The venerable Rick Vosper wrote about the elephant in the industry – the cycling industry that is. You know what it’s like having an elephant around; it’s that thing that is glaringly obvious yet has no immediate solution so everyone just ignores it. The cycling industry’s elephant is that the industry has undergone essentially zero net growth in the last twenty years. Zero. Small ups, small downs, but essentially has stayed exactly the same. It was a 6 billion dollar industry in 1990 and it’s a 6 billion dollar industry today. That’s right, every company out there is just fighting for a share of the same dollars. No blue oceans, no new markets, no innovation, nada, nothing.
Depressing, eh? If you’re a bike retailer or bike shop owner or have any ambition to make it big in the bike industry, you bet it’s depressing. You’d have to steal market share from either another small retailer, or battle it out with the Big Guns of which there are only a few. You’d have to beat out an enormous juggernaut of a company like Specialized to get any of their market. Good luck with that.
The reasons behind this lack of growth seem mystifying to some. To me, they are fairly obvious. The bike industry never changes, never evolves, never involves new markets or offers anything different than what it’s got. Consider the outdoor industry, which has grown and expanded to provide something for just about everyone. Not the bike industry – it struggles to change the consumer, not offer the consumer what she wants. So it doesn’t grow.
What, specifically, do I mean? Here are the biggest factors in the bike industry’s stunning lack of growth in my opinion:
1. The bike seat problem. I’ve been riding seriously for about seven years now and recreationally for a while before that. I have yet to find one bike saddle that doesn’t cause severe chafing, pressure, numbness, or flat out horrible pain. When I try to get help for this problem I’m met with the same old set of worn, useless pieces of bike shop advice: “Get good shorts.” (Done.) “Use chamois cream.” (Done.) “Get a bike fit.” (Done.) “You just have to get used to it.” (Done, and served up with a healthy dose of STFU. Are men told “get used to it” when they complain of saddle sores? I have to wonder. Any men out there care to report?)
It just doesn’t work. Bike seats are terrible and bike seats for women are inexcuseably bad. It takes a very dedicated person to keep doing something that causes pain, chronic issues, and potential disfigurement. For normal people, if it hurts, they stop. And cycling hurts the most sensitive parts of our bodies. So they stop. And the bike industry just keep churning out the same old seats. Any innovation in bicycle saddle technology is met with some variation of “oh my god, that won’t possibly work, and it looks different so we want nothing to do with it.” Which brings me to the next issue with the bike industry:
2. Form over function AND fashion. The cycling industry keeps telling me I want to wear garish, skin tight, unflattering and horrendously ugly spandex clothing covered in company logos. It tells me I want tall socks and shirts with insane pocket configurations and zero sex appeal. It tries to convince me that arm condoms make more sense than long sleeves. It tells me that full-length bib pants are practical and I shouldn’t mind stripping naked on the side of the road to pee because my cycling pants are basically overalls. It tells me that the very things that can make riding easier and more convenient are so hopelessly uncool that I should be snubbed, made fun of, ignored, or practically shot dead for using them. Think hydration packs, flat pedals, non-spandex pants, loose-fitting clothing, shoes that can be walked in; you name it. If it improves the experience, you’re a shameless nerd and the cycling industry doesn’t want you.
Again, if it sucks to ride a bike because it’s uncomfortable, and, say, you don’t like dislocating your shoulder trying to get a snack out of the pocket inexplicably located at the small of your back, you won’t continue. If you are snubbed by other participants in the sport and urged to do things that make your experience not as enjoyable, you’ll find something else to do.
The cycling industry just cannot accept that the bulk of the potential market does not want to look like they’re wearing a sponsored sausage casing. They want easy access to food and water. They want to wear what they’re comfortable in. They want to do it the way they want to do it. Instead of finding ways to embrace that market, the cycling industry keeps churning out ugly and nonfunctional clothing and actively ridiculing those who would dare to alter the “look” of cycling. There are only so many people who will wear stuff that looks like that, and that’s the current limit of the cycling industry. The industry puts more energy into convincing me that I want to wear long socks than it is in making the socks I would want to buy. It’s backwards. You can’t control the consumer, you have to give the consumer what she wants.
