Op Ed: The death of the local bike shop

 We could lose all local bike shops in as little as 10 years.

Industry call to action, written by Johnny Guzman

I have worked in at least two industries that be fallen victim to obsolescence. Around 15 years ago, I worked a short stint at a camera store that sold digital cameras and had one hour film processing. Today, there are no longer any camera shops that sell speciality equipment.  There are a few long standing hobbyists stores that cater to a very niche clientele, but as a whole, the film industry has completely disappeared and professional photography equipment can now be bought online. Most professional photographers will rent studio equipment and darkroom services instead of buying the supplies themselves outright. The tightening economy has pushed most event photographers out of the trade as people no longer place the same emphasis on photography for weddings and graduations as they did in the past. Most people no longer even print their own photos, rather they are saved on the Cloud or on electronic devices, in most cases. Photo books are becoming relics of a bygone era, a time where people cared to hold onto the memories of their best moments or their loved ones. A society without pictures is a less united one. While the world may have gotten more technologically connected, it has also never been as isolated. The absence of pictures in our lives are one contributing factor.

There is another industry that is on the brink of sharing the same outcome as the photography trade. Since the late 1800's, the bicycle shop has been a staple of most communities around the world. Where bicycles remain the dominant form of transportation, these shops are still thriving and doing well. We should all know by now where these places are; western Europe, the developing world and about maybe one or two US cities. That's it. If you are a bike shop owner or an employee in one of these areas, consider yourself fortunate that you will enjoy longevity in your trade and good job security. Bike shops that reside outside of these parameters are now on the chopping block. 

There are a few events and developments that are not working in favor of the local bike shops as they have been used to operating.  Let's go through each one by one and see if there is any solution to this outsized problem bike shops are facing. While this op-ed will likely fall on deaf ears, it is important to talk about this as both a cyclist and as someone who's worked years in the industry. I could not, in good conscience, bite my tongue after all of the years of joy cycling has given me.  

Direct To Consumer- Online retail is here to stay. It is the new modus operandi by which the world purchases goods and services. Therefore, if you are carrying any product that can be bought online, chances are that good or service will be bought online first. There is no getting around this. Some manufacturers offer ship to store and only allow online transactions if their product is picked up from a retailer acting as a distributor. They are quickly finding that by keeping the middle man alive, they are losing profit share in the transaction that they could have for themselves. Therefore, slowly but surely most manufacturers of bicycles are moving away from the storefront model and offering their products exclusively online. 

Direct to consumer brands are better than they have ever been. Generic brand bicycles are now of outstanding quality and performance. One of the best examples of this is Canyon bikes. Canyon launched their direct to consumer model to the US market just a couple of years ago and have become a massively popular bicycle in the local cycling scene, especially as it pertains to gravel bikes. They are on par or of higher quality spec for spec than anything Trek, Specialized or Giant has to offer. Coming in on average a few thousand dollars less than the competition on their flagship models, Canyon is eating a sizeable dent at brands that are commonly only distributed through bike shops.

Canyon is premium example of a value packed product that is leagues above what it's competitors are able to offer for a similar price. Quality is now being seen across the board and trickling down in ways that it never has in the past. Even the second tier and budget bikes are much better specced, more durable and feature technology that only a few years ago was on the most expensive bicycles. Bikes Direct and Bikes Online are leading the charge in high quality, industry standard bicycles under $2000. In most cases, a top range bike can be had on their websites for less than $1500. This trend continues all the way down the board to the $300 bikes I have seen on some websites recently. All built with industry standards and quality parts, the right way. It is nearly impossible for most brick and mortars to compete with the current prices on what is found online. The "bicycle shaped object" argument has gone out the window. There are now $300 real bicycles that can be bought and shipped to your door in a couple of days time.

Aging Demographics- It's time to address the elephant in the room, especially as it relates to road cycling. The Lance Armstrong era fanboys are getting older, slower and losing interest in cycling in general. Many of them stopped riding during the pandemic and never got back on their bikes. Group rides are starting to disappear and clubs aren't doing enough to be inclusive to new riders. Technology has once again created a strong pull away from outdoor activities and into activities involving screen time, such as virtual rides on Zwift and Rouvy. Therefore, the newer generation of would be cyclists are usually riding from the comfort of their living rooms on their Peloton or Zwift trainers, away from the condescending and judgemental stares of the gatekeepers at the local cycling club. 

