Calling All Dublin Cyclists...

ahaon

Hey Guys,
I'm conducting a survey about cycling and bicycle shops in Ireland as part of my thesis. I would appreciate if any of you could take 2 minutes to fill out a short questionnaire about cycling in Dublin. There are only 14 questions and most are multiple choice. Once completed, you can also view the live results.

To conduct the survey, please click on this link:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dFhKOW15V2JEZ3RPNVgyQmpLUWtyZFE6MA

Thanks in Advance!

papac

I am not a Dublin cyclist but I am interested in your survey and the state of cycling generally. Do you mind me asking what the subject of your thesis is and why its particular to Dublin.
PapaC

mikemac

There are no questions on that link specific to Dublin, why exclude everyone else?

Or is your project just on Dublin?

ahaon

Hey papac,

Yes my thesis is specifically looking at cycling and commuting trends in Dublin and examining the purchasing decisions Dublin-based cyclists make. I am also trying to investigate the interest in the bike to work scheme.

Do you or anyone know where I can find statistics on the number of cyclists in Dublin and/or the number of bicycles sold annually in Dublin/Ireland? All I can find is DTO stats on commuters.

Cheers!

Ryaner

What kind of bicycle do you own

I don't think most people here could pick one

cdaly_

15 responses in 11 minutes! You're not doing too bad thus far...

mikemac

ahaon wrote: »

examining the purchasing decisions Dublin-based cyclists make.

The Dubs tend to steal bikes instead

/runs away

ahaon

Thanks for pointing that out Ryaner!
I've changed the question to 'Q5: What kind of bicycle do you own or use most?'

blorg

Small amount of responses so far but interesting that 67% of those who took up cycling this year said they did it due to the Bike to Work scheme.

ahaon

Another interesting fact is that one of the off-putting things about cycling in Dublin is the weather. It rains more on average in Sydney and Amsterdam than in Dublin. Seems to be public perception, and maybe its skewed being the disgusting day that it is today!

poochiem

Q8: What puts you off cycling more in Dublin? Weather...

ah ye soft bollixes.

papac

Q8: What puts you off cycling more in Dublin? Weather...

ah ye soft bollixes.

Right on Poochiem. Us country boys don't fear the weather



Never seen that pansy Roche wet and dirty.:)

petethedrummer

"I hate all those weathermen, too, who tell you that rain is bad weather. There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, so get yourself a sexy raincoat and live a little."
Billy Connolly

ahaon

Results are poaring in guys! Thanks to everyone who has filled it out. The trends so far;

• Bike to work scheme is encouraging people to cycle regularly again
• Dub cyclists hate the weather and the bad drivers around them
• Most people want a racer valued at over €1000
• Racers, Fixed Gear and Hybrids are the popular styles
• majority of respondents have bought bicycles and parts online because they're cheaper and/or the product isn't available in Ireland
• Majority of us cycle more than once a day and use our bikes mostly to commute to work.
• Google and Bike Forums are the popular places to research bikes
• 54% of respondents either have or intend to take advantage of the bike to work scheme.

Cheers
a hAon

RoundTower

ahaon wrote: »

Another interesting fact is that one of the off-putting things about cycling in Dublin is the weather. It rains more on average in Sydney and Amsterdam than in Dublin.

I found this utterly amazing having lived in Sydney for a winter, but it does seem to be true.

I answered the survey -- I think I might be a bit more typical of an average cyclist than most people on this forum!

Doctor Bob

One correction- it is possible to buy a bike online under the Cycle To Work scheme, unless your employer decides not to allow it. (Perhaps you knew this- it's not completely clear from the wording of the question.)

Re the info you want on cycling in Dublin-

Do you or anyone know where I can find statistics on the number of cyclists in Dublin and/or the number of bicycles sold annually in Dublin/Ireland? All I can find is DTO stats on commuters.

