June 5th, 2017: Bicycle Service.

[xoxoxoBruce]

No doubt about it the face of bicycling in America is changing. It used to be kids, and weekend warriors, outside of a handful
of serious riders on and off road. But more and more dedicated bike lanes are popping up in urban areas with more people
bike commuting. Some companies encourage it and build special parking areas, especially in areas where high tech companies
are located.

As wallymart kills town after town of local businesses, and online shopping grows, bicycle shops are dropping like flies.
Another trend with Americans is everyone in the house has to work to make the monthly nut, so the proliferation of mobile
services to replace your windshield, insurance adjusting, or give you a flu shot, are welcome because they’re cheaper than
taking even a half day off.



Two guys in Vancouver, BC, decided the future was mobile bike shops, so in 2013 started a business with a van and quickly went
into franchising. Now they have almost 100 franchises over Canada and the US. Deals with bike makers to set up and deliver
bikes bought online, and sell helmets and accessories at your door.

The franchise fee is $25,000. Operators need to purchase the Mercedes van and stock it with parts, and the head office gets an 8-per-cent royalty from gross sales. The professional look, complete with a certified mechanic wearing a Velofix work shirt, is, for better or worse, all part of the company's disruptive effect.

A couple years a go I bought a high end street bike for a friend. I bought it online because someone with knowledge warned me
to stay away from the cheap chain store bikes. They had a list of shops I could have it sent to and set up but none near where I
was taking it, so I took delivery. I took it where it was going, assembled it, then took it to a local bike shop there that set it up
and adjusted everything. It would have been convenient to have this service come to her house.

I read in some places milkmen are making a comeback. The times, they are a changing.


link

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I read in some places milkmen are making a comeback. The times, they are a changing.

I guess more people will be singing this song, then.

Warning: If you listen to this song, you might be singing it for a week.

[Snakeadelic]

They'd be loggin' some serious mileage trying to work where I live. We actually do have a little local bicycle sales & repair shop, which is where my sweetie takes his summertime transport for maintenance. But the population in this county is only 30,000 and it's spread across 2400 square miles (which includes over 80 mountain peaks 5,000 feet or higher, many above 8,000 feet). And bicycles are only practical about 5 months of the year if you have good cold-weather wear, 3 months otherwise.

And despite their ongoing efforts, the nearest Wal-Mart is still 50 miles north.

But Schwann's trucks deliver dairy goods still. I know this because I see one drive by at least once a week.

I think the place we'll be seeing the most of these on demand/on delivery services make the biggest impact is the suburbs of major cities. Some cities are even showing signs of fracturing into distinct sub-divisions as it becomes less and less feasible to have to drive (never MIND use public transit) from one suburb to another for pretty much anything. Traffic in LA is so bad I already wonder how the hell any of the thousands of people causing (and trapped in) rush hour ever thought they were getting to work on time. Ditto Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Miami, everywhere.

[Griff]

like

[BigV]

Kenny Hamm, The Bicycle Doctor, has been doing this for years in North Seattle.

[SPUCK]

Walking the dog tonight I went thru one of the umteen designer wine slums in our town and there parked in front of one was a "mobile bottling truck". Kinda made sense since those places only need to bottle their product for a day or so once a year.

[Gravdigr]

[Griff]

The difficult thing would be which parts to stock, since the bike industry is continuously breaking stands.

[glatt]

Those shredding trucks are all over the place.

My office does it both ways. We have a service that comes daily to pick up boxes for destruction or offsite storage, and then we often have a spring cleaning event where a truck parks outside and shreds away.

Only problem is, you have to remove the binder clips first. That's how it happened.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by glatt

We have a service that comes daily to pick up boxes for destruction or offsite storage...

Hope they don't mix them up.

[xoxoxoBruce]

People have been debating what contributes more to bike safety, extra miles of bike routes, or having those miles connected. A new study from Spain is the first actual data on that.

A new study from Spain offers an unexpected answer: The amount of biking actually tracks most closely with the number of bikeways, while the safety of biking tracks most closely with the connectedness of bikeways.

I'd say that makes sense. If riders enjoy a long stretch of protected bikeway, then have to face a stretch of normal streets to get to the next bikeway, they are libel to become complacent and less defensive.