[Closed] Road Biking - Has It Peaked?

I think there's a ceiling on how much more growth can be swallowed up by the roads of Britain. Already we've seen a lot of backlash against the proliferation of organised races/sportives around Surrey (Box Hill in particular).

I did up until quite recently ride on the road a lot, but the attitude of other road users had got a bit too much and I think this has got worse in the last couple of years. I'd put this down to the growth in number of roadies out there, whether certain road users are annoyed by the increase in numbers, I'm not sure.

Anyway, it's made me realise that riding MTB (first love) and cross is far better in every way and numbers in the uk are still low. Head away from degla, cannock and ladybower and the trails are in the most part empty. Most of my big rides lately have been punctuated with a handful of riders over 5 hours. My local trails are always empty apart from the usual dog walkers.

It`s still easy to do a long road ride away from traffic.Most of the cyclegolfists only follow yellow signs on a Sunday to get a medal for £30 anyway

jeffm - Member

I think there's a ceiling on how much more growth can be swallowed up by the [s]roads[/s] cafes of Britain.

the roads are fine, 1 more person on a bike is l less person in a car, etc.

but try getting served in the caff, on a sunny sunday afternoon - it's rammed!

Bloody grumpy ex-pet canadian bike mechanics.....to be fair that's a fairly specific target group.......eh.

Our cycling clubs news group seems to hage 1-3 new members each week, not sure how much of that is new members or changed e-mail addresses but that seems like a lot of growth.

Did a quick 40 miles arround the Surrey, Berks, Hampshire borders on tuesday and only saw 3 guys on road bikes and arround 5 commuters, so were not overcrowded yet!

I think we will see a bit of a decline in 'new' cyclists, once we have had a proper nasty cold wet winter.
since the Olympic boost, the weather has not been too bad, hence the popularity still going.
roll on minus a few, with constant rain/wind......they will drop like flys.. 😆

Head away from degla, cannock and ladybower and the trails are in the most part empty. Most of my big rides lately have been punctuated with a handful of riders over 5 hours. My local trails are always empty apart from the usual dog walkers.

My local trails are on Cannock Chase and I rarely see anyone - all summer, I was out once when I saw a large number of people on the chase. That's not to say it's never busy, it's just that the busy times are pretty limited and you can get on empty trails at the most busy places quite easily, we're no where near full on saturation point on the chase yet.

Participation in our local club TT events was up 50% on last year and club runs are also a lot busier with multiple groups now (no one on 6k Cervello's though!) Suspect some of this is the 2012 effect and that we won't see a similar jump next year, but it'll be interesting to see if the trend is still positive.

As for the roads being congested with cyclists, I can do 50 miles of country roads and maybe see a couple of other cyclists and a dozen cars. Plenty of room out there in the royal county of west berkshire!

Good question, still gaining popularity over here IMO.

I've even signed up to ride a sportive myself, so it must be eh?

Already we've seen a lot of backlash

Which actually suggests it's still growing, when you think about it.

More the affluent middle age / class who drop 6K on a Cervelo, wobble around a lot, crash and then return the bike three weeks later because it's 'too fragile'

You might just be seeing less of them because your bike shop has got a reputation for being staffed by snobby ****ers?

I think it depends on where you are - my local roads are pretty empty. I can do a 60 mile route and only see a handful of other people out on road bikes.

I agree that the cold will sort out the people who really enjoy it from those who have bought a road bike because its the done thing. I know that I'll be out on the road bike a lot more now - I'm bored of cleaning my MTB already!

On sort of a related note, I heard that the local Tri club is doing even better growth than the local road club (quite a big crossover in members too.)

I reckon there's been growth in mtbers being part-time 'roadies' too...

Hard to say. Still pretty high numbers commuting in London Village even though the weather's cooling off.
Last year the numbers in my club mid-winter were around 100, same as we used to have mid-summer about 3 years ago. Be interesting to see if that's sustained this year.

Personally I think growth rates are unlikely to be sustained but growth will still continue - driving is such a rubbish experience - at least in the South East - and we do seem to have hit a tipping point of normalising it - which has always been CTCs argument for growth.

Anecdotally there's people at work and friends of mine who've been nowhere near a bike for years, who're starting to get into road riding. I think this is in part because they see how much the 'new' cyclists are enjoying it and enthusing about it. It's one thing for me to bang on about it but when they see 'someone like them' also loving it, they start to consider it for themselves.

Hopefully now the balance will tip and we'll start getting less hassle ...

