Can 50% of Brits really not afford to buy a bike? Cycling and affordability discussed, plus how to make a new bike computer with Hammerhead

The road.cc Podcast

Aug 8 2024 • 54 mins

For episode 83 of the road.cc Podcast, we decided to don our analytical hats and delve into a recent survey which claimed that 49 per cent of British people do not believe they can afford to buy a bike, and that around a quarter reckon it would take around six months to save up for one.

Are bikes, and the accessories commonly associated with cycling, perceived by the general public to be expensive, even as prices fall across an industry laden with sales at the moment? And is that belief a barrier to encouraging more people to ditch the car and adopt active travel for the commute?

Also, why is a bike still considered by many to be a luxury, a ‘toy’ used for leisure purposes, and something that competes for our disposable income – rather than a mode of transport in its own right and possible replacement for the evidently much more expensive car?

In part two, George has a chat with Grayson Pollock, a product manager at Hammerhead to discuss what it takes to make a new cycling computer from scratch.