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In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling New Cars
- philiphodgen 13y agoSomething that you can buy for 300 Euro outsells something else that costs 30,000 Euro. The two things can be roughly used for the same purpose. I would not be surprised to hear that more paper and pens are sold in Europe than computers.
- antr 13y agoI don't understand your point as it hasn't been the case for +60 years.
- delinka 13y agowhat hasn't been the case? that more sheets of paper and more pencils have been sold than computers? I'm almost certain this is the case, even in the gadget-awash United States.
- outericky 13y agowhat hasn't been the case was bikes outselling cars. It hasn't happened. And not it is. Seems significant.
- wnevets 13y agoI think he means the bikes outselling cars part
- antr 13y agoThe article talks about bikes outselling cars. Hence I'm referring to bikes outselling cars. I'll be happy to talk about "paper and more pencils have been sold than computers" on Reddit, but not on HN.
- kome 13y agoDid you read the article?
- blueblob 13y agoI read the article and think that he/she makes a good point. The point this person is trying to hit is: does this imply that more people do not like the style of older bicycles or that people are making lifestyle changes to ride bikes instead of driving cars or that the economy is not the greatest and people are getting bikes because of it? The article compares 2 markets (bikes and cars) where it doesn't fully reflect the market (only shows new cars/bikes). The full market is probably quite a bit harder to get data for (and that's probably why they don't show it) but it would really give a much better indication of what is happening. I almost feel like this article is misleading because bicycle production is much higher than automotive production. See the following link under "Bicycle vs. car production" http://www.worldometers.info/bicycles/ http://www.worldometers.info/bicycles/
- moocowduckquack 13y agoHow often you buy a vehicle, be it a bike or a car is not that much to do with the price of it, but is more to do with how much space you have and how well the current one works, or whether you are bored of it. Besides, you cannot accidentally spend £30 to fill up a small drawer unit with bikes, cars or computers, which you can do quite easily with paper and pens, I have found. Also, the prices are not quite as you present. Some people with not much money manage to buy old cars that cost £100 and some people with a lot of money buy new pushbikes that cost over £5000.
- Detrus 13y agoBut you can have a bike and a car, like you can have a computer and pens. Sometimes you can use a car, sometimes a bike. The article doesn't address these statistics. Or kid bikes. Also not seeing motorbikes, which seem quite popular in Europe. I'm surprised that bike sales are that far off from car sales anyway. Expected most people that grow old enough to ride to buy one. Very informative otherwise.
- rodolphoarruda 13y ago>Also not seeing motorbikes, which seem quite popular in Europe. Yes, mopeds are very, very, popular in Italy.
- meerita 13y agoIn Europe there are many cars for less than 500 euros. Even new ones are something around 6k euros. Those of course aren't sedans like but they're still cars. In Barcelona we're suffering a process of making the whole city available for bikes and its one of the most wonderful things you can see. Almost everyone uses bikes to go work. It's healthy, it's confortable, and you don't need to pay taxes or insurance. I think it's a brainless option. BTW: I forgot to mention my city runs a public bycicle program since 8 years and it's a total success. For 40€/year you get full access to a bicycle to move around the city without restrictions. I think it was the smartest move the city did.
- molsongolden 13y agoBicing!
- aluhut 13y agoI don't think you can pass a technical inspection with a 500€ car. At least not in Germany. Here the only cars you get for that price are obviously broken cars (accident, missing major parts, etc.) or cars that did not pass the inspection.
- meerita 13y agoA Ford Fiesta 92 is around 500 euros in Spain. I don't know how is it in Germany, but here at Spain you even can get cars for 1000 wich are pretty decent and pass the inspection.
- workhere-io 13y agoIt's significant when you look at the numbers of people who commute on their bike daily rather than their car. In Copenhagen something like 50% of adults ride their bike to work. I'm sure it's the same in e.g. the Netherlands.
