HerrKaLeun

I'm not sure if your assumptions are correct:
1. Biking is one of the cheapest equipment-focussed hobbies. for $1K you can get a decent bike (good enough for centuries anyway) either new or used and accessories that one needs. Maintenance and repair can be done by anyone themselves (well, not anyone..). To get started (just weekend neighborhood rides) your cost of entry is even much lower. Compare that to almost any other hobby (drones, boats, snowmobiling, motorcycle, skiing, golf etc.). Obviously one can go fancy with all outfit and spend $10K, but that is not needed.
2. Not sure if club membership is a good indicator. I (and many others) just ride, or meet with some friends. Why do I need to be in a club or go to special events (that may even cost $) for a hobby to have fun, or commute? Unlike teamsport, bicycling can be done alone, or in a group. Whoever has a life (child, career etc.) doesn't have that Saturday morning at 10:00 to ride, I may have time at 8:00, maybe at 11:00, maybe only on sunday.... would be too difficult to limit me to that one clubride. You mention old people on clubrides... exactly, they don't have child commitments etc. and have free time available. Younger people don't.
3. For the disappearing charity etc. rides I also don't see the correlation. Goes to my point above, why does it take a pre-planned time and $ to ride a bike? Last weekend I participated in my first fatbike race. It was over an hour, but inc. preparation driving there etc. I spent 5 hours and $35 + fuel. I can just ride from my home on bike paths and through the forest and could have ridden 5 hours at no cost. Way too much stress to be somewhere at a specific time, deal with the car (which contradicts my desire to ride a bike). If i need to be somewhere at a specific time, I may as well be at work. Riding is a hobby that I don't want to be tied to a schedule for (except the time my wife and daughter let me have...)
4. I'm sure LBS disappear because they consolidate to larger shops and/or lose business to the Internet. Has not much to do with overall bicycle use. Electronics stores also disappear, but no one would claim people use fewer smartphones now than they did 10 years ago. B&M retail in general is in decline while overall population (and consumption) is rising. Even if we don't like BSO, many bicycles are sold through Walmart et al. (OK, probably not the ones that actually are used for daily riders). Maybe for actual bicycles the LBS don't lose as much business to explain your drop to 1 out of 4. but accesories sure are bought more frequently online or at other retailers.

I don't know where you are, but what you observed may not necessarily reflect ridership. Many people just commute, and just ride for fun. they wouldn't' show up in your statistic.

To your actual question: I'm near Madison, WI and it seems biking is growing. Population is growing quickly in this area and bike paths are upgraded and expanded. The paths are pretty packed during nice days (also due to walkers and strollers etc.). Not sure if club membership is rising or not. i once looked into clubs, but decided with my busy schedule could not commit to specific times. I also wa afraid they either have 20 mph or 8 mph people and I'm in the middle

NJgreyhead

Where are you located?

Troul 

Growing in Michigan... the type of growth is the unfavorable kind.
mannerism nonexistent
riders etiquette never practiced
being aware of there surroundings never happens

i wonder where these people come from...

Oakman

Recently moved from a university town in Oklahoma to one in north central Florida. Cycling doing well in both, but FL has much more community support.

rydabent

Here in Lincoln there is steady growth in cycling. We have 130 miles of hard surface trails. The big growth is in the area of people that "real cyclist" wont admit that are cyclist. This growth is among the casual week end riders that may be on big box store bikes, but you can tell they are enjoying their ride. Also the LBS that specializes in trike is having really strong sales mainly of course among the older riders. Any more on my usual 30 mile rides I always see one or more trikes.

IamAlan

I started riding in 2016 so I don't have much history to draw from, but I can tell you that cycling is alive and well in C-Bus. Overall, the number of people who ride bikes in the U.S. has grown by ~40% since 2008, with an increase from 47 million in 2008 to 66 million in 2017. According to this statistics clearing house: https://www.statista.com/statistics/...ke-riders-usa/

mcours2006

Again, not U.S., but in the Metro Toronto Area I've been hearing politicians talk about a city that is more livable, that is, people can walk and ride their bikes to places, more green space, more pedestrian friendly, more trails, more bike lanes. The current city administration seems to be quite committed to this initiative, whereas the previous one, not so much. I think because of this, bike use, in particular for commuting, has increased.

Political currents have a huge impact on whether bicycle use is increasing or declining.

Maelochs

Yes.

Darth Lefty 

We've had a large increase in cyclists due to Brown v. Plata, Proposition 47 and subsequent developments. Bicycles and poverty go together, for good or ill.

Dreww10

Running, crossfit, and similar activities have a far lower cost of entry than cycling, and IMO, cycling kind of competes head-to-head with running as the mainstream forms of exercise. Our running community is fairly strong.

prathmann

My bicycling has a negative cost since I save far more money on averted car and/or mass transit expenses than I spend on cycling - and that's true even though most of my cycling is recreational. Running wouldn't lend itself to most of my utility cycling due to the distances involved or the need to carry significant weight/bulk.

