Is the inflated Bike market finally crashing?

Kids don't ride bikes anymore. Living in Morristown it was few and far between and became really apparent during Covid when I'd see groups of kids out on bikes, and then that disappeared.

I do see a ton of kids on bikes where I live now but it's an outlier.
 
I notice more of our local kids riding battery powered skateboards and one wheelers these days. Perhaps that took a large chunk out of the bike market.
 
I also think the used / free cycle market plays a role in kids bike purchases. I have a strider and 2 small treks in the house and all came from FB marketplace for little to no money.

I do see a larger than usual number of kids on bikes in my neighborhood, but they are all on Walmart specials.
 
Frank said:
I notice more of our local kids riding battery powered skateboards and one wheelers these days. Perhaps that took a large chunk out of the bike market.
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Plan the lazy parents who fold under pressure of the “everyone is doing it” syndrome.
 
JPark said:
Could part of the decline be that most parents just buy their kid a Walmart bike now?
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Oh don't get me started on the Walmart bike around my neighborhood or I'll end up getting banned, cancelled, or arrested for telling it like it is.
 
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Walmart bikes do serve a useful purpose.
Often, kids who go to college far from home will buy a Walmart bike at the beginning of the semester to ride around campus and just abandon it at the end of the year.
It's cheaper than shipping a bike each way and who cares if it's left outside or stolen.
 
JPark said:
Could part of the decline be that most parents just buy their kid a Walmart bike now?
The BMX bike my parents got me was from a bike shop because the cheap Walmart bikes didn't exist then.
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My son’s first 3 pedal bikes were big box store bikes. I think he was 5 when i got him a bike store quality bike. It is kinda silly buying a bike with 12” wheels for $200.

Pretty much once you get to gears you get something that works. I dont rmemeber the kids with bike store bikes beating him on group rides.
 
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I feel I need to clarify something so I don't sound like an elitist prick that I'm trying to hide. During the pandemic when kids bikes were flying off the shelves everywhere, even at our local Walmart stores, I got a Walmart BMX type bike somewhere in Virginia for my son so I'm not opposed to it. At the time my son had is Transition Ripcord as his only bike and he would ride it around the neighborhood with kids on their Walmart bikes. They would ride on the streets going from house to house, ours included, and just throw their bikes on the sidewalks and driveways leaving them there. I was uncomfortable letting my son leave his bike there unattended so I decided to get him a Walmart bike but by that time all the ones he's willing to ride and of his size were sold out. So on my way down to Pisgah to join my friends for a week of riding I get a call from my wife saying our son wants a bike like all the other kids and his stands out too much and asked if I can stop at a Walmart somewhere and see if they have any. So I stopped at the first Walmart I came across in Virgina and sure enough they had a bunch so I took pictures of a couple of bikes and sent them to her and had my son pick the one he wants. He picked an $88 Kent BMX type bike, just like the ones at least 3 or 4 other kids in our neighborhood has. He has since outgrew it so we just gave it away. He outgrew the Ripcord too so I sold that I built him another bike which is fine because he outgrew those kids too (got tired of them and they were too cliquey) so don't need to worry about that anymore.
 
Well.

Our kids have real bikes but you won't catch them dead riding them on the streets. Actually the youngest has a mid-range bike that he rides to the soccer field from his dad's. But kids don't ride bikes on the roads around here. I mean shit, I don't really like riding on the road much anymore around here. I'm not sending my kids out there.

No box store bikes here. We have spent a goddamn mint at shops in the past 20 years. If any bike shop owner owns a boat, I am sure that we funded, at the very least, the steering wheel or maybe the air horn.

Don't blame us.
 
My first bikes as a 70's kid were box store bikes. Probably bought from the local Lionel-Kiddie City store in the Atlanta area. My first "bike-shop-bike" was a Schwinn Predator from Guy's in Feasterville, PA in 1982 and I haven't had a bike bought from a box-store since. IIRC, that Predator was a little over $200 at the time, or about $650 in 2024 money.
 