- Patrick_Devine 13y agoThere is a 180% tax on cars in Denmark which is a pretty major disincentive for driving a vehicle. I have a friend who bought a used VW Passat wagon (5 or 6 years old) in Denmark for $90,000 USD. Having cycled Copenhagen, I have to say it's wonderful. Everyone is on bikes all the time, and the city always prioritizes bicycles over other vehicles. I'd love for the same to be true in Palo Alto, but realistically a high vehicle tax would have to be done at a state level. The problem is that California is so diverse, that there is no way a farmer in Fresno or Bakersfield is going to be able to handle a large auto tax. The only way we're going to be able to get people out of cars here in the Bay Area is to increase spending on cycling infrastructure, as well as transit. Thankfully with cycling infrastructure, many cities, including Palo Alto, are finally getting serious about making more bicycle boulevards and bike lanes. For a long time cities in the Bay Area have either just payed lip service to the idea, or have been mired in red tape so that they couldn't roll out new cycling infrastructure without an environmental review. On the transit front, I'm not so optimistic. There's just such a quagmire of competing transit services in the region, that it's impossible to get any kind of a cohesive system together. Either you have a central authority which dictates the entire route map which will tend to neglect various regions, or you get what we have now which is hyper-localized transit authorities which don't service the needs of the region very well. As a result, companies just implement their own systems (ala Google, Facebook, Apple, Box, etc.) which are exclusionary and have become icons of gentrification.
- workhere-io 13y agoThere is a 180% tax on cars in Denmark which is a pretty major disincentive for driving a vehicle. True, but Danes buy cars nonetheless (especially if they have kids). It's fairly typical to only have one car per family, though. I have a friend who bought a used VW Passat wagon (5 or 6 years old) in Denmark for $90,000 USD. A used Passat from 2008 will cost you roughly $30,000 USD [1]. Expensive, I know, but nowhere near $90,000. 1) http://www.bilbasen.dk/brugt/bil?Category=P&PriceFrom=0&PriceTo=10000000&ZipCode=0&IncludeEngrosCVR=False&IncludeSellForCustomer=False&IncludeWithoutVehicleRegistrationTax=False&HpFrom=&HpTo=&Free=passat&NavYearFrom=2008&NavYearTo=2008 http://www.bilbasen.dk/brugt/bil?Category=P&PriceFrom=0&Pric...
- jobigoud 13y ago> Something that you can buy for 300 Euro And repair yourself when something goes wrong. I have a car, it works well. I haven't taken it to go to work since end of may. I don't plan on buying a new one until this one dies of old age, hopefully in a decade or so.
- scarlson 13y agoBasic car maintenance falls under responsible ownership. I'm a cyclist, but I know how to fix the common things on my vehicle. I'm sure there are people that own bikes that are clueless in fixing them, much the same as there are people that own cars that haven't a clue. That doesn't mean there aren't people out there that could strip and rebuild either on their own.
- pushingsocial 13y agoTotally agree. I think this is a case of scrambling for headline before press date. There is nothing here but common sense.
- VeejayRampay 13y agoWe're just too broke and can't afford the cars.
- eliasmacpherson 13y agoWest meets East!
- clarkm 13y agoYou know, recent trends in transportation are pretty weird if you think about them. Classic science fiction always predicted a future with space ships and interstellar travel, yet here we are discussing the most efficient ways to pack everyone together in urban areas in order to make it easier to ride bikes.
- utnick 13y agoIn Belgium , there are some tax rules that subsidize companies that give employees company cars. So its very common for a white collar worker to have a company car. I wonder if thats why Belgium is the only country where this isnt true ( well besides luxembourg )
- pjmlp 13y agoIt is to be true in Portugal when you reached a certain company level. Now with the crisis and since I am living abroad for many years, I cannot tell if it still holds.
- Danny72 13y agoAside from football, cycling is the most popular sport in Belgium. Maybe the bicycle market is saturated?