Locally (East Bay, Calif) I think cycling participation has been flat or rising slightly. Our local club membership is down a little from a high in the mid-90s and our century ride peaked about 10 years ago, but I think that's due to increased competition (lots of new meetup groups and new charity rides). Some local shops have closed, but others have opened additional locations and we've added both REI and Performance outlets within a few miles.

Gresp15C

Definitely growing in Madison WI, and has been for many years.

There have been some news articles about "walkable" cities, and how it drives up property values. The same may be true for cities that are bike-friendly.

woodcraft

My theory is that, with increased crowding, travel for activities,

and the activity resources (waves, snow, beach, etc.) are less attractive,

so riding close to home is relatively available and desirable.

Younger folks, however, are less likely to join traditional clubs.

Gresp15C

Something I've noticed is that there seems to be a generational shift towards off-road cycling, and perhaps more diverse cycling activities in general. The people I know who are into road cycling tend to be older, whereas my younger colleagues and friends are more interested in trails, gravel, and dirt.

Where we tend to find common ground is commuting to work.

PM City

I would say flat to up slightly in southern California based on activity I see online, in bike shops and at races.

HerrKaLeun

Good point on running, yes that can be cheaper since sneakers is all you need and most people have them anyway.
I use biking also for exploring and walking/running gets dull quickly since I can't go very far :-)

Cross-fit is interesting, I watched some Netflix films about it recently. But it looks you need to have a well-equipped gym you need to be a member (with fee) with? Unless you have 30' ropes hanging at home etc. So there would be the cost of membership and driving to the gym. Probably not very expensive, but can beat a bicycle.

esmith2039

I'd say it's growing here in KC. No accurate numbers but I'm seeing a few more riders every year. The area as a whole has been working on more friendly bike structure, bike lanes etc. The hills tend scare some way, no way around that.

In my RV travels I've seen quite a few cities adding bike lanes and discussing it. Madison, Twin Cities, Winnipeg, ALL of Colorado.. don't recall anything in Atlanta.. for some reason I want to say the Northern states are progressing more than the Southern states. Am I wrong on this?

Timmer_71

Mountain biking and winter fat biking is definatly growing in west michigan. New trails are being built every year. I'm not sure about road biking, seems to be about the same the last few years.

Flip Flop Rider

didn't read all responses so may be repeating someone's thought

based on increased bike lane consciousness and construction (i.e. planning for bike lanes, and retro fitting for bike lanes), it's got to be growing in general right?

also, more trails, and off road options

Stick69

Just to expand a bit. Cycling in the area is multifaceted. There certainly has been an uptick in the number of indigent riders. I don't see it as much now since I don't commute on my bike downtown and we tend to stay upstream of Cal Expo on the tandem. My bus goes down 12th and I sometimes wonder when a wobbly loaded bike is going to wander in front of the bus.

Lots of bike traffic on the grid and a variety of town, road, and single speed bikes. With rent going up all those young folks may be more motivated than ever to save on gas. I have seen an increase in bikes on H Street when I am waiting for my bus.

Bike shops seem to be holding their own. I use four shops for different needs.

I don't know about clubs. We did one ride with the Davis bike club because we were not familiar with Yolo County. We might try a few rides with our closest bike shop or the bike shop in Woodland after we get in a little better shape. I'm not going to be drafting anytime soon on the tandem so a group is not a huge advantage other than for guidance in a new area or companionship and I carry my own companion (or maybe she carries me).

jon c. 

Seems fairly stable here. They've added more bike lanes downtown, but I seldom see them in use. And they introduced a bike share program. I've seen 6 to 8 bike share racks, all with 10 bikes or so, but I've yet to see anyone riding one. I'm guessing the city is subsidizing this effort. Doesn't appear to be economically viable.

Hiro11

Going strong here in Chicago. New guys show up for our road group all the time. There are lots of local crits. The gravel scene has exploded and there are now local events most every weekend from March to November. The Cross Cup grows every year in participation and spectators. Palos and other mountain bike areas are overrun in the summer. You see tons of fatbikers in the winter.

It's ironic as this is likely one of the worst places in the country to ride a bike: tons of traffic, no hills, terrible winters, very little mountain biking, some of the most boring roads anywhere, endless strip malls, unsympathetic police... and yet they make something out of nothing here.

Jim from Boston

That was an interesting comment. Of my several contemporary (50+) colleagues who are "into" cycling, the majority do seemingly casual off-road riding (I don't). The two road cyclists I know would be considered hardcore, true roadies. I am the only cycle commuter.

indyfabz

Definitely growing in the Philly area and has been for a long time. We have even had several new shops open in and around my 'hood over the last several years alone.

carlosponti

growing in my area, I see more cyclists more so than I have in 20 years.