"Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
"Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
"Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret":
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59386433
Jonathan
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59386433
Jonathan
Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
It's all about a town called Agueda in central Portugal. I was a mere 22 Kms away on my current tour.
What is more remarkable given the quote I will paste below, is that you don't see many bikes in Portugal. A few roadies, but very few utility. I blame the cobbles (or setts).
"Portugal is the largest manufacturer of bikes in the European Union, a fact many people outside of the country might not know. Last year, more than 2.6 million bikes were made in Portugal, according to official EU figures."
What is more remarkable given the quote I will paste below, is that you don't see many bikes in Portugal. A few roadies, but very few utility. I blame the cobbles (or setts).
"Portugal is the largest manufacturer of bikes in the European Union, a fact many people outside of the country might not know. Last year, more than 2.6 million bikes were made in Portugal, according to official EU figures."
Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
Apparently the Portugese themselves don't ride them......
The average Porugese still considers bikeriding as a poor man's activity.....
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Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
And yet ( I read somewhere) the Swiss spend more on bikes than any other European nation.
They ride them too.
Is there a correlation?
Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
Presumably it's cheaper to make bikes in Portugal than in Switzerland.
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Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
I'm sure you are correct.
Though the Swiss did make bikes in some numbers at one time at least and they still make some components, AFAIK.
My correlation question was really, "does having a lot of active cyclists make a country wealthier?"
Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
Or "cycling is mainly a leisure activity for the middle classes"? In terms of bikes sales perhaps?
Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
Rather strangely as I got close to the Spanish border the number of utility cyclists increased enormously. I think I saw more yesterday in and near the border town of Villa Real de Santo Antonio than on the rest of the 7 week trip.
Good job my next (COVID possible) trip might well be to Spain - just across the border.
Good job my next (COVID possible) trip might well be to Spain - just across the border.
Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
"Why one firm is banking on carbon fibre bikes in Europe":
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61082317
Jonathan
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61082317
Jonathan
- simonineaston
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Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
click bait topic title - but I knew from the get-go it wouldn't be Bristol...
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
Least helpful thread title in a looooong time!
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Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
Thanks for posting this, it’s new and welcome information to me. An easy and interesting read.Jdsk wrote: ↑25 Nov 2021, 12:24pm "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret":
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59386433
Jonathan
From the article:
As both a consumer and someone who supports European manufacture I welcome high import tariffs on Chinese goods. Buying from China might be necessary at times but buying more locally helps to keep jobs here for ourselves, our children and our neighbours. We’re fools to exchange a better future for cheap imported products today.Mr Miranda says that while Portugal's bike industry is "known for its quality", it also benefits from offering its European customers much shorter supply chains than rival manufacturers based in Asia. Portugal is further helped by the continuing tariffs put on Chinese bike imports in to the European Union.
These extra fees or duties currently stand at up to 48.5% for standard bikes, and as high as 79.3% for electric ones.
I suppose that this is a bit of thread drift. The interest in cycling continues to grow and not just as a recreation, what’s holding cycling back most is road safety and after that maybe distance (we now live much further from work places and shops, etc., than we used to). Whatever, it doesn’t really matter what people ride or why they cycle what’s important is that they do; there’s strength in numbers and that strength supports us all.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
Re: "Why this city is Europe's best kept cycling secret"
There's an interesting Dutch categorisation.Carlton green wrote: ↑7 May 2022, 8:28amThe interest in cycling continues to grow and not just as a recreation, what’s holding cycling back most is road safety and after that maybe distance (we now live much further from work places and shops, etc., than we used to). Whatever, it doesn’t really matter what people ride or why they cycle what’s important is that they do; there’s strength in numbers and that strength supports us all.
(I'd prefer it to be a description: a rider could be in more than one box at once, and in different boxes at different times.)
Jonathan