- qwerta 13y agoNot just cars, but also locomotives and even boats! It is just pity that socks outsell the bikes.
- groups 13y agoThe article notes a slump in car sales, but doesn't chart historical bike sales (it only notes that in America bike sales are "solid") It could be coincidence: European bike might have risen, might have stayed the same. >We decided to delve a little deeper into the figures and see which of these countries had the highest rates of bicycle-to-car ownership. I'm more interested in historical bike sales, historical car sales, and the correlations and causations we could find, than which countries had the highest rates of bike-to-car ownership.
- tehwalrus 13y agoI wonder how much the 'cycle to work' scheme in the UK has affected our numbers. (It means a lot of middle class white collar workers buy a new high-end bike every year, before income-tax.)
- sivetic 13y agoI finally pushed myself to bike to work this year, and up until this week managed to make my way to work 4-5 times a week using the bike. Living a 10-15 minute bike ride away from work really encouraged me to try this year, and I'm glad I did. I found it considerably more relaxing, even when riding in traffic, when compared to driving. Unfortunately, living in the Great White North, it has gotten too cold in the morning to bike (or at least it has for me). Temperatures are dipping below 0C, and I'm sure we will see snow soon enough. Bike is on standby mode now until next April or May when the snow is finally gone.
- spion 13y agoIts still doable even at those temperatures - here is what I do (though I don't use the bike when its snowing, yet): 1. Dress well. Its especially important to fully cover your face (except eyes), ears and hands. Winter hat, scarf, gloves are always mandatory. Legs may also need good (multi-layered) coverage but its not that critical. The number of layers for the rest of the body varies with the temperature 2. Don't overexert yourself. Avoid getting to a point where you're breathing too quickly or too deeply - this can be painful and can trigger breathing problems. If your breathing starts getting deeper and faster, slow down. Basically, its much better to overdress and go slower than to under-dress and try to go fast to compensate with body-heat. Most cyclists will claim the contrary, but the contrary only applies after having some experience (or for people who just can't bear to go slow). 3. Carry extra layers of clothes with you. You never know if the layers you need in the morning will be the same as the layers you need in the afternoon.
- sivetic 13y agoWe have people here that bike year round, even though our temperatures dip well below 0C (we get -25 to -30C on a regular basis, with windchill being -35C to -40C). That is far more effort than I'm willing to put in. Once it snows, I consider it far too dangerous (though again, there are a few people here that bike in snow w/ studded tires). I only have a bike lane for a short part of my ride, the rest being on 50, 60, and 80kmh roads with no paved shoulder. I don't want to find out what happens if I hit a deep patch of snow, ice, or some cross-winds while a semi is passing me doing 80kmh. As for your 2nd point, I made that mistake the first time it got close to freezing. By the time I made it to work, I had a tough time breathing.
- soundwave 13y agoIn almost every European country, shoes are outselling bikes!
- drofmij 13y agoSmaller countries / cities with better public transit make it viable to own bike instead of car. Not the case in most of US.
- mjn 13y agoWhether roads are designed with bikes in mind impacts it as well. NYC is dense enough for bikes, but much more dangerous to ride one in than most northern European cities.
- kbenson 13y agoI'm sure the weather has a lot to do with it as well. If it's icy/snowy a significant portion of the year, that makes it from uncomfortable to dangerous to ride during that time.
- mjn 13y agoNYC might get more snow than Copenhagen, but there is definitely snow here as well, and it doesn't heavily impact bike commuting. The solution is just to clear the bike lanes of snow, and salt to keep them from icing. They have these little machines with rotating brooms that drive down the lanes regularly: http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/12/ultimate-bike-lane-snow-clearance.html http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/12/ultimate-bike-lane-snow...
- meerita 13y agoCorrect. In Barcelona, Spain, when there's risk of snow they use salt. I think the ice isn't the problem, it's the lack of lines who is it. But people is finding that in the end, there's many at least, in Barcelona, to use and they stop using their cars in favor of bikes.
