Two Things

Image courtesy of Salsa Cycles

Make It Make Sense:

The trade paper, "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News", reported recently that Giant, the Taiwanese based bicycle manufacturer, and brand, of course, saw 22% lower revenue for January than it had a year ago. Trade import numbers are down a record amount to levels not seen in decades. 

So, when a new bicycle gets introduced and you see the price tag increase approximately 2K from a similarly spec'ed previous generation model, it doesn't quite compute. 

Maybe you've seen this advertisement from Trek pop up while scrolling social media. It was an ad with the heading "Whoops! We made too many!". In the ad were about five fat bikes and all the rest were electrified bicycles, some with prices slashed by 50%. 

Brands keep pumping out halo-models with high end, 100% human powered designs while some trade papers are saying electrified bicycle imports are higher than normal bicycle imports for the beginning of 2026. I see every electrified "bicycle-shaped-object" you can imagine being motored up and down my local streets and none of these are bike shop brand e-bikes. 

I received a call at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective the other day from an e-bike owner. His hydraulic brake needed service. Obviously, this is not within our purview, but this person, a Waterloo citizen, has to go to Cedar Falls (admittedly, not that far, but...) to find a full-service bike shop, and then there are only two independent ones. Additionally, if this customer's e-bike is not "the right brand', those two shops won't touch it. 

Oh, and Waterloo is a city of about 70,000+ people, and it doesn't have a bicycle shop. 

Make it make sense. 

Image courtesy of the Wilder 100

Feedback On The "Numbers Not Adding Up" Post:

First of all, a hearty "Thank You" to all who read the article last week and especially to those who took the time to comment. There were great thoughts shared in there. 

One of the thoughts shared is that perhaps gravel cycling is going through a "correction" in terms of participation. This is also something N.Y. Roll and I discussed in our latest podcast. (Spotify link HERE)

Another thought was the social factor isn't there anymore. Another point we spoke about on the podcast as well. But I think what was even more interesting was the comment I read regarding how many do not feel valued, or even seen, because so much focus is on the Pro field these days at gravel events. 

It is true at the "big" events where infrastructure, investment, and  outside media/industry attention is solely focused on elevating the Pro aspect of their events. The comment I found sad was "...in many cases a feeling like "we" aren't even who the event is for anymore." This Pro-focus of events and media/industry seems to be alienating many folks. 

There was an enlightening view expressed that due to how event directors see racing venue design, many events seem too similar. I never thought about this before, but now I can see this and it makes sense. 

On the positive side it seems series events are seen as a way to attend a smaller event without Pro influences and to be able to connect with many of the same folks at each event throughout the season. This also makes sense to me. 

The longer nature of event in some cases was seen as a detriment to continued support from riders in terms of attendance and a barrier to entry. It just takes so much effort and time to train for a longer event. 

And someone hit on the obvious rise in costs. Saying, in contrast to spending a lot to go to a bucket-list event,  "But at now over $200, plus hotel, food, etc. and roads/scenery pretty similar to what I can find close to home in Iowa for free." And this is kind of a killer when it comes to sustainability for these halo gravel events. Once the cycle of folks has had their crack at it, they likely will not come back if they feel alienated, find little social interaction, and had to spend a gob of money to participate in anonymity. 

Of course, it is not all bad news, and many an event will thrive in today's scene, but I would say there are some things changing which give me pause. 

Thanks again to all who read Guitar Ted Productions. 

Bonus: I have a new article up on my Substack, in case you'd like to take a look.