3. Women. Oh, the legion of ways the industry excludes women. My recent favorite example is this article published by Canadian MTB powerhouse web site pinkbike.com, in which the writer manages to alienate female riders everywhere by at once disregarding them (did you know that NO women ride mountain bikes? None at all? If you do happen to ride a bike, you evidently don’t count, because there are none of you in the sport), objectifying them (using a highly airbrushed, pouty glamour shot of a rider NOT riding a bike to illustrate the article), and displaying a forehead-slappingly appalling lack of knowledge of chromosomes (“Why No Y?” Oh my god. And it was published with that name. Shameful). The article wraps up with a condescending “To all the girls, sorry a guy had to write this” as if women like me haven’t been writing about this very issue for years (also, to author Mitchell Scott: We are not “girls.” We are women. If you want “girls” in your sport maybe you should target your article to kindergartens everywhere). Naturally, the article was followed by a barrage of revoltingly sexist and demeaning comments, which are par for the course on mountain biking sites and events and seemingly not subjected to silly things like “moderation” from the site admins and event organizers. Go to a bike industry event and you see women all over the place – stuck out in front of booths like 3-D billboards in thongs and lucite stripper heels. Is that the way to sell women with money on the industry? (Hint: No.)
Well guys, there are plenty of women riding, we’re just not riding with YOU. Go read a forum or look around at a bicycle trade show to figure out why not. Professional women over thirty are a fast-growing consumer market because we have money to spend on ourselves. Lots of us ride bikes and have great careers so why would we spend time with idiots who talk down to us, demean us, and condescend to us? Which brings me to the next factor in bike industry non-growth:
4. Catering to the wrong base. I love this humor piece about types of riders, especially the part about The Racer who “works part time.” Amateurs do get obsessed with bike racing and basically give everything up to do it to try to get sponsored to get free stuff. They even give up their jobs and then they don’t have money to buy cycling stuff. One prominent cycling industry CEO told me bluntly “racers just want free stuff.” Yet the industry falls all over itself making things for racing types while ignoring a huge potential base of customers practically waving cash around and trying to spend it on bike stuff. Meanwhile the industry is kissing the ass of racer types who don’t want to spend money on anything. Again. Backwards.
5. Back to women. Like I said, we have money and we want to spend it. But the bike industry seems to really just not want our money. Go to a bike shop and you’ll see tons of dude stuff and a tiny selection of women stuff. Two saddles for women, one of which is bound to be the Terry Butterfly because bike shop dudes figure that’s the one we all want (no!). Most of the time, zero demo bikes in women’s sizes – usually shops stock M and L frames and that’s pretty much it. So, what, we’re supposed to drop two grand on something we can’t even ride around the parking lot? We have to “special order” our frame size and sit around for six to eight weeks waiting for the mystery bike to arrive and hope that we like it? We’re supposed to be happy with one of the two options for bike seats you give us, or the single pair of shorts you have hanging on the rack? Even if a shop has more than that, it’s all gonna be in the same style and go re-read item 2 if you don’t know why that’s a problem.
6. Buy before you try. I’m pretty gear savvy but even I glaze over after thirty seconds of monologue about the details of component groups. When I buy a bike, I want to go try a bunch of bikes to see what I like, and then pick one and buy it and the bike industry just does not have things set up that way. The buy before you try thing is really damaging to potential market growth. Most people simply cannot and will not (and SHOULD NOT in my opinion) drop thousands of dollars on bikes they can’t try first. You’d never buy a car without a good test drive. Why should you buy a bike without a good few test rides? But since bike shops are just barely scraping by trying to make a living, they can’t afford to keep a fleet of demos. So you can’t try before you buy. So a lot of people don’t buy. Hello! Backwards!
7. Lack of innovation in marketing. The bike industry keeps marketing to itself in a fantastically nonsensical endless loop. Ads and marketing are focused on people who already ride bikes. Companies buy ads in bike magazines and go to bike events. That’s great, but it’s completely ignoring a huge number of potential markets. A few years ago I was negotiating with a high-end boutique bike manufacturer for some consulting work. I tried to convince them of some marketing strategies that would open up new markets and sell more bikes. Instead the company opted to stick with standard bike advertising strategy: a dramatically shadowy studio shot of the bike, placed in a few bike-specific publications. And that’s it. People who already want that bike might like that ad, but people who have never heard of that bike or are just getting into bikes just see a picture of a bike. Or they don’t see it at all, because if they’re not already into bikes they’re not going to buy a bike magazine. Backwards!
