Change

Bicycles can change the world?

Yes! They already have.  





I'm not kidding.

In the US, so many people were smitten by the allure of the freedom and self-powered speed that the bicycle offered, even in its early, awkward forms, that they were able to work together as a positive force to get municipalities to pave roads that had previously been rutted dirt tracks, quite suitable for horse travel but lousy for bicycling. These new, relatively smooth roads, made it possible for people to travel by bicycle from town to town, not just for pressing business matters but for fun and adventure. Imagine the convenience of just being able to hop on your self-powered machine and travel at horse speed but without the burden of care, feeding, saddling, or storing a horse! And no unpleasant deposits left behind.
The bicycle is even credited for helping the women's rights movement. It certainly forced changes in women's fashion toward more practical clothing styles. Have you ever wondered what happened to the hoop skirt? There's a quote attributed to Susan B. Anthony;  "the bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world."
Unfortunately, the freedom and paved roads that were brought to us by the bicycle were soon usurped by the automobile. The 2 things that are most ironic to me about this development are; 1) The vast majority of Americans now seem to think roads exist for automotive travel and bicycles are a dangerous intrusion. And. 2) The burden of care (maintenance, repair), feeding (gasoline, oil), saddling (licensing, insurance, financing) and storing (garages, driveways, and the overwhelming waste of otherwise productive land as parking lots) that the bicycle relieves us of, has been accepted without question as a reasonable tradeoff. And then there's the unpleasant deposits left behind in the form of air-born pollutants, noise, and toxic fluids spills.
At West Trails Bicycles, we want to be part of a new revolution, brought about by the lowly bicycle. Sure we want to change the world, for the better, but our focus will be to change our local community, ourselves, and YOU, by promoting the glorious simplicity that the bicycle offers as a mode of transportation, a soothing and fulfilling form of recreation and exercise, and a challenging, character testing, skill-building, adventure machine.

Change the world. Change you. Ride a bike.

Mindset Reset

Mindset Reset

  My friend Rob is a genius, but he just doesn't get it. He can't imagine paying $2000 for a bike. “My first car cost less than that!” Rob exclaimed.
  I'm sure he's not alone in this mindset, but I'm not sure it's at all logical. Now, not too many people “need” a $2000+ bike, but not very many people “need” a $20,000 car either, yet many more people seem not to have a problem buying a car that is way more than they need or can afford, to provide the transportation that they could get from a really nice bike for tenth of the cost or a merely usable bike for 2% of the cost.  Let's say Rob's first car cost him $500. Compared to a $2000 bike it seems he got a whole lot more for his money and indeed he did. His $500 car came with HUGE operating costs. Most of us don't stop to consider these but according to AAA, the average cost of operating an automobile in 2009 was 15.42 cents per mile. With a 10,000 mile yearly average, thats $1542 PER YEAR! That operating cost doesn't include much of the expense of car ownership, just tires, gas and maintenance.  Ownership costs, including insurance, license, registration, taxes, depreciation and finance charges, on average in the US, add a staggering (brace yourself)  $5783 PER YEAR!!  At 10,000 miles per year AAA estimates a car costs an average of $7067 per year!!!  How many cars do you own? Many individuals and families own more than one car. How many $2000 bikes can you afford each year if you eliminate one car from your life?
  Yes, a bike requires maintenance and there again is a point of contention. Folks riding bikes that cost them $200 or less, have a hard time justifying sinking more than 25% of that cost into their bike each year for a tuneup. But Rob likely spent over 100% of his purchase price for maintenance of his first car, EACH YEAR! Then there's the fact that most people have never experienced a bike that costs more than $300, they think about the ride of their sub $250  bike and think “why pay so much money to replace something I already have and is so uncomfortable to use?” I detect yet another lack of logic. A $2000 bike of recent vintage is an amazing vehicle, truly a joy to ride. If you are considering loosing a car, and commuting by bike you could buy BOTH a Breezer Villager AND an Uptown 8, two really nice commuter bikes, and still be under $2000!
  Oh and did I mention what kind of fuel a bike requires to operate? If you deduct the cost of a health club membership from your yearly bicycle cost of ownership, I think you'll find that a bicycle costs less than zero dollars per year to operate.

Reset.