Papa Tom

>>>>Agreed. I'd like to see ANY official marketing that says "You MUST wear lycra, use clipless pedals, ride a road bike, etc, if you're going to be a cyclist." Most of that attitude comes from other cyclists, and even then it's overstated.<<<<<

Wouldn't you say that the cyclists are brainwashed by the advertising? Otherwise, why would you see 50-year-old men pedaling 8mph on recreational paths with those dopey-looking pointed helmets designed for Tour De France riders? It's not that the advertising literally insists that you need all the paraphernalia, but between the popular bicycle rags and the desperate-to-survive LBS owners, the industry has done a real number on all of us for the past 30-40 years or so, creating a standard for "The Serious Cyclist" that is unattainable for many and undesirable for (I'd say) most.

How come every bike shop in my area has walls and racks brimming with hundred dollar shorts, jerseys, goggles, computers, and every other non-essential item for cycling, but I have to go online to buy a basic set of tires or an emergency spoke repair kit that should be in every saddle bag but can't be found in a single bike shop?

pdlamb

I see people riding bikes fairly frequently wearing blue jeans, coats, waiter uniforms, etc.

On the other hand, I'm more comfortable wearing lycra, clipless pedals, etc. for my 19 mile round trip commute. There are about three weeks per year I could, perhaps, ride in work clothes and be comfortable, although I'd have to slow down even more to keep from sweating.

Brainwashed? I doubt it. Practical? I prefer to think that way.

As an aside, the spare spokes and tires at one of the two bike shops within a mile of my house are kept in the shop, off the main showroom floor. The other shop has lots of MTB tires on display, but the road tires and spokes are again kept in the shop. I have to ask to get them.

wolfchild

No need for any official marketing...A lot of cyclists on bikeforums and other cycling forums/blogs do a great job marketing things and gadgets which most commuter cyclist don't even need.

Gresp15C

All it would take is an advantage to be gained by dressing a certain way (e.g., suits) and it becomes a de facto standard.
I suspect that most sales of accessories are made in conjunction with the sale of a new bike. If it's like typical retail, the big ticket items are low margin because people do more careful comparison shopping on the bike than on the shorts. At the extreme, the dealer makes most of their money on the accessories added to the sale of a bike.

Truth be told, most bikes will never need new tires, and talking to the customer about roadside repairs would discourage bike sales.

I suspect that the accessories do more to attract new cyclists, than to deter them. The 50 year old duffer in Spandex and a racing helmet is probably just enjoying his new toys.

With that said, the LBS nearest my house has a pretty good selection of commuter type accessories such as racks, bags, fenders, etc.

gregf83 

I'm not really interested in less sweating but I wouldn't mind shortening the time. I avg between 28 and 34kph on my route which is mostly flat (160m elevation). It would be nice to do it in 50min but that would be an avg of 40kph which is fine on the steady sections but through town and access around the bridge it's slower regardless of how much power is available. I have a middle section of the ride where I can ride steadily without interruption but I'd need to go just over 50kph for 20km to shave 10min off my ride. That's probably not feasible with a standard e-bike.

350htrr

It's the hills where E-Assist shines, not the flat roads that's for sure.

tjspiel

I used to go on group rides that were put on by a bike shop and a couple of employees would often come along. One of them took a detour through some woods, -bunny hopping over several obstacles. This was on a road bike. Well, he dun popped a spoke. I pulled an emergency spoke repair kit out of my saddle bag and he was good to go.

Guess what bike shop now carries emergency spoke repair kits.

The truth is that a lot of the bike shops around here cater to commuters as well as recreational riders. The closest shop to me opened up in the middle of winter a few years ago. January in Minnesota during the middle of recession is not a great time to open a bike shop that only cares about recreational riders. The place is thriving. Yes, they do sell high $$$ cycling gear aimed at sports cycling. But they also sell studded tires, racks, panniers, lights, and bags of all types.

I imagine that clothing is a good way to make money. It wears out. It goes out of fashion. You need to buy new stuff. A bike shop isn't going to do well selling jeans and t-shirts that you can get at Target or Walmart for half the money.