There are so many untapped markets out there for the bike industry. I’m not going to list them because, frankly, as a consultant that’s what I get paid to do. If you’re interested in hearing my strategies, hire me to create one for you. It’s so frustrating, though, because when I point out a lucrative market for cycling companies that NO ONE is marketing to, it’s a golden opportunity: fresh meat, free money, no competition – but the bike industry says “no, no, that might set us APART!” And the LAST thing anyone in the bike industry wants to do is to set oneself apart from the norm. Sigh. Backwards. One client turned down my marketing strategy because, though it demonstrated increased profits, the company was afraid of looking uncool to their current base, even though said current base is not buying more bikes from them. A base which, by the way, consists of pinkbike.com/mtbr.com-forum-type douchebags. The company turned down a way to make actual money because they wanted to look cool to the crowd that doesn’t spend money. Needless to say this company has not increased its profits in several years.
Sigh.
There’s a reason bike shops are barely scraping by trying to make a living. Seven reasons, actually, so far, if you have a look above. I’m sure there are more. But I think it comes down to an absolute lack of innovation and a culture of exclusion. The bike industry would rather make fun of someone in a backpack than make a backpack that person would buy. It’s the worst business model ever and if the cycling industry keeps on like this, it deserves to not grow.
Amen, Sister. You are right on – especially the part about the clothing. C’mon, people!
Thanks! I just can’t help but think that’s a significant factor. There are only so many people willing to wear head to toe spandex.
Add to your list of why bike industry isn’t growing – $900 gets you entry level crap & no one cares about you when you buy entry level.
1. Respect all customers no matter what they can afford.
2. Bring back some bang for your buck in tight economic times.
Yep. Go into a bike shop and tell them $900 is your ceiling and watch their faces fall. Then go back the next season and look how the sale prices of those same bikes have cratered. It’s nuts.
I guess I don’t understand how “decent” has to cost so much. Perhaps someone knowledgeable abut those reasons will weigh in.
If this industry wanted to increase market size by an order of magnitude they could lobby cities to make cycling a safe alternative to driving a car. There are thousands of us who would cycle daily in most types of weather if the risk/benefit ratio weren’t tipped in the wrong direction.
Thanks for the comment, good idea! Actually I disagree on this one though. I think we’re seen a lot of advocacy come about over the last 20 years with zero impact on the bottom line of the bike industry. Surely if advocacy would help, we’d have seen at least some indicators that it has.
I think that what you’re talking about is not within the industry’s control. I think you’re talking about a fundamental cultural change in North America that is not likely to happen.
Jill, I’ve been involved in the industry for a good 21 years now, mostly as a mechanic, and been cycling for much longer than that. Well said!
The situation you describe for North America seems to me very similar to the situation in southern Europe. Fortunately it’s quite a bit better in central and northern Europe.
Here in Norway, the lycra-clad billboards are generally nicknamed “Kondomgutta” (condom boys). Like me, a great number of people ride in plain or hiking clothes.
About the saddle issue. I must have the world’s most tender butt and I suffered miserably through years of racing and touring. The foam saddles chafe and the leather ones (the primitive Brooks) hurt to the point of swelling. I’ve also tried every single method of prevention I came to with no success.
Today I ride all day long in plain nylon hiking shorts over merino or polyester boxer briefs (no padding!) without the slightest discomfort. Go to selleanatomica.com and get yourself a Titanico, follow the instructions carefully and learn the bliss of not even thinking of your saddle or butt anymore.
Keep up the great work!
Hi Alex, thanks for stopping by! Condom boys, ha ha, that is a good one. I do like seeing people out riding in normal clothes. It’s so much less fussy that way, and seems to bring a more relaxed vibe to the activity.
I can tell from looking at that saddle it would just be agony, again. I just don’t get why they all have to be shaped like that, and be mostly built for dudes. The saddle thing is such a problem. There are only so many saddles that people can afford to try, which is another follow-up to what Scott posted about price of bikes these days – you drop $2K on a bike and you get a crappy stock seat that you have to replace to the tune of a few hundred bucks, especially if you’re a woman. It’s just bunk.
You can probably tell that bike saddles piss me off.
This is a great write up. I think the fatbike is good example how slow it takes an industry to change. It’s the most practical easy-to-ride bike. I can ride one armed drinking a cup of coffee over a gravel road. Yet after how many years has it taken to mass procude? Oh and I have had terrible saddle sore numb issues and I do get made fun of on my seat selection…. but always with a “huh I need to look at that”. The ISM Adamo or anyone of the ISM seats.
