Gas prices knock bicycle sales, repairs into higher gear



On May 12, 9:29 pm, max <[email protected]> wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
>
> i'm not seeing a significant amount of traffic on the Fox River Trail
> yet, and my workplace bike-to-work website trending seems unrelated to
> gas prices, although i've seen a _few_ more bikes on site. I would
> opine that $4/gallon isn't a big* motivator yet.
>
> Given the canonical suburbs/commute-distances, at least in west
> surburban chicagoland, i'm not entirely convinced we'll see much
> commuter biking, unless it is first preceded by an inter/intra-suburban
> migration.
>
> The routes just aren't here for more than fairly short commutes unless
> your endpoints are proximal to the few rails-to-trails bicycle
> superhighways.
>
> *Big... There's two kinds of big. there's population-doubling big
> (wow! there's 4X as many bicycle commuters!) (translation: instead of
> two there's 8... woo. hoo.).
>
> And then there's percentages of the gross population big (up from 2%
> last year, 8% of the Kane County commuters rode their bikes today) (not
> true, but it would be a big number).
>
> I think any changes in cycle commuting numbers occurring right now are
> occurring in the "five times a *verrry*smmmall* number" regime. I think
> that the %daily-commuter numbers is still fairly constant. Say up
> from1.3% to 1.5% (numbers kinda made up).
>
> that's what i thimk.


As someone who lived much of his 26 years in the western suburbs of
Chicago, I can state with certainty that bicycle commuting is not
something that will increase. The roads are not designed for bikes.
Simple as that. And it would take a huge amount of household
reshuffling for it to even begin to happen. Many people live a long
distance from their jobs, requiring commutes of 20+ miles each way.
If people were to relocate to within a reasonable distance to their
jobs it /could/ happen, but I doubt it. The sprawling nature of the
Chicago suburbs make it unreasonable to think bicycle commuting will
be commonplace in the future. There will be smaller, more fuel
efficient cars, I'm certain. But that's about it.

Living in Chicago now, I've sold my car and ride my bike everywhere.
This isn't in response to gas prices, it's just logical. Chicago has
a decent transport system (it would be much better and on time if
people stopped driving!) and plenty of bike friendly roads to get
anywhere. I don't miss my car at all. However, one of the major
issues with this city having a large number of commuters is the
weather. I'm a year round rider, but many of the people I see riding
now are not. They're unwilling to ride in 5 degrees, the snow, the
rain. And, I admit, it sometimes sucks. A lot. But it's a decision
I made because I feel it's the right thing to do. Most people who
have a car in the city simply don't need it. There's no reason to
drive a car 4 miles from your lakeview condo to your job downtown.
It's foolish.

Hmmm, I fear I've begun to rant. :)
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Matt O'Toole <[email protected]> writes:
> On Tue, 13 May 2008 17:35:27 +0000, Stephen Harding wrote:
>
>> max wrote:
>>
>>> I'm thinkin that the law of unintended consequences might just find us
>>> watching (for example) our beloved Illinois Prairie Path, Fox River
>>> Trail and Great Western trail and Virgil Gilman trail disappear under
>>> the ballast of a light rail line in oh... twenty years or less.
>>>
>>> I'm just sayin.

>>
>> But technically, that's what the proclaimed purpose of "rail banking" as
>> promoted by Rails-to-Trails groups. Save these rights of way for future
>> use when maglev of whatever reoccupies them. In the meantime, they become
>> public recreational facilities.
>>
>> Personally, I don't think they'll ever get converted back. We'll be
>> driving around in our personal hydrogen powered vehicles before we have to
>> choose re-creating a passenger rail network.

>
> I doubt the hydrogen dream will ever be realized, at least in our
> lifetime. But just try to take those trails away once people are used to
> them.


Maybe that real estate will be "needed" for biofuel-producing
crops so that our expensive, imported cabbages 'n spuds can
still be shipped over long distances. That is, if /anybody/
would still be growing food crops instead of biofuel crops.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca
 
Yeah it is a really good idea. I do this from time to time to save gas. If I live in an area that I can do that. I love to save money instead of spending it on gas. The ride is great to. It is just so much better all around. What a great work out too.
 
In my area, the price of gas has only resulted in more folks either traveling less or switching to motorbikes. There a definitely more motorbikes on the roads these days then a few years ago. Bicycle riders don't seem to have increased. Most folks ride their bicycles for recreational purposes and usually on the weekends, apart from school kids who ride their bikes on a daily basis.
 
Everybody was a lot younger seven years ago when this thread was started.
 
Pretty nostalgic in a way, isn't it?

Seeing as fuel prices are dropping again, could we see bike sales being hit again? Don't know if it's the same elsewhere but fuel prices have been dropping steadily over the course of the past few months.
 
Gas is just over $2.15.9/Gallon here.

No one is riding a bike except for hard core roadies. 66-mile ride yesterday and on all the roads I travelled I saw precisely two other cyclists. They were road racers. One was wearing the gear of a local race team.

Road cycling participation is as low as I can remember over the last 45 years of riding and what little road racing/criterium racing that is left is being pretty much crushed by cyclocross.

I've said it before in other threads and I'll say it again here...In fat-assed socialist America the price of gasline has zero to do with commuting. Throughout the last Great Recession I witness no increase in bike commuters in any area, save perhaps the innermost city area of Cleveland.
 
I still have broke friends and bike enthusiasts who are still going to ride their bikes everywhere. I still love riding my bike, regardless, so I'm still going to ride. I think the state of biking will be fine.
 
I've been riding the bike to the bus stop and the bus to work. These days, if I bike all the way in, I'm too tired to work. The bike ride at each end of the bus ride is enough to get some fresh air.

Road trips are fun. Commuting sucks.
 
America isn't designed for bicycle commuting - it would take a big reversal of the past 70 years policies and practices to make it happen.

The price of gas - meh - I remember back in 2007-2008-2009 when the price of gas was going to be $8.99 a gallon, we would be making our own biofuels, and the entire economy was gonna collapse. Stupidity.

There is a little merit in the biofuel concept - if we harvested all of the politicians and converted them into biofuel we'd be better off. Or at least fertliizer.
 
CAMPYBOB said:
Gas is just over $2.15.9/Gallon here.

No one is riding a bike except for hard core roadies. 66-mile ride yesterday and on all the roads I travelled I saw precisely two other cyclists. They were road racers. One was wearing the gear of a local race team.

Road cycling participation is as low as I can remember over the last 45 years of riding and what little road racing/criterium racing that is left is being pretty much crushed by cyclocross.

I've said it before in other threads and I'll say it again here...In fat-assed socialist America the price of gasline has zero to do with commuting. Throughout the last Great Recession I witness no increase in bike commuters in any area, save perhaps the innermost city area of Cleveland.
Since the annual bike race/ride in my old town was cancelled the cycling community has taken a bit of a hit. There were a few clubs for dedicated road racers but they all seem to have disbanded and people are cycling in their own little groups now.

I must admit I did see a slight increase in cyclists when the price of fuel over here broke £1 per litre, but since then the cycling activity has stayed about the same.
 

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