The Euro, Oil, and the Pleasure of Bicycle Riding
At Curbside, we enjoy bikes because they take us away from the complications of life, complications like currency exchanges, rising shipping costs, and the regular day to day transactions that keep us happy and gainfully employed. However, the pleasure of bicycling is inextricably tied to the infastructure that produced that bike you are sitting on, and if its one of our import bikes you’re after we have bad news: the prices are going up. The year 2008 will forever be remembered as a singular and strange year for the bicycle industry. Because most North American bikes are produced in Taiwan or China and are purchased by manufacturers in October, this year has seen massive price decreases – up to 15%. Why? Because in October and November, the Canadian currency not only reached parity on the US dollar, but the US dollar was still trading with excellent value on foreign currency. Most Canadians are proud of our post-parity reality, but what they don’t realize is that as the US dollar has tanked on foreign currency, so has the Canadian dollar. This week the Canadian and US dollar plunged to 1.61 on the Euro, the lowest ever – causing a massive scramble at the recent G-7 meetings. Newly arriving European imports are not only over-inflated, but are almost priced out of the market. What does this mean for us? Well, unless the currencies rationalize soon, the prices of our import products will go up. (And so will all 2009 North American bikes next year – projections are as high as 20%). So, lets get back to the pleasures of bike riding. If you want to ride around this summer on any North American bike, we suggest you buy this year – the prices this year are anomalous and unprecedented. And, if you are after one of our special import bikes, we suggest you get one before our next container arrives in mid-May. Canadian currency has plunged 15 points from the time when we purchased our last container, and, with the slim margins we have on these bikes (they are a labour of love for us), the prices are going up. We still have fairly good stock from our last months container, but they are going faster than we forecasted. What does this mean for you? Well, with the arrival of Spring (finally), prohibitively high gas prices and all those New Years resolutions to be more fit and more green, there has never been a better time to buy (or ride) a bike. So there you go, just FYI.
2 Comments
- bicyclebrain replied:
I was at your shop today and you had a Marin bike that was $460 last year that is selling this year for $350 (I bought one). f you ask me, that kind of price drop is totally insane. That Marin is the price of three months of TTC use and after that its pure gravy. Even if I bought one of your dutch bikes it would pay for itself within a year and since they look really well built the gravy will just keep on pouring. I don’t think your price increases are bad news, its just news. People should complain about how expensive cars are, not bikes. Bikes are cheap, folks – no matter how much they cost. That said, I still didn’t buy your Dutch bike (too heavy, I ride 25k a day).
April 13th, 2008 at 5:18 pm. Permalink.
- Ro replied:
Great post. Good to know the economic politics of the bicycle industry.
April 13th, 2008 at 6:25 pm. Permalink.
