Observations

Stan's products recently reviewed here.

 I was considering how 2026 has been a little quiet in terms of new products recently. While I am far from being "in-tune" with the latest goings on with the bicycle industry, it is not hard to see the void in news over the Summer. 

This has been reflected in reviews I've seen and in terms of reviews I've been asked to do as well. There just seems to be a quiet all along the cycling continuum in terms of releases and innovations. 

I think there are some obvious reasons for this. The economy being one. Lack of buyer enthusiasm another. But I think there is one hidden driver in this which many of you may have not considered. 

In terms of marketing, the cycling industry gets a lot of criticism from its audience. While it may seem the marketing departments at cycling brands and the independent market firms have too much weight in terms of what we get to choose from, this industry pales in comparison to most others. 

Automotive has a huge, over-arching impact on not only its market, but on entire economies. Consumer electronics dwarfs the impact of cycling brands.The amounts of money being slung around by those marketing departments would make cycling brand budgets look silly. 

I point this out because any dip in marketing, research and development, or investments in the cycling industry have far more impact on the market in terms of percentages compared to the massive amounts of money being thrown around in other industries. We feel this in subtle ways. One of those ways is in terms of new product introductions. 

In 2011, the cycling industry decided for you that 650B MTB was going to be the "enduro bike" standard. So out with 26" wheels, forget about 29"ers - those wheels would never work in a long travel application - and get ready for 27.5"ers! So much horsepower was diverted toward this movement that, as a reviewer of all things 29"er at the time, I felt immediate impact. 

Ad dollars for the 29"er site dried up. Test bikes and 29"er specific stuff was rare to get our hands on. We almost shuttered the deal in 2012 it was so bad. But then the tide turned again, and 29"ers began to overtake 650B in the enduro field, and elsewhere, so the site soldiered on for a few more years.  

That example is what is happening now, it's just that the categories are different now. Gravel racing, e-MTB, and now 32"ers, are where you are seeing the money being directed toward these days. Cycling categories outside of this aren't getting much attention, unless you want to lump in the pseudo-gravel bikes called "endurance bikes" into this mix. It's still about Gravel™, so whatever. 

This combined with the economic stresses we are weathering is really putting a cap on newer innovations, introductions, and the reviews and news which follows that.