Mark Bullen from Armidale Bicycle Centre notes that biking is becoming the ‘new golf’ as people often incorporate catching up with their friends with a bike ride. In addition, whilst biking, people are able to cover a lot of territory and enjoy the scenery whilst being out in the fresh air.
Cycling is also a relatively low impact sport. This makes the sport ideal for people of all ages. Children as young as 2 are able to ride a balance bike and the elderly can ride electric bikes or a tricycle! The fact that this is a sport for all ages is evidenced by the fact that the Armidale Bike Club has a member who is 90 year olds!
Interestingly enough, Armidale is a terrific place for cycling as we are situated close to altitude. Apparently, the air is lighter at altitude which is ideal for bike riding. In fact many professional bike riders either go to altitude to train or many professional biking clubs have altitude rooms which replicate the nature of the air at altitude.
In order to introduce new technologies and innovations to Armidale, Armidale Bicycle Centre stocks and sells a selection of electric bikes. In recent times, electric bikes have become readily available and popular. As the name suggests, an electric bike is powered by electricity, in that you plug the bike into an electric socket to recharge it. One of the benefits of an electric bike is that you can ride at your own pace. For example, if you are riding between home and work, you may choose to use a significant amount of the electrical power in order to arrive at work without being sweaty. If on the other hand, you are hoping to get a good workout from your bike ride you can reduce your reliance on the electrical power. It is also unnecessary to have a licence and you do not need to purchase insurance to ride these electric bikes.
Using an electric bike rather than a car is also an environmentally responsible choice of transport. These bikes can be ridden at night as long as you have sufficient lights attached to your bike. This type of bike and the tricycle version of the bike are also suitable for the elderly who want to travel around town but may not have the ability or means to drive a car.
In terms of the outlook for the industry as a whole, Mark noted that there are not many fully independent bike shops left in Australia. This is of course one of the primary reasons why it is so important to support independent bike shops!
The other way that bicycle riding has evolved in recent years is that biking as an industry is now used as a way to sell events and tourism opportunities to people.
The most notable example of this is the Tour de France. Therefore, cycling is used as a way to bring in tourism money and sponsorship money.
We will finish our focus on Armidale Bicycle Centre in our next posting where we will discuss the charitable and community events that the Bullen family are involved in!