The City Council conducts annual counts of cyclists using a cordon count on the canals once every year. The numbers have been rising for the past few years. However, the survey wouldn't represent all of us, as it only captures cyclists crossing the canal ring between, I think, 7 am and 10 am, so if your cycling doesn't take you across the canal during that window, you don't exist in the DCC records. At a guess, you could double or even triple the DCC figures and still not account for everyone.

Best of luck!

ahaon wrote: »

Most people want a racer valued at over €1000

Y'know, I wouldn't turn down a date with Charlotte Gainsbourg, but...

Lumen

ahaon wrote: »

Another interesting fact is that one of the off-putting things about cycling in Dublin is the weather. It rains more on average in Sydney and Amsterdam than in Dublin.

Got any stats to back that up (specifically Sydney)?

In my experience (east coast in early winter) Australian rain isn't real rain. You can walk around in it wearing shorts and not get cold, and the rain tends to be more intense and shorter in duration. Not the "starts raining on Monday, clears up a bit towards the end of the week" sort of weather we get here.

smilingeyerish

ahaon wrote: »

Another interesting fact is that one of the off-putting things about cycling in Dublin is the weather. It rains more on average in Sydney and Amsterdam than in Dublin. Seems to be public perception, and maybe its skewed being the disgusting day that it is today!

I clicked the weather answer but its not rainy weather that puts me off its the icy and extremely windy weather that would put me off. so remember that bad weather does not mean just rain!

rflynnr

@OP: well done on the questionnaire design. It's a model of clarity and ease of use which no doubt contributes to your high response rate.

I'd enter one caveat on the gender findings: although there are female posters on here (caroline, GodIhatehills, ldb etc.) they're in the minority. This may reflect the actual proportions of male/female Dublin cyclists but it may be more a function of the nature of online forums which were traditionally (though clear this is changin) male-dominated. Thus I'd treat the gender findings with a touch of caution.

niceonetom

I think the main danger in posting this survey here is that this forum is not very representative of the average-joe-on-a-bike.

flickerx

The only big problem I would point out with the survey is that the age brackets are not great. First of all 33 is in there twice, so which age bracket do you pick if you are 33? Second of all the brackets just seem very random. You are better off duplicating other brackets from previous research done, so you can compare your own findings to those of other studies. You should try to get brackets from the likes of the CSO or MRBI, or from any other similar research on transport done in the past, and use them.

Sorry to sound like a lecturer but your research will stand up better to scrutiny if you iron out all the problems in your questionnaire first.

blorg

flickerx wrote: »

First of all 33 is in there twice, so which age bracket do you pick if you are 33?

Haha, the younger one obviously, I went straight for 30-33, didn't even notice there was an older bracket there.

As Tom and others have said, your findings will apply to members of this forum who are biased towards being very into cycling, racing, etc. There are plenty of cycle commuters for whom cycling is just a way of getting to work and they would not be so involved in their method of transport as to get involved in an online cycling forum. That over €1,000 for a bike was the most popular is very telling, there is no way that applies to cyclists in Dublin in general. Similar with racer/fixie, most people cycling in Dublin are on hybrids probably followed by mountain bikes.

SerialComplaint

Since when did 39+ get to be the upper boundary for age questions on surveys? Way to make a guy feel old!

I'm surprised that most people are willing to spend a €1k on a new bike - isn't this a bit OTT for most commuting bikes?

ahaon

Thanks for pointing out the age thing flickerx. I noticed it pretty early to be honest but if I changed it would have skewed results even more.

Thanks for the tips on the bike surveys currently conducted by the DTO. I got some stats saying that cycling has increased 8% year on year between 07 and 08 and by over 30% between 03 and 08. However I still cant believe that the government cannot release figures on VAT returns from bikes. At least that would give a fair reflection of the market size at least.

Regarding the weather in Dublin, I'll see if I can find the stat for you. It says it on Wiki here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin#Climate but I had a more reliable source for my thesis.

