Expensive Gas: Good For The Bike Business

Commuters Consider Cycles With Any Eye Towards The Environment And Their Pocketbooks

(AP)  Four-dollar-a-gallon gas is good for business - if you run a bike shop.

Commuters around the country are dusting off their old two-wheelers - or buying new ones - to cope with rising fuel prices, bicycle dealers say.

"Everyone that comes in the shop is talking about the gas prices," said Barry Dahl, who opened Barry's Bikes in Bismarck in April. He sold more than 50 bicycles in the first month, double the projections in his business plan.

Teacher Joyce McCusker of Herndon, Va., owns a bicycle for the first time in years. She bought it last month and uses it to make the eight-mile trip home from work. A friend drives her pickup to take McCusker's daughter home from school.

"I'm still using fossil fuel," she said. "In two years, my goal is to ride both ways, every day through the year."

About 18 million bicycles have been sold annually in the U.S. over the past few years, accounting for about $6 billion in annual sales, said Fred Clements, executive director the National Bicycle Dealers Association in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Bicycle shops across the country are reporting strong sales so far this year, and more people are bringing in bikes that have been idled for years, he said.

"People are riding bicycles a lot more often, and it's due to a mixture of things but escalating gas prices is one of them," said Bill Nesper, spokesman for the Washington. D.C.-based League of American Bicyclists.

"We're seeing a spike in the number of calls we're getting from people wanting tips on bicycle commuting," he said.

The League of American Bicyclists is promoting Bike-to-Work Week this week and Bike-to-Work Day on May 16. Nesper said he expects a record number of people will be pedaling this year.

There's almost nowhere for the numbers to go but up: The group says less than one-half of 1 percent of Americans ride a bike to work.

Mark Krenz, 48, is giving it a try. The Bismarck auto-parts store manager recently spent $750 on the 24-speed bike and is building up his mileage to prepare for his hilly commute.

"In this business, everybody is constantly talking about how to save gas," Krenz said. "I bought a bike because I figure it's a good way to save money, get in shape and save wear and tear on my pickup."

Rocky Schell, owner of Val's Cycle in Minot, said this may be one of the best years in the history of the shop, started by his father in 1960.

It's seeing a spike in the number of tuneups and repairs, which had been declining for the past 15 years. Schell said he's also selling lots of bike trailers designed to haul children - customers are using them for groceries instead.

A big percentage of Schell's customers haven't been on a bike in decades.

"I'm seeing more people my age or older coming in," said Schell, 51. "The college-age kids to 30-year-olds aren't the ones coming in. They still want to drive."

Dahl, the Bismarck bike shop owner, said he's worked several on "dusty and rusty" bicycles that hadn't been ridden in at least 25 years. He said many families have told him that that they intend to go on a bicycle tour this summer instead of driving somewhere for vacation.

"Millions of people have bicycles hanging in the garage and they're getting them down and riding them," said Rebecca Anderson, advocacy director for Trek Bicycle Corp. "People are looking at the bicycle as more than just a toy."

The Waterloo, Wis.-based company last year started a program called One World, Two Wheels to promote bicycles for transportation and recreation. Anderson said that about 40 percent of trips by car are 2 miles or less - "a habit for some people to get in a car and drive just a few blocks."

Clive Greenberg, a salesman at Metro Bicycles in New York City, said spin cycling classes at health clubs, where people use stationary bikes for a workout, also are spurring bicycle sales.

"It's pretty interesting, a good majority of middle-age people involved in that spinning craze at the gym used to come in and buy cycling shoes," he said. "Now they are getting on real bikes."

Engineer Dale Heinert said he's been seeing more fellow bicycle commuters on his daily trek to work in downtown Bismarck.

Heinert, 56, started cycling to work when the price of gas began skyrocketing - in 1973. But that isn't the only reason for choosing pedal power: "It's a stress-reliever," he said.

Steve Stelton, 47, of Bismarck, was inspired by Greg LeMond's 1986 Tour de France victory and has been commuting year-round ever since. He said he's physically fit because of it and has saved "a ton of money on gas."

Stelton, a printer, doesn't let North Dakota's cold, windy weather slow him down. He said he's ridden to work on snow-covered roads when the wind chill temperature was 40-below zero.

"If you waited for a bluebird day to ride to work in North Dakota," he said, "you'd never do it."

[michellem99-2009]

Ye will be forced to park that bloody car. WALK...I have to ..I walked all over the place and still do. Park it. Ye will bike, walk..Oh yes..I am legally blind from birth..ye will walk..It don''t matter if that car great great miles and ye are are in great body phy. Ye will walk. That day is coming. I lived in many places in this nation..If I could bike I would. I take the bus..I am not being a smart asre. I am 53..

