Mid life crisis cyclists?
Discussion
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/7935114/Mid-life-c...
Interesting article I thought.
I probably fit into this group having restarted cycling in an attempt to get fit in the last couple of years. I'd say for me, the cycle to work scheme has been a main driver but that wouldn't usually cover the trend in more expensive bike sales.The recent British Olympic success and higher profile characters like Hoy and Lance Armstrong must have encouraged more people to take up cycling I expect.
Do you longer term cyclists notice more people around on the commute, trails, joining your cycle club? are there more age groupers turning up in expensive tri bikes? etc
Interesting article I thought.
I probably fit into this group having restarted cycling in an attempt to get fit in the last couple of years. I'd say for me, the cycle to work scheme has been a main driver but that wouldn't usually cover the trend in more expensive bike sales.The recent British Olympic success and higher profile characters like Hoy and Lance Armstrong must have encouraged more people to take up cycling I expect.
Do you longer term cyclists notice more people around on the commute, trails, joining your cycle club? are there more age groupers turning up in expensive tri bikes? etc
I see strange things sometimes, like the 10 year old kid on a £700 Sunday Funday pro BMX that his Dad got for him through the C2W scheme. Trouble is the kid can barely do a skid let alone anything else and his dad keeps "borrowing" it to bunny hop the kerbs. That's what I'd call a mid-life crisis.
The sheer number of cyclist has gone up significantly, I have always commuted to work on bikes, until I moved too far away from work recently, the combination of attractive work schemes, limited parking, congestion zone, C2W, crap public transport, 7/7 has all contributed more obviously in the capital than other major cities towns. This will just filter down.
Personally through thefts, voucher scheme at work and C2W I've replaced, brought an upgraded bikes about 10 times in the last 10 years, from a £100 steel hack to a £800 road bike and a £700 Hard tail.
I've just started doing off-road bikefit sessions at the local country park to get some more social and structured riding in to keep fitness levels up after losing the commute opportunity.
The sheer number of cyclist has gone up significantly, I have always commuted to work on bikes, until I moved too far away from work recently, the combination of attractive work schemes, limited parking, congestion zone, C2W, crap public transport, 7/7 has all contributed more obviously in the capital than other major cities towns. This will just filter down.
Personally through thefts, voucher scheme at work and C2W I've replaced, brought an upgraded bikes about 10 times in the last 10 years, from a £100 steel hack to a £800 road bike and a £700 Hard tail.
I've just started doing off-road bikefit sessions at the local country park to get some more social and structured riding in to keep fitness levels up after losing the commute opportunity.
Edited by OneDs on Tuesday 10th August 09:56
I don't know if I'd describe it as a "mid-life crisis" although that does dovetail nicely with media hyperbole about everything 
I'd suggest it's just people getting to the stage where they realise there's more to life than the daily grind of commute-work-commute and many can introduce some exercise and fun or excitement to their day by using a bike.
I certainly get to work more energised and less frustrated if I've cycled or run in. Unfortunately as I live near the top of a big hill I get home in pieces
I'd suggest it's just people getting to the stage where they realise there's more to life than the daily grind of commute-work-commute and many can introduce some exercise and fun or excitement to their day by using a bike.I certainly get to work more energised and less frustrated if I've cycled or run in. Unfortunately as I live near the top of a big hill I get home in pieces
el stovey said:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/7935114/Mid-life-c...
Interesting article I thought.
I probably fit into this group having restarted cycling in an attempt to get fit in the last couple of years. I'd say for me, the cycle to work scheme has been a main driver but that wouldn't usually cover the trend in more expensive bike sales.The recent British Olympic success and higher profile characters like Hoy and Lance Armstrong must have encouraged more people to take up cycling I expect.
Do you longer term cyclists notice more people around on the commute, trails, joining your cycle club? are there more age groupers turning up in expensive tri bikes? etc
ive just got back into it after a 15 year lay off,the change in people riding bikes and equipement is staggeringInteresting article I thought.
I probably fit into this group having restarted cycling in an attempt to get fit in the last couple of years. I'd say for me, the cycle to work scheme has been a main driver but that wouldn't usually cover the trend in more expensive bike sales.The recent British Olympic success and higher profile characters like Hoy and Lance Armstrong must have encouraged more people to take up cycling I expect.
Do you longer term cyclists notice more people around on the commute, trails, joining your cycle club? are there more age groupers turning up in expensive tri bikes? etc
I think the whole scene is now fantastic and as the recent tv show stated its a golden age of cycling.Negative side is you hear some utter bull from some people who have jumped on the cycling popularity bandwagon
I'm 29 (am I old enough to be middle aged yet?) and have recently returned to cycling. Reason being I am unfit and unhealthy and my doctor recommended I start taking more exercise, he asked what did I enjoy doing when I was younger, cycling was the first thing that sprung to mind.
Bought myself a nice road bike, but didn't break the bank on it, got involved in a couple of organised events and have been enjoying it. I feel much better any day I go out on the bike, even if its only for 20 minutes in the morning.
