Recently, on June 3, the world bicycle day, established in 2018 by the United Nations. An opportunity to promote the use of bicycles and raise public awareness of its benefits. Sustainable, long-lasting and versatile, in fact, the bike represents an ecological means of transport that protects the health of the environment and, at the same time, healthy lifestyle for people.
The importance of accessories for traveling by bicycle
When cycling, on city streets or in nature, it is important equip yourself with the right accessories to be able to pedal comfortably and safely.
In addition to a helmet, ergonomic saddles, repair kits and any carriers for children and animals, for traveling by bicycle too sunglasses they play a fundamental role because being able to see well is essential for correct pedalling.
On the occasion of the last World Bicycle Day, Zeiss, an expert in light and vision, recalled the importance of always choosing the right lens. When choosing glasses for sports, and especially for ride a bicycleyou need to pay attention to a few key factors. the resistance, as they are subjected to harsher conditions than any other eyewear: they are covered in dust, dirt and insects. The quality, you must always opt for good quality glasses with a hardening layer that makes cleaning easier and prolongs their life, a water repellent treatment which allows for sweatrain or other residues to slip off, and a anti-reflection treatmentespecially on the back of the lens, which minimizes distracting and dangerous reflections.
The choice of sunglasses for traveling by bicycle
When going to the optician it is important to think carefully about what needs the glasses have to meet that are desired. Furthermore, it is advisable to bring the helmet with you and try it on together with the goggles and check if the field of vision is wide enough. Even emulating some hypothetical conditions such as wind can be useful in understanding if the glasses protect enough from the wind.
In this regard, it is worth noting that coloration and UV protection are not related. The recommended tint level for outdoor sports sunglasses is inclusive between 50% and 90%. In extreme light conditions with strong glare it is possible to obtain tints up to 95%.
Finally, ZEISS advises cyclists to do not use self-tinting lenses as they may lighten or darken too slowly for the conditions to which they will be subjected.
Bikes and accessories: boom for repairs
A trend revealed by the data of Ideal itan international online price comparator, has highlighted how – probably with a view to saving – we are witnessing a an increase in repairs rather than purchasing new models for traveling by bicycle.
In recent years, the bicycle market in Italy has witnessed constant growth. Thanks to a new vision of urban mobility and to a rebirth awareness of sustainability issuesin 2022 there was a real boom especially for electric bikes.
Just think that last year among the 10 most searched products in the ‘bike & accessories’ category on the Italian portal of idealo 7 were different e-bike models. This year, however, searches related to electric bicycles registered a decrease of 7%.
Less new bikes and more maintenance
What happened at this juncture? Probably inflation played a decisive role. A children’s bike this year cost around 23% more than the previous year, a city bike 10% more, while a racing bike and a electric bicycle 6% more. And buying new bikes online has made a record a slowdown on the other hand, the bicycle spare parts sector benefited from it, which is experiencing a golden age.
This is what emerges from the new survey according to which over the last year only 11% of those who researched the bike sector were looking for a new bike. Well the 37% who were looking instead for spare parts or accessories for their own.
It is no coincidence that – looking at the top 20 products that have recorded the greatest growth in interest over the last 12 months – there are only two bicycles (racing bikes and mountain bikes), compared to twelve accessories for repairs.
In detail, forks, complete groups and batteries for electric bikes recorded a boom of over 200% compared to the previous year, followed by seat posts (+83%), repair tools (+59%), bike trolleys (+51%), cycle computers (+50%) , padlocks (+50%), pedals (+36%) and tires (+35%).
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