Mar
2
Custom Fixies at Urban Outfitters
Filed Under Cycling, Gear, Interbike | Leave a Comment
Of all the things I’ve posted about here on this blog since it launched back in 2006, there’s one page that has remained as the top visited page since it was written. And it’s not bike business-related or about Interbike. Well, at least not directly related. It’s about a fun website that allows you to design your dream fixie. And many of those readers who visited that page found it by searching for the top ranked search term for Interbike Times, “fixie design.”
Not one to avoid going back to the same well for more of the same traffic, I give you Design Your Dream Fixie 2.0: trendy fashion retailer Urban Outfitters has been selling bikes through its website–even going so far as to call it the “Urban Outfitters Bike Shop” and give it its own vanity url: bikes.urbanoutfitters.com.
The site lets you design your own bike and preview how it will look as you go along. Once you’ve designed it–by selecting frame, wheel and component colors–and placed your order, they (or rather their partner Republic Bike) build it and ship it to you (some assembly required). All for the incredibly attractive price of $399.
Is this mass-merchant/big box-style bike selling or a popular and fashionable non-endemic retailer helping to spread the gospel of bikes to their customer base? Does the simple and straightforward nature of fixed gear bikes alleviate some of the concern that U.O. don’t have service departments in their stores at all? If fixies hadn’t developed into the trend that they are, would U.O. be selling any bikes at all? Is a fixie just a fashion accessory to the U.O. customer or are they being used in a very practical way as a means of transportation with some lasting impact on the buyer’s lifestyle?
Feb
9
1.5 Billion Reasons Cycling is Important to Wisconsin
Filed Under Cycling, Industry News, Interbike | 2 Comments
Graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies concluded in a recent study that the annual impact of recreational cycling on the state’s economy is $1.5 billion. For a state that is the home to influential bike industry companies such as Trek Bicycles, Pacific Bicycle, Saris and Planet Bike, this shouldn’t be surprising.
Aside from the impressive number reached, I believe that the importance of this research is that it is a rare analysis of the role that cycling plays in a region’s economy. If we can’t win the argument for cycling with some skeptics based on all the well known benefits of the activity itself, then maybe we can win on its economic significance. And with the state of unemployment, currently, in the US, the figure below from the report has particular value:
In all, bicycling supports an estimated 13,193 jobs in the state.
I married into a family with strong ties to Wisconsin and am very familiar with “God’s Country,” as they lovingly refer to it. It truly is a beautiful place to ride a bike, and non-residents who spend over 6.4 million days a year cycling in WI seem to agree. I bring this point up to emphasize that this report focuses on the impact from recreational cycling, though it does seem to touch on the benefits of replacing short car trips with the bicycle. The report also includes some recommendations to increase bicycle use.
Another interesting figure from the report that will appeal to industry members is that the report quotes the “economic impact of manufacturing, sales, & services” to equal just under $594 million. Considering that that amount includes Trek’s, Pacific’s and all other manufacturers’ business plus the sales of all of the state’s bicycle retailers, does that sound small to anyone or is it about right? I’m curious because the only real reference I have for Trek’s sales would be to compare them to Specialized’s. Back in 2008, an article and video interview with Specialized’s Mike Sinyard on the CNN Money website mentioned that he had grown the company he began in an eight foot wide trailer into a $500 million a year business. I would assume Trek to be very similar in size if not a bit larger in sales than them. And Pacific is no slouch themselves in the sales department, so I would arrive at a noticeably larger total figure guesstimate. Am I wrong?
And in closing, lest you think that all is rosy for cyclists in Wisconsin, if you read the comments section of any of the articles written about the study in the state’s newspaper sites, you’ll see the typical anti-bike attitude we all seem to encounter, unfortunately, whenever bikes are described in a positive way.
You can read the full report here on the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin website in PDF format.
