That is all we see, the newer more expensive cars tend to be the one's sticking to the rules.
What do we think will happen to the bike market post lockdown?
- Thread starter DSK
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
That is all we see, the newer more expensive cars tend to be the one's sticking to the rules.
Man you do have a hatred of motorist inside you or is it just for those with a nice car, if I was an Audi owner and come in here as a new cyclist you would alienate me in an instant.
CanucksTraveller
Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
- Location
- Hertfordshire
My recent experiences seem to back that up, my daughter can do up to about 8 miles total so our trips are no more than 3-4 miles from home. The first two thirds of a mile on the local greenway are a bit of a nightmare with wobbly bikes everywhere and then when you get beyond that first mile it's empty.
Did we not all start off as wobbly cyclist. If I see a new cyclist which is seldom I always stop and have a chat, I doubt many on here do.
CanucksTraveller
Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
- Location
- Hertfordshire
Yes we did, you'll note that I wasnt criticising anyone, merely noting that they thin out quickly. Not all observations are critical.
Not the best time for stopping and chatting of course.
Globalti
Legendary Member
I enjoy driving and I have a nice practical Passat estate with DSG, which is a pleasure to drive. As a teenager I venerated BMW cars and bikes but in recent years I think the motor industry has gone too far in linking cars with machismo and selling ridiculously overpowered cars to people who just want a status symbol on the drive. Most people never get to use their car to its full capacity and most have no clue how fast and powerful it really is.
My views are strongly coloured by having had a colleague who was by his own admission deeply materialistic and very upset that the standard executive car was an A4 or a Passat, both great cars. He once said to me: "The people I spend my weekends with (at Abersoch) are really nice; they all drive BMWs, Mercedes and Audis!" and: "I won't be satisfied until I've got a Beemer on my drive!"
He went to see our boss about it and the boss told him it was the standard car or the door, so he walked out of an excellent job with a great company, got his Beemer but is now in trouble because his employer has been bought by a bigger competitor and is about to disappear.
Living on the edge of a Lancashire mill town we see and hear a lot of German sports saloons being raced around by people who crave status and the bigger, noisier and more outrageously powerful, the better.
BigMeatball
Senior Member
I've seen all the kennels and dog clubs advertising the same message about dogs in order to try and discourage all these people bored out their mind who all of a sudden buy a puppy
Regarding the bike market, I think a lot of people are buying bikes now, just to stop using them when the lockdown is over, so I would expect an absolutely great second hand market popping up 6-12 months after life goes back to normal
- Location
- London
I didn't read globalti's comment that way at all.
It is true that too many folk see a car as a status thing, wasting loads of money in the process and helping to screw the planet.
Italy is a particularly sad case of car fixation.
I have experience of it.
I used to be an audi driver
writing it off in rather odd circumstances directly lead to me taking up adult cycling. And never looked back.
CanucksTraveller
Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
- Location
- Hertfordshire
That attitude definitely exists doesn't it.
I worked with one former RAF pilot who said to me "you haven't succeeded in life until you have had the three pointed star of Stuttgart on your driveway at least once". He actually said that with a straight face, and yes, he was an insufferable old prick. He would also refer to speeding (only his own speeding) as "a spirited drive", clearly it was a better class of speeding than those "oiks in their cheap Japanese cars" as he put it.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
We're not all immune to that kind of thinking.
Over a decade ago I bought a Merc A class. The reason for this was that, after much research I found it to be particularly accessible - it's relatively high - so I could give my increasingly crotchety parents a lift, and I got one for a decent price. Now despite the fact that I'd got it for mainly practical reasons I do remember pulling on to my drive and opening the door and seeing the shiny Mercedes footplate thingy and thinking "Crikey, I own a Merc. Aren't I Mr Swanky?"
The reason for buying the car has gone - my dad has died and my mother is now wheelchair bound but I still have the damn rust bucket. The radio and aircon don't work any more. It's a diesel. It doesn't feel terribly swanky.
Globalti
Legendary Member
Here's a video about sales reps and badge anxiety. Just the first minute will be enough for you; that attitude still exists.
View: https://youtu.be/CQsMFQZa8os
View: https://youtu.be/CQsMFQZa8os
jay clock
Massive member
- Location
- Hampshire UK
in answer to the OP
a) massive unemployment meaning far more people having to use bikes (£20 BSO with no brakes) as a basic means of getting around
b) millions of semi unemployed/early retired having more time on their hands to pootle around doing leisure cycling (a bit like we have now in lockdown
c) Massive crash in new bike sales. We mostly (on here) have enough bikes and suddenly will discover that our heap of N+1s are actually enough, particularly when our jobs go/incomes plummet
d) modest increase in bike repair services
e) 30% or more closure of LBS
f) increase in bike commuting where people avoid bus/train (cars too for same reason)
a) massive unemployment meaning far more people having to use bikes (£20 BSO with no brakes) as a basic means of getting around
b) millions of semi unemployed/early retired having more time on their hands to pootle around doing leisure cycling (a bit like we have now in lockdown
c) Massive crash in new bike sales. We mostly (on here) have enough bikes and suddenly will discover that our heap of N+1s are actually enough, particularly when our jobs go/incomes plummet
d) modest increase in bike repair services
e) 30% or more closure of LBS
f) increase in bike commuting where people avoid bus/train (cars too for same reason)
its worst now, cheap leasing deals have fuelled it so it’s no longer just salesman who are anxious that their car is not good enough.
vickster
Legendary Member
From 1993
It's that when your prejudice started?I don't think I know anyone who is obsessed with cars as a status symbol