- hannibal5 13y agoUrban planning is an issue, but not the size of the country.
- pallandt 13y agoI'd so wish this caught on in my country, not just because of costs, I happen to find biking really enjoyful and relaxing. Unfortunately, what you end up with is being made fun of for choosing such a method of transport or even harassed, especially if you end up being a young professional or not a burly male.
- fpp 13y agoDoes this include bikes for children as well - if yes, please subtract the number of people below 16 living in each of the countries for a more useful comparison.
- rplnt 13y agoWhy 16? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_minimum_driving_age#Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_minimum_dr...
- luchs 13y agoChildren younger than 16 usually need new bikes quite often.
- homeomorphic 13y agoWhy 16? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_minimum_driving_age#Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_minimum_d...
- maxerickson 13y agoThey stop growing so fast.
- ojbyrne 13y agoIf you're a family of four, you might have four bikes, and one car. Even 2 cars and you've still bought more bikes than cars.
- drblast 13y agoAnd my kids have owned more bikes between them than I've bought cars in my life. They outgrow them quickly.
- frogpelt 13y agoI'm not sure that this is of much significance. In 2009, in the US, there were 14.9 million bicycles purchased [1] vs. just over 13 million passenger vehicles[2]. [1]: http://nbda.com/articles/industry-overview-2012-pg34.htm http://nbda.com/articles/industry-overview-2012-pg34.htm [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_vehicles_in_the_United_States#Sales http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_vehicles_in_the_Unite...
- stevewilber 13y agoUnfortunately a huge number of those bikes are gathering dust in a garage. Europeans bike 188 km/yr vs 40 km/yr for the US [1]. It would be really interesting to see the rate of change. [1] http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/jpah08.pdf http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/jpah08.pdf
- scragg 13y agoLets raise the gas prices to EU levels and see what happens.
- teaneedz 13y agoI pedal to many meetings these days. It's fun, healthy and social. When a stranger pedaled up to me in the bike lane a few days ago and initiated a conversation, my day was made. You see and experience more from a bike and it clears the mental cobwebs for me. Maybe my bobble head Yoda on the handlebars helps too :) Pedaling on in California.
- martin1b 13y agoHow many of them come with training wheels and ribbons?
- transfire 13y agoHere's the problem in the States: The automobile lobbyists dominate all transportation legislation. So what kind of laws does that get us? In most cities electric bikes are illegal. Sidewalks and bike lanes, more often then not, only cover partial lengths of road. It's actually illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk, but the bike lanes in the States are so unbelievably dangerous that no one in their right mind would choose the bike lane over the sidewalk. You can't ride a bike along an interstate highway --that's illegal too. Oh, some rich cities have nice new bike paths, but they go almost no where useful and it is illegal to ride on those at night. And to top it all off there's a cultural stigma that if you ride a bike for more than exercise or a leisurely peddle around the block then you are a worthless bum.
- evanb 13y agoThe legality of biking on the interstate is decided state by state. Some states allow it totally, some partially, and some not at all. http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/faqs/answer.cfm?id=9 http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/faqs/answer.cfm?id=9
- twistedpair 13y agoI guess Boston is one of those rich cities. There are swarms of business people commuting through the city each morning and night. I was not aware of anyone calling them bums. All of the people that ride the bike paths at night were unaware that it was illegal. The dedicated 10mi long bikeways like the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway are especially useful. 5000 lumen bike lamps help too. Also, why would you want to bike on the shoulder of an interstate? The whole definition of a limited access highway is that only highspeed cars, going the same direction are on it, for safety.
