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| From the Victory Ride in 2024 |
None of which sound like "fun". Racing is fine, but one site I follow only posts about racing, and almost always about the most niche races no one knows about. Then another site I follow is always posting about techniques to get faster or whatever, and it points out how "you aren't good enough yet, but do this...." I mean, this is their messaging, as I see it.
Then you have the ever-present tech articles which appeal to the bike-nerds like myself, but to the average cyclist? All this super-spendy tech seems to only force folks into feeling the cycling industry is a rip-off.
Again, none of this sounds like fun. Maybe this is why most US citizens are looking online and getting their cycling stuff off Amazon or from big-box online and brick and mortar retailers. They don't have to clear gate-keepers, understand technology they've likely never heard of in their daily lives, or deal with uninformed or snooty clerks at bicycle shops.
Bicycles were supposed to be fun. Freedom, fitness, and adventures were the main reasons to purchase a two-wheeled contraption when I was young. Heck, I never even heard about a racing bike until the Summer of my junior year in high school. I managed to fall in love with cycling despite my ignorance of FTP, carbon fiber, and carbon monoxide rebreathing.
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| You mean you can have fun on a bicycle? |
The barriers to getting into gravel races was a big deal starting with post-COVID gravel events. Socially conscientious event directors began to push for inclusion of minorities and for gender equality. It's sad the cycling industry itself doesn't think in terms of removing barriers. It is painfully obvious this doesn't matter.
Raising the ceiling on prices, posting on the latest tech which costs an arm and a leg, focusing on racing which only pertains to a infinitesimally small portion of cyclists- All of this alienates the common person who might just want something else. Something like escape from this mad world, a good time, and ease of getting involved.
Can all the latest Winter cycling garb tests, the banter about aero helmets, and wireless transmissions on 10K+ bicycles. It creates barriers to entry. Maybe focus efforts on cycling infrastructure, how you can enjoy cycling while wearing Chuck Taylors, or make yourself calmer and more healthy by spinning wheels around the blocks in your neighborhood.
Or, maybe just say cycling is a hoot, and you are missing out on it if you didn't partake in the sport. Put people in ads who look like they are enjoying a ride, and not squinting through pain while sprinting for a finish line. Make cycling fun again.
Or....just continue to churn out the same tired messaging the industry has trotted out for the past 40+ years.
I know how that works. Ha!
11 comments:
I think we have a confluence of events that is causing a perceived down turn. I would like to argue we have too many sources for bikes, and bike parts. That dilutes every spent dollar back to the source. How many boutique brands have gone away? Growler in Victor NY, closed up in 2024, a few more since then, All-City, GT, Stages Cycling, Nukeproof, YT, Diamondback, Rocky Mountain, and many more.
With all that doom and gloom, think what a new person thinks when they buy a bike, "Why bother?"
Now the group ride attitude, directed by bike shops. If I was a person who was easily turned off by poor bike ambassadors I would of never stayed with cycling. For crying out loud, the drama associated with cyclists alone is worse than a knitting circle in a small town. The amount of things I have learned about my actions years later is hilarious. It is the telephone game in full effect. So you stack that with a poor market, no wonder this sport appears to be on the down turn.
I would argue, event size is not a viable measuring stick of the amount of cyclist. We tend to think commuters and people who never go to an event are not cyclists. It is like Harley riders and Japanese bikes not acknowledging each other.
Is it our problem to fix, or is a task to each and everyone of us to be better ambassador of encouragement to others?
Great post. I agree 100%. I'm fortunate enough to be partaking in just such a ride tomorrow, in fact… the Wandering Wilderness Won-Hundred IV. We're all taking the day off to ride bikes. Not race bikes. We'll have lunch, and then we'll ride more bikes. It's pretty simple. Bikes are fun.
Biking should be fun, great observation!
One thing that has helped me and many other bikey-people in my community is utility/everyday biking. Making that mid-week grocery run, a 20-minute commute to work, going to a game or show, making a post office run, or a recycling drop off can all be done by bike if you have the right mindset and make a little extra time. And it makes me happy.
Driving through my vibrant city in the Pacific Northwest makes me (and seemingly many other drivers) irritable and tense; biking through it to the same destinations is neutral at worst, but genuinely puts a smile on my face most of the time, rain or shine.
Put another way, I never feel like biking sucks. Ever. But sometimes I feel like driving sucks.
YMMV. Happy Trails!
I couldn't agree more. To this day, I just don't understand why there isn't a Volvo 240 equivalent bicycle: simple, classic and classy, 2 or 3 colors, well made, affordable, easy to service, nothing changes for decades. Schwinn was basically there in the 70s and 80s. Surly was adjacently minded when they began but ... Rivendell? Great ideas, too expensive.
The number of young people i see coveting 90s rim-brake mountain bikes and fitting them with upright, swept-back bars really ought to be noticed by someone in the bike industry.
