Bike sales surge due to gas prices?

[Phil, Squid-in-Training]

http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/06/news/funny/bicycles.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

Look at the URL... it's under the "funny" category. Heh heh.

At our shop, we set a new record, 25% higher than our previous, for our
back-to-school sales this past August. I wouldn't say it's because of gas
prices though.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[x1134x]

From:
http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.aspx?contentid=4023245&src=LP utes

Here are the ten bestsellers so far with total sales figures for the
first six months of 2005, based on data published by Automotive News:

Ford F-Series 407,754 14/18
Chevrolet Silverado 384,228 14/16
Toyota Camry 216,607 24/34
Dodge Ram 195,919 14/18
Honda Accord 176,232 24/34
Honda Civic 140,903 26/31
Ford Explorer 134,760 16/21
Nissan Altima 130,476 23/29
Dodge Caravan 126,270 19/26
GMC Sierra 126,181 15/19

of the top 2,039,330 vehicles sold, 1,114,082 of them are full-size
pickups (55%). All of which get less than 20 MPG. I can see why Nissan
and Toyota also came out w/ full size trucks. They want piece of that
pie. Other than the Ford Explorer which is a mid-size suv (16/21 MPG)
and the Dodge Caravan (19/26 MPG) the other 4 vehicles seem to show a
concern for gas mileage, although one might argue that those vehicles
are in there because of a concern of *reliability* amongst buyers who
want cars not trucks.

The MPG figures are from edmunds.com All of the cars MPGs are from
selecting 4cyl not 6 cyls although I would guess most accords sold are
6 cyls.

Non-weighted MPG averages for the top 10 vehicles are: 18.9/24.6
So the non-weighted COST PER MILE @ 2.90 a gallon would be: 15.3/11.7
(cents per mile) Which is still pretty cheap.

I was watching the History channel and they had a program on about
Brazil. In brazil *all* new vehicles sold are required to run on
either gasoline or pure ethanol. Every gas station that sells gas is
required to sell ethanol as well. GM is selling "flex power" cars that
run on either gas or ethanol in brazil. 25 percent of the fuel for
transportation burned in brazil is ethanol that they make from Hemp,
Corn or other renewable crops. Some oil tycoons in our country must
have good lobbyists who are able to keep money from going to farmers
intead of their pockets. . . . You'd think w/ just a little start-up
help from uncle sam we could produce craploads of ethanol.

Another cool thing about ethanol is when burned, it releases no more
greenhouse gasses than the spoilage of the crops would have released
anyway, and while the plants grow, they reduce greenhouse gasses.

x1134x

 

[x1134x]

Again, the *vast majority* of bicycles sold will be of the walgoose
variety.

x1134x

 

[GWood]

hey Phil, since you're a "shoppie", thought I'd ask you this...

Replaced my '01 Manitou SX-R fork because it was leaking oil. I am told the
bushing on the lower rebound damper assembly is gone, so the oil leaks out
of the "reservoir", gets below the assembly and pretty much turns the fork
rigid. No give, no rebound, you get the picture.

I've done quite a bit of hunting locally and on the net to find this little
bushing, which sure isn't much of a part. Nobody (including local LBS's,
Manitou and a couple of suggested sources from this list) seems to have any.
Got any secret stashes or sources (for bushings) to reveal?

Would hate to land-fill a fork if that's all that's wrong with it.


"Phil, Squid-in-Training" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:jPa1f.10184$Rk5.551@lakeread06...
> http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/06/news/funny/bicycles.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes
>
> Look at the URL... it's under the "funny" category. Heh heh.
>
> At our shop, we set a new record, 25% higher than our previous, for our
> back-to-school sales this past August. I wouldn't say it's because of gas
> prices though.
>
> --
> Phil, Squid-in-Training
>
>

 

[[email protected]]

x1134x wrote:
> Again, the *vast majority* of bicycles sold will be of the walgoose
> variety.
>
> x1134x

"Again"?
What's your point?

/s

 

[Ride-A-Lot]

[email protected] wrote:
> x1134x wrote:
>> Again, the *vast majority* of bicycles sold will be of the walgoose
>> variety.
>>
>> x1134x
>
> "Again"?
> What's your point?
>
> /s
>

His point is to annoy the **** out of us, which I think he has
accomplished. He's going to get to join the ranks of MV and "those who
shall not be mentioned" on the ignore list.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

 

[Phil, Squid-in-Training]

GWood wrote:
> hey Phil, since you're a "shoppie", thought I'd ask you this...
>
> Replaced my '01 Manitou SX-R fork because it was leaking oil. I am
> told the bushing on the lower rebound damper assembly is gone, so the
> oil leaks out of the "reservoir", gets below the assembly and pretty
> much turns the fork rigid. No give, no rebound, you get the picture.

When you say it's "gone," are you saying that it's physically gone or simply
worn out? You may be able to use an o-ring or something if that's all
that's needed to keep the oil in.

I broke the damping in my Manitou Skareb, so I took all the oil out and ran
it damping-less for a while until I got a Fox. I was okay for around town,
but it wasn't good on the trails.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[Slack]

x1134x wrote:

> Again, the *vast majority* of bicycles sold will be of the walgoose
> variety.
>
> x1134x
>
At one time, a *vast majority* of Germans thought murdering Jews,
Gypsies, Homosexuals (and others) was a good idea.

--
Slack

 

[tillio]

Slack wrote:
> x1134x wrote:
>
> > Again, the *vast majority* of bicycles sold will be of the walgoose
> > variety.
> >
> > x1134x
> >
> At one time, a *vast majority* of Germans thought murdering Jews,
> Gypsies, Homosexuals (and others) was a good idea.

********. The vast majority thought gypsies were cool.

 

[x1134x]

>At one time, a *vast majority* of Germans thought murdering Jews,
>Gypsies, Homosexuals (and others) was a good idea.

Yeah but the *vast majority* of humans on the planet thought otherwise
{

x1134x

 

[x1134x]

Is pointing out that walmart sells tons of bikes really *ANNOYING* or
isn't the really *annoying* part knowing that that many people in this
country are dunderheads who buy bikes @ wal-mart?

x1134x

 

[Slack]

x1134x wrote:

> Is pointing out that walmart sells tons of bikes really *ANNOYING* or
> isn't the really *annoying* part knowing that that many people in this
> country are dunderheads who buy bikes @ wal-mart?
>
> x1134x
>

Yes

--
Slack

 

[[email protected]]

x1134x wrote:
> Is pointing out that walmart sells tons of bikes really *ANNOYING* or
> isn't the really *annoying* part knowing that that many people in this
> country are dunderheads who buy bikes @ wal-mart?
>
> x1134x

I find neither very annoying. Not everybody is getting gnar on trails.
Some people use them to commute, some people make deliveries on them,
etc.
Would I rather see the money going to a decent LBS? Sure. Would I
recommend one for trail use? Doubtful. But if they're riding a Walgoose
at least they're not going to crush me with their land yacht. And maybe
once they realize that they like to ride but bought disposable ****,
they'll visit an LBS.
/s

 

[Dave W]

"x1134x" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Again, the *vast majority* of bicycles sold will be of the walgoose
> variety.
>
> x1134x
>

And eventually they'll be at one of three places. Either at the LBS getting
proper maintenace, or collecting dust as a boat anchor in the garage, or in
a dumpster somewhere..

*the last one is the only way I would acquire one, cuz it'd be free!"

Dave.