall spending on bikes, bike parts and accessories down?

I tend to agree that there has to be a saturation point where sales of adult bikes have to slow down, and it's hardly suprising that it's happened this year after the welter of bad publicity we've had.

I still see more adult cyclists about than I ever used to, so bikes are being used. There is still a problem with getting the cycling habit established, no matter how good the intentions of somebody buying a bike for the first time. Whether it's unrealistic expectations, bad experience with traffic or whatever, the fall-out rate is very high.

 

[pjd57]

Ok , there was a big upsurge in cycling for a few years. Sales went up.
All those new bikes and cyclists are mainly still out there enjoying them.

It's not like a mobile phone that you ditch in favour of the latest model every 12 or 24 months.

 

[Smokin Joe]

He went onto say he had studied all the current cycle magazines and the cost of what these sc called entry level bikes cost made his eyes water and that the cost of proper cycling clothing was prohibitive.

I absolutely hate that term. There is no such thing as an "Entry level bike", only in the minds of the immature teenage scribblers who pass for cycling magazine journalists these days. I've seen bikes that pro riders would have sold their souls for just two decades ago described in that way, bikes from reputable manufacturers with good quality components that would last for years.

I'm willing to bet many people are put off because they are needlessly embarrassed about the perfectly good bike they have bought because it is all they can afford, particularly as there seems to be a nasty breed of cyclist about now who openly sneer at those they consider to have inferior equipment.

 

[Johnno260]

Cyclist not making new cyclist welcome, you only have to look as far as this forum to see people moaning about newbie cyclist at times.

As for going on about so called 5 minute wonders, that one really gets me, if you have never tried something and stopped because it did not do what you wanted it too then you are living a sad life in my humble.

I was never made to feel unwelcome here and when I first joined I asked so many questions.

 

[FishFright]

I absolutely hate that term. There is no such thing as an "Entry level bike", only in the minds of the immature teenage scribblers who pass for cycling magazine journalists these days. I've seen bikes that pro riders would have sold their souls for just two decades ago described in that way, bikes from reputable manufacturers with good quality components that would last for years.

I'm willing to bet many people are put off because they are needlessly embarrassed about the perfectly good bike they have bought because it is all they can afford, particularly as there seems to be a nasty breed of cyclist about now who openly sneer at those they consider to have inferior equipment.

'Entry level' is pretty simple to understand. and used for 1000's of different products without issue. I don't understand what causes you to have problems with it ?

 

[Johnno260]

I absolutely hate that term. There is no such thing as an "Entry level bike", only in the minds of the immature teenage scribblers who pass for cycling magazine journalists these days. I've seen bikes that pro riders would have sold their souls for just two decades ago described in that way, bikes from reputable manufacturers with good quality components that would last for years.

I'm willing to bet many people are put off because they are needlessly embarrassed about the perfectly good bike they have bought because it is all they can afford, particularly as there seems to be a nasty breed of cyclist about now who openly sneer at those they consider to have inferior equipment.

There was a guy I used to see often while out and he always dropped a snotty comment about my old
boardman hybrid, he had a nice specialised, he really got upset when I smirked while passing him on every climb.