Bicycle Sales Moving Fast, in Very Different Directions

The bicycle industry is getting a boost from consumers at opposite ends of the recreational spectrum: daredevil youth and easy-does-it baby boomers.

Bike makers and retailers say “comfort bikes” featuring cushy seats and swan-like handlebars and nearly indestructible freestyle bicycles for “extreme” sports have pumped some life into a generally listless industry.

In the 18 months since being introduced, comfort bicycles have “come from nowhere to grab about 5% of the market,” said Fred Clements, executive director of the National Bicycle Dealers’ Assn. in Newport Beach.

“Comfort bikes have become the new hot category in adult bikes,” said Cache Mundy, director of marketing at Schwinn Cycling & Fitness based in Boulder, Colo. “It’s kind of the mountain bike equivalent of a sport-utility vehicle.”

The comfort bike is essentially a hybrid--a cross between the slender road bicycle and the heftier mountain bike--with added features such as gel-filled saddles and frames that pull the handlebars higher and closer to the rider.

The latest offerings will be on display today through Sunday at the Southern California Bicycle Expo at the L.A. Convention Center.

Also enjoying increased popularity are recumbent bikes--sort of a lawn chair with pedals on wheels--and tandem bikes, Clements said.

If there’s an extreme edge to the comfort category it would be the new electric bike, which has generated considerable publicity but has yet to find its niche, some insiders say.

“I could see RV dealers selling them like hot cakes,” said Peter Sweeney of KHS Inc. in Carson.

Industry giant Shimano American Corp., an Irvine company that makes bicycle components, is jumping on the comfort bandwagon. This season, it will offer a new four-speed electronic-shifting system.

“It’s just like a Lexus,” spokesman Chris Denny said. “Every time you stop at a stop sign, it starts off in first gear.”

Some accessories also fit neatly into the you-can’t-be-too-careful category.

For example, dealers report brisk sales of saddles with cut-outs that relieve pressure on nerves and blood vessels.

“That’s been very hot,” said Jim Schmidt, a buyer for Two Wheels One Planet bike shop in Santa Ana. “We have a hard time keeping them in stock.”

While baby boomers shift into the safety zone, their children and grandchildren want bikes that will give them “big air” (translation: high jumps).

Thus, manufacturers are making “over-built” bikes that are reinforced where they otherwise might snap.

“They’re indestructible basically,” said Andrew Herrick, director of marketing for Santa Ana-based GT Bicycles Inc.

The freestyle bicycles also have foot pegs that riders can stand on while doing wheelies and handlebars that spin for acrobatic stunts.

The bike expo is open from noon to 7 p.m. today, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $7 for ages 13 and up, $4 for children 6 through 12. Children 6 and younger are admitted free.

Also free: valet bike parking.