Seeking to ignite growth with products appealing to more than the athletic and aggressively outdoorsy, the nation's bicycle makers are exploring the commuter bike. The idea is to provide an inexpensive and comfortable bicycle that comes with all the essentials -- lights, locks, suspension, fenders and even a bell -- necessary for getting to work and back.
The US$4.2 billion American bicycle industry also senses a market opportunity in the continued sluggish, travel-compromised economy.
Already, bicycles that are designed to be more accessible to nonskilled riders are the industry's fastest-growing category. These so-called "comfort" bicycles grew to 20.8 percent of the estimated 17 million bicycles sold in the US last year. That was up from 13.6 percent in 2000, according to statistics from the National Bicycle Dealers Association.
Now the industry is hoping that the market is ready for a true everyday transportation or commuting bicycle.
"I think support for this kind of bike is growing," said Mike Sinyard, founder and owner of Specialized, one of the nation's largest bicycle manufacturers.
Several years ago Specialized tested the commuter-bike idea in the US with a European-inspired Globe Voyager, a bicycle that came with a rack, chain guards, lights and fenders -- the sorts of accessories that racing cyclists abhor as encumbrances. Specialized is planning to introduce a production-line bike similar in concept to the test model, according to several industry executives.
Joe Breeze, one of the inventors of the recreational mountain bike during the 1970s that is now the industry's most popular product, demonstrated a new line of bikes, the Breezer, at this year's show. The response, he said, was an indication that the bicycle industry is reawakening to cycling as basic transportation.
Breeze said Americans were still far from the European view of the bicycle as basic transportation. But he said he was optimistic because this nation's bicycle industry has begun to act more effectively as a lobbying force.
The industry has been slow to recognize the commuter market because many of today's executive decision makers and designers are former racers, according to Felix Magowan, president of Inside Communications, which publishes VeloNews, a cycling newspaper. he said. "Racing bikes and mountain bikes are great," he said. "But it's like using your downhill skis to go to work."
That is why start-ups like Breeze's are noteworthy. So is the new interest in adult-friendly bikes by large bicycle companies like Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大), a Taiwanese manufacturer.
Giant coined the term sport utility bicycle, or SUB, last year to describe a new line of bikes that went beyond the comfort category, which had previously been aimed at baby boomers who shied away from mountain bikes and racing cycles. Now the category is expanding to those who consider themselves youthful at heart, if not necessarily young of seat.
At the expo, Giant introduced the Revive, a bicycle that features an adjustable wheelbase and a back support, and is a kindred spirit to the increasingly popular recumbent bicycles that the industry has been making in growing numbers in recent years.
"A lot of baby boomers want the ultimate in comfort if they're going to get back on a bicycle," said Dean Bradley, a Giant product manager.
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