Concerning industry: That's the site of STELS bike producer claiming it's certified as a full-cycle localized producer of bikes: https://stelsbicycle.ru/news-bikes/sertifikat-proiskhozhdeniya-st-1-na-velosipedy-stels/ 20 years ago they were a cheap Walmarts-tier brand with bearable quality for affordable pricing (e.g. frame was not as durable as better brands and soviet monsters), and I haven't looked into them seriously since then if they changed. But, at least before the invasion, lotsa bycicles I either saw or bought had a lot of parts from different brands I also saw discussed on international forums. Nice frame for a daily use was around a monthly wage in a corner shop.

Concerning usage: It easily catches on where there is a place for it. I was a part of a city's cycling community before, with small marathons and so on, and seen it in other cities too, a few of my collegues commute by them daily. There is not a lot of micromobility-focused infrastructure, places you want to go are usually scattered and you are as afraid of leaving your bike on the street as you do in US I guess. But with introduction of hated but popular electric scooters, I see zoomers starting to use them and bikes more than older gens, and combustion engine no-driving-license/easier-license mopeds dying off completely.

The latter is probably not even due to the fuel (at the time), but to the import restrictions and tarrifs against foreign cars that were straighten up year over year, making purchasing one and servicing it even more of a challenge that it was before. Car bros in my friend circle frequently discuss buying and cycling through used vehicles or using some gvnmt subsidies to purchase new with a heavy cut. Rarely ever someone considers just going to a dealership and paying a sticker price for it's a waste of money on less respected local cars or a bit more liked chinese SUVs for a pretty big sum. The 00s and 10s when Renault and others had factories there, and their cars were a default deal for most are gone, as well as the idea you need a car at all. People rent cars from the likes of Uber to work in these taxi apps instead of buying a thing.

My experience is pretty limited since I'm not in the landowner strata and my folks are in lower-to-average bracket, but there I do see scepticism towards buying new cars and sporadic usage of micromobility vehicles, especially in young people.

[–] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 3 points 5 days ago

Bikes are pretty popular in post Soviet space, especially in the rural areas where most people can't afford cars. Urban bike infrastructure is pretty bad, though.