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| 2021 Trek Emonda SL 3 Disc |
NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....
If there is a 'silver lining' to this pandemic deal, it is that lots of people have turned to, or returned to, cycling. Many in the industry are wondering if these new-to-the-scene folks can be retained. Well, as I have said before, we won't retain them if we do not have the infrastructure and enforceable laws to protect them while they cycle. We won't keep them if we don't have safe routes that, you know, are useful. And we definitely will not keep them with bike introductions like we've seen this week.
One thing we in the industry know is that pavement bikes- the so called 'fitness hybrids', comfort bikes, and hard tail mountain bikes in the sub-$1000.00 price category, are gone due to massive demand. Kids bikes- gone. Trailers and tag-a-longs to haul kids- gone. Accessories for recreational cycling- gone. Guess what is still available? High end road racing machines. Why? Because, well.......most people don't want road racing machines. They don't road race, so why would they even be interested in such bikes?
So, of course, Trek introduces a wide range of 2021 road racing bikes for the die-hard roadies in their new, made to be aero and stiff, Emonda line. The online site, "Cyclingtips", says of the newest Emonda that, "Potential buyers shouldn’t expect any improvement in ride quality...", saying that this new frame is just about as unforgiving as the old outgoing one.
Perfect! new cyclists will likely be super-stoked on that. But wait! This bike isn't for them, now is it? That's the problem. Trek is tone-deaf and isn't 'reading the room' here. Remember, you cannot hardly find what most people are looking for, and Trek blasts out a bike none of these folks want, nor should they want it. It is a bike for racing. How many of those should there be? Maybe three in a range. Focus on the core of U.S. cycling and maybe, just maybe, you'd get more interest. Emondas will not grow the pie, nor retain what we've gained by the changes forced by this pandemic. Keep that racing crap on the down-low. It isn't helping now.
To be fair, Trek has, in the past, tried to do the right thing with various city bikes, cargo bikes, and even inexpensive rigs geared for the city. But most of those were not met with high-energy marketing campaigns and the message fell upon deaf ears. Well, honestly- it was never heard. In contrast, the Emonda intro was splashed all over my time-line on Twitter via various endemic cycling media companies and on Trek's own site, they have three prominently listed 'reviews' of Emondas up already. So, you know that thousands of dollars of marketing efforts and time untold was put into this intro. When was the last time that you saw anything from Trek which pushed a sub-1K city bike which equaled the marketing push for the Emonda? I would say that the answer to that is, "Probably never".
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| Looks about right, costs ten times too much money than reality will support. |
This has all the look of a 'fitness hybrid', or in other words, a practical bike one might find useful for fun and utility, but is motorized and costs $3700.00. Boom! You just blew away all the new cyclists we've picked up over the last several months.
We get calls and walk-ins all the time with these people asking about a motorized bicycle. They get sticker shocked and while some do still pursue the idea and purchase a bike from somewhere, most are dismayed. The idea of it seems alright, it is just too darned expensive now. By the way, these are never going to be car replacements here. Why? Because everyone knows riding in the streets, byways, and highways is a death sentence. It isn't fun, and it is not practical. Bike paths and what not don't go where you can do anything but ride around. So, that's what people want these for- just recreating. And you can only do that for a few short months out of a year and then that bike is hanging, (or more likely with a heavy HPC- sitting on the garage floor) on a peg for the Fall and Winter. Spending anything more than 1K gets to be a hard sell.
Good luck moving a bunch of those rigs. No, they are not what we need right now either. Nor do we need those in the future. We need a coordinated attack on bad cycling infrastructure, tougher car licensing requirements which force drivers to show competence on a semi-annual basis, limits on car speed and use when electronic devices are enabled, and better, safer cycling infrastructure not intertwined with automobile infrastructure. Follow that up with a lot more focus on bicycles people can actually use, not racing machines of the on or off-road variety, and stop supporting Pro teams.
Or, you know, keep introducing Pro level climbing machines that are all aero and stiff, but don't tell me about how you wish your sales figures were increasing with these new-found cyclists. Don't moan and wail when those folks disappear from the scene once they are dismayed at the messages they are seeing now.
I'm not a racer nor have ever been a racer nor plan to attempt racing. I've sort of rediscovered a style of cycling which works well for me. I have a few bikes but I've joined the coffee outside crew and the enjoyment of the bike picnic. I have a Giant simple single speed cruiser on which I've mounted a front basket and rear rack and basket. I can carry all the stuff for either coffee or a picnic. I don't go very far or very fast. The rides are relaxed but they are rides. I see both of these as hashtags on Instagram. It's easy to put together a rig for these types of rides but manufacturers may need to take notice.
ReplyDelete@graveldoc - Yes! Fun is not grimacing trying to reach for that extra 1/2 watt on an ultra-stiff aero bike, (for a few- yes. Not for most)
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of bikes like this being made by some of the bike packing community as well. I think that they are also a touch-point for the kind of cycling which many people would prefer.
The thing is, it isn't what most in the cycling industry know as 'cycling'. For them, cycling has almost always been racing or a combination of racing and ultra-MTB/back country style riding. Both things which most new-to-the-scene cyclists have zero interest in.
That disconnect is where much of the problem stems from.
Thanks for continuing to comment on this disconnect between the bike industry and its customer base. This has been going on for decades and drives me crazy. I worked at a bike shop in the Lance Armstrong era, and it was depressing to see how many aggressive racing bikes were sold to people who ended up finding them uncomfortable and ill suited to them. Furthermore, because these types of bikes are the only ones the industry puts any real ad dollars into promoting, it makes more practical bikes seem less desirable. At least now, the public is demanding the more appropriate bikes, despite the industry’s continued focus on the performance category.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to bike paths, I always feel guilty for not appreciating the ones that have been built in my area, but like you said, most are paths to nowhere and often built along undesirable routes - our main path literally goes past multiple sewage treatment plants. I worry that if this is what most people experience when they ride a bike, their enthusiasm will not last long. The experience seems about as enjoyable as running on a treadmill, but with the extra hassle of having to figure out how to get your bike on a car, and drive somewhere first.
Thanks again for the commentary!
Grant Petersen was right all along.
ReplyDeleteI bought a touring bike in '99, because it wasn't
a race bike. Thanks Grant.
The bike industry can't even get the gearing right on the sensible bikes they make. Everything is over-geared for the average cyclist. Even on road bikes, the compacts with an 11/28 or an 11/32 is too much. The 11 on my cassette is pristine because I never use it.
ReplyDeletePeople need sub compacts and reasonable cassettes not made for going 32 mph. But even on all road/gravel/adventure bikes. So people end up with gearing that's hard for them to use which turns them off cycling.