The numbers of bike parts sold in the US pales in comparison to the numbers sold in Europe. I haven't seen the official industry numbers for a few years, but the divide was even larger during the "classic" period.
I assume that you mean these countries consume more parts relative to their population size. The US is a major market for Shimano, Campy, Rockshock, etc, despite the realitve scarcity of riders. We're at least four times as many people as the largest euro country (Germany), I think. Another big difference is even if we don't have a lot of riders, we are great consumers. An american who rarely rides twice a year on summer vacation might buy a new bike every five or ten years (10-speeder in 1975, MTB in 1983, full suspeneded MTB in 1994...). Many Europeans ride daily on the same bike for half a lifetime. Lots of 60's era bikes on the roads of Italy. Lots of use, not a lot of buying.
Tom Dalton
Bethlehem PA
Brandon Ives wrote:At 9:37 PM -0400 8/28/02, Wdgadd@aol.com wrote:
> I've been wondering how Specialites T.A. manages to survive. Just about
>no OEM market and who else buys a T.A. crank these days, save for Rivendell
>members and folks like me who seek the stuff out.
Wes, you like most list members and Americans for that matter aren't looking outside of your boarders too far. The only places outside of the US I can really speak about are Europe and Japan but in those place cycling is much larger than in the US. I think when Americans think about cycling in Japan it's the a bunch of folks in suits riding 3-speeds and folding bikes to work. Or we think about the collectors and wether the bikes are being ridden or not. . . .most are. Professional track racing is the number one betting sport in Japan and local weekend road and MTB racing is everywhere. It is a culture where cycling is everywhere.
In Europe it's very similar if not more so. In France alone I'd bet there are more serious cyclists than on the entire Eastern seaboard of the US. Everybody on the list is well familiar with some of the racing history in Europe. Cycling is part of life and something that just exists like baseball in the US. Whenever I'm over there I see people regular folks throwing some one speed with rattling fenders through some corner deeper and faster than any Cat.2 here. Where am I going here you're starting to wonder, well. . . . . along with a vast history of cycling there is also a vast market. The numbers of bike parts sold in the US pales in comparison to the numbers sold in Europe. I haven't seen the official industry numbers for a few years, but the divide was even larger during the "classic" period. enjoy, Brandon"monkeyman"Ives SB, CA -- ++++++++++++++ "Nobody can do everything, but if everybody did something everything would get done." --Gil Scott-Heron-- ++++++++++++++ Elfie and Monkeyboy's Wurld uv Wunder
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