Opinion/Analysis
The bike industry produces more numbers than wheel sizes — and that’s a lot. Given that, it is kind of amazing that we still face so many basic unanswered questions: How big is the bike industry? How many bikes do we sell? How many people ride bikes? And maybe the most important question — what does it all mean for the future of our industry and our companies?
We’re currently 10 — 15 years into the rise of what I’ve been calling Bike 3.0: a few large companies and retailers rising to market dominance, pushing competitors into marginal positions or out of business entirely. Has Bike 3.0 actually succeeded? And in any case, what comes next?
There are simply too many players providing similar services to a small — some would say even shrinking — market.
Tariffs, Trade and angst: Our much beloved industry finds itself in a pickle and we have company. The Trumpistas have declared tit-for-tat tariffs are good for America and from all indicators — at least at the moment — American consumers and our pusillanimous political class seem to care less.
The reality is, it will take two to four years, until 2021—2023, to completely re-source the U.S. bicycle business out of China.
Suppliers see direct-to-consumer sales fulfilled through retailers as a way to turn more prospects into customers and to keep more of the profit dollars. Retailers see it as an end-run around themselves and their hard-earned margins. Are they both right? No, they're both wrong. And here's why.
Designing for bikes has become a hallmark of forward-looking modern cities worldwide. But urban cycling investments tend to focus on the needs of wealthy riders and neglect lower-income residents and people of color.
For most of us, receiving our first bike and learning how to ride it around the neighborhood was a rite of passage. Now this happy tradition may be at risk.
Bro Deal culture is an integral part of bike culture and just as integral to the bike industry itself. In theory, it’s one of the things that keeps our culture and our industry alive. But in practice it’s also one of the things that holds it back.
James Stanfill is the president of the Professional Bicycle Mechanics Association and the founder of A Better Bike Biz.
There is a saying that I like to remind people about from time to time; it goes exactly like this: "Your lack of planning is not my emergency."
As a new generation of competitors enters the once-profitable high-end carbon bike market, everybody’s going to get squeezed … although probably not the way you’re thinking.
Like many of you, I was astonished by the race-winning performance turned in by Mathieu van der Poel in the Amstel Gold men's pro road race this year. Let's take three lessons from van der Poel's win and apply them to our specialty brands and shops.
New estimates show more than double the number of bike shops in the U.S. as previously thought. Here are the numbers behind those estimates, plus dealer share and what it all means for brands, retailers and, maybe, the future of the bicycle industry.
While much of the bike world was getting amped about Sea Otter product launches, industry leaders got together to talk big picture at the Bicycle Leadership Conference in Monterey.
It would be a superb exercise in mathematical calculation to divine how much money the industry will spend this year on trade shows, consumer expos, dealer events and other similarly aligned gatherings of bros and gals.
Editor's note: At a session Thursday monring at the Bicycle Leadership Conference in Monterey, California, leaders of the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association and PeopleForBikes explained their plan to merge the organizations. Andre Shoumatoff, the former owner of a bike retail business in Utah, read the following letter at the session.
WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. (BRAIN) — It's a frequent, obvious, and frustrating question from anyone trying to get a handle on our industry: "Just how many bike shops are there in the U.S.? And how fast is that number shrinking?"
There’s indication - and we don’t blame you if you are skeptical - that the number is increasing.
If competition among IBD, EBD and consumer-direct channels for e-bike dominance isn’t enough, there are two more looming market forces to consider. These have the potential to not just disrupt e-bike markets, but to turn the entire Bike 3.0 business model on its head.
In terms of e-bike units sold, the e-bike-only EBD channel is as big as the IBD. And they’re both growing.
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