Cycling Down?

[spandex]

I was watching the news this morning on BBC and a report came on saying that cycling was down all over the U.K. All but London where it is up by 10%.

The base of this going by the BBC is that cycling is still thort of as a pore man's form of trasport! how can this be. My sister got her first car for £80 yes it was a banger but it was a car with all the running costs. Is it not the same with cars as for bikes!

Price bands

Bike - Car - Seen as

£50 to £100 - £80 to £600 A cheep banger

£100 to £270 - £600 to £1000 Bace line commuter

£270 to £500 - £1000 to £5000 Getting to the nice bits

£500 to £1000 - £5000 to £10000 Some nice bits of kit

£1000 up £10000 up. Some one thats got cash
​

I dont get it if some one can spend £1000 on a bike they have to have some cash. And as we all know the running costs are less on a bike then a Car so is it not the one with the Bike is the wise one not the pore one?

 

[summerdays]

I don't know ... they said cycling was cheap ... I must be one of the exceptions the way I keep thinking about spending on the bike ... (and I'm not half as bad as some of you lot).

 

[spandex]

A mate of mine is not happy if he has not spent at least £1000 a year on his bikes

 

[Plax]

I think it's the more "well off / middle class" that tend to make the majority of cyclists up. Certainly round here. I've seen a couple of "poor" looking people in normal clothes on MTB's (POB's) then the rest are what I would call "middle class / well off". They are the ones in all the gear on the Trek's, Cannondales & Specialized road bikes etc (I'm really sad and when my bf is driving I have to check out all the bikes people are cycling when we go past). Since I've had my Dawes Ultra Galaxy I've had a lot more of these roadie types saying hello or nodding at me, whereas on the Hybrid they tended to just cycle past. Snobs or what! I'll say hello to anybody me.
I'd put myself in the middle class category, and I'm not interested in cars so I have an old banger. I'm more practical and like small cars that are economical to run and you can get all sorts of crap in the back. I'm loving my Galaxy as in a similar vein, you can get all sorts of crap on the pannier rack and it's cheap to run!

 

[HelenD123]

I thought the BBC said cycling in London was up by 83%, but that was since 2000.

I see a real mixture of cyclists on my commute, not particularly those that are poor.

 

[yenrod]

I think it was Giant who started the cycling price increases: it was after I seen a advert for a gold & black Giant for 4 or 5000 pounds that bikes got stupid in price..

 

[Paulus]

It may of been reported by the BBC, but it depends on who commissioned the report. Many of these surveys have agendas behind them and most are not to be trusted.

 

[spandex]

I think it was Giant who started the cycling price increases: it was after I seen a advert for a gold & black Giant for 4 or 5000 pounds that bikes got stupid in price..

You are half right Giant was the 2nd to put up there price's Dawes was the first they put theres up by 15% because of the cost of metal/rubber....

It may of been reported by the BBC, but it depends on who commissioned the report. Many of these surveys have agendas behind them and most are not to be trusted.

That is a good point I've been phoning round all the LBS that know me. They are all saying the same Bike sales are up and accessorys are up by loads. So you may be right Mr Paulus

 

[summerdays]

I love your sterotyping User1314 ...... esp the disqualified driver ... it will give me something new to do on the bike - categorising them.

 

[sheddy]

I blame the BBC. When did you last see a bike feature on TV ?

 

[HelenD123]

The woman on the news did a pretty good job this morning I thought. Apparently she cycles to work herself. She neatly sidestepped the helmet debate...

 

[GrahamG]

You can't trust these figures one bit - I'd take the anecdotal evidence from bike shops and what all you guys see everyday over that article. Reason? Outside London there is very little traffic monitoring that will include pedal cycles in the counts (London will be better because of their cycling targets and the amount of development meaning that traffic surveys are continuously taking place all over the shop to include manual counts which will pick up on cycle traffic). I've spoken to a few people in cycling/sustainable transport roles in local authorities and they have all been unable to say whether or not cycling is on the increase as they just can't afford to monitor levels in a way that will provide a genuinely robust measurement.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

just out of interest, how many london cyclists started in the wake of 7/7?

 

[spandex]

from what alecstilleyedye said I know that there was a big rise in the number of bikes sold after the bombings. But why is it still growing ?

 

[Keith Oates]

I think that the cost savings and more awareness of the health advantages play a large part in the increase of bikes on the road!!!!!!!!!!!!!