Bicycle retail has not done a good job to expand their market to include other consumer demographics either. Shops that once sold bikes for the family, kids bikes and cruisers have now become elitist, high end boutiques where the most expensive bikes and components hang on the shelves like jewelry. Consumers feel not only judged, but now priced out of these businesses that seem to only want to cater to the 1%.

The problem is, bike shops are running out of suckers and old heads to sell their expensive gear to. As more middle aged and older white guys drop out of cycling's ranks, inventory starts piling high on the shelves because the reality is, 99% of people could care less about the latest Campagnolo groupset or getting a Di2 conversion on their existing bikes. A dad looking for a bike to ride to school with his kids is not even going to notice the difference between his stock 30 cent jockey pulley and a $500 Ceramicspeed one. 

Here's the thing, If I'm going to write an article about this with some journalistic integrity, I have to lose my neutral position here for a second. The industry as a whole has had plenty of softball opportunities to be more inclusive to other ages, nationalities, women and cultures throughout the years. It could have promoted champions like Biniam Girmay, Nairo Quintana, Egan Bernal and so forth, guys that in spite of the system working against them, have gone on to win some of the biggest events in the sport. Bicycle retailers and outlets have massively dropped the ball and missed a huge marketing opportunity. After all these years, the customers that bike shops want are still the middle to upper class suburban white guys between the ages of 30 and 65 years old. In other words, the same customers that play golf. Cycling is not and never will be the new golf. The problem is that the industry has been dead set in their minds to believe that it is. 

Racing is killing Cycling- Competition is killing the bike shop environment. It has created a Ferrari like mindset in the way bike shops are doing business. Ferrari is a race club first and a car company second. When you buy a Ferrari, you have to abide by the club rules which determine even what color you are allowed to paint your vehicle. This Ferrari mindset can be seen in the way shops treat their customers. New hires are not salespeople. They are full time elitist cyclists and only work to maintain their cycling passion projects. Mechanics are also not actually professional mechanics. They only work on the bikes that they sell or have experience working on. That means, a lot of sales and a lot of service is being turned away at the doors. That means dollar bills sprouting wings and just flying away from the registers. Customer service is on a decline as whole, throughout all industries. For years, decades even, customer service has been severely lacking in the bike shop environment. Part of this can be attributed to the fact that shops simply don't hire the right people. When they hire someone who has the right work ethic, they don't invest in that employee for the long term. Rather, they employ in their ranks a revolving door of low skilled, low paid club members when they could of hired experienced individuals that know how to make the store more profitable.

Bike shops have not done enough to be represented in their local chambers of commerce or local city councils where important decisions on infrastructure are being made. They could encourage other businesses to have bicycle racks in front of their storefronts, for example. They could work with local law enforcement servicing fleets of police bicycles. They could pitch the idea of a bike share to the city council, or have input on where bike lanes or sharrows could be placed. There is simply not enough interest from the cycling industry to care about it's own self preservation. This is because the industry has hedged all of its efforts on the racing scene, not realizing that the future of cycling is on the roads where access has to be fought for. Roadies just ride on the roads at their own peril while commuter and vehicular cyclists share same risks without deserving the same vitriol. Cycling is vilified because competitive elites are in charge of the industry, and those guys don't use bike lanes.

We have seen the cycling industry go through about 3 boom and bust cycles in just the past 3-4 years. Too much inventory, too little inventory. Prices above MSRP one year to slashing prices at below manufacturer cost the next. This yo-yoing of the industry is unsustainable and any sane person who has an opportunity to find secure, stable work would jump ship at the first opportunity. I have witnessed this charade go on for about 15 years now. If bike shops have not learned the lesson yet, then I doubt they ever will. I left the bicycle trade about 2 years ago to focus on being a stay at home dad. There is no way I will return to it now. I don't want to go work for another trade that will be obsolete in 5-10 years. That would be like working at another camera store.