Feb
1
New York Times on the Business of Electric Bikes
Filed Under Cycling, Gear, Green Efforts, Industry News, Interbike | 6 Comments
While making breakfast for the kids in the morning and preparing their lunches to take to school, I listen to the radio. More often than not, it’s set to NPR. You know: news, weather, little tidbits on what’s going on in the world while the oatmeal cooks and the eggs are boiling. Between slicing up a banana and buttering some toast, I heard the words “electric bicycles” come from the speakers. Ears perked, I moved a bit closer, but it was only a brief mention of the growing importance of electric bicycles in China, with a passing comment that while in China there are currently 120 million ebikes cruising the streets, we bought “only” 200,000 of them last year here in the States.
“Interesting,” I thought to myself and made a mental note to use it as a reason for a post here. Later, while skimming through the most popular articles area in the New York Times app on my iPhone during lunch, I saw that a piece on ebikes was in the top 10.
“An Electric Boost for Bicyclists – Born in China, Electric Bikes Gain a Toehold in the West” is the article featured in the Global Business section of the February 1 edition of the Times. Confirming the high popularity ranking, there are already 95 comments to the piece as of this writing.
The article by J. David Goodman is worth a read and features comments from some industry notables such as consultant Jay Townley and ebike expert Ed Benjamin who is quoted as saying that ebikes are a “gift from God” for bike makers. Sure seems like the industry is treating them like they are.
Proving that there’s always something left to learn, here are a few things I learned:
- Electric bicycles are not officially permitted on the streets of New York.
- While producing far fewer emissions, a typical Chinese ebike goes through five batteries in its lifetime – each containing 20 to 30 pounds of lead (!). Ouch.
- Two distinct types of bikes are emerging as their popularity grows: the very bicycle-like pedal-assist in the US and Europe and the more scooter-like variant in China.
- Government planners are seeking to address the challenges that the increase in ebikes on the streets are causing traditional cyclists: do they belong in bike lanes/paths?
And again I ask, considering that Best Buy is taking on the category, that specialty bicycle retail has a general lack of enthusiasm toward them (described here in a previous post), and that many traditional cyclists not exactly embracing the concept (according to the article), who will own the electric bike retail channel going forward?
Dec
16
Here’s a video that was posted recently showing some fun footage of BikeHugger’s Mobile Social ride down the Strip in Vegas during this year’s show. Love the guy on the John Deere bike, by the way.
Dec
9
Bonnie Tu: A Giant leap for women in the Times Online
Filed Under Cycling, Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike | Comments Off
Industry consultant Rick Vosper Twittered about this article that ran in the UK’s Times Online on Monday featuring Giant Bicycles’ Bonnie Tu. Their “Monday Manifesto” is titled “A Giant leap for women on the move. Taiwan’s godmother of the bicycle wants to end a male-dominated world” and is definitely worth a read.
Ms. Tu is the chief financial offer for Giant, the “godmother of bicycles” and a founder investor in the company along with chairman, King Liu. She has strong opinions about bikes, their role in society and specifically about bikes for women. Here’s a quote:
“To get more women on the road, we have to get them to think of these things as accessories,” she says. “Natural, everyday accessories, like handbags. All major brands claim they design specifically for women, but it’s not true. It means something when I say I’m the godmother — nobody should doubt that our women’s bikes are designed for women by women.”
Dec
2
Urban Cycle Fashion & the Cult of Transportation
Filed Under Cycling, Gear, Industry News, Interbike | Comments Off
Arrggghh! Can’t seem to get away from the urban cycling culture coverage in the media! Actually, this one hit me way back in May and, aside from bookmarking it and making a mental note to post about it, it’s just sat around gathering dust. It’s still no less relevant and intertesting to those of us in the biz, though, so here it is, finally.
Label Networks is a site that focuses on “youth culture intelligence and news” and is fairly well known in the more fashion-centric industries like those served by Interbike’s sister trade show, ASR. With that said, the bike industry’s young (in both tenure and demographic) fixie/urban category appears on their trend-spotting radar screens unlike our traditional “technical” bike apparel. Like my recent post on outdoor retailers and cycling, this is an interesting view into how this category is being exposed and explained to the non-endemic fashion community.
