When did road bikes become popular?

tangled_metal

I seem to remember a time when most cyclists you'd see were on MTB not road bikes despite riding on the road. Indeed I remember some bike shops either didn't have any or only had small selection of road bikes.

Now I see a lot of road bikes around, bike shops have quite a few and I see fewer people commuting on MTBs, more on road bikes or at most hybrids that are closer to flat bar road bikes. All through this I was anyways riding road bikes.

My question is when did things change and road bikes became popular again? Was it when British cycling got a lot more successful in the velodrome? Was it Wiggins, Hoy and co winning multiple gold medals? Was it Wiggins TdF win? When and why do you think things changed?

talius

And the bike to work scheme, mountain bikes not really very suitable for city commutes, and hybrids are seen as rubbish. Hence Allez man.

tangled_metal

So It's not just my imagination, there is more road bikes around? They've become a more popular type of bike.

JackPozzi

Did the name change from racing bike to road bike help? Years ago I wouldn't have bought a racer because I didn't race, but I did however go roads.

pblakeney

The demise of the Raleigh advert referencing how uncomfortable the saddle would be may have helped.

timothyw

I suspect part of it is due to the specialization of the mountain bike - twenty years ago mountain bikes weren't that different to what we today think of as a hybrid, whereas today they have full suspension, huge disk brakes etc - all things that add to the expense and weight which make them less good for just riding along the road.

I'm sure a large part is just fashion however.

I went for a road bike when I decided I was going to start cycle commuting a few years ago because I was taking on a hilly 8 mile route and it seemed to me that I'd need all the help I could get - that meant lightweight, smooth rolling on tarmac, hence a road bike. If there'd been a bridleway/path I could have used I might have thought differently.

tangled_metal

I was wondering if the success of GB pro's meant people took it up so more cyclists on the road. They wanted the kinds of bikes their heros (Wiggins and Cav) had which is road bikes. Perhaps bike shops are listening more and being honest with their advice such that they recommend road bikes for riding on the road??? Whatever the reason I think it is good, the right bike for the right terrain perhaps. At least I am not the outsider so much with the road bike like I used to be.

Man Of Lard

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19689678#p19689678]PBlakeney[/url] wrote:

The demise of the Raleigh advert referencing how uncomfortable the saddle would be may have helped.

YellowPages... not Raleigh

pblakeney

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19689802#p19689802]Man Of Lard[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19689678#p19689678]PBlakeney[/url] wrote:

The demise of the Raleigh advert referencing how uncomfortable the saddle would be may have helped.

YellowPages... not Raleigh

Even after all these years I would have sworn the bike was a Raliegh even though there was no reference.
They must have been glad of the free advertising.

Having just watched it again, the only clue is the font in the catelogue. Very subliminal.

DrLex

Triathlons, rail strikes & the popularity of men's health magazines?

Walls82

Probably a number of factors rather than just one. I had a road bike for weekend rides and a hybrid for commuting - started to get a bit fed up being overtaken by road bikes so upgraded to a £500 road bike for commuting (also used it for racing and got out of cat 4 on it). I think a few people the same as me and "upgrade" to a road bike from a hybrid.

Also biking has become more social with the rise of sportives mates will do a 80 mile sportive at the weekend together probably a bit too old for sunday league football or rugby along side golf cycling is a bit of progression from that. Also its more inclusive as you don't have to be particularly fit to finish a sportive.

The olypmics helped but I think Wiggins and team sky winning the TDF was probably the biggest factor (I don't think track cycling has exploded since the olympics?) with Wiggins considered cool because of his mod image.

bompington

There's no denying the increase in popularity. When I first got a road bike (8 years ago) pretty much the only other ones I ever saw round here were the saturday morning club runs on the Coupar Angus road, now you see lots commuting around the town, and on sunny weekends the back roads (lovely routes all of them) are highly mamiliferous.
It's unquestionably a Good Thing, and I would say that it's mostly the wiggo factor, but here in Scotland the mighty Sir Chris may possibly be a bigger influence. Not sure how much other cultural and economic factors contribute - environmental? austerity? trendiness of extreme/endurance sports?