Personally, I never wore spandex while riding a bike until I started competing. And while I do see plenty of people in spandex on the weekends, I see lots of people wearing clothes of all types. Apparently not so many people are really brainwashed.

Now here's my rant. I see a group of elderly folks (70s +) on a ride near my office from time to time. They are all wearing spandex and going maybe 12-15 mph. Do they need the spandex? I don't know. I do believe it enhances the experience for them. Whether it's because of comfort or just as way of identifying themselves as part of that group. Maybe it makes them feel a little sleeker, a little faster, or a little younger. Why do people care? Honestly if I ever heard someone making fun of what they were wearing I would bop them in the nose.

prathmann

Even the corner Chevron gas station near me carries emergency spoke repair kits. It's one of the items in the vending machine outside their front door so it's available 24/7 - as are the bike repair stand, floor pump, and assorted wrenches/etc. So far none of the local bike shops provide this service.

freeloader

Bicycle commuting is not a goal, it is a choice.

The mentioned article focused a bit on statistics and figures (ROI etc), as with lots of economists and politicians. If they are concerned with numbers, it might help to address some important statistics -

1) WHO | The top 10 causes of death
2) Number of Abortions in US & Worldwide - Number of abortions since 1973
3) WHO | Evolution 1950-2000 of global suicide rates (per 100'000)

noglider 

For the individual, it's a choice. For a government, it can be a goal.

CrankyOne

I think the bigger problem is that the average person in the U.S. thinks bikes are only for; kids, recreational rides on weekends, commuting in lycra/hi-viz or other clothing that they don't want to be seen in, or racing. Unlike the rest of the world they don't think about riding to a local store or cafe in normal clothes. I wonder how often people will go for a 10 mile weekend bike ride and then drive 1 mile to some place for dinner?

freeloader

There is no concrete evidence of that being a goal with most governments. OTOH, votes and financial "gains" are almost always at the top of the agenda, often at the expense of other "goals".

Anyway, most government or any group/individual do not decide how we live our lives. If they can make it easier, then great. If they make it difficult, we find ways around them. Their opinions/actions is only a problem when it stops us doing what is right for our situations.

I-Like-To-Bike

Most people do not make their choice of commuting based on the requirements mandated by "some dogmas." IMO, the choice is made for more practical and personal reasons, even if the it doesn't meet the requirements of some idealogues.

noglider 

I would have thought all of this goes without saying. I do believe in government creating incentives, though. Sometimes they backfire, but they can always be adjusted.

roadiejorge 

I have a 42 mile (roundtrip) commute and use it for both training and transportation; the ride would be 28 mi if I went door to door but I put in some extra miles to keep the legs honest. People often put things into categories before trying things out and seeing how it works for them and cycling is no different. I come across all different types of commuters and at the end of the day we're all on a bike getting somewhere. I wear cycling specific gear because otherwise my clothes would be a sweaty mess; just recently I moved to the corporate offices (I was sure my commuting days were over) but found out the building has bike storage and recently opened an employee wellness center with showers. Had that option not been available I would have paid for bike storage somewhere near by (cost was going to be about that same as the cost of public transportation).

Crawford53

I live in suburbs with no centralized shopping area/town center. This means that there is at least a 5 mile trip to do simple things, like buy groceries or mail a package, etc. While this doesn't matter to me in terms of riding, I have noticed that it makes a difference to other people. Road infrastructure and driving culture here are not bike-friendly, there is only one LBS in a 25-mi radius. I have to say I agree with @noglider about government incentives for sustainable transportation. If the town I lived in had bike lanes, MUPs or any other type of infrastructure designed for bicycles there would be a real difference in daily cyclists. Additionally, there is no public transportation here. No buses at all.

I think that when the conversation about commuting by bike comes up, it's important to think about the vast differences in culture and infrastructure that are possible. Some people in city centers or particularly progressive areas might have access to better bike infrastructure and culture that enable a better and more friendly commute than some of us living in suburbs, rural areas or in between.