Taking part in tri events seems to be gaining poprlarity - there are a few guys at work who were MTBer's and are now heavily into triathlon's and training pretty hard for it too.

As far as commuting goes, I think while motoring is expensive and train fares keep going up, more and more people will be turning to bikes. I've noticed on my commute that there are more and more people riding to work (although slightly less now the weather is turning and the nights drawing in). We've had to increase the number of bike racks in our office and most days they're pretty full.

I know a few people who started riding to and from work and turned into recreational cyclists when they realised it was fun.

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😀

since the Olympic boost, the weather has not been too bad,

Eh? It pissed it down constantly from August 2012 to April this year!!*

(* slight exaggeration a possibility)

Sounds like you have a very narrow view of what road riding is, and possibly of cycling in general? Over 600 members in our club (riding all sorts of bikes). Anecdotally, I reckon there are more people riding road than there has been for many years, and numbers are still growing.

We have loads of Roadies and MTB'ers around where I live, always have done...... but many more Roadies now riding the Tour Le Yorkshire segments and riding 3 deep on a Sunday !!

Have no idea what you're talking about and don't really care.
Had roadbikes for over 30years, ridden with road clubs but other than the odd club TT only ever raced mtb. Mainly ride the road on my own these days and rarely ever see another rider if it's cold/raining/dark
Don't understand sportives
don't care what bike others ride.
Never liked rude ****S who ignore a friendly nod/smile/wave/hello.

More (expensive?) Road bikes may be being sold but as far as I can see nothings really changed.

You might just be seeing less of them because your bike shop has got a reputation for being staffed by snobby ****?

Ooh did I touch a nerve? 😀

My question was a genuine one, and yes one based on seeing a certain demographic buying into high end road stuff with no real cycling experience. It's their money but I wish that they would forget fashion and buy something more suitable (whether it be a road bike with more relaxed geometry, touring bike or CX bike). I don't think that wanting people to enjoy cycling in the long term is snobby. This trend is possibly dying off a bit here and I was wondering what the road scene is like elsewhere.

Good morning Chris / Scruff 😆

Do you see this from working in a bike shop that sells said items?

Hmm...

I'm guessing you don't own the bike shop selling these 6k Cervelos 😉

^ I don't sell anything. As a company we never push anything on anyone. But if something is trendy, good luck trying to sell something more suitable but 'un-trendy' to someone who is specifically buying their way into a culture / scene.

But having a no-quibble return policy does mean that I see people finding out the hard way that a carbon bike with 'RACE' written all over it is not the best option for them, when we get the bike back two months after they have bought it...normally all scuffed up and the customer blaming the bike...

You make it sound like your shops sales staff do **** all other than operate the till and you're moaning about the customers who fill it most. Odd!

No quibble returns policies make no sense on any product that if used suffers so much wear and tear it can't be resold at the same price. Maybe start a a hire business instead?

Our roadie club sees 30+ riders out on a Saturday morning. Loads have turned to the road due to there being a complete lack of off road stuff round here. There are definitely a few all the gear and no idea types but to be they have stuck with it, on the whole most of the lads just enjoy riding of any genre. I am pretty sure if the peaks were on our doorstep then we would be riding full sussers and having just as much fun.

My main concern in with the lads who have not ridden a bike of any sort since they were a youth. Three abreast and some very twitchy riding.

As above the winter will sort the the men from the boys.

Road biking has always had periods of popularity which tended to fade away, but cycling in general seems to have become an aspirational activity and to have moved away from an essentially working class demographic.

We shall see...

BTW I don't mean commuting. More the affluent middle age / class who drop 6K on a Cervelo, wobble around a lot, crash and then return the bike three weeks later because it's 'too fragile'

I know loads of affluent middle aged and class cyclists and none of them has ever spent 6K on a bike.

As for the roads not having the capacity for more cyclists because it would upset poor little motorists, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that statement.

I bought a road bike today. Mekk Poggio 3.0 from LBS run by my mate.

Might have been a serious question but pretty dismissive sneery attitude. No quibble return policy for 2 months? Madness.

It hasnt peaked yet, growth might be slowing but looks like its still growing in the UK - more sportifs every year and club numbers swelling.

Triathlon seems to have exploded, Munqe Chick is doing a half ironman next year (wimbleball?) and its already sold out, this years version had entries open pretty much up to the event.

wonny j - how do you like it so far?
Bought myself a Potenza SL 5.0 at the beginning of September and I'm really enjoying the ride.

