Economic Analysis of the Emerging Us Bamboo Bicycle Industry

An Economic Analysis of the Emerging U.S. Bamboo Bicycle Industry All bamboo is not For example, its tensile strength is stronger than steel. Bamboo performs against alike. Bike builders carefully select the compression better than concrete. And, frames made with bamboo have superior species of bamboo vibration absorption compared to advanced materials such as carbon fiber (Huang, that meet tested specifications. 2008). Unlike steel, aluminum and other common bicycle frame materials, bamboo, is Bamboo is often renewable. In contrast to other frame material, it requires little energy to source, and smoked and heat treated to prevent can be grown locally in most environments (Fascinating Bamboo Facts, 2010). splitting. MARKET STRUCTURE To evaluate the U. S. bamboo bicycle sector, it is advantageous to start with a broader picture of the entire U.S. market for bicycles. GLOBAL PRODUCTION Figure 1: Comparison of Global Bicycle and Car Production Worldwide, an estimated 109 million bicycles will be produced in 2010 (Bicycles Produced in the World, 2010). This figure represents more than twice the projected number of cars that will be produced this year (Gardner, 2008 and Renner, 2008) as Figure 1 displays. Of those bikes, nearly 60% are manufactured in China. Other notable producers are Europe, A map of the major India, and Taiwan (Bicycles Produced in the World, 2010). Less than one percent of North American bicycles that are produced worldwide are manufactured in the United States (Crenshaw, based bicycle manufacturers and 2008), and most of those are produced by small workshops which specialize in high-end their key suppliers hand-made bikes. Imports account for more than 99% of bikes sold in the U. S. (Bike can be found at bicycleretailer.com. Europe, 2009). From January to November of 2009, over 13 million bicycles manufactured in China dominated the U.S. import market constituting a 95% share (Bicycle Retailer and Industry Network, 2010). Research prepared by Heath