Now, before you go and get the wrong idea, let me say unequivocally that I love what I do for a living. I believe in bicycles, and I believe in people on bicycles. I have worked in the bike industry for 15 years and I honestly have difficulty seeing myself working in any other. So when I say that I have some ideas about what is wrong with the bike industry in the USA with regard to why more people don't embrace the bicycle as a transportation alternative, or embrace the bicycle at all, you can trust that I have some idea of what I am talking about. To wit--The $18,000 Serotta Meivici AE pictured above with Ford paint make up, to me, is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. And there in lies the problem. The industry is largely run by people who are so focused on performance bikes and how cool they think they are that they seem to have no ability to relate to the world at large and what, from a bicycle and transportation standpoint, might appeal to that world. The industry treats non-enthusiast cyclists as "outsiders". If you stand back and look at the whole picture, you see non-cycling people looked down upon by cycling enthusiasts, and the cycling enthusiasts are looked down upon by the "super-enthusiasts" that are ubiquitous in the industry. We tend to love our products more than we love our customers. Imagine if the auto industry was run entirely by Formula One engineers and you might have a comparison. In the auto industry companies are focused on making products that are usable by the general public. Yes, auto racing is a component of the auto industry, but it is not the driving force behind it. (Sorry for the unintentional pun.) The bike makers are all tripping over each other to try and create these racing bikes for an ever shrinking customer base while all the other categories seem to take a back seat. The bicycle commentator Bike Snob NYC has coined a term that I think crystallizes the issue. He calls it the "carbonification" of cycling. In usual fashion, the industry has collectively decided that if carbon fiber is good for one application it must be good for every application, cost be damned. The marketing of products that range from impractical to ridiculous for most people seems to be the strategy. Okay, if you are an industry wonk I know what your thinking. "There's lots of bikes and products out there for all kinds of riders!" Yeah, that's true, but let's be honest, when you step back and look at the big picture it's pretty obvious we are in love with our products and we jealously try to push away regular people who are not pure enough to be part of the club. There are some efforts afoot to try and get away from this but love is love and it will not be denied!
On the other hand, I am led to optimism whenever I see Gary Fisher at the bike show. For those of you who do not know who Gary is, he is considered one of the founding fathers of the mountain bike boom back in the early 80's and is the spiritual force behind the bicycle brand that wears his name.
Says Gary Fisher "Anyone who rides a bike is a friend of mine". As you can see in this photo, Gary is a unique individual but he embraces every type of bicycle and cyclist in kind.
Everything considered I suppose that, although the yearly ritual of the bike show can be tiresome and I really don't enjoy Las Vegas, I do still enjoy participating and seeing friends to share war stories and lament on the fact that business is never as good as we would like but we are optimistic it will get better. And while the products that I got to see this year are not that different than last year, or the year before, there is always something that captures my eye and stokes the passionate fire of my enthusiasm for that elegant melding of mind, body, and machine that we call "Bicycle".
I think the division of cycling into various groups is hurting the movement. I've seen it at all levels, from the "cyclistas" who will shame you for owing a car, to the weekend only rider who can't imagine riding two miles to work on their $3,000 bike and yet are unwilling to ride anything less expensive because it is below them.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right about that. It will be difficult to effect cultural change in the general population if we can't change it in the industry.
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