I think in hard times, sports like cycling increase in popularity because after the initial cost of the bike and some gear, it costs very little to do (unless you start upgrading everything), its a great way to get out clear your head and see some sights.
Anyway those are my reasons, hope this helps.
Bought myself a nice road bike, but didn't break the bank on it, got involved in a couple of organised events and have been enjoying it. I feel much better any day I go out on the bike, even if its only for 20 minutes in the morning.
I think in hard times, sports like cycling increase in popularity because after the initial cost of the bike and some gear, it costs very little to do (unless you start upgrading everything), its a great way to get out clear your head and see some sights.
Anyway those are my reasons, hope this helps.
Bike prices have gone up because the vast majority are made in Taiwan, using Japanese and US parts, then shipped over here. Certainly more brands are designing bikes to hit that magic £999 price, and have had to change specifications in many cases to stay at that point.
On the road side, seemed like it always used to be (mainland) Europeans winning TDF stages, but Lance then more recently the british riders being up at the sharp end has really helped build interest in the tour, and that's having a knock-on effect of increasing coverage and interest of the other events like the Giro. Always used to be an inch or two in the sports section of the papers, now there's far more page space given to it. The London TDF opening stages a couple of years ago can't have hurt either. Of course that has the effect of inspiring more people to give it a go. I'm not sure what came first, but the high-profile organised sportive-type events also give people a way to have a fun road ride with a load of other people away from the whole club/race scene (whether that's a good thing is another debate).
I can't say I've noticed as much of a shift on the MTB side, there's always been a real mix of people there.
I think more generally though there's been a big increase of interest in fitness from people in their late 20s onwards - people will go to uni, drink lots, eat crap food, graduate, start a job, fall out of the habit of getting exercise then wake up and realise they're unfit and overweight. Some will have kids and have a similar thing happen. Some can't be bothered and will stay fatties, lots will take up running, cycling, triathlon, etc - and they're usually in a comfortable financial position by then to spend the money on decent kit.
On the road side, seemed like it always used to be (mainland) Europeans winning TDF stages, but Lance then more recently the british riders being up at the sharp end has really helped build interest in the tour, and that's having a knock-on effect of increasing coverage and interest of the other events like the Giro. Always used to be an inch or two in the sports section of the papers, now there's far more page space given to it. The London TDF opening stages a couple of years ago can't have hurt either. Of course that has the effect of inspiring more people to give it a go. I'm not sure what came first, but the high-profile organised sportive-type events also give people a way to have a fun road ride with a load of other people away from the whole club/race scene (whether that's a good thing is another debate).
I can't say I've noticed as much of a shift on the MTB side, there's always been a real mix of people there.
I think more generally though there's been a big increase of interest in fitness from people in their late 20s onwards - people will go to uni, drink lots, eat crap food, graduate, start a job, fall out of the habit of getting exercise then wake up and realise they're unfit and overweight. Some will have kids and have a similar thing happen. Some can't be bothered and will stay fatties, lots will take up running, cycling, triathlon, etc - and they're usually in a comfortable financial position by then to spend the money on decent kit.
I would absolutely say, yes, I am a mid-life crisis biker. I started using my low end MTB more , when my son started to ride a bike, which means we are out every weekend on the local trails. This was part-justification for me laying out €3000 on a new mtb, which I dubbed my mid-life crisis bike. It was an alternative to a Porsche or a motorbike etc.
I think you have to be financially pretty secure to be able to afford to buy (and run) a high end bike, so those people are innevitably middle aged guys. It is an acceptable way for us to splash out on some shiney high tech toys. I honestly think that a lot of us will spend more per year on bike maintenance/clothing, than on maintaining our cars.
We probably are "all the gear, no idea" types, but it keeps us happy.
I think you have to be financially pretty secure to be able to afford to buy (and run) a high end bike, so those people are innevitably middle aged guys. It is an acceptable way for us to splash out on some shiney high tech toys. I honestly think that a lot of us will spend more per year on bike maintenance/clothing, than on maintaining our cars.
We probably are "all the gear, no idea" types, but it keeps us happy.
BOR said:
I honestly think that a lot of us will spend more per year on bike maintenance/clothing, than on maintaining our cars.
I agree -in the past year I've spent £250 on my road bike just to replace worn-out parts - chain, cassette, a tyre, brake + gear cables, saddle, bar tape, brake pads... it all adds up.Conversely, I've spent £80 on my Focus - front brake pads, oil and filter. That would have been a lot more if I'd taken it to a garage though. Mind you, so would the bike stuff if I'd had someone like Evans do the spannering. Obviously the car has much higher fixed costs, like insurance!
I don't think that's particularly bad for 10,000 miles a year, which is split pretty much evenly between bike/car.
Edited by GanglePin on Tuesday 10th August 12:04
I'm not too sure when your "mid life" starts and finishes, my regret is that I discovered cycling too late in life first as a means to get fit for karting and then when the money ran out for that as a means to an end. I feel fitter now than I have ever been (says something about my past life, I suppose)and not only that, the ride to work puts me in a better mood. As well as the reasons given on this thread for taking up cycling I think another is that bikes look so damn good these days, whether it's a carbon framed racer or a top end mtb and who can resist that.