It’s a tad old, but still worth a read: The Urban Cycle Fashion Movement and the Cult of Transportation. The piece mentions cycling inspired apparel from Adidas, New Era and Outlier among others.
Note: Just noticed a more recent and updated version of the article from this Aug: Urban Cycling and How Fixies Are Transforming the Cult of Transportation Into a Lifestyle
As any strong movement grows, so too does a new industry, including of course the growth of bike shops in urban centers, and events such as Midnight Rides in various cities, plus art shows showcasing the creative energy of the of movement, and self-made videos and documentaries as seen during the touring Bicycle Film Festival.
Dec
1
CrossVegas Piece on KCLV TV Channel 2
Filed Under Cycling, Interbike, Racing, Video | Comments Off
Saw a bunch of retweets a few days back about this CrossVegas piece that ran on Las Vegas’ KCLV TV station (channel 2). For those handful of you who are not on Twitter yet (you know who you are…) and haven’t seen it, it’s been uploaded to YouTube. It’s a nicely done video “essay” on the event by Eric Sorenson and it features a few well known friends who raced that evening like Carlton Reid and Brian Hodes.
Nov
20
Urban Cyclists and the Outdoor Retailer
Filed Under Cycling, Deep Thoughts, Industry News, Interbike | 1 Comment
I’m always on the look out for coverage of cycling in the non-endemic media, and am especially interested in non-endemic trade media mentions, which are rare. Well, I just had one of these rare sightings and it’s an valuable read for bike dealers.
The September/October issue of SGB (Sporting Goods Business) magazine has an interesting article by Kate Siber entitled, “The New Morning Commute – Thrift, Gas Prices and Urban Style Make Cycling Hip Again.” The point of the article, given the reader audience of SGB–sporting goods and outdoor retailers–is to enlighten them to the evolution and growth of transportation and utilitarian cycling of the last few years that we in the bike industry are well aware of, AND the business opportunities they present to the outdoor retail channel. The article causes a lot of questions to be raised about what the existing bike retail channel is doing to serve or not serve the new cyclists’ needs.
“The take away is that now is an excellent time to tap the burgeoning bike-commuter market.”
The logic seems solid: who among us cyclists doesn’t also frequent outdoor goods stores? REI and, recently, Canada’s Mountain Equipment Coop have very visibly figured this out. What’s happening now is that the growth of the non-enthusiast urban cyclist means that potentially even more of the outdoor stores’ existing customer base are cyclists and in the market for gear and apparel to meet their new riding and style needs.
Is this a warning to the bike industry that someone else is looking to take advantage of a cycling segment that, as we’ve discussed in the past, we’re not adequately serving? Or, conversely, would the prospect of wider availability of cycling related goods help to broaden the “brand awareness” of the bicycle? That would help grow the pie for all of us. And make the world a better place. Right?
This opportunity is being missed by many outdoor stores, the article states. Despite the growth in urban cycling, “many outdoor stores do not identify the bike commuter as one of their core customers.” Upon calling a downtown Portland, OR, outdoor store, the author was told that they “weren’t involved with bike commuters.” I love her response to that:
“No bike commuters in an outdoor store in downtown Portland? Perhaps they were in disguise as regular old customers.”
The article goes on to say that many independent bike dealers are on to this trend and have begun to take advantage of this market. It’s good to hear that what had previously existed mostly outside of the manufacturer-to-retailer-to-cyclist ecosystem has started to move to the dealer channel best equipped to service the cyclist. Boston’s Wheelworks and Denver’s Salvagetti are IBD success stories called out by the magazine. Personally, I’ve also noticed many new “urban-centric” and “fixie-centric” shops opening up over the last couple of years to serve this market, answering the question that Bicycle Retailer asked last year, “Are bike shops selling the bikes new bikers want to buy?”. And for anyone who visited the Electra booth at this year’s show and saw their new Ticino line of components, it’s clear that manufacturers are really starting to step it up with gear to help IBD’s serve these emerging and trendy categories better.
