MacQueen's

Event link below in comments

🕶️ Summer hours are HERE at MacQueen’s! 🚤

Starting now, we’re open:

Monday – Saturday
⏰ 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM

🚲 The Bike Shop will also be open Sundays from June through September – but for rentals only – from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.

Plan your adventures, grab your gear, and make the most of those sunny days! ☀️

📍 Stop by or give us a call. We’ll see you soon!

Did you know....
The City of Charlottetown has installed two secure bicycle lockers at the Fitzroy Parkade located at 130 Fitzroy Street. These bike lockers are available to the public to rent for $20 per month on a first come, first serve basis.

Bike Lockers The City of Charlottetown has installed two secure bicycle lockers at the Fitzroy Parkade located at 130 Fitzroy Street. These bike lockers are now available to the public to rent.

The Bike Bus is now rolling in Sherwood! 🚴‍♀️

More than 40 kids and parent volunteers joined the ride this morning. It was all smiles, lots of energy, and packed school bike racks. Thanks to everyone who came out!

Interested in learning more or launching a Bike Bus at your school?
👉 Charlottetown.ca/BikeBus

A high-tech sticker was developed in Halifax to monitor lithium ion battery temperature.

Link in comments.

Lithium-ion battery fires rising in Canada, but a high-tech sticker developed in Nova Scotia can help N.S.-developed TempAlert is an adhesive heat-detecting sticker which instantly shows when batteries have reached unsafe temperatures

Worldwide, over 120 million new bikes hit production lines last year. 👀

To frame it another way, that's approximately one new bicycle for every 60 people alive. Every year without fail. It's a remarkable figure that says something profound about the global cycling movement.

Yet somehow, most of us have no clue just how enormous this movement has become.

China alone manufactured 99.54 million bikes in 2024, representing steady growth in the world's largest bicycle production hub. The rest of the world - Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific - contributed tens of millions more. This isn't just manufacturing. This is a seismic shift in how humans are choosing to move.

The numbers tell a story that goes far beyond factory floors.

In Paris, cycling's modal share jumped from 5% in 2019 to 11.2% by 2023 - a 6.2 percentage-point increase representing the strongest post-pandemic growth of any major city. Ten European cities now see at least 25% of all trips made by bicycle. In the United States, a record 112 million people rode bikes in 2024. That's more than one in three Americans.

Youth participation surged from 49% to 56%.

The e-bike revolution is rewriting the rulebook entirely. In the US alone, e-bikes now represent 30% of the bicycle market by value and a stunning 70% of direct-to-consumer sales revenue. These aren't just commuter tools anymore. They're cargo haulers replacing delivery vans. They're mountain bikes opening trails to riders who thought their knees were done. They're city bikes making 10-mile commutes feel like 3.

The infrastructure is catching up too.

Cities like Addis Ababa added nearly 50 kilometers of new cycle tracks in 2024 as part of their ambitious Phase 1 Cycle Network Plan. Toronto's bike-share system logged 6.9 million trips in 2024, up 21% from 5.7 million the year before. Baltimore, Cleveland, and Fresno saw some of the largest year-over-year improvements in cycling infrastructure ratings. Governments are pouring hundreds of millions into bike lanes, bike-share programs, and cycling safety initiatives.

This isn't a fad. It's a fundamental reimagining of urban mobility.

The reasons are clear. Fuel prices. Traffic congestion. Climate anxiety. Health consciousness. Government incentives. Better technology. Safer infrastructure. All of it is converging at once, creating a perfect storm for two-wheeled transportation.

And the momentum isn't slowing.

Market analysts project the global bicycle industry will continue its robust growth trajectory through 2035, with e-bikes and urban cycling infrastructure leading the charge. Asia-Pacific dominates production, but Europe is seeing the fastest growth in cycling adoption. North America is catching up fast, driven by urban cycling booms and e-bike adoption.

What started as a pandemic trend has evolved into a structural shift in how we think about transportation, health, and sustainability.

So here's the question - have you noticed it where you live? Are there more cyclists on your morning commute? More bike lanes appearing on streets that used to be car-only? More neighbors rolling past on e-bikes?

Because the data says it's happening. And it's happening faster than most of us realize.



SOURCES:

IndexBox (2024) - Global bicycle production
Xinhua News/China.org.cn (2025) - China production data
Institut Paris Région/Hammer Nutrition (2024) - Paris modal share
PeopleForBikes 2024 Impact Report - US participation & e-bike market
Copenhagenize Index 2025 - European cycling cities
World Bank/ITDP (2024) - Addis Ababa infrastructure
Toronto Parking Authority/Bike Share Toronto (2024) - Toronto ridership

Just to let you know:
E-bike rebates were also extended to April 30.

The information flow from the PEI gov't hasn't been great (the website still says "Funding and final program details for the 2026-2027 fiscal year are still being finalized. Because of this, the e-Bike Incentive is paused as of April 15, 2026. An update will be provided as soon as possible." They previously indicated by phone that the e-bike rebates we could offer customers were over. But it turns out they decided to extend both the $100 regular bike and $500 e-bike rebates until April 30 (your bill of sale has to be marked with a date prior to May 1, 2026).

The Net Zero office reached out to us by email today to confirm the e-bike program's end date & procedures, so if you're still sitting on that fence, you still have 6 more days to get in under the e-bike wire.

Send a message to learn more

UPDATE: PEI BICYCLE REBATE EXTENDED TO APR. 30
Today 17/04 at around 15:00 we received an email from the PEI gov't indicating that we can extend the bike rebates until April 30. While it's not as great as until the end of the season, it does give those considering/waiting for bikes to arrive a little more time to act before the rebates are gone.

Hope to see you soon before the program's history.

Island Trails is launching a Volunteer Trail Crew Training Program this spring to help grow the next generation of trail stewards across PEI.

The first session takes place on May 2, 2026 (9:00 AM – 2:00 PM) at Strathgartney Trail, offering hands-on training in basic trail maintenance and stewardship. Funded in part by Trans Canada Trail, the program follows a national curriculum, with a second, more advanced session planned later in the year.

Participants will learn:

How to prepare for working outdoors
Leave No Trace principles
The importance of trail stewardship
Basic tools and safety

While open to all, the program is geared toward younger Islanders (under 30) looking to get involved and build practical outdoor skills.

Read more here: https://islandtrails.ca/island-trails-volunteer-trail-crew-training-program/

It’s official (again)! 🚲

Scientific American has revisited one of its most iconic findings and reached the same conclusion: the bicycle remains the most energy-efficient mode of travel on Earth, more than 50 years on.

The 1973 data was striking then and remains striking now: cycling requires just a fifth of the energy that walking does, putting it first in efficiency above all animals and all machines.

The simple genius lies in coasting - unlike walking, you don't need constant energy expenditure. This very idea inspired Steve Jobs to famously call computers "bicycles for our minds."

Fast forward to today, and the science still holds up. The updated 2025 analysis calls a human on a bike a "hyperefficient terrestrial locomotor," noting that cycling makes being on land almost as effortless as swimming is in water.

But perhaps the most powerful takeaway is how relevant the original conclusion remains. As the 1973 essay stated, the bicycle "can be regarded as the most benevolent of machines" as it demands few resources, reduces pollution, and improves health.

For a better world, the prescription is simple: "Cycle and recycle."

When was the last time you enjoyed a bike ride?