Do cycling adverts give the wrong impressions to budding new cyclists

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johnnyb47

Guru
Location
Wales
Hi again.
Whilst out cycling today doing my monthly 100k ride ( it was had going too with that east wind :-) I tend think a lot about life in general. With just over 4 hours in saddle, you've only got your own thoughts to keep you going on the deserted Sunday roads over here in Wales.
I got thinking about cycling adverts that you often see popping up on YouTube and the tv from time to time.
The YouTube ones in particular really give a "rose tinted" image of cycling which can be a million miles away from reality. They often show high-end bikes tearing down some picturesque mountain with not a car or truck to be seen. The weather is always perfect ,and it has to have some real aggressive back ground music to give it all the sense of speed and action.
To a non cyclist who's thinking of taking up cycling all these hyperactive adverts really do give out the wrong impression to a new cyclist. The newbie cyclist goes out and spends a few hundred £££s on their new steed and after a few miles ,reality soon kicks in. Intimidating traffic ,cold hands and feet and a sore arriss :-) Then there's the low speed they will no doubt be enduring as they slowly get "bike fit". The adverts often show the cyclist traveling in excess of 20mph whilst the newbie is puffing and panting away trying to break double figures.
Sometimes you see why new cyclists spend lots of money on a new bike only to give it up after a few months and the bike becomes an expensive ornament of the garage.
It's good that such web sites like "CYCLE CHAT" are a common place, because we are real people who talk about all our highs and lows in the cycling world. Whether it be positive or negative issues, a new cyclist will get a balanced view of what cycling is all about in this day and age.
If you are new or thinking of getting a bike don't let the glossy adverts take you for a ride. Read Cycle Chat instead. You will get a more down to earth picture of what cycling is really like on a day to day basis.
All the very best,
Johnny.
 

Slick

Guru
Bike adverts are much like any other advert really.
 

Heltor Chasca

Out-riding the Black Dog
Hmm. I think that’s why I like cycling. Because I DON’T think about life and all it’s vagaries. Rather I am mindful of my technique, posture, aches, pedal stroke, hunger/hanger and navigation. Getting home can be a bit like waking from a nice dream sometimes.

(Not having a telly helps with advert exposure. Oops I said it again. Runs for cover)
 

Banjo

Fuelled with Jelly Babies
Location
South Wales
Keep the adverts going so hardly used bike bargains are available second hand.

All with the perfect level of compliance of course :-)
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
Adverts are filmed on the perfectly smooth empty roads round here. Always a tailwind and averages of 23mph even for beginners...
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
That what advertisements are all about.

You don't see a car advertisement with someone stuck in traffic for ages but such is the reality of driving.

Beer advertisements don't show someone in the toilet puking their guts up or some old wino lying in a shop doorway.

When they were around, tobacco advertisements didn't show some old person coughing their lungs up.

It's all about selling an image whether it reflects the likely reality or not.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
No need to bother with puffing and panting away trying to break double figures when you can take your time enjoying riding roads like this yesterday. The red dot is a friend just disappearing into the woods ahead...
 

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Aravis

Putrid Donut
Location
Gloucester
If I recall my novicey solo cycle tours from some 30 years ago, I don't easily remember the pain, the grind and the fear. I much more readily recall feelings of achievement and exultation. My head fills with images of glorious views, fantastic descents, and sunshine. It's sounding quite a bit like the adverts the OP was describing. If I can remember bad things I tend to laugh about them. So perhaps there's truth in what the adverts are representing after all.
 
Imagine a realistic cycling advert. Middle aged overweight person raining sweat as they plod along at just a bit more than walking pace, while some teenagers shout really unimaginative things they think they're the first to have thought of.

Or the happy family riding the woodland trail, with one kid whinging incessantly about everything.

I think bike adverts do their job. They support the bike industry. They work. When I was a kid, people spent a lot of money on gear if they were semi pro, competing a lot. Everyone else managed fine on cheap bikes with minimal gear. Nowadays those of us that spend less than a grand on our total setup are often sneered at.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Don't forget the other marketing ploy, that of setting the price high enough to impress the punter and his friends. Most people won't buy stuff that's cheap on the assumption that it can't be any good.
 

screenman

Legendary Member
Imagine a realistic cycling advert. Middle aged overweight person raining sweat as they plod along at just a bit more than walking pace, while some teenagers shout really unimaginative things they think they're the first to have thought of.

Or the happy family riding the woodland trail, with one kid whinging incessantly about everything.

I think bike adverts do their job. They support the bike industry. They work. When I was a kid, people spent a lot of money on gear if they were semi pro, competing a lot. Everyone else managed fine on cheap bikes with minimal gear. Nowadays those of us that spend less than a grand on our total setup are often sneered at.

Is there a chance you are imagining that last line?
 
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