No Surge in Bicyclists
photo credit: aloxe
Last year in there was an enormous surge in bicycle sales with the high gas prices and everyone switching over to more efficient ways of travel. So Mr. Graves, an Oregon bike store owner stocked up on winter equipment expecting sales to be the same.
However, sales have dropped quite a bit and now Mr. Graves is wishing he hadn’t bought so much inventory. Bicycle commuters were actually found to be a fixed group of people rather then a growing new trend like Mr. Graves and other bike store owners were thinking.
The last time bicycle sales were stronger than motor vehicle sales was in the early 1970s, in the midst of another recession, which was set off by the Arab oil embargo.
It is now unclear as to wether a consumer will buy more bikes and bike equipment versus going back to buying cars, trucks and vans as their mode of transportation. It seems as though the bike store owners who made the same mistake as Mr. Graves will now be waiting out a possible long ride on bike sales increasing.
Brandlessblog on March 17th, 2009 12:40 pm
Just a guess, people may be losing job, so there is no point buying any bicycle since they are not going to work.
drew on March 17th, 2009 4:44 pm
“winter equipment”…
Talk to any one who rides: nobody likes riding in winter. Doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be more cyclists once it’s warmer.
Angela Shupe on March 17th, 2009 7:09 pm
Unfortunately trends tend to go away. Sounds like this is one that will do the same now that the gas prices are a bit more wallet friendly.
In this case, I’d like to see people stick to bike riding. It’s a good alternative to driving a car and great exercise. All the reasons to continue it are there, unfortunately some people just prefer to drive when they can afford to do so. :-(
Curt on March 18th, 2009 7:36 am
Oil prices are moving up. I predict bick sales in 2010 to return to records.
Michael on August 21st, 2009 8:49 pm
The problem with bikes is that they represent an option… rare is it a neccessity.. in this economy, options are given a lower priority. Very rare people live a life where a bicycle enhances it…
Understand that I love bikes… rode just this morning… Bikes are perceived as expensive toys when the issue at hand is to get to work on time or get laid off in this horrible economy… How are you going to ride a bike when people are consolidating trips – go to the grocery store on the way home from work. In short, people are too broke and scared to have fun…
Leave a Reply