Bicycles: The hottest things on two wheels

Bikes haven't seen a boom like this since the 1970s. America is entering its [third great bike boom]( in 150 years. Once relegated to the dusty corner of the garage, the bicycle is now an escape pod for millions of people otherwise trapped at home because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But it’s not the bicycle’s first comeback. Adults first discovered the joys of hopping on a bike in the late 1800s, and then rediscovered it in the 1970s, as new steel frame models rode a wave of popularity. Both periods of two-wheeled fever sent sales shooting up, just to come crashing down again. This time may be different. There’s a global shortage of new wheels again—bikes under $1,000 have been almost [impossible to keep in stock]( city officials are racing to keep up, laying down miles and miles of new bike lanes for people to get around safely and socially distanced. From Paris to San Francisco, bicycling’s revival may redesign cities for the long haul. Let’s go for a spin. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Weekly Obsession] Bicycles July 08, 2020 Back in high gear --------------------------------------------------------------- America is entering its [third great bike boom]( in 150 years. Once relegated to the dusty corner of the garage, the bicycle is now an escape pod for millions of people otherwise trapped at home because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But it’s not the bicycle’s first comeback. Adults first discovered the joys of hopping on a bike in the late 1800s, and then rediscovered it in the 1970s, as new steel frame models rode a wave of popularity. Both periods of two-wheeled fever sent sales shooting up, just to come crashing down again. This time may be different. There’s a global shortage of new wheels again—bikes under $1,000 have been almost [impossible to keep in stock]( city officials are racing to keep up, laying down miles and miles of new bike lanes for people to get around safely and socially distanced. From Paris to San Francisco, bicycling’s revival may redesign cities for the long haul. Let’s go for a spin. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( By the digits [32%]( Share of Americans (older than three) who had ridden a bicycle in 2018, according to advocacy group PeopleForBikes [121%:]( Increase in sales of recreational bikes, to nearly 250,000 units, in March 2020 [2,000]( Companies manufacturing and distributing cycling products to US retailers [99%]( Share of bicycles sold in the US in 2014 that were imported, primarily from China and Taiwan [40,000:]( Annual US bicycle manufacturing capacity in 1890 [1.2 million]( Annual US production in 1896 [$80]( Average price for a new bike at the peak of the 1897 bike craze (about $2,470 in today’s dollars) [$3-$15:]( Price for a new bike by 1902 [$89:]( Average price for a mass-produced bicycle in the US in 2020 [40%:]( Increase in ridership by women after 2018 bike lane upgrades in New York [12,000:]( Critical workers using free memberships to New York’s Citi Bike program [80,000:]( Number of rides on May 16, 2020, close to Citi Bike’s 100,000-ride record last year Charted Cycling safety is on the rise --------------------------------------------------------------- Bicyclists in big cities may be safer than any recent generation. Collisions this April in New York City fell to 113 incidents, the lowest on record. Quotable “The great avenues of our larger cities were made extremely picturesque in the dusk of evening by the endless line of bicyclists whose lanterns in the darkness produced the vivid effect of a river of coloured fire.” —[An 1890s observer of America’s first bicycle boom]( Brief history [1818:]( The first bicycle is invented by German Karl von Drais. The 50-pound wooden contraption—aka “velocipede,” “hobby-horse,” and “running machine”—lacks a chain, brakes, or pedals. [1871]( The Penny Farthing bicycle arrives on the scene, a precarious model with one large and one small wheel. It will later be known as the Ordinary. [1880:]( The League of American Wheelmen is founded, attracting 100,000 members dedicated to the nascent pursuit of cycling. [1885:]( The modern “safety” bicycle arrives with more stable, equal sized wheels and gears. Pneumatic tires are soon added. [1890]( Biking mania begins to peak in the US, sparking fashionable bicycle parties, weekend outings, and daily commutes crowding city streets. [1897:]( Hosea W. Libbey of Boston invents the electric bicycle. [1903:]( The inaugural Tour de France is held. A crowd of 20,000 people wait in the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris for the 60 competitors to cross the finish line. [1970]( Approximately 45 million bikes are sold in the US as cycling becomes America’s top outdoor