- lukeschlather 13y agoLaws vary significantly by state. I'm pretty sure it's legal to ride on bike paths at night. In Washington you're required to have a forward-facing light and a rear reflector. It's also legal to ride on the sidewalk, unless you're in Everett. As for biking on the shoulder of an interstate, there are areas where the only paved road going between two points is an interstate highway. And of course there are very common borderline cases where I want to get from point A to point B, and the path on the interstate is 50 miles, while the path avoiding the interstate is 150 miles. So a trip that I ordinarily need to allot one day for becomes a 2-3 day trip unless I'm willing to pedal at top speed or for more than 8 hours. I don't want to bicycle on the interstate, but most infrastructure assumes your bike is a purely recreational vehicle.
- TeeWEE 13y agoIn the netherlands there are almost too many bikes. Look at the roads for bikes: http://www.politiekdelft.nl/oostsingel_000_fietspad_2010_04_13_15_49_a.jpg http://www.politiekdelft.nl/oostsingel_000_fietspad_2010_04_...
- estebank 13y agoThere are 1.11 bikes per person in The Netherlands, but I don't see why that's too many. I've lived in Amsterdam and it's an absolute joy to move around. Anecdotally, I've been told that people that live in a different town than where they live have: * a bike to go to the train station * a bike to go from the train station to work * a nice bike for weekends
- pinaceae 13y agoErm, just because you buy a new bike doesn't mean you stop owning and driving a car. When I was living in Vienna we had 2 cars and 3 bikes for the family. Bikes were replaced more often, I needed to buy a bike twice in 5 years due to the original ones being stolen. Kept my car the whole time. Not exactly sure what this article is trying to show. Bad statistics?
- mrweasel 13y agoExactly. I live in Denmark and sure many of us use our bikes from transportation, but I guess that a large portion of the newly purchased bikes are for exercise. Most of us can't afford a car that we drive just for fun, but most can afford even a $4000 - $5000 bike that's just for fun. Included in these statistics are mountain bikes and racing bikes that people ride only in the weekends. The number of people commuting on their bikes are more interesting, but then the US and a few other countries are screwed because of the distances between the city and suburbs or industrial parks that are inaccessible by anything but a car (European countries have these too).
- rthomas6 13y agoThis is only tangentially related to the article, but I'd like to say one of the reasons why bikes aren't more popular in many American cities is because the road systems give no thought to bikes at all. I vacationed to the bay area recently, where bikes seem comparatively more popular, and noted the difference in roads between there and where I live. It wasn't so much that the bay area was good for bikes, but just kept them in mind. When there wasn't a bike path, there was a paved shoulder. When there wasn't a paved shoulder, there were signs and markings to help bikes and cars share the road. Where I live, it approaches dangerous to bike on the road. When a road has a speed limit of 45 mph, turns, and no shoulder at all, it's difficult to bike. This is not in a rural area.
- RyanMcGreal 13y agoThe evidence clearly indicates that bike ridership follows continuous bike infrastructure. When a city builds more and better bike lanes - especially protected cycle tracks and neighbourhood greenways - the rate of cycling shoots up.
- cobrausn 13y agoI'd imagine it also has a lot to do with climate. Where I live is too hot and humid to bike most months out of the year without having to take a shower when I get where I was going. Not really practical. EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Houston http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Houston Keep in mind that I have a 15 mile ride to work, and no, moving is not an option.
- euphemize 13y agoI wish I could use my bike all year long but the truth is that for someone living in Canada (I'm guessing it's similar for some northern states too), it's impossible to bike half the year. Some brave folks do it but it's quite dangerous. For someone who has lived in Amsterdam many years it's a sad realization that my city will never become a bike haven.
- pdelbarba 13y agoCould there be a climate connection here as well? A cursory inspection of some weather stations scattered across europe[1] indicate a slight warm trend over the past two winters, especially 2011 (disregarding 2013 data as its not yet complete). [1]: weatherspark.com
- LekkoscPiwa 13y agoWasn't that Alan Gore who started this drama with CO2 emissions so his company makes big $$$ trading CO2 "packages" or however they're called while he is enjoying a few of his mansion houses while telling the rest of us to cut on electricity and ride on bikes? Dear Westerners suffering from Stockholm Syndrome: Stalin called people like you "useful idiots".