Thanks! Good to see a fellow Alaskan weighing in 🙂
I don’t think ISM makes any seats for women. Who knows, though. Would be nice to try one.
Bummer you’ve had so much trouble with saddles. It took a while, but 4 years ago I found one perfect for me (Gobi XM) and have only had modest saddle sore issues since. Before, I had my share of heinous pain on multi-day rides which took weeks to totally heal. I’m not convinced the category is broken.
That bike shop attitude, and the general vibe of the sport at large, is a barrier to entry seems certain. My question then, given that douchebaggery is in my experience even more endemic to skiing; why does skiing seem to be closer to gender equality? Simple as chair lifts?
Bummer – no pun intended? Heh heh.
I don’t think riding a bike should have to cause pain. It’s evident that the current basic design of a bike saddle is flawed, but if anyone comes out with something different to address the issues, they’re mocked and derided for being non-conformist (biking is a very conformist sport if you ask me).
As for skiing – look at the gear! There are skis and poles and gear and clothes everywhere for women. This was a long time coming in the ski industry but, while not perfect, the ski industry has evolved a lot in the last twenty years.
One consideration – this is only a theory I have that I haven’t researched yet – is that first the outdoor industry and then the ski industry realized that to market to parents and to hook in new participants while they’re kids and likely to become lifetime participants/consumers, they had to market to women. If they left the women out, they wouldn’t get the kids. Now the outdoor industry and the ski industry has both – but the bike industry still doesn’t “get” that marketing to women – and not just marketing to them, but INCLUDING them – is a good business decision.
The bike industry is decades behind the times and its bottom line shows it.
I was surprised by your figures. I thought with the huge growth in triathletes that the bike industry is growing to. I know there are many more bike stores than there used to be in my area.
I ride a Trek bike and I love how much they’ve changed to attract the women audience. I’ve been to a few seminars by Trek catered exclusively to women.
Totally agree with the clothing. I often find myself mocking bikers and then remembering, oh yeah, I bike.
Amazing, isn’t it? I think the bike industry might be making major effort to LOOK like it’s growing, but it’s not.
I like the inclusiveness for women, but I am a little weary of “women’s skills clinics” and “women’s maintenance classes” most of which seemed to be geared towards the beginner. Segregating the bike riding population isn’t the answer, IMO. The industry as a whole needs to think about women as much as they think about men.
Loved this! I’ve seen this exact thing in hockey. They advertise their gear by showing some guy holding a hockey stick while a barely-dressed woman looks on. Obviously the stick will get you a babe. That’s nice. But what I want is to win games. Why would I want to buy something if all it will do is help me attract a woman? Especially when a nice move on the ice will get me the attention of all the men I want.
About bike seats – my other sport is rowing, and seat discomfort is a regular theme just like in biking. What I’ve noticed is that different seats are designed for different widths of the “sit” bones, and different angles as well. I can row in an Empacher for 30K and be as happy as if I was sitting on my couch. 30K in a Vespoli and I ache. One brand of seats just fits my pelvis better, because they are made with different widths and angles. And these are molded plastic seats with no padding! Why can’t bike manufacturers make a woman’s seat that can be adjusted width-wise so it can be tuned to accomodate her pelvis? It shouldn’t be technically difficult. I guess they just don’t understand women’s anatomy – or don’t care.
Yep, that is EXACTLY my point! It’s certainly possible to make better seats. I don’t know why they don’t. I think they are just going on the assumption that we’ll buy what we have to buy if there are no other options, kind of like high altitude mountaineering boots – they say there’s not enough women to buy them but since they don’t even exist, how do they know who is buying what?
So, they can continue churning out painful, agonizing bike seats and watch the industry continue to stagnate. Or, innovate, and give people a less painful experience and bring more people into biking.
The fact that you buy a bike and get a crappy stock seat and then have to get put on the crazy train of finding a good seat that doesn’t hurt you is a huge deterrent to growth in the industry.
Well after being at four North American hand made bike shows, I can tell you I never saw any model/bimbos pushing any bikes there. As for comfy riding, you can always try a recumbent. You may have to find bent dealer in your area. Most stores welcome women and celebrate the fact that they want to try and buy a trike or two wheeled job.
B
I’m in Anchorage, Alaska. We don’t have much in the area in general, let alone anything outside the norm. It’s nice that there’s a subset of the industry that isn’t treating it like a car show (REALLY nice, I tell you), but how many people can afford hand made bikes, custom stuff, etc?