Long may it continue. Always makes me think of the HG Wells quote: "When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race."

holiver

Road bikes are now more user friendly and cater to a wider market, which has grown in size thanks to Lance Armstrong and team Sky etc.

daddy0

"The Wiggins Effect" is what people in my bike club put it down to. However, thats not the case for me. in 2012 I took the plunge on a nice road bike through work bike scheme to make my commute a bit easier.

I have since convinced a couple of friends to get road bikes. I don't think its that they want to be like Wiggins or Cavendish, they probably didn't even know those names when they got their road bikes, and neither of them got through work schemes. Both wanted to get fit/healthier - probably more people are aware of the benefits of being healthy these days.

meanredspider

There must be an N+1 effect. Everybody (including me) bought an MTB (in my defence, my commute at the time was across farm tracks etc). When I had the urge for an N+1, a roadie seemed the obvious choice - and now my weapon of choice.

timothyw

Thinking back, perhaps a large part of it was the ease of gear change on mountain bikes back in the day also? Must have been a few people put off road bikes by having to reach down to change gear. Perhaps the brifter is the source of the road bikes more recent success?

jgsi

I suppose that most of you are in a different generation to me.
It was and always has been 'racing' or nowadays 'road'
I never struggled to change gear even though when I started it was just 5 to choose after I had formative/learning years with 1 gear.
I never copped the idea of 'mountain'bikes when I didnt live anywhere near one....
...actually though thinking back I admit to having a year or so getting to school and back with twist grip Sturmey Archer

rhodrich

It is odd itsn't it? I look back to my schooldays, when I was the only one who rode to school on a 'racer' (a mid 70's Falcon), whilst everyone on their 'mountain bikes' looked down on me. I couldn't ever fathom why they'd want mountain bikes, when there aren't any mountains in South East England, and when the vast majority of their riding was on the road. I did buy a hybrid in the early 90's, which was, and still is (as I still have it) perfect for anything that Richmond Park, a tow path, or similar could throw at it, but the bike I really hankered after as a youth was a deeply unfashionable touring bike.

I still remember the freedom I felt back then when touring on my Viscount Aerospace Pro, riding with friends, camping in the wild, swimming in lakes in the summer, with a well stuffed Carradice on the back. Unfashionable then, unfashionable now, which is a huge shame.

Now, to me, there are two fundamental types of cyclist. Those who see cycling as a 'sport' and nothing else, and those who see cycling as a very effective means of transport, with or without sporting pretentions. The explosion we have seen in road bike usage has been from many of those who just see cycling as a sport, for whom a road bike is a toy, much like many of the Mountain Bikes we saw in the 1990s. There was a similar boom in 'racing bikes' in the '70's, and it came and went. My fear is that this phase will pass too. Hopefully, it will have picked up some long term cyclists in the meantime, but for many, they will move on to the 'latest thing', Who knows what that will be. I doubt it will ever be touring bikes!

meanredspider

Well there are some parallels with the current fashion for soft-roaders - some idea of being adventurous and sporting "even if you do live in Orpington" as the advert mocked.

turbotommy

Big advances in technology made road bikes much more appealing to the masses? A charismatic American dominating the tour and being heavily promoted by global brands definitely didn't hurt. Going fast is addictive / pedalling on a tank on tarmac sucks!

Agent57

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19691753#p19691753]Rhodrich[/url] wrote:

the bike I really hankered after as a youth was a deeply unfashionable touring bike.

I've wanted a proper tourer for decades, and still do. But like many others I was seduced by the racer. Got my first one when I was about 11 - a Viking Warlord. 10 speeds! (OK, gears) I had to ask someone whether I was supposed to pedal or not when changing gears, as I'd never used a derailleur before - my Grifter was twist-grip.

Never had a problem with down-tube shifters. Rode them all the way to 2009 when I finally caved in to a last-season bargain on a carbon fibre bike and finally "upgraded" my 1988 531c racer (still have it in the garage).

But yeah, as for the resurgence in road machines I think it must have been the 2012 Olympics, Team Sky's success and the rise of the sportive that's really fuelled it. It may well be a fad that dies out again, but I really hope not. We'll be better off if cycling really regains its place as a normal form of transport as well as recreation. Like it was before cars got so cheap compared to wages that almost every family could afford one. Or two...

tangled_metal

Still got my 1990s road bike, a Raleigh with reynolds 5012 tubing and shimano exage motion 400EX gears. A 7 speed, two chainring road bike that had downtube shifters, friction for the front and SIS indexed for the rear. It was pretty decent spec for the money of £450 back then, all other bikes were either indexed rear gears or non-indexed but reynolds 501 tubing. This was both (although wanted 531 tubing I could not afford more than £450). It was so called race ready, a good trainer bike as a second hack bike for someone with a better race bike or for the newbie to racing it was race ready as in good enough to race in if you went that way.