Our road club is mostly made up of middle aged men on expensive bikes, but almost without exception, these are guys who have been cycling seriously for 30 or 40 years. Cycling does seem to be growing more popular in our area (Peak District and Cheshire) but this seems to have manifested itself in the number of sky rides with large groups of inexperienced cyclists who apparently think they are exempt from the normal rules of the road.

My feeling is that folk who just want to ride a road bike are on the up still.
The people I know or have seen that threw shed loads of cash at it seem to have gone quiet.
That's sort of reflected in races. Lots of early booking of races and a very very high percentage of no shows on the day.
So the humble core cyclist yes on the up. The buy my way to a 1st cat no, on the decline.
Road cycling is either very pleasant, social, fun and open to all folks. Or requires hard work not cash.

Sales are still good and have been this year in our shops

Thanks Oldgit. That's the sort of info I was wondering about.

As for some other comments, our return policy is perfectly good thanks. As shown by the fact that someone CAN return a bike after a significant length of time. The used bike just gets sold to staff and the customer can get a more suitable bike once they've realized their mistake, even if it's not from us. No biggie.

Derisive attitude? Am I meant to take someone seriously who just buys a bike because it'll look good on top of their Audi Q8? I'd rather they bought the right bike for their needs personally.

My mate reckons that the local running clubs near me are also really swelling up in numbers and I know I read somewhere that climbing and Bouldering etc are growing rapidly.

Kind of feels to me that a lot of outdoor activities and recreational pursuits are growing in numbers. There seems to be loads of these mud/obstacle racing things going on these days (Hellrunner, Tuffmudder or whatever) and I'm sure there never used to be much of a market for these? Maybe it's just me though.

Can't really think why there would be such an upsurge, it can't just be the Olympics. I guess it's an awful lot easier to get into a hobby and meet like-minded people with the internet now.

If you're interested in something like Paragliding (or whatever) you can read all about it online, watch videos, join forums, join a local club online and chat to people before you even have to get off the couch. You know what you're letting yourself in for. Or you get an idea, at least. Must be a lot easier than back in the day when you presumably had to get in your car to drive and go and meet a load of strange blokes in a field somewhere...

Funny you should point that out Duggan, a fair few that haven't kept up with the riding have turned to running. Time?
We've also had a few weeks of colder wetter weather, doesn't take long I'd imagine for the sales to be hit.

If your return policy is perfectly good why whinge about people using it, make your mind up. And if they buy a bike "because it looks good on top of their Q8" then they are buying a bike that suits their needs. You can't help yourself making sneery derisive comments about your clientele can you? Ever thought of a career change where you can be less bitter or envious, and less hypocritical as you keep taking these crap riding golfers money?

The attitudes displayed by some of the bike shop folk on here make it obvious why mail order has succeeded.

Just from my narrow field of experience and cross section of mates, both real and facebook, I know loads of blokes who haven't got their bikes out of the garage since the end of last Summer.

Mostly new to cycling with the odd Sunday mtber thrown in. And mostly half decent bikes. There seemed to be a huge boom, fuelled by the Olympics, followed by a rapid shrinking of interest.

As I say, all purely IME.

You can't help yourself making sneery derisive comments about your clientele can you? Ever thought of a career change where you can be less bitter or envious, and less hypocritical as you keep taking these crap riding golfers money?

It's not our clientele so much. The 'Pro Road Shop' a couple of blocks away thankfully gets most of that sort of business.
I think our return policy is great.
I have a titanium singlespeed road bike, carbon road bike, decent 29er 'trail' bike, locally made rare Rocky Mountain retro-mountain bike and a pimped out cruiser so I can't say that I'm envious either to be honest!
Funnily enough I seem to be the exact opposite to who you think I am. Hey ho....

Ooh did I touch a nerve?

No, I'm sorry to say I don't have a £6k Cervelo.

Just enjoying a bit of internet repartee.

I got into road riding last year pre Wiggo success and due to the fact I broke my collar bone on my mtb. My mates I go road riding with all ride under 1k bikes and we have all done around 2,500 miles on them this year. I only know one mate who has spent what I term to be big money on a road bike at around 2k and hasn't done a lot of miles on It.
As has been said the summer has been great and a crap winter will see who is still riding in the wind and rain . My work has just done It's bi annualy c2w scheme and a lot have bought road bikes instead of the usual mtb's this time. So time will tell If they are actually used or hang in the garages till next spring.
As has been said a million times on here 'It's all riding bikes , Innit'.

Does the fact that a lot of employers do a cycle to work scheme add to the number of cyclists?

