This has gotten teenagers back to riding bikes. I was just at the supermarket and watched a kid skid around on the parking lot, just being "cool" (he had the mandatory Deep V rims and riser bars). The "Lance Effect" got the 40+ plus group on bikes. Who else can afford a $300 saddle? But now we have kids that may become lifetime bicycle riders. I guess some would add, if they survive, riding around brakeless.
No one could have predicted this would happen. Fixed wheel bikes, all over the streets of most major cities. An entire magazine devoted only to fixed gear riding ("COG"). Fixed and single speed bikes offered by many makers and $100 chrome/gold/anodized/colored cogs.
Wes Oishi
SoundCycles
Los Angeles CA
USA