It was only ever retired when the quill steerer became a bit iffy and I learnt what happens when your wheel rims and brakes no longer work well together on a really steep hill. Suffice to say I was on the drops pulling as hard as my grip strength allowed only to speed up!! It was all original kit on it except the tyres!!! Seriously bought it then kept getting into and out of cycling over the 20 odd years it was safe to ride. The one thing that amazed me was the smoothness of the bearings in that it freewheeled better than modern, expensive road bikes.

It is in my shed now needing TLC to get it back on the road. One day I will take it into a LBS to get it roadworthy because it is a great bike.

Sorry, off topic but as you can see I have been into racers for a long time, since I got my first one (a Dawes fast tourer/audax bike) at age 9. Through all that time I only knew one lad near my age (one year younger) who had a road bike. We used to ride off into the Ribble valley on school holidays leaving the MTB riders behind. We were the outsiders among cyclists. Now I feel I am one of the crowd, although I got a fatter tyred London Road so I am still a little bit of an outlier in cycling terms. And I do take it off road with my 700x37c tyres which I would never do with my old road bike, well not that often. Took it over Bowland before now with the 700x23c gatorskins.

veronese68

I don't think there were mountain bikes when I was a kid. After a variety of hand me downs I eventually got a Peugeot 5 speed racer, then when that got nicked a Falcon 10 speed with a 25" frame. I could barely reach the pedals when I first got it but soon grew into it. Woke up in Kingston hospital shortly after getting it and taking a downhill corner too fast. Had no idea how I'd got there, didn't even know I had a new bike. I used to ride that bike everywhere, including all over Wimbledon Common. Didn't need a mountain bike, suspension or fat tyres then.
Then mountain bikes came up and were the thing to have, now people realise they aren't as good on the road and road bike are having a resurgence.

markhewitt1978

Aye, when I were a lad and buying my first bike with my own money - 1997 to be precise - it was all about the mountain bikes (they didn't usually have suspension in those days), buying a bike meant buying a mountain bike and that was accepted fact. So when I bought a hybrid instead because I wanted to ride on the roads, it was seen as an odd choice as to why I didn't get a MTB.

I guess several factors. A big one is the gearing issue. Firstly the introduction of STI shifters means there isn't that big learning curve in getting used to downtube shifters. Secondly the reluctant realisation on behalf of the manufacturers that not everyone can or wants to ride with 53/39 11-25 and putting in much more sensible gear ratios with compact cranksets so an ordinary person like myself can still ride a road bike up a decently big hill.

There's also the likes of the introduction of compact geometry and more upright models again with the realisation that the majority of people who want a road bike aren't going to be racing crits with it.

tangled_metal

My first racer was a Dawes to replace my first bike (a stabilizer, first bike with fat and small wheels). It was also a bit too big for me despite me being a tall kid (9 years old IIRC and the bike was a proper 27" wheel I think - full sized adult wheel). I rode it from my house (no footpath) and up onto the footpath where it started and lost balance due to it being a foot wide path and I was wobbling around on a bike too big for me. Ended up falling over on it against the low wall of the neighbour and scratching right down the fork!! How I wept over that as I was just soooo proud of having a proper bike. My Dad got some enamel paint and made a really good job of patching up the paintwork but I knew it was there and the bike wasn't the same for me. The same feeling I get when a new (to me) car gets bumped or scratched, not the same car or the same bike.

It was however a very heavy racer and with only 5 or 7 gears (single chainset) it was not going to be fast. Living in a flat area however it was ok. Moved to a hilly area and boy was it hard work. That resulted in the bike not being used much then when I got into it again I had to get a better bike. Well it was starting to be a bit too small and I needed a better bike. Put my savings from a summer job into it hence the expensive £450 road bike.

