dirty tiger

I mean, like, where are they? German cars are so popular. Why are German bikes such Hen's Teeth?

Personally, I really like the German Trekking style of bike.....at least form what I've seen on the web.

Retro Grouch 

I have a Porsche mountain bike frame and fork that I'd give you a good deal on.

dirty tiger

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...

DCB0

Because there are also no American bikes in the USA. Very few, anyway. There would be no advantage to having a German brand of bike becasue it would be made in the same Chainese or Taiwanese factory as an 'American' bike.

Also, the German or Dutch trekking bikes are not popular in the USA as the marketing is built around making all riders pretend to be Tour de France racers. And so the bikes purchased for a few decades now have been mostly impractical 'toys,' hence the desire and infastructure necessary to use a bike for anything more than recreational putting around is rare. People visiting a bike shop would lift up one trekking bike and laugh about the weight and move on to a lighter and much less useful and convenient bike next to it.

THats my $000,000.02, anyway.

tagaproject6

It is indeed sad that the USA does not have a more prominent cycling culture. This is why we are so fat.

DCB0

Partly why, yes.

Mobile 155

Just exactly what are we talking about? Focus is a German company aren't they? They make a full line of Road, Mountain, Urban and Treking bikes. If someone is looking for a Grandma dutch bike the reason should be obvious, you have to walk one as much as ride one if there are any hills involved.

If the question is why aren't there more old style heavy Dutch style bikes it is the same as why aren't there more Model As or Model Ts anymore. Yes they can be viewed as having a "style" of their own but in bicycles weight is the enemy. No you might not need a 15 pound CF racing bike but there are lots of quality bikes made by Focus and many others that will do the job of a Granny bike at half the weight and just as much duribility. In the US the market place has spoken and people have moved on to MTB, Hybreds, Road, Urban, Utility bikes made of better materials for less money.

No one would suggest you would ride better or enjoy it more if you were 20 pounds heavier why would we assume adding 20 pounds to a bike would make it more enjoyable? The riding public has just moved on and the ones that want old Granny bikes or even Penny/Farthings can buy them for companies that deal in speciality bikes.

So are we talking about German Bikes or Dutch Bikes?

JanMM

German VDO computers on my three American bikes.

wahoonc

I have two German bikes...one was actually made in Taiwan...just like my American "brand" bikes.

Aaron

dirty tiger

I never mentioned anything about "Dutch Bikes"

I just find it interesting that no German bicycle company has established any kind of niche in this country.....ZERO PENETRATION into the market place.
It's ironic considering how popular German cars and Motorcycles are in this country, "German Engineering" has a cult following here.

I only mentioned Trekking Bikes because they seem to be very popular in N. Europe but somewhat obscure here, and they seem like great bikes......although, as I type this I realize that the 29'er Adventure Bike concept that is gaining popularity around here could be seen as an American Trekking bike.

dirty tiger

This is interesting, almost every bike they sell is named after American cities, but I've never seen one. https://www.staiger-fahrrad.de/de/STA...ml?css=staiger

Retro Grouch 

And yet you scoff at my Porsche frameset which was, indeed, manufactured in Germany.

dirty tiger

I retract my scoff. It was out of line.

wahoonc

I have a 2003 Staiger Florida.

Aaron

Retro Grouch 

If it wasn't so sturdy it might have sold better. Everybody who rode it loved the way that it handled but they also thought that it was too heavy.

dirty tiger

Is it this .... https://www.topspeed.com/cars/porsche...-ar112892.html

Or one of these? .... https://www.porsche-bike.net/

Bahnzo

How do you like it? I saw a Staiger come up for sale in the local Craigslist (an El Paso? I think) and I'm kicking myself for not jumping on it because I've never heard of it. But now I'm thinking, Germans are known for their engineering, why wouldn't they make a good bicycle?

Thor29

Go check out reliability reports for BMW and Volkswagen cars and you might rethink that statement.

alhedges

I lived in Germany for a couple of years and used to really like Kettler bikes. But the ones I've seen from the past 10 years or so just strike me as ugly and overpriced. I.e., a 36lb aluminum bike with lower-end Shimano components (and a resin chainguard) shouldn't cost $1400. https://www.kettlerusa.com/bikes/women/4374

Retro Grouch 

None of the above.

Mine was produced in around 1997 or 1998 by Votec. It was a front suspension mountain bike with a HUGE double triple crown front fork that I suspect is what made it so heavy but also rigidly controlled the front wheel. It came with mostly Sachs components and Magura hydraulic rim brakes.

I got it real cheap after making a deal with Porsche to service the bikes.

vt_biketim

My friend had a Rixe bought at the Bicycle Exchange in Cambridge in the mid 1950s, and of course there were loads of Sears 3-speeds built by Steyr in the 1960s. I had a distributor that brought in some Kalkhoff frames in the late 1970s, but by that time the mark was really strong against the dollar and it didn't make competitive sense against the Yen. Ever since then, you must remember, the German manufacturing economy is really based on taking care of the workers and on protecting the home environment. Der Grune Punkt is based on every single item manufactured in Germany eventually coming back to the maker for recycling, and these costs are built into the price. So, buy a German bike and support the German environment; buy a German bike and support German national healthcare and pensions. Buy an Asian bike and you don't pay for any such things.

tagaproject6

Does anyone have a BMW bike?

no1mad 

Aside from the fact that bikes are considered 'toys' by the vast majority of America, and that most of the LBS' that I've seen cater to the higher end roadies and mtb crowds, with a little bit of comfort bike and hybrids (full spectrum) thrown in, it's quite probable that the average person doesn't know which brand is 'decent/good' or which are the equivalent of Magna/Next.

wahoonc

It is a good, solid, well thought out bike. It is similar in construction to any one of several non German brands. The biggest thing I like about it, is unlike US spec bikes it comes fully equipped with racks, fenders, lights, dyno hub, bell and a pump. Buy a US spec bike and you usually have to add all that stuff on at a pretty significant cost.

I bought a Redline R530 city bike and nearly doubled the cost of the bike by adding a dyno hub, lights and such.

Aaron

fietsbob

German Tout Terrain Bike frame/forks, are Imported and sold by Peter White.

Of note their Silk Road,a Disc Brake Trekking frame , rack welded on.

German Cars have a Dealer network, in the US.. bikes have not,
and less competitively priced as Euro is more than the dollar.

[vs the Asian contract builders, used by most brands]