Calder Benson

Recently visited my brother a few counties over, and next door to the place we had breakfast was an e-bike shop. There were e-bikes everywhere, at least 5 coming out of the shop riding away, when we walked in the breakfast house, and then the same scene, 5 or more riding around and away when we left. It was my first look at this odd (to me) genre of biking. Maybe it's just that area, but it looks like folks are on board.

I do understand the appeal for the elderly and other folks who don't have the ability to ride otherwise - and I'm glad they have that option.

Personally I won't be getting on board however.

Coluber42

I agree that bicycle commuting isn't realistic for a lot of people (although it is realistic for plenty of people who don't do it currently) because they live so far from where they work; and in lots of places, even using a bike for short trips is dangerous and not feasible, or even basic shopping is also fairly far away.

But any discussion of long term goals for efficient transportation needs to include long term development planning. An important goal in my mind should be bringing residences, workplaces, and shopping closer together so that more transportation options are viable. In far-flung suburbs where most people work at least 20 miles away and most shopping is 5-10 miles away, driving will always be the most convenient option. (Not that plenty of people aren't capable of riding 5-10 mi to the grocery store, but if you are just making dinner and realize you're out of bread or something, are you going to take two hours to go get it?)

Building denser, more walkable communities closer to where jobs are is how you get a variety of transit options to be viable. Most people around where I live could conceivably bike to work, or take public transit (and they usually have several choices of routes), or carpool with a coworker who doesn't live too far away, and in many cases even walk. Whichever way they get there, it's a choice. For people who spend an hour in the car on the highway between the subdivision and the office park, it isn't much of one.

tjspiel

+1

It sounds like the author of the article is from Shoreview, MN where I lived for about 11 years from the late 80's to the late 90's. I live in Minneapolis now so I could spend a lot time talking about cities vs. suburbs, commuting from one to the other, etc.

Suffice it to say that Shoreview is very much what you might picture when you think of a suburb. It wasn't incorporated until the late 50's. It has a population of about 25,000. There is no real city center or downtown. It's most visible landmark is a cluster of 3 large television antenna towers. Sidewalks are scarce.

There are some nice things about Shoreview. It's a fairly easy (driving) commute to Minneapolis and there are several lakes around. Back when I moved there they had an extensive plan for recreational trails that they've made good on.

Less than a year after moving there, I collided with a couch that had fallen off a truck on the interstate and totaled my 10 year old car. Not only didn't I have a car, I was a recent college grad and never had purchased an adult bike. It was a couple of days until my parents were able to loan me a car they weren't using. I'll never forget how trapped I felt in my apartment.

So after a few months after getting a new car, I bought a road bike. This was 1988. And I did in fact commute with it from Shoreview now and then. I had to wear a tie to work at the time and back then I thought the guys on Miami Vice really knew how to dress. One of my favorite outfits was white pants, a pastel blue shirt and a pink tie. That's what I wore on my commute. Not sure spandex is really any more ridiculous. It's all just the whims of fashion.

grolby

It's an article of faith among a certain set of utility riders that this is the "problem" with bicycling, that everyone thinks it requires special shoes and spandex and great fitness. And if only the roadies would stop riding around in their spandex and the industry would stop trying to sell things to them, people would suddenly realize that cycling can be done in normal clothes and then people would be riding bikes everywhere. As someone who actually does do the large majority of his miles on a road bike in spandex, this idea is really frustrating because it's just so obviously complete baloney. People GET that you can ride a bike in normal clothes. The majority of people who ride bikes are doing it on hybrids in street clothes. This just isn't the problem. Countries that are well known for having large cyclist mode share in their cities, such as the Netherlands, are also countries where the sport of cycling is much more mainstream and there are just as many people riding around with special shoes and spandex there as there are here. Probably more.

