Is there a big increase in road bike sales during the Tour?

All the emails I get from cycle shops seem to be plugging their road bikes and accessories.

There’s certainly a lot more road bike riders wheezing around the roads than I normally see.

Yep, used to be. Helped in part by the fact manufacturers would often rush to get their ‘bread and butter’ models out by the Tour, and would offer promotions (free accessories or whatever) throughout the tour.

But yes, we used to see a marked increase!

Edit: used to because I don’t now work in the trade – not because it doesn’t happen!

not so much with Pinarellos as Sky have changed the colours, which is a PITA for Pina Dealers who stocked up on replicas.

I think there probably would be a ‘Tour’ effect, much like the sales of tennis rackets probably increases before & during Wimbledon (I suspect).

not so much with Pinarellos as Sky have changed the colours, which is a PITA for Pina Dealers who stocked up on replicas

To be fair I wouldn’t have thought many would-be Dogma owners are suddenly spurred on because of the Tour 🙂

They should do the green though, looks awesome!

as a teenager my LBS used to shut during the TdeF. Whether or not he went to watch it even to my adolescent mind that seemed like commercial madness…