Perhaps there's more subtlety to it than just a midlife crisis?
Gym membership, I seem to recall, has declined sharply in the last eighteen months - £50 per month buys you a lot of bike, and you can't cycle the cardio machines to work.
Certainly I got back into cycling because a) I couldn't justify the gym membership when there was a decent bike in the garage, b) parking a Volvo V70 in Brighton is mission impossible, and c) I get to wear some silly gear.
Midlife crisis? Well perhaps - if I had £4000 spare no doubt I'd have spunked it on something ridiculously unsuitable and probably TT shaped by now. As it is I'll have to stick to a £750 Spec or Fuji sportive thing (which in reality is a better day bike anyway).
Gym membership, I seem to recall, has declined sharply in the last eighteen months - £50 per month buys you a lot of bike, and you can't cycle the cardio machines to work.
Certainly I got back into cycling because a) I couldn't justify the gym membership when there was a decent bike in the garage, b) parking a Volvo V70 in Brighton is mission impossible, and c) I get to wear some silly gear.
Midlife crisis? Well perhaps - if I had £4000 spare no doubt I'd have spunked it on something ridiculously unsuitable and probably TT shaped by now. As it is I'll have to stick to a £750 Spec or Fuji sportive thing (which in reality is a better day bike anyway).
Maybe some of the increase in sales is to do with the rise and variety of biking related activities / events that us "middle agers" can enjoy now compared to our own "youths"?
This weekend, in a five mile radius of my abode, there was seperately the Sleepless in the saddle (SITS) 24 hour MTB race, a triathlon and a single / double / triple ironman (bonkers!!). The only cycling related things i was aware of in my mid to late teens was time trials through the local cycling club and hanging around the local bmx track. Moving into my twenties the mtb thing came more to the fore but was still very much trail based riding.
Whilst i wouldn't want to attenpt the triple ironman (7.2 mile swim, 336 mile bike and a 78 mile run FFS!!)I have previously done SITS and really enjoyed both the event and the atmosphere that surrounds it.
Having popped along to watch at the weekend to see plenty of fellow middle agers flying round the itch is well and truly there to enter a team for 2011.
And this in a nutshell is the point for me, enjoyable but relatively testing events like SITS or L to B or Leicester to Skegness or whatever keep me motivated to keep regulalry peddling, if these events weren't there i suspect my motivation wouldn't be either.
This weekend, in a five mile radius of my abode, there was seperately the Sleepless in the saddle (SITS) 24 hour MTB race, a triathlon and a single / double / triple ironman (bonkers!!). The only cycling related things i was aware of in my mid to late teens was time trials through the local cycling club and hanging around the local bmx track. Moving into my twenties the mtb thing came more to the fore but was still very much trail based riding.
Whilst i wouldn't want to attenpt the triple ironman (7.2 mile swim, 336 mile bike and a 78 mile run FFS!!)I have previously done SITS and really enjoyed both the event and the atmosphere that surrounds it.
Having popped along to watch at the weekend to see plenty of fellow middle agers flying round the itch is well and truly there to enter a team for 2011.
And this in a nutshell is the point for me, enjoyable but relatively testing events like SITS or L to B or Leicester to Skegness or whatever keep me motivated to keep regulalry peddling, if these events weren't there i suspect my motivation wouldn't be either.
Bikes are my mid-life crisis of choice. I like cycling & can justify spending 1k on a nice roadbike which to me is also a piece of kit to admire. I have always run a lot & cycling now complements that. Ideally I'd also like to spend 50k on a Porsche, but boring things like paying off the mortgage before I croak it have put a stop to that!
I think things like cost of fuel etc has made cycling a lot more attractive for many, certainly was for me.
I used to cycle when I was younger but family etc then curtailed that. Also did the mid-life fast cars etc.
Gym is no place for a normal sane human being so when you reach a certain age and want to loose some of the pounds that used to fall off without effort, I think many ex-cyclists return to the saddle and realise what they have been missing all these years.
I have a draw full of jeans that are now too large for me....that makes me smile
I used to cycle when I was younger but family etc then curtailed that. Also did the mid-life fast cars etc.
Gym is no place for a normal sane human being so when you reach a certain age and want to loose some of the pounds that used to fall off without effort, I think many ex-cyclists return to the saddle and realise what they have been missing all these years.
I have a draw full of jeans that are now too large for me....that makes me smile
I'm not old enough to be having a mid-life crisis (yet!) but have found myself getting very into cycling in the past few months.
- It's the fastest way to get around London bar a motorbike.
- I save money on my commute.
- I can get some exercise on my commute so don't need to spend time or money at the gym.
- It's easy to fit in around a family time commitments (sneak off for a ride in the morning, detour on the way home, pick and choose events at the weekend from time to time)
- Ride2Work means I'll have £1000 worth of bike landing on my doorstep shortly for just over half that in real money.
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