ShareThisA trend toward using bicycles for errands and commuting appears to have outlasted last summer's gas price hikes, some cycling industry experts observe. And the industry is responding by introducing more models adapted to the new type of cyclists.
"That gives you a clue that we are not the only ones noticing that category," said Fred Clements, executive director of the National Bicycle Dealers Association.
The owner of Cyclery USA shops in Riverside and Redlands, Calif., says commuter bikes -- also called hybrid bikes for their adaptation of road bike and mountain bike characteristics -- have become his No. 1 sales volume category.
"My family has owned these stores for 40 years, and I cannot remember bicycle commuting being as popular as it is right now. It's huge," Craig Kundig said.
The percentage of hybrid/commuter bikes shipped from manufacturers to specialty bike shop retailers went from 15 percent in 2006 to 19 percent of all bicycle types in 2008, according to a market study by the dealers association.
Kundig said customers often use a tuned-up old bike for several months until they feel assured they can incorporate cycling into their lives. Then they return to look at new commuter bikes that run between $300 and $1,000, with the most popular models ranging from $400 to $500.
John Flores, owner of The Pedal Smith in Corona, Calif., said, "People are becoming more conscious that turning the key in their car costs money."
Flores' customers use their fixed-up cycles "for trips to the store and little things like going to the post office." He said customers are also asking for baskets and racks to carry items.
At his shop, a tune-up usually costs $100 and includes tires and tubes, new grips and brake pads, and, especially for older bikes, a new seat. "The seats from years ago were torture devices," he said.
Running errands is one thing. Bicycle commuting is a more serious commitment.
"I don't think it can work for everybody," said Brady Brammer, 29, an attorney and bike commuter who estimated he lives two or three miles from the downtown law firm where he works.
Todd Nelson, 41, may be at the extreme end of the bike commuter scale.
A financial adviser at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, he makes a daily 30-mile round trip, with an estimated 2,000-foot elevation gain on the return run. He's usually joined by his dad, Richard, 61, who lives a few miles away.
Todd Nelson believes he saves roughly $1,500 a year in gas. He believes his bike commuting has eliminated the need for a second family car.
There are other advantages, Nelson said. "No matter how bad a day it's been, by the time I get home, (worries are) gone. And if it's a good day, then it ends with a bike ride, and how much better does it get than that? And I've done my exercise, so when I get home I am 100 percent done."
Nelson appears to fit the current profile for bike commuters. He was a cycle enthusiast before he started pedaling to work.
"It's not the money savings," Nelson said. "I would bike to work anyway."
(E-mail Richard K. De Atley at rdeatley(at)PE.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.
