Bike shops persevere

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 12, 2005 by JACOB LUECKE THE GAZETTE

TO OUR READERS: These stories are two of several about the business of bicycling that will appear in this section during the Tour de France.

As Lance Armstrong tries for his seventh Tour de France victory, the cycling superstar is helping peddle bicycles in Colorado Springs.

Sales of road bikes, the kind Armstrong uses in the tour, have jumped 30 percent during the past five years, said Tony Hoewisch, owner of Ted's Bicycles at 3016 N. Hancock Ave.

Mountain bikes used to outsell road bikes 4-to-1 at Old Town Bike Shop, 426 S. Tejon St. But with Armstrong's help, road bikes now make up about 40 percent of bike sales at the store, said Randin Isip, who does sales and service at the shop.

Road bike sales at Criterium Bicycles, 6150 Corpo- rate Drive, have jumped as much as 10 percent during Armstrong's previous Tour de France victories, said marketing director Robert Yoneoka.

"People hop on board the Lance bandwagon and they want to be part of it," Yoneoka said. "People who have been following bicycle racing for years tend to come out of the woodwork, too."

Across the country, road bikes have been a boon for the $5 billion to $6 billion a year bicycle industry.

Fred Clements, executive director of the National Bike Dealers Association, said retailers have reported shortages of some road bikes.

"Road bikes are definitely the industry's hot product category," Clements said.

In 2004, 10.8 percent of all bikes sold were road bikes, up from 7.4 percent in 2003, according to the association's numbers.

There is little doubt at bike shops that Armstrong is helping drive road-biking sales. "I'll definitely give Lance some credit," said Isip, who said three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond inspired him to get into cycling in the late 1980s. Clements said Armstrong's exposure is similar to a large advertising campaign for biking. "You don't see a 'got bike?' campaign like you do with milk," he said. "We're just not that big. To get the kind of visibility that someone like Lance brings is really good for us." Armstrong has said this will be his last Tour de France. It's unclear whether his absence next year will signal the end of road bike sales growth. "I think we have a few years left after Lance retires," Hoewisch said. Isip thinks another strong U.S. rider, such as Dave Zabriskie, could emerge and take the torch from Armstrong. With or without Armstrong, it might have been time for road bike sales to make a comeback after years of being dwarfed by mountain bike sales, Yoneoka said. "Not to make a pun, but the bicycle industry does work in cycles," he said. Clements agreed. "A lot of us in the industry are old road riders, and we've always been rooting for the road bike category, which has been overtaken by mountain bikes," he said. Road bikes appeal primarily to adults, Clements said, and they will continue cycling for the health benefits even after Armstrong leaves the limelight. Mimi Smith of Colorado Springs seems to back that up. Smith, 37, purchased her first road bike last week, from Old Town Bike Shop -- an $850 LeMond. After having a baby last year she decided she wanted to do more road biking instead of mountain biking. Armstrong wasn't a factor in her purchase, she said. "What he's done is inspiring," Smith said. "But I don't know that it's really had an affect on my decision to buy a bike."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0189 or jacob.luecke@gazette.com

ROAD BIKES VERSUS MOUNTAIN BIKES

Average price:

$1,152 for a road bike

$477 for a mountain bike

Road bikes typically cost more than mountain bikes because they are built with expensive light-weight materials.

Percent of sales at bike dealers:

28.3 from road bikes

35.5 from mountain bikes

SOURCE: National Bike Dealers Association, 2004