Ms. Siber also discusses the growth of fixed gear bikes and fixie culture and lifestyle. The importance of style to the category, she writes, could be very well addressed by outdoor retailers because of their experience with selling fashion and apparel. The perception of different store types’ strengths by casual and urban cyclists is critical to note. IBD’s are still perceived, for the most part, as purveyors of lycra and spandex. As apparel maker Sheila Moon is quoted in the article:
“These customers tend not to expect these types of duds in bike shops. Whenever they think of bike shops and clothing, they think of spandex.”
We definitely saw a noticeable increase in attendance by non-bike dealers this year at Interbike in the form of outdoor recreation and performance sports stores. Bikes continue to be sold in bike shops, mainly, but customers will look to a variety of other stores for apparel. At Interbike, we have tried to directly target this situation with the launch of the Urban Legend fashion show. The concept was to put these casual, urban apparel brands and styles and bikes in front of the industry and retailers to educate them on what’s happening out there.
Now I don’t necessarily take the knee jerk reaction that these new sellers of bike gear are bad for the IBD. As I mentioned earlier here and in previous posts, I think that we need to put bikes in front of the non-cyclists in the places they shop because that’s not necessarily in bike shops. I think we also need to continue to work to soften some of the enthusiast focus of retailers if we want to appeal to a broader audience. That’s not to say that there’s no place for our beloved pro shops. But as for taking advantage of new categories of riders (customers!), we need to address the aspects of our existing retail experience that may be intimidating, at best, or off-putting, at worst, to them. Maybe Shimano’s Coasting project uncovered the right challenges that we need to address, but ended up with the wrong solution. Instead of new displays inside of existing bike dealers, maybe they should have been placed in the habitats of the non-cyclists that we all want to reach. (Heresy?)
I’ll leave with a final quote from the article that is encouraging if only because it seems to equate bike lifestyle with that holy-grail of predominantly non-enthusiast customer categories: surf wear. Only a few short years ago, this statement would have been laughable.
“Much like the surf market, bike style appeals to a demographic far broader than just the enthusiasts. It represents an ethos.”
Nov
4
Electric Bikes Fill the Void at Tokyo Motor Show
Filed Under Cycling, Gear, Industry News, Video | 3 Comments
Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking with a very knowledgeable industry expert and the topic of electric bikes came up – as it seems to more and more often lately. We chatted a bit about the opportunities in the category, and he mentioned how Yamaha had made a splash a few weeks back at the Tokyo Motor Show with their line of e-bikes. Not having been aware of the famous motorcycle (and piano, stereo and flute) maker’s e-bikes, I did a quick search for coverage. Here’s what I found.
It turns out that many car makers decided to not exhibit at this year’s big Tokyo Motor Show due to the effect the economic slowdown has had on that industry, and electric bikes helped fill the void on the show floor. Click the image to watch a brief video report from the show by CCTV. The video mentions that Yamaha actually created the first electric assist bicycle back in 1993. I can’t vouch for that claim, but it’s encouraging that the company sees great potential for e-bikes in the near future.
On a side note, it’s interesting that these electric bicycles are on display at the Motor Show. I caught a glimpse at an industry survey, recently, of IBD’s and their interest (or lack of, as it turns out) in selling electric bikes and have to wonder if the specialty bicycle dealer channel will be seen as the place to go for e-bikes in the future or if it will be served by others as well in a significant way. These could be motorcycle dealers or mass merchant electronics dealers like Best Buy. I know there has been a debate in the bicycle community about whether e-bikes should be considered bikes or essentially the equivalent of motorcycles that happen to run on batteries. Designed the proper way, I believe that they can fit into the bicycle category.
