The Economy and Bicycles

If you pay any attention to the news, you are painfully aware of two things: It is an election year, and the economy pretty much is sinking rapidly. I don't get into too much if any of these sorts of things on Guitar Ted Productions, but today I wanted to touch on how this new turn of events may affect bicycles in particular.

Obviously the high gas prices and the economic atmosphere we enjoyed previously to this "fall", (yes.....a double-entendre!), were conducive to selling and fixing tons of bicycles. Now with things taking a slide backwards, how will it affect bicycle sales and repairs?

Well, the gas price pressure has been reduced for those that still have a job, or a house to live in! Right now the price per gallon here hovers just above $3.00 per gallon. ( Your mileage may vary......ha ha! I'm full of it this morning!) Anyway..........gas prices are not really going to help with bicycle sales anymore, or so it would seem.

Then you have winter coming on, which really clouds things since the bicycle industry typically slows way down now anyway. So immediate effects may be difficult if not impossible to gauge. This means it is time for some down and dirty inner-web-o-sphere speculatin'!

In my mind, this is the sign that the economy is finally going to correct itself. We have been riding in a boat full of holes, living in a house of cards, if you will, for far too long. Heck, I thought this would happen years ago. Not that I am any economic genius, but when I observed houses selling for half a million dollars in this area, (The cheapest housing market in the U.S.A. mind you) and the banks taking on 50 year mortgage loans, well......I knew it couldn't last! And I'm just a bicycle mechanic.

So, if the economy really is in a corrective mode, I'm not so sure that bicycle sales will be all that bad come spring. My take is that folks will be still looking for inexpensive ways to get around and to recreate. Bicycles still fit that bill. Folks will still be wanting to fix up those old, neglected, dusty bikes next spring. Maybe 2009 won't be an "up" year, but I'm sure t won't be a really down year either. I think the bicycle industry is actually poised to be one of the few industries that grows in 2009.

Only time will tell. At any rate, I don't plan on stopping my riding, so whatever happens I'll be pedalling on down the road........or what's left of the road.........