JPark said:
Walmart bikes do serve a useful purpose.
Often, kids who go to college far from home will buy a Walmart bike at the beginning of the semester to ride around campus and just abandon it at the end of the year.
It's cheaper than shipping a bike each way and who cares if it's left outside or stolen.
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I rode a Wal Mart bike for about 10 years before I took it to college. Then a tornado carried it away 2 years later..... Guess I should have actually locked it to the bike rack. #KansasThings
 
At the Bike Exchange, we get a lot of Mal*Wart bikes. We also get a lot of twenty year old bike shop bikes. Which means we get a lot of hands-on comparison time. I think the Mal*Wart bikes fill the same need as a Harbor Freight tool: If you need it for everyday use, for a long time, get something better.

I think the bigger issue facing bike shops is the aging demographic. The baby boomers, who grew up using bicycles as transportation, are aging out. Bicycle manufacturers are creating specific parts that require specific tools, which puts a burden on every repair person downstream. People are just as happy to Zwift as to ride outside. We may be in the last golden age of cycling.
 
Fire Lord Jim said:
At the Bike Exchange, we get a lot of Mal*Wart bikes. We also get a lot of twenty year old bike shop bikes. Which means we get a lot of hands-on comparison time. I think the Mal*Wart bikes fill the same need as a Harbor Freight tool: If you need it for everyday use, for a long time, get something better.

I think the bigger issue facing bike shops is the aging demographic. The baby boomers, who grew up using bicycles as transportation, are aging out. Bicycle manufacturers are creating specific parts that require specific tools, which puts a burden on every repair person downstream. People are just as happy to Zwift as to ride outside. We may be in the last golden age of cycling.
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Add into this ebikes. You need a course in electronics if you want to repair the motor, or wiring or control panel issues that arise. Add crap like AXS into the mix, and bikes have become ( like everything else ) more of an electronic appliance than a mechanical conveyance. And like most electronic appliances, they will either be brought to a shop to repair, under warranty if you're lucky, or simply tossed away. Or, they will sit broken, but unused, in a basement or garage once the owner finds out how costly it will be to repair. Obviously that applies mostly to the average user, not the obsessed enthusiast as most of us on this site are,who have spent more on an ebike than I have for my current street driven vehicle, but the average user outnumbers us by a considerable margin. I'm kinda glad I've shifted most of my riding time to horses. No electronic BS needed, wanted, or required.
 
mtbiker87 said:
Add into this ebikes. You need a course in electronics if you want to repair the motor, or wiring or control panel issues that arise. Add crap like AXS into the mix, and bikes have become ( like everything else ) more of an electronic appliance than a mechanical conveyance. And like most electronic appliances, they will either be brought to a shop to repair, under warranty if you're lucky, or simply tossed away. Or, they will sit broken, but unused, in a basement or garage once the owner finds out how costly it will be to repair. Obviously that applies mostly to the average user, not the obsessed enthusiast as most of us on this site are,who have spent more on an ebike than I have for my current street driven vehicle, but the average user outnumbers us by a considerable margin. I'm kinda glad I've shifted most of my riding time to horses. No electronic BS needed, wanted, or required.
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At least horseback riding is cheap.
 
Bike N Gear said:
At least horseback riding is cheap.
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Cheap could be debated for sure. Lack of electrical BS needed.....no debate at all. But quite honestly, neither of my very capable equines cost more than an equally capable ebike. They also last longer, go faster, and have fewer trail limitations as they are not motorized vehicles.
 
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mtbiker87 said:
Add into this ebikes. You need a course in electronics if you want to repair the motor, or wiring or control panel issues that arise. Add crap like AXS into the mix, and bikes have become ( like everything else ) more of an electronic appliance than a mechanical conveyance. And like most electronic appliances, they will either be brought to a shop to repair, under warranty if you're lucky, or simply tossed away. Or, they will sit broken, but unused, in a basement or garage once the owner finds out how costly it will be to repair. Obviously that applies mostly to the average user, not the obsessed enthusiast as most of us on this site are,who have spent more on an ebike than I have for my current street driven vehicle, but the average user outnumbers us by a considerable margin. I'm kinda glad I've shifted most of my riding time to horses. No electronic BS needed, wanted, or required.
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Correct me if I’m wrong but the lack of BS is compensated by lots of horseshit, no? Same difference? LOL
 
Costco Online…

Can be had for 1500 bucks.

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