I also don’t think a recumbent is gonna get the job done at the bike park. Nope, they’re just gonna have to make better saddles and better clothes or continue enjoying zero industry growth….
I feel this is worth revisiting this comment to point out that someone showed a bike designed to be shaped like a naked woman at a handmade bike show. So, you’re totally wrong, dude.
I agree about the clothing, but for years I have been riding club rides, commuting, 800mi/3wk tours, and brevets in my own clothing. I wear bike shorts but that’s it. I refuse to wear jerseys. Hate those rear pockets, short sleeves, and advertising. I wear long sleeved LLBean fishing shirts or Patagonia long sleeved Capilene t-‘s (men’s size…longer sleeves and looser fit). Or just my normal clothes for commuting around town. Each of my bikes (I have three) has a Brooks B-66 saddle. The saddles are a bit heavy but oh so comfortable. Nothing hurts. Almost never. (Well, at the end of the 600k brevet I was beginning to get a bit butt sore.) But I agree…there isn’t much out there to entice me to spend money on cycling.
Atta girl! I hate those rear pockets, too. They make no sense. Much of the time they turn a perfectly good shirt into an ill-fitting, uncomfortable horror. The only think I like about jerseys are the zip necks which are not that common in regular shirts.
I like seeing people out on the trails in regular clothes, just having fun. The spandex shorts are kind of a must but the rest of it is all fairly contrived if you ask me.
That’s a great description of the never changing state of the “cycling industry” and it really applies to a bunch of guys as well… any bike that’s not a racing bike like a carbon road or mountain trail bomber hardly sees the light of day in 99% of “bike shops”. Even guys might be into a practical commuter or suitable city bike to ride comfortably to an “destination” in regular clothes! I have a fleet of severely discounted “different” bikes from bike shops that are near perfect ‘transportation” and not all the seats totally sucked. The bike shops had NO CLUE how to relate to or sell these bikes to anyone! Bike shopping in a country such as Denmark (where I visited) is more like buying a car here, bikes are fitted (several sizes, men’s and step-through frames) and ready to test ride. No extra “stuff” to buy since they already come with lights, kickstands, racks, tools, fenders, etc.
Hi Paul, thanks for your comment.
I’m sure that guys have their gripes as well and your post is a good reminder that it’s not all perfect on that side of the gender divide either.
It’s true that bike shops are not places for beginners to look for bikes which seems really backwards. It all but drives them to big box stores and there they stay for the remainder of their consumer careers.
[…] The Cycling Industry’s Elephant: This piece on GearGals is one I shared with the Women in the Bicycle Industry LinkedIn group. It captures many thoughts and experiences I’ve had over the years and reflects my belief that the industry hasn’t yet tapped into the real market of “the shopping species” in a big way. […]
So here’s my question: when is it time for women to step up and take control of the situation? When I look at the Whitehorse scene for mountain biking I think it’s really women friendly. The shops have women salespeople, buy women friendly clothes (and fashionable ones in my opinion) and more than 1/2 of the club is of the female variety. Why? Because 3 years ago women took over the club executive. It’s women who have planned the schedulers, planned the races, planned the events and I think this has changed the community.
What happened when women started riding and becoming at least 50% of the cycling population? The shop starting carrying sexy components, sexy clothes, and sexy seats that don’t ruin your labia. And I’m betting that the shop has done well financially because of this.
I think that women can change their mountain biking community, but it means being involved at every level.
HOWEVER, I would argue that the biggest problem with the cycling industry is their inability to speak frankly. I don’t care about the spandex in a short – will it chafe my labia? Will the seat press uncomfortably on my clitoris? Will the chamois cream cause unnecessary irritation to my vulva? How can a sport that involves placing your genitalia onto a small saddle never, ever talk bluntly about anatomy.
WORD.
This was going to be my next article. It’s taken years to get to know my local shop guys enough to kind of hem and haw euphemistically about exactly where the saddle might be hurting me.
Sometimes I want to give the cycling industry an anatomy test. Do they even know where the clitoris is? I’ve read a few responses from the copy of this article that was posted in Bicycle Times, and some of the snottier dudes think I’m way out of line for pointing out that bike seats hurt. One guy thought I should HTFU (don’t even get me started) because “men have been losing testicles for decades” for this sport. HELLO???!?!? This is a PROBLEM. No one should have disfigured genitalia from a sport.
I do think that your city has a very, very unique women-centric vibe that, from what I can see, has only served to enhance the quality of life for everyone there.