I also didn't expect the majority of people to enter €1,000+. The only reason I didn't expand on that scale was because I wanted to keep within the realms of the bike scheme.

Thanks again to everyone who has filled out to date!

a hAon

Ryaner

SerialComplaint wrote: »

I'm surprised that most people are willing to spend a €1k on a new bike - isn't this a bit OTT for most commuting bikes?

Since they'd already have a bike, it'd be 1k on a second (or subsequent) bike.

flickerx

Ryaner wrote: »

Since they'd already have a bike, it'd be 1k on a second (or subsequent) bike.

I doubt that many people on this forum just have one bike...

Beasty

SerialComplaint wrote: »

Since when did 39+ get to be the upper boundary for age questions on surveys? Way to make a guy feel old!

Some of us are more than happy to fit into that caregory, thank you very much:)

blorg

SerialComplaint wrote: »

I'm surprised that most people are willing to spend a €1k on a new bike - isn't this a bit OTT for most commuting bikes?

You know where you are right? The survey doesn't state it is about commuting bikes, it is listed as only one of the envisaged usages.

ahaon wrote: »

Thanks for the tips on the bike surveys currently conducted by the DTO. I got some stats saying that cycling has increased 8% year on year between 07 and 08 and by over 30% between 03 and 08.

I believe that those stats are got by counting the number of cyclists entering and exiting the city centre (as defined by the canal) at rush hour.* As such it is very much a measure of cycle commuting and would have no bearing on the growth of cycling as a sport/leisure passtime. Although that is growing too- membership in my club is substantially up this year and the sportives I did in Ireland this year had substantially bigger attendances than previous years.

*Note this is only off the top of my head from something I vaguely recall, you would have to confirm the methodology.

I also didn't expect the majority of people to enter €1,000+.

Most people on this forum are enthusiasts, some to quite an extreme degree. You are going to have to bear in mind the source of your survey here as it is not going to be representative of commuting in Dublin or indeed cycling in Dublin as a whole... it is skewed towards the sport/recreational cyclists (who will tend to spend more on a bike and use it as a hobby) rather than the utility/commuter (who will tend to spend less on a bike and use it as a means of transport.) Some of us are both of course but while I would and have certainly spent over €1,000 on several of my bikes I would not do so on my commuter!

Important to be clear on all of this if you are trying to extrapolate or compare anything.

cdaly_

Lumen wrote:

Not the "starts raining on Monday, clears up a bit towards the end of the week" sort of weather we get here.

ahaon wrote:

Regarding the weather in Dublin, I'll see if I can find the stat for you.

ahem...

Ryaner

flickerx wrote: »

I doubt that many people on this forum just have one bike...

ryaner wrote:

Since they'd already have a bike, it'd be 1k on a second (or subsequent) bike.

I did say subsequent bikes. I know I'm buying my second bike during December/January. Ignoring the fact that I have two bikes already here in the apartment

Doctor Bob

blorg wrote: »

I believe that those stats are got by counting the number of cyclists entering and exiting the city centre (as defined by the canal) at rush hour.*


*Note this is only off the top of my head from something I vaguely recall, you would have to confirm the methodology.

*cough*

Doctor Bob wrote: »

Re the info you want on cycling in Dublin-

The City Council conducts annual counts of cyclists using a cordon count on the canals once every year. The numbers have been rising for the past few years. However, the survey wouldn't represent all of us, as it only captures cyclists crossing the canal ring between, I think, 7 am and 10 am, so if your cycling doesn't take you across the canal during that window, you don't exist in the DCC records. At a guess, you could double or even triple the DCC figures and still not account for everyone.

'vaguely recall'? I know they say attention spans are getting shorter in this day and age, but it was posted at the top of the very same page!

blorg

Doctor Bob wrote: »

'vaguely recall'? I know they say attention spans are getting shorter in this day and age, but it was posted at the top of the very same page!

Haha OK, I recalled it from somewhere previous to your post.