SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA roads are full of them -- cyclists shrink-wrapped in colorful Lycra, pedaling custom bicycles that cost more than their first cars. And their numbers are increasing by the day.
People who've only ridden an old Schwinn cruiser on a bike path at the beach can find it hard to fathom riders' willingness to happily drop $8,000 or more on rolling titanium and carbon fiber sculptures. They tend to dismiss it as a manifestation of the Southern California must-have-more attitude: Why drive a Honda when you can take out a loan and buy a Mercedes?
But for those who spend weekends zooming along the Pacific Coast Highway wheel-to-wheel with other riders in a wind-cheating peloton or flying down a twisty canyon road in the Santa Monica Mountains, a custom bike is worth every penny.
"I'm in it for life," says Bob Perkins, 54, explaining his decision to buy a custom bike. "I brush my teeth twice a day and try to ride my bike once a day." The Simi Valley resident has the same feeling about his 17-pound titanium bike that a National Rifle Assn. member has for his Colt .44: He'll never let it out of his hands.
Hard-core riders say it isn't ego-driven bike lust that causes them to invest that kind of money in a bike. For them, it's about comfort, efficiency and dialed-in handling. And if that kind of ride costs thousands of dollars, so be it.
"I can ride it 50 or 60 miles and know I can go more," Perkins says of his custom-built bike from Seven Cycles. "With my old bike, the party would be over."
After years of mountain-biking enthusiasm, road bikes are making a comeback. According to the National Bicycle Dealers Assn., the road bike market share has grown from 5% of bikes sold in 2002 to 16% in 2005. Much of that growth is in the sales of high-end bicycles, dealers say.
The trend may be part of the Lance Armstrong effect -- the cancer survivor's seven wins of the Tour de France brought road bike racing to the attention of the general public. But it's more than that. Aging baby boomers with bad knees and the cash to spend on fancy bicycles are now taking up road cycling as a low-impact alternate to running for cardiovascular exercise.
While the average road bike costs about $1,200, serious riders can easily spend $4,000 to $10,000. Although stock bikes can cost that much, for many of the growing number of cyclists who think nothing of riding 50 or 100 miles on a Saturday, the custom-built bike is the only way to ride.