I have to say, I finally got to seriously try out an electric assist bike (a Giant) at our East Coast Demo event in Providence a few weeks ago, and I’m now convinced of the potential for the category. If a dealer can get the right customer on one, it’s an instant eye opening experience. Providence’s Mayor David Ciclline (in the photo below talking to Brad Klipping from Giant) came out to the event to try some bikes and I had to really talk him into trying the Giant. The mayor is a cyclist himself, and I think his pride was preventing him from giving the bike a try. He gave in and the smile came across his face right after the first electric-assisted pedal stroke as it did for me. To give him full credit as a cyclist, after the e-bike ride we hit the demo trails on a pair of the new Breezer MTB’s.
I would recommend a deliberate look into e-bikes for bike dealers out there who are on the fence. And give them a second chance if you have had less than stellar experiences with them in the past – it’s a whole new ball game with some high quality innovations by many companies.
Jul
27
CrossVegas Wheelers & Dealers
Filed Under Cycling, Events, Interbike, Racing | Comments Off
From Brook Watts of CrossVegas comes news that registration for this year’s races will open on August 1. Also note some updates to the event for its third year. We will again be providing complementary shuttle service to CrossVegas from the Sands for registered Interbike attendees, exhibitors and media (bring your badge!). Here’s their press release:
July 26 (Boulder Colo.) The rush is on for entry into the biggest cyclocross race in the U.S. CrossVegas registration opens on August 1st at Noon Eastern Time for all categories. Categories include Elite Men, Elite Women and the Wheelers & Dealers presented by Mountain Bike Magazine race for bicycle industry members attending Interbike.
The 2009 edition of CrossVegas is scheduled Wednesday Sept. 23rd in Las Vegas following the first day of the Interbike show. Heading into its third year, CrossVegas has become a fixture on the U.S. cyclocross calendar attracting almost 10,000 spectators to the stadium setting of Desert Breeze Soccer Complex in Las Vegas.
Exclusive online registration is at BikeReg.com. Registration is limited for each category to 100 racers and is expected to fill rapidly.
In addition to competitor registration BikeReg.com will offer general admission ticket sales for the event. An admission of $8 per person has been created this year to cover the expense of fencing mandated by park authorities. “We’re victims of our own success,” explained CrossVegas co-promoter Brook Watts. “There have been serious traffic hazards created by fans parking in adjacent businesses and jaywalking major thoroughfares. As a result the fencing was required to mitigate the traffic issues as well as control fans hauling in prohibited beverages.”
Food and beverages sales, including beer, are available at CrossVegas beginning at 6:00 pm. In addition, Interbike will again provide a free shuttle bus throughout the night from The Sands Convention Center. “It’s the best bargain in Vegas,” explains Watts, “what else can you do in Las Vegas for eight bucks?”
Avoid the crowds at the gate and purchase tickets in advance for pick up at the Will Call window at the event or at the CrossVegas booth at Interbike.
The Wheelers & Dealers presented by Mountain Bike Magazine offers divisions for Men, Women, Media, Manufacturer, Retailer, Distributor and Advocacy. New this year will be Wheelers & Dealers number pickup at the CrossVegas booth at Interbike on Wednesday allowing racers a chance to avoid the rush at race time. In addition, the Wheelers & Dealers start time has been bumped to 7:00 pm to give racers and fans more time to get to the event after the show ends.
CrossVegas 2009 promises a great show for racers and fans alike. “If you’ve been to CrossVegas you know what an incredible show it is. If you’ve never been then you’ve got to come see the biggest race in the U.S. ” Watts concludes.
Complete information at: www.crossvegas.com
About Cross Partners LLC
Cross Partners LLC is a Boulder Colorado based group headed by Chris Grealish and Brook Watts that stages international cyclocross events including CrossVegas. The team has a combined 40 years experience creating and managing cyclocross events at every level.