The Economist reports that bike sales are going through the roof. Whether it’s for fitness reasons or for saving money and resources, people are buying up bikes like crazy. The world’s largest bicycle maker, Giant sold a record 460,000 bikes last month and is on target for it’s best year ever. With more cities adding bike lanes, and even banning cars from main thoroughfares, bikes are getting the respect they deserve.
The Economist reports:
After a slow 2006, sales took off last year in Europe and America as fuel prices shot up. Suddenly a bicycle seems like the remedy for many modern ills, from petrol prices to pollution and obesity. Each market has its own idiosyncrasies. Europeans mainly use bikes for commuting, but have the odd habit of ignoring models made explicitly for that purpose in favour of sleeker, faster models which are then expensively modified. Americans prefer off-road BMX trail bikes. Taiwanese demand is led by racing-style bikes used for exercise.
[via Treehugger]
And a record number of cyclists were killed or injured last month in London.
One would say that this will continue to rise in line with global debt.
October 9th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Actually, a recent study from the UK found that cyclists are safer when there are more of them on the roads.
For the record, sales of high-end bikes like the ones pictured are flat or slightly down, depending on who you ask.
October 9th, 2008 at 4:07 pm