Interesting Comments on Interbike

[George S.]

I noticed this post about Interbike, looking around at ebike stuff:

https://medium.com/karmic-bikes/after-interbike-f81a3786587e

The author, Hong or @Hong , takes a negative view of the thing, at least for unpowered bikes. The term "dead man walking" is not going to appear in press releases. I guess he notes a change to a broader, more user friendly kind of biking.

"So it’s hugely important that we make the statement that biking is for everyone, when cycling has long been an exclusive sport for only a select few. This small change in how we think can save the bike industry."

He did like the ebike stuff. It's hard to argue this hasn't been an incredibly dynamic year for ebikes. There's a tension between bikes and ebikes. It's not like ebikes are taking off, even if regular bikes are too locked into a small group of riders.

Well, no one doing summaries of Interbike said much about the regular bikes, and this is one knowledgable person's opinion.

One view of the thing:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...me-married-MAMIL-s-Middle-Aged-Man-Lycra.html

 

[Cameron Newland]

Interesting take.

Perhaps cycling is just going through some tough years that will lead to its eventual reinvention.

Cycling in the US has morphed into a sport that's exclusively for exercise and competition, and over the next decade (and with the help of e-bikes), that will change and more Americans will use bicycles and ebikes for transportation instead of a car. Bicycle infrastructure is really expanding and so is bicycle commuting, and with those changes will come a decrease in sales of a road bikes/racing bikes/triathlon bikes and increases in sales of hybrids/city bikes/e-bikes.

 

[one4torque]

Pretty funny to think about this:

China / West Africa - dev nations.... have been bike and gas bike focused for decades.... VS US has been car focused for decades (incl infrastrucutre only for cars + sprawling burbs).....

Now the SWITCH!

China has been infected with cars/suburban sprawl.... everyone in Beijing MUST have a car........ AND the burgeoning shift to bikes/ebikes in USA......... funny how things work out.

 

[George S.]

I guess they are being a little more practical with cars, like hourly rentals rather than owning. No one really knows if sustainable electric vehicles can be made to replace internal combustion in xx years?

It seems like when Europeans have a bike culture, everyone wears 'normal' clothes and just rides a pretty basic bike.

 

[Jack Tyler]

There has been a broader exposure to Europe by Americans generally over the past few decades, and this might have in incremental positive influence. Unless you never disembark a tour bus, you can't escape noticing how bikes everywhere in Europe are - and can be - a major method of public transport, provided the infrastructure makes it minimally inviting. My favorite: Dutch cities like Amsterdam where there are FOUR traffic signal systems, arranged in order of 'public benefit' priority. As the lights sequence and light durations are managed, #1 priority is for electric trams (mass transit), followed by #2 pedestrians, followed by #3 bikes and finally (and last in priority) #4 cars. Saturday shopping consists of whole families on bikes - little kids in front carriers with rain screens, big baskets for the shop goods - far more than cars from the suburbs. The climate is seasonal, the Netherlands are located right off the North Sea with its obnoxious weather, yet bikes flourish and some only rent a car when its absolutely necessary. In my city of 900,000, bike lanes are an infrequent afterthought, mass transit barely exists, and it's all about cars that struggle through the 1980's traffic engineering system. Such a shame.

 

[MLB]

It's happening people, just not as fast as we would all like.
Every city is experiencing more and more cyclists, as they respond with better riding environments (bike lanes, trails, etc) more people try it.
You'd have to have your head in the sand to not understand that we're all better off physcially when we exercise. If we can show people that a 5 mile ride to work is nothing to fear (reg bike), we can still have a seismic shift in awareness.