The factors that make bike commuting so unpopular here are many and complex, but I would start with two basic facts. First, that people here do not believe that riding a bicycle on the roads is safe. Second, that riding a bicycle, period, is seen as weird, and is actually getting more and more weird as time goes by. These days children aren't even allowed to ride their bikes to school (see point number one), and are increasingly shuttled everywhere by their parents in cars (again, supposedly for safety reasons). None of this is the fault of people riding bikes recreationally. But I can tell you, no matter what kind of riding you happen to be doing at any given time, people think you are weird and a jerk for supposedly endangering yourself. This has been especially absurd with the last few weeks of snowfall here in Boston, with people I know getting called names for riding their bike. We can be concerned for the future of all types of cycling, recreational and utility, for as long as this continues.

TransitBiker

HTFU or GTFO.

- Andy

tjspiel

I agree with almost all of this but I'm not sure that it's getting more weird to ride a bike, at least not everywhere in the US. There are the beginnings of a turnaround and I'm actually pretty hopeful that recent generations will see at as more normal. As a group they seem to be less enamored with cars than I and my friends were at that age.

Back to the article, the situation particular to Shoreview and suburbs like it, it is a fair question whether commuting by bike is a reasonable goal for the vast majority of its residents. But I think it would have nice benefits for a lot of them if they could, - even if they had to ride a more performance oriented bike and had to change when they get work. However, even biking for local trips presents problems in places like that because there just aren't that many local trips. The article talked about kids riding to school, but there aren't neighborhood schools in Shoreview. There are two elementary schools in town. The middle schools and high schools are in other suburbs that aren't necessarily close.

FWIW, the first car I owned when I moved to Shoreview had no A/C and vinyl seats. Talk about back sweat. It wasn't so long ago that even cars weren't the climate controlled bubbles they are today.

TransitBiker

In the recent arctic weather & snow, i've seen a few people on bikes, and the roads were nowhere close to ideal.... Makes me feel like i'm not some lone nut, though at the time i was passengering. My rear rim is getting thin on one side, so i'm trying not to ride when the roads may be gritty or otherwise making the issue worse, or i'd have been out riding.

- Andy

grolby

I do hope it's turning around. Bicycling is certainly having "a moment" in cultural awareness these days and is really be considered in urban design. But it is coupled with this greatly increased focus on making children (supposedly) safer by removing elements of their independence, such as bicycling places. This has gone nuts even since I was a kid, and I'm not an old man, I'm 29. So I hope it's reversing at all levels, but I admit as both a commuter and a bike racer that it worries both about cycling as a sport and cycling as a way to get to work or get things done or get around. On the other hand, young people (younger than me) are driving less than ever, so there's that, too.

TransitBiker

I think more people need to realize that we got along just fine before automobiles and people would ride their bikes around on dirt roads, cobblestone, brick, or gravel way before pavement was even a thing. The idea that "you need a car" is extremely artificial, and probably just as harmful to the structure of our economy as "decent people own a house" as if renting was some bad thing. I have no idea why people move hundreds of miles away from places they need to be or dozens of miles away from where they work. It has been proven time and time again that living near work and school is far better for your finances and your health (both mental and physical) than automobiling everywhere. Some studies have shown that sitting for as long as we do here in the US by average is a huge cause of, and can exacerbate health issues..... when you're in a car that's basically all you're doing.... sitting. So it's an economic thing, a social thing and a wellness thing. The more people that ditch and minimize automobile use the better off we will be. I'm to the point where i dont even consider dating anyone if they can't move to a less car centric lifestyle. The idea that i'm supposed to pick them up and chauffeur them to wherever is to me not only sexist but why would i want to be with someone that is ok with a sedentary (and ultimately unsustainable) lifestyle?

We know the problems here..... low taxes, poor roads, poor planning, weak zoning regulations, and the concept of profit being a prime motive for any basic thing, poverty shaming, and a number of other issues that make it very difficult to embrace a lifestyle outside the clearly broken conformist consumer model. And the people that would benefit from these things the most... those living in poverty, have no voice because in this twisted place money somehow equals speech.

I am doing all i can from where i am to push things to a more sustainable paradigm, but as with a roman trireme, one cannot row alone and expect to do much than look like a crazy person.

- Andy