- PhasmaFelis 13y agoLet me guess: you also think global warming is a hoax, evolution is fake, and vaccines are a scam.
- LekkoscPiwa 13y agoLet me guess: you still think that we all are going to die of skin cancer because of the whole in the ozone layer? What happened to that thing? Got old? I'll tell you what. New taxes were imposed world-wide and the problem disappeared over night. Coldest winters in living memory and these clowns still push "global warming" propaganda. Why don't you turn off the TV and open the eyes, huh?
- mikeklaas 13y agoSo… we actually took significant steps to solve a real problem and we solved it? I'm not sure how this is an argument against climate change.
- alex_h 13y agoI hate to feed the troll here, but the ozone hole problem was solved because of a concerted international effort to reduce CFCs going into the atmosphere, eg. by eliminating them from refrigerator coolants.
- lancewiggs 13y agoAnd it's not solved. Still plenty of skin cancer downunder. It kills.
- programminggeek 13y agoOne thing that also tips this figure is the fact that bikes can be used by any age group, cars cant. How many thousands or millions of bikes for kids are sold every year?
- Theodores 13y agoInteresting point. Kids typically go through several bikes as they get older, moving between the wheel sizes - 12.5" with stabilisers, then the stabilisers come off and the next bike comes along - 20" wheels, then there is the 24" wheel size and then something with the adult wheel size but still a kids bike. This is what the bicycle trade want, however, it does not always work out that way. Families will hand bicycles down from big kid to little kid, on to neighbours or sell them on as second hand. That cuts a lot of sales potential out. Also some parents will insist on getting 'value for money' and have the child ride a bike that is too large for them so they can grow into it. Roads are full of these killing machines called cars, because of this only a minority of kids are allowed bikes. Cycling is more of an adult thing, or adult with small children, whereas it used to be more for older children, giving them freedom and independence. Young adults also want to go by car, so sales could be improved in that demographic. I would actually argue that kids result in more sales of cars than bicycles. A family will need to go through a few cars, one for him and one for her, to do all those family things like shopping, school drop-offs and whatever else comes along. Come 17 another car will be needed because child will have passed his/her driving test and must therefore drive everywhere from that moment onwards.
- estel 13y agoI assume this is why the data they link to for US bike sales breaks down bikes with wheels > 20".
- aleprok 13y agoThis past summer I biked about 10 kilometers a day over 45 days. This is around 450 kilometers and I know I biked even more, but did not count how much after those first 45 days as biking was not daily routine anymore. Last Friday I put my bike into storage as it is so damn cold here in Finland already. Next summer I will probably try to get 1,000 kilometers.
- bmj 13y agoPlease remember that for a serious recreational cyclist, the correct answer to "how many bikes should I own" is: $num_bikes_owned++ From my experience in the local road racing scene, a majority of the 200 or so cyclists that participate in the weekly training racing have at least four different bikes. I suspect that the percentage that only owns one bike is very, very small.
- elif 13y agofwiw i race bikes and commute and i only currently own 1 bike. The rest get handed down or parted out. I also own 4 cars at the moment. These stats are irrelevant though because they were all purchased used--which i think is the biggest flaw with this study.
- pessimizer 13y agoFrom my experience away from the local road racing scene, I'd venture that serious recreational cyclists represent up to .1% of cyclists.
- codegeek 13y agoI once carpooled with a very nice lady from Netherlands. She would not stop talking about how she was amazed to see very little bikes in the US while back home, she grew up with bikes being part of a daily routine.
- tommypalm 13y agoIf you've ever been to Amsterdam, it's amazing to see how the people move around that city. Bikes everywhere and they have the right of way. Not cars.
- Someone 13y agoIn many cases, that is _take_ the right of way. Cars and bikes (mostly?) have equal footing. That sometimes means the car has right of way, sometimes it's reversed.