[algoresarse]

All I said was that my time is worth more than the $3.60 an hour I''''d save by biking to and from work each day.

Posted by shanev137 at 05:56 PM : May 12, 2008
+ report abuse

******

how about doing it so we are not so dependent on oil and we dont have to send our soldiers to die for it...

sacrifice..

[shanev137]

Posted by avoice at 10:05 AM : May 12, 2008


Who said I was griping about gas prices? My car gets 25 mpg. And when did I say I drive to the gym and workout? LOL

All I said was that my time is worth more than the $3.60 an hour I''d save by biking to and from work each day.

[ianlou]

I live in an area that has busy two lane roads with soft gravel shoulders and sporatic side walks. Riding a bike on the edge of the road is the most dangerous for of travel by far.

[sjc_1]

The people that will bike are not the problem, it is the people with will not bike that are. A large SUV gets about 12-14 mpg around town. Many of those trips are to the store and back and those people are not going to bike. It makes for an interesting story, but no one that will help a whole lot.

[beehive21-2009]

The Americans around here need the workout they are too fat.Cycling,is a great way to get back in tune with your surrounding,and environment,enjoy while getting into shape.Later we share share safety tips with you.

[valentin73]

They are still unsafe and deadly!!!

[olebd]

Embrace the motorcycle.

[shanev137]

ShaneV has some good points but he didn''t account for the health benefits people will gain by getting off their butts.

------


Health benefits? You mean like the great exam you''ll get at the hospital after someone runs you over?

[stupidrules3]

In a country where the average citizen is not pysically fit, this is a good thing. More people riding bikes has to be better for the environment too. We all scream about gas prices and it is nice to see that some people are willing to do something about it. Making the roads more bike friendly will now be more of a priority because of all the idiots that are allowed to drive.
ShaneV has some good points but he didn''t account for the health benefits people will gain by getting off their butts.

[shanev137]

Sorry....I had to do it.

Let''s make it really simple and say your brand new bike costs you $300; and your car gets 20 miles per gallon; and we''ll even be generous and say gas is $3.75 a gallon and you aren''t a porker and can ride at 20 miles per hour non-stop for an hour straight; and that your regular job is 20 miles each way.

So...for every one hour you bike (20 miles), you save $3.75 for not having to buy gas.

Now let''s take the cost of your bike ($300) and divide it by your $3.75 savings per 20 mile trip. That''s 80 bike trips or 80 hours of biking, which is 1,600 miles of biking just to pay for your bike. So at 40 miles per day round trip from work....that''s 40 work days it will take you just to pay for your bike, or about 2 months of biking to work if you work 5 days a week.

Your savings per month of biking to work after that is $150 per month (3.75 per gallon x 2 trips x 20 work days)....at a time cost of 40 extra hours of biking per month (which is an extra week of work per month).

Like I said, you''re basically making $3.75 an hour for biking to work. I don''t know about you, but my time is worth a lot more than $3.75 an hour.

You''re better off driving to a second job and working at minimum wage for a few hours than biking 40 extra hours a month to and from your regular job.

[shanev137]

Amazing what some people will do to save 3 or 4 dollars....because unless you''re like a Tour de'' France type rider who does like 50 miles every day on their bike, that''s about all you''ll save.

[rudy654-2009]

So much for "biking" to work! Those little fruit-baskets for helmets are useless against a distracted driver in anything with four wheels!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by NAUcoming4U at 01:51 AM

We''ll just have to send the distracted driver to prison for the next hundred years, or give the idiot the death penalty.

[rudy654-2009]

Now, let''s start funding bike paths isolated from the roadways, as they have it in Europe.

[michellem99-2009]

Thats right. I have to walk or take the bus. I thing alot are are to bike,ealk,use bus over car.. When We lived in the area we walk he is.

[naucoming4u]

"...and then a few news articles come out about the rise in bicyclist deaths on the roads of America.

So much for "biking" to work! Those little fruit-baskets for helmets are useless against a distracted driver in anything with four wheels!"

And to add...

...just ask my friend about that "biking to work for your health" thing.

(You''ll need an Ouija board to communicate with him though).

[naucoming4u]

...and then a few news articles come out about the rise in bicyclist deaths on the roads of America.

So much for "biking" to work! Those little fruit-baskets for helmets are useless against a distracted driver in anything with four wheels!

[mcv57]

What did I say earlier, "The bike business will rise, especially after the financial meltdown."