I guess a lot of people used to cycle when younger and see the scheme and decide to go for it. Some keep going and some realize it is harder work than when they were 13 and the bike sits gathering dust in the shed.

Problem is it looks fun watching the tour. a lot think it'll be like that. They'll get bored.

Reality is its ****ing boring yet youre risking youre life worse than MTB and a lot of things more fun.

The whole danger vs fun is way skewed towards danger.

I despair when I see most things encouraging cycling are road bike related.

I'm thinking that it won't be too long before the bicycle market resembles the motorbike market where low mileage, lightly used, quality bikes are quite plentiful having been bought with good intentions but then rarely left the garage.

*waves* £6k Cervelo owner here!

Been riding bikes all my life, keen BMXer, started riding roadbikes as a means of transport in my early teens (lived in the middle of nowhere), started club riding/timetrialling at 15/16 years old, been riding road, mountain, commuting ever since.

Last year I finally drew a line under a 3year divorce battle and decided to buy a once-in-a-lifetime bike.

It gets raced, ridden like it's stolen, has been to Majorca this year, is going to Majorca and Morzine next year... And I'm 40 in December.

Not every £6k roadbike is bought as an ornament for the Audi roof, and even if it is, so what? People have different motivations for buying bikes, I know my bike is capable of far greater things than the Cat3 bloke that rides it, but I'm attracted to the technical aspect of bikes and cycling, so I wanted the absolute best.

For every 10 bikes that are bought and never used, there might be 1 or 2 new cyclists that find a passion for the sport and stick with it. So long may it continue.

Wow there princess! It's only as boring or as dangerous as you choose to make it.

If you're bored, choose a more interesting route and try harder.
If you feel scared for your life, ride quieter roads with good visibility at the quietest time of day. If all the above is too difficult to cope with, stay indoors at all times.

Nah, just ride my MTB!
roads are designed for things that go faster than push bikes. So they will be boring to ride at 20mph.

[url= http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/ ]roads were built for things that go exactly the same speed as push bikes[/url]

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Mountain biking grew fast because comfortable bikes with triple chainsets and good brakes made cycling easier for amateurs.

Road cycling is now growing fast because comfortable bikes with compact chainsets are making cycling easier for amateurs.

It's peaked for me. I got into riding again by commuting and sportives and the like but I've kind of had enough now. There's a lot of aggro with drivers these days and much more of an us v them mentality than there was 5 years ago.

I've ridden my mtb much more this year than my road bike. And I've got no real desire to buy anything new for my roadie, all my spending plans are for getting dirty. Especially now the boss has approved of me taking my bike on family holidays. Yay!

There's a lot of aggro with drivers these days and much more of an us v them mentality than there was 5 years ago.

A fair bit of it fuelled by (presumably new) cyclists. I've seen innumerable fist waving / confrontational episodes from people steaming along on the drops, in a peaked helmet then suddenly noticing a hazard ahead. Some people seem determined to be difficult regardless of what they are doing.

There's a lot of aggro with drivers these days and much more of an us v them mentality than there was 5 years ago.

give it time. The aggro is mainly because when a lot of people get into a car, they start acting like spoilt children.

It's also just a symptom of people struggling to cope with change. As cycling continues to grow and become normalised, people'll get used to it and chill out. I hope...

Anecdotally, there's less aggro in Central London than there is out in the country lanes I ride at weekends - I think London drivers are more used to people riding

Muddydwarf, I haven't picked it up yet. The potenza looked very nice, slighly better frame than the Poggio, but the Poggio has better geometry for me. But yesterday my 2 min test ride before parting with my cash was great.

give it time. The aggro is mainly because when a lot of people get into a car, they start acting like spoilt children.

Motorists have had this attitude to cyclists for as long as I've been riding, it's nothing new. And drivers' attitudes haven't got worse.

It's just that more and more people are riding bikes, so more and more people are talking about driver attitudes. Until there's some sort of public information campaign to spell out what cyclist know, and motorists seem oblivious to, things won't change...

Things like:
• The fact that a cyclist's head is foot higher than a motorist in an ordinary car, so he can see further ahead.

• Riding in a primary position isn't being awkward, it's done to prevent motorists overtaking in a place that would endanger the cyclist.

• Cyclist regularly die in incidents that would usually result in insurance details being exchanged had it 2 cars that were involved.

• If a cyclist is doing 28-30mph in a 30 zone, there's no need to overtake him.

Brassneck and brooess, I think you're both right. I'm not jacking in road riding completely, but it's taking a back seat for a while. I think the key is to rotate your vices.