Bike Makers Gear Up For Growth With Automatic Shifting
The Miami Herald, Wednesday, April 18, 2007 11:15 AM
In an effort to expand ridership to consumers with expanding bottoms, Trek--the Waterloo, Wis.-based brand that Lance Armstrong rode in his Tour de France victories--has a new $500 bike with wide seats that automatically shifts gears. The Lime, introduced this spring, has three speeds and looks like the bikes that baby boomers rode as kids.
Read the whole story at The Miami Herald »
Bicycle sales have been flat for 12 years, and companies are looking to woo new riders, says Jay Townley, an industry analyst with Gluskin Townley Group. With an estimated 160 million people considered potential riders, strong sales could reverse the trend.
Automatic shifting uses a computerized gear from bike component maker Shimano called Coasting, which is also used in new bikes by Trek, Raleigh America and Giant Bicycle. Shimano spent several years figuring out why ridership has decreased. It realized people wanted to ride for fun, but they were intimidated. The company was shocked to realize its efforts at making newer, more high-performance bikes weren't winning over new riders.
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