recreation. [1973]( At least 252 bicycle-oriented bills are introduced in almost every US state while national highway funding includes $120 million for bike routes for the first time. [1974:]( Los Angeles develops an ambitious program for a 1,500-mile network of bikeways. [1975:]( US bike sales halve within a few months. One author calls the bike “the hula hoop of the 1970s: all the rage one minute, all but forgotten the next.” [March 2020:]( Coronavirus-related lockdowns send millions back to their bikes. Sales more than double. [June 2020]( Thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters hit the streets on bikes. Pop quiz Which fabric has not been a popular material for cycling wear? SilkVelvetSheepskinWool Correct. Sounds a little too toasty, but hey, so does wool, which had a very real heyday. Incorrect. Nope, this material was popular for some time in at least one part of a cyclist’s getup. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. giphy Fun "fact"! British rock band Queen’s 1978 B-side “Bicycle Race” was allegedly written after Freddie Mercury was enchanted by watching the Tour de France pass by under his hotel room window. Where the band played live, [bicycle shops sold out of bells]( as fans would buy them to ring during the song. In a story that may or may not be true—we tried hard to verify—when the band rented 65 bikes for a staged nude all-female Wimbledon race, the rental company made them buy all the seats. Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Bicycles? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Weekly Obsession email – to the email – Vox YouTube Watch this! American suffragist Susan B. Anthony once said that the bicycle did “more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” This [video from Vox]( explains how the freedom of this two-wheeled vehicle—not to mention the [dramatic updates to ladies’ fashion]( it demanded—propelled the women’s rights movement starting in the late 1890s. PETER PHOBIA FOR QUARTZ For members: Let's get moving Covid-19 is revolutionizing the way we commute --------------------------------------------------------------- Alexis Perrotta, a lecturer specialized in urban transit and housing at City University of New York is just one of the many academics, researchers, commuters, and cycling enthusiasts that we spoke to as part of our field guide on the commuting revolution. “On a very cynical neoliberal side of the spectrum, you can say public transit is a funnel for workers to get from lower-income areas into their office buildings so that they can serve capitalism. On the very other side of the spectrum, you can say public transit is the thing that makes opportunities accessible to everyone in a very equitable way. You’re not constrained by how far away you live from something or whether you can walk, whether you can afford to own a car. Anyone can get to anything.” As Perrotta says, both sides are correct, and it’s why the way the public moves around a locale is an important consideration even in non-pandemic times. And now, with fewer commuters on the road, the rails, and the sidewalk, many cities are using this opportunity as a way to do some much needed reshaping. From Paris to Tokyo to Johannesburg, read about [the revolution happening in commuting as a result of the coronavirus pandemic]( (✦ Quartz member exclusive). [Commute your way to a seven-day free membership trial.]( The way we 🚲 now The pandemic has cities rethinking their transportation plans to winnow out cars and encourage more bikes (and walking). The US is only just [beginning to contemplate]( such measures at the national level, while Europe is racing ahead. The UK is [banning cars]( on many of London’s streets. Brussels will [permanently repurpose car lanes for bikes](. Paris is getting 400 miles of dedicated cycling lanes and [subsidizing bike repairs](. But Ireland outpaces them all. Ireland’s Green Party, led by a former bike shop owner, has ensured the country will spend [20% of its transportation budget on cycling and walking]( with most of the remainder dedicated to transit. Reuters/Toby Melville - Poll How has lockdown changed your biking habits? [Click here to vote]( Cycling was already my preferred way to get around.I have a new love for the two-wheeled lifestyle.Bicycling still isn’t for me. 💬 let's talk! In last week’s poll about [home offices]( 42% of you said you are working diligently (perhaps as you read this) from your kitchen tables, while only 12% admitted your home office is your bed. Today’s email was written by [Michael J. Coren]( and edited by [Susan Howson]( and [Liz Webber](. [facebook]( The correct answer to the quiz is Velvet. Enjoying the Quartz Weekly Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! 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