Still, it was unfashionable because it wasn't a MTB. I have my Dad to thank for that, he had a road bike ('60s Italian frame he built up after saving it from a scrap yard and used bits salvaged but only 5 gears). He didn't see MTBs as being a good bike at all for me since I mostly rode on road from a young age. I just kept the same idea that I never had an interest in riding off road (there weren't any trails near me anyway as a kid). The odd times we did our road bikes were easily capable.

Snakebite the 2nd

When I was a lad it was either a "racer" or a BMX.
Although there was the Raleigh "Bomber" which was a single speed fat tyre 26" rimmed bike which was akin to those being dropped down in Marin County at the time (unbeknown to us back then!)

As I was leaving school in '87 the first Raleigh Mavericks were creeping in.

All through school I had the "Racer" which was bought at Halfords and was uprated and finally nicked from the Station cycle rack which I went miles on.
Either that or my BMX which was a lot of fun!

After I had been driving for a year or so I decided to buy a bike, secondhand, to ride the mile or so into work.

This resulted in a Raleigh Maverick costing £60.

I rode that bike to death after getting into MTB'ing and went on to purchase further MTB's.

For it was always having a MTB. At the time road bikes were not popular and the butt of jokes from the off roaders.
In all my time as a "serious" off roader, I only put slicks on my bike once, and that was for the London to Brighton.
Other than that I was determined to have a bike that was 100% ready for off road at any time.

As I got older, and heavier the road bikes came into popularity, but I always stuck with an MTB as they were more robust.
I hate to think the damage I would have put a road bike through over the years I have commuted.
The distance has increased to and from work to about 5 miles, or the 15 that I do in the morning to get a good ride in, but this is well within the limits of a MTB on the road.

My one concession now is that I do have slick tyres.


As has been mentioned before I think it is a lot to do with fashion.
Back in the 90's you could not see an advert on the telly without there being an MTB in it, now it is all road bikes!
The advent of the 2012 Olympics and other events has seen the rise of road bikes, and that can only be a good thing.

After all it's all bikes innit?

roger_merriman

i don't think it has anything to do with technology, things like STI shifters have been around for 25 years.

i'd discount lance, and so on. with the exception of Wiggo they are famous within cycling but realisticly unknowns within the mainstream, and cycling (road) has been popular before Wiggo and the Olympics.

Things like 2007 bombings of London, probably had more effect.

also worth noting that people aren't buying road bikes instead of MTB's it's a total growth, Halfords is stuffed to the gills with MTB's and the is a new trail center opening every 5 mins.

ben-----

I don't think it's a case of road/racing bikes suddenly becoming popular. They've always been there. Bit like reggae. It's more a case of mountain bikes becoming rediculously popular/fashionable some years ago, overiding road bikes, and then that fashion subsiding. There was a time when anyone who was going to get a new bike, that bike would be a mountain bike, irrespective of any off road use likelyhood, simply because they were the type of bike to get. In ignorance, no experience, lack of confidence of what to get, the pull of fashion, a mountain bike was the default. I think that has subsided to a certain extent now. Obviously mountain bikes still have their uses and remain good for those uses but aren't the default bike to get in absence of not knowing what to get so much now.

bompington

I don't know about always been there - as I said earlier, the number of roadies I see out and about now is orders of magnitude more than when I first got one only 8 years or so ago - on a sunny saturday it's dozens as opposed to one or two.
It would be interesting to see some stats for bike sales - overall and road specific - anyone have any?

markhewitt1978

Obviously mountain bikes still have their uses and remain good for those uses but aren't the default bike to get in absence of not knowing what to get so much now.

I would argue that, although the pull is now much less strong, the MTB is still the 'default' choice for most people who just want a really cheap bike to knock around on. Possibly because most of the very cheapest bikes you can buy are mountain bikes.

Agent57

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19692585#p19692585]bompington[/url] wrote:

It would be interesting to see some stats for bike sales - overall and road specific - anyone have any?

A year and a half old now, but http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/uk-bike-sales-grow-14-to-745-million/016303 says "sales at £745 million in 2013, up 14 per cent in five years from £639 million in 2008". Doesn't say what that equates to in numbers, but is linked to a report saying the average price was up by £27. Dunno if you can calculate anything with those figures. Nothing about different market segments either.

The article does say the "UK cycle industry is notoriously backwards looking when it comes to sharing bicycle sales statistics", so maybe they're not readily available.