- mactitan 13y agoWhat's so surprising? Clearly there's a limit on the growth of auto infrastructure. I like to think that bikes offer a path out of the rat race being that transportation is 2nd in cost of living expenses. (however, a 60+ cyclist I know bikes 15 miles on grueling hills to his low end job, disputes this dream??) And so does the tech world where there are still massive profits to be made on sustaining the auto culture (gps, hybrids, ev's,google navigation, etc.) (And I don't necessarily think that's bad)
- eliben 13y agoYou mean, $100-200 items (of which most kids have one or three during their childhood) are outselling $10,000 items (though more like $30,000 in Europe)?
- shmerl 13y agoI wish US roads would become more bicycles friendly.
- ffrryuu 13y agoThat's what an economic collapse does to your population.
- mhamel 13y agoLooks like this could maybe be an influencing factor to Tesla's success there, after a German magazine doubts its potential in Europe (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/german-magazines-story-teslas-prospects-163225464.html http://finance.yahoo.com/news/german-magazines-story-teslas-...). Teslas are the ultimate commuter car - great for short distance, back and forth, stop and go. If Europeans are already doing these sorts of commutes on bicycles, what is the point of a Tesla? If what they really need cars for in Europe is long-distance travel, a Tesla probably isn't the right match.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- Mikeb85 13y agoWhy is this a surprise? Most families have 1-2 cars, if a family of 4 wants to go on a bike ride together, they're going to need 4 bikes... Furthermore, bikes are easier to break, get stolen, and are much cheaper...
- numbchuckskills 13y agoDoesn't really hold water as a stat unless you look at the demographics - Every child 3+ wants to own a bike in most countries.
- jchrisa 13y agoI'm car free in Portland Oregon. So far so good. Ask me how I'm feeling about it in January. :)
- patrickg_zill 13y ago"In Europe, pads of paper are outselling iPads"
- macspoofing 13y agoSlow news day at NPR.
- robomartin 13y agoRidiculous comparison. This is not a displacement market. Few people chose bike OR car. It's more like car AND a few bikes. A family of four can do with one car yet needs four bikes. As others pointed out, the case is the same in the US.
- CrankyPants 13y ago• As a point of reference, the average price of a new car in August was $31,252. (That's a US statistic, but all I found.) The average cost of a bicycle is probably three-figures. • Ownership of the two is not mutually exclusive. • Usage habits of the two vary wildly, probably mostly favoring cars, not only because keeping an unused car is far more expensive and complicated than keeping an unused bicycle is, and because people don't tend to buy cars the first week of January to work off those holiday pounds. I'm not sure why this article matters much.
- yason 13y agoI could bet a whole lot of money that shoes are outselling both bikes and cars in every European country.
- dllthomas 13y agoIs this new bikes or all bikes? Headline, charts, and article all seem unclear. Obviously, if used bike sales are included and used car sales are not this observation is completely meaningless, instead of just not terribly significant...
- cjdrake 13y agoAnd, in other news, cars are out-selling airplanes.
- dschiptsov 13y agoBeing of the same price?) In Almost Every European Country, Apples Are Outselling Oranges
- panzi 13y agoSo what? Everyone in a family has a bike (even the kids), but there are usually one one or two cars. Also bikes are cheaper and usually have a shorter lifetime. If cars would outsell bikes, THAT would be a headline.
- langer 13y agoMore interesting will be to see stats on car purchase rates in Uber and Lyft's top cities over the coming years. In SF, car ownership is becoming a luxury amongst people I know - they either have a sports car, or no car and use Uber/Lyft/Zipcar for transportation everywhere. A recent David Sacks tweet claiming this got a lot of attention: "Why Uber/Lyft market is so much bigger than people think: it's not a substitute for cabs, it's a substitute for driving." https://twitter.com/DavidSacks/status/378305832602980353 https://twitter.com/DavidSacks/status/378305832602980353