@N.Y. Roll - There is a lot to consider in your comments. I'll offer a few thoughts here....
N.Y. Roll - "I would like to argue we have too many sources for bikes, and bike parts. That dilutes every spent dollar back to the source. How many boutique brands have gone away? Growler in Victor NY, closed up in 2024, a few more since then, All-City, GT, Stages Cycling, Nukeproof, YT, Diamondback, Rocky Mountain, and many more.
With all that doom and gloom, think what a new person thinks when they buy a bike, "Why bother?" "
Response: All of what you say is what has been going on in this segment of cycling for the better part of a half century. Based upon racing, ultra-enthusiasts, and coupled with a focus from media on both, you will end up with these things happening. Yes - the response from casual cyclists and non-cyclists has been "Why bother" for all of this time, for the most part. It is why we have brands coming in and out who are trying to attract the same customer base.
This has never been more apparent than when eBike companies who don't give a rip about "performance cycling" or "racing" came along and suddenly all these new-to-cycling people have come out of the woodwork and have been causing issues with the cycling scene traditionalists.
N.Y. Roll - " If I was a person who was easily turned off by poor bike ambassadors I would of never stayed with cycling..."
Response: YES. Again, this is because much of the cycling cognoscenti is insular and ultra-competitive. This is reasonable considering all the focus put on performance and racing. So, why should we be surprised at a male-dominated sport which has this focus being one which is a turn-off to those who just want to have fun? This drum has been beaten to death and no one seems to want to change it in the upper echelon of media and marketing to do anything different.
@MG - Thanks Brother! This ride you are doing sounds fantastic! I hope it goes well for everyone involved!
@tntmoriv - You have great points here! Thanks for the comment. I agree 100%. In my experience, I have found similar results.
@ENB - This is spot-on with my observations. I see a lot of 90's era, or modern 90's era takes, on this theme. The simple bike which is light, durable, easily maintained, and FUN.
We just need something like CUES, only at an XT level of quality, to round out the ideal bike for most of us. Never change it. Just make a high quality group and mount it to a steel frame. Make more when there is demand. Do away with model year introductions. Keep costs reasonable.
While this would be best for the consumer, I don't think it would take a mastermind in economics to see we would have to say goodbye to a LOT of brands to make this world happen.
@Guitar Ted – The group you speak of exists. It's called Deore XT Linkglide. It's essentially XT-level Cues.
Casual cyclists, what are they ?
I ride with a club sometimes or with friends from the club.
Yes, there are Tuesday Night World Champs, shoot the wounded types,
but the majority are more social, cycling is the new bowling type.
Club membership is growing, best since before the pandemic.
They don't know from cycling media.
To paraphrase Dr. K*, brands are doing poorly, bikes are doing great.
I ride a bike, brands are important to cycling media and brand managers.
*"The Map is not the Terrain" or "The Brand is not the Bike"
I think the biggest problem is the lack of safety. There aren’t many good places to ride in much of the country. 30% of Americans live in cities, 55% in suburbs, 15% rural. So most of the country doesn’t have easy access to gravel nor good mountain biking. They have to buy a bike rack, load up and drive to the gravel. That or ride the road to get there, which isn’t safe. Roads in the suburbs are often the least safe place to ride even though it looks safer than city riding. Most areas either don’t have any cycling infrastructure or it’s disjointed and very poorly designed (paint isn’t infrastructure!). You can ride on the road but pray that someone doesn’t hit you while on their phone or trying to intimidate you. Suburbanite drivers are the worst because they’re always in a hurry and not used to expecting pedestrians or cyclists, unlike the city, plus the speeds are higher.
So, the majority of people who are willing to take that risk plus spend more time and money to ride in the US are naturally going to be the most “hard core” or enthusiast types. The people that get a mental rush from cycling or are into the technology side (it’s their special interest and a primary hobby). Those are the same people that are most likely to care about racing, aerodynamics, etc. So the built environment and vehicle drivers shape the sport and the media only follows the profitable consumer and thus the money from advertisers.
Regarding the bike industry always pushing the latest and greatest: that’s a symptom of the above (activity dominated by racers and hobbyists), a culture of consumerism and a race to the bottom on pricing (due to an increasingly weak middle class). Any mass produced but good bicycle (value bike) can’t succeed because most of the US has been losing purchasing power since the 70s. And there’s more things requiring spending than ever before. So mom and dad buy a cheap bike instead of a value bike, especially as the kid will outgrow it. The cheap bike makers don’t spend money to advertise and grow the market. And the kids don’t get the best experience and they probably live in the suburbs which are the worst places to ride. And parents are uninformed and the least likely to keep buying bikes, so the manufacturers can sell them bike-shaped objects instead of value bikes. Lack of a good bike and good places to ride means hardly anyone has a great childhood cycling experience so they stop riding and the sport shrinks.
Sorry for the lengthy post but this all is intertwined.
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