Went to the Manchester Bike Show on Saturday and my mate bought his 18 year old son along for a look in the hope he would get into bikes one day.
So, making use of the lad, we sent him off to get the coffees while we mooched. Half an hour later he finds us, commenting "Though it would be easy to find two bald middle-aged men here but EVERYONE is bald and middle-aged!!". He is 6'4" so thought it would be easy to spot us but apparently from up there we all look the same
So I guess the average age of the bike enthusiast is increasing, hair is less common etc. This is not good!
Where i work, within the dept there are around 20 blokes with bikes, most are 50 or over and there is one guy in his early 20s that is as passionate about bikes as the rest of us, just one!!
I don't have an answer for how to change this and guess the bike test being so hard to pass and there being so many tests (here in the UK) to get to ride something you like is a factor, but it is done for safety, so cannot really disagree with that.
But how do we fix it? Can manufacturers do something? Is it the same elsewhere? Do other countries have such complex paths to gaining your license?
So, making use of the lad, we sent him off to get the coffees while we mooched. Half an hour later he finds us, commenting "Though it would be easy to find two bald middle-aged men here but EVERYONE is bald and middle-aged!!". He is 6'4" so thought it would be easy to spot us but apparently from up there we all look the same
So I guess the average age of the bike enthusiast is increasing, hair is less common etc. This is not good!
Where i work, within the dept there are around 20 blokes with bikes, most are 50 or over and there is one guy in his early 20s that is as passionate about bikes as the rest of us, just one!!
I don't have an answer for how to change this and guess the bike test being so hard to pass and there being so many tests (here in the UK) to get to ride something you like is a factor, but it is done for safety, so cannot really disagree with that.
But how do we fix it? Can manufacturers do something? Is it the same elsewhere? Do other countries have such complex paths to gaining your license?