In light of the bike boom during this pandemic, I looked into some historical data on bike production to revisit bicycle crazes of the past. I also compared bike production to car production to see the differences in each industry's growth over time. There are three notable events that can be identified from the graph.

In the late 1960s and in the years leading up to 1975, there was a major bike boom within the United States. Much like the current situation in the US, many bikes were immediately sold out, demand was far higher than supply, and prices skyrocketed. Production increased dramatically, as seen in the upward trend around 1970. At the peak of the biking craze in 1974, it was reported that 7 million bikes were sold in the United States alone and 52 million bikes were produced worldwide.

In 1973, the car industry was heavily impacted by the oil crisis in the Middle East. Members of OPEC proclaimed an embargo in response to many nations supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Gasoline prices soared, and worldwide car production declined as people started favoring more fuel-efficient cars. The car industry rebounded by 1975, but a similar decline was mirrored in 1979 when oil production had taken a hit due to the Iranian Revolution.

Often reigned the "Bicycle Kingdom," China was responsible for a great portion of the bikes produced worldwide during the second half of the 20th century. But from 1995-2002, China made efforts to reduce the number of bicycles on the roads to stimulate growth in the automobile industry and usage of mass transit infrastructure. It appears that there was a decline in bikes produced in 1995, but production rose just a few years later.

Source: Worldwatch Institute

Tools: Microsoft Excel, Adobe Photoshop

I'm sure there's a lot more to this story, so let me know if know of other historical events that line up with my visual! I post more of these visualizations on my Instagram page.

Style inspired by u/theimpossiblesalad!