bicycleretailer.

com August 15, 2018

Vol. 27
Number 14

E-bike market report

Will e-road
Bikes Take ofF?
Lighter, svelte drive units hide
battery inside downtube or rear hub,
providing riders a boost up hills.
By Doug McClellan

I t was a hard-to-miss trend at Eurobike this year. Electric

drive systems are now appearing on the holiest of holy
bikes: the high-end performance road bike.
Several brands, including classic road bike brands like
Pinarello, Wilier Triestina, Bianchi and Focus, have launched
new e-road bike models, and other brands are queuing up
their own offerings.
Many of these bikes are coming to the U.S. market — but
not as quickly as their brands would prefer. That’s because the
Continues on page 14

Suppliers ramp up
training as shops
embrace e-bikes
By Val Vanderpool

IRVINE, Calif. — When Bosch first began offering e-bike

service training courses in the U.S. in 2014, it often wasn’t
easy to get retailers on board.
But today, despite offering courses in 70 cities during
the off-season and ongoing training year round in all cor-
ners of the country via tech reps, Bosch almost can’t keep
up with demand.
“In the beginning, we really had to work to sell the train-
ing, but this has changed. Now we are getting approached
by dealers,” said Claudia Wasko, vice president and general
manager for Bosch eBike Systems Americas. “We’ve had to
add more trainings in some cities because we had too many
dealers who wanted to sign up. One significant change over
last year is we’re seeing more East Coast shops becoming
very e-bike savvy, and we have had multiple shops there
asking for training.”
Pinarello unveiled its Nytro e-road From September 2017 through March 2018, Bosch
bike last fall. The bike specs the
Fazua Evation drive system, which is
trained 761 shops, averaging about two staff members per
awaiting U.S. regulatory approval. Continues on page 12
 M800 MINI MID MOTOR SYSTEM
FOR E-ROAD RACING STYLE BIKES, INCLUDING GRAVEL AND CYCLOCROSS:
200 W output and a max torque of 55 Nm, system weight: less than 4.4 kg,
double chainring compatibility, InTube battery with 200Wh, quiet and low
resistance operation. MASERATI MC TROFEO

Test the new M800 at the Interbike test track.

bafang-e.com

NEW

M800 | 55 Nm

Booth 4107 & test track

 August 15, 2018 3

In this Issue
6 Cervélo onshores bike assembly to Santa Cruz facility

6 Accell North America changes drop-ship fee structure

7 DemoWorx connects brands, consumers through experience

8 E-bikes and gravel bikes push supplier dollars up in first half

9 Dave Whittingham remembered following untimely passing

15 E-bikes selling strong to both retailers and consumers

17 Suppliers deal with e-bike tariffs stateside and in Europe

17 10 states have e-bike laws on the books, more to come

The Orbea Gain e-road

bike will be available at
U.S. retailers in the fall.
See cover story for more.

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4 reader
feedback
Kansas City Dealer Tour
Published June 15 issue
I really enjoyed your article highlighting your recent
Kansas City tour. I know folks down in the KC Metro as
well as rural areas, and I love their energy and optimistic
worldview. So it wasn’t all that surprising to discover that
you had a great time there. We have much the same vibe
just north in central Iowa. Lots of new cyclists, friendly
industry people, a welcoming culture, a really good bike
show (in January) and so on. Life is good. Thanks again.
— Bob Sharpe, via email
Consumer shares bike
buying frustrations
When my 22-year-old commuter bike suddenly had a
rear tire explode this week while I was in the post office,
I decided it was time to consider a new bicycle with the
latest in hydraulic disc braking, dirt free hub drive, sure-
footed tires, and stable handling.
Yesterday I visited seven of the largest dealers in the
Orlando area, traveling over 100 miles looking for a new
bicycle. I reviewed hundreds of websites in the USA,
Europe and Singapore looking for a bicycle that would
fit my requirements. I have a history as head of product
design in a New York product design company, so an at-
tractive bicycle was necessary to motivate me to make a
purchase.
The bicycles I was presented with were the ugliest,
most disgusting lot in my 58-year history riding Europe-
GOT A COMMENT? www.facebook.com/bicycleretailer I
PeopleForBikes and the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association
are advancing progressive e-bike policies in local, state and
federal governments and developing resources that make it
easy to find great places to ride an e-bike.
Learn more at peopleforbikes.org/e-bikes
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
an and American lightweight multi-speed bikes, includ-
ing bikes from companies that just declared bankruptcy,
companies that had no stock in my size in any warehouse
or on the water. Nearly every bike was an ugly gray in
matte finish, black, dead negative finishes of no describ-
able color, and just plain uninspiring to any customer.
Has the entire bicycle industry gone mad? Twen-
ty years ago in medical product design we found sales
climbed 200 percent when these colors were phased out
and replaced by something that would motivate buyers
to make a purchase. What happened to an elegant Pearl
White like the Schindelhauer Ludwig VIII of Germany?
The metallic burgundy like the Urban 5.0 by Canyon? The
old Ferrari Red of the Masi Team 3V? It is true there are a
few low-end bikes on the market with color, but the deal-
ers I visited yesterday had hundreds of the dullest, most
negative colors in history. Even when I was presented
with a bicycle marked down $500, I could not make the
purchase because it looked so bad in dull, matte finished
black. I would have to strip down the frame and repaint
it. Hardly a motivation to buy any bicycle in the lot.
There is such a thing as pride in ownership among
serious bicycle customers. There is such a thing as com-
pliments from other riders you ride with or see on the
street. Clearly more than 90 percent of the bicycles on
the market have no such attractive features as a paint
finish to inspire customers to buy. How is the bicycle in-
dustry going to survive such a collective self-destructive
trend in product presentation? In the product design
field, product color selection is critical to success or fail-
ure of any product.
It looks like bicycle manufacturers have decided to
commit suicide.
— Jack Wilderson, via email
@BicycleRetailer I lcarpiet@bicycleretailer.com
Editor’s Note: Jack Wilkerson eventually purchased a 2016
Breezer Beltway. He planned to repaint it and have a friend
pinstripe it.
Opinion from PBMA’s James
Stanfill: Value our time
Published July 30, Bicycleretailer.com
Typical bike industry perspective: “I see a value in
something I do, so I’m going to convince a customer
to see it too.” In what retail space involving something
more or less complex than bikes which is a recreational
luxury, will a consumer, who buys EVERYTHING on-
line and knows how to use a Google, consider bike buy-
ing ‘advice’ a value worth paying for?
Here’s the deal: You and every person in the indus-
try need to evaluate, not guess, what the cost of doing
business is TODAY and then evaluate, not guess, con-
sumer buying habits. Consumers are empowered more
than ever. That customer calling you envisions that call
as a more personal version of Google. Believing any-
thing else is arrogant.
Your years of knowledge do not hold a candle to
the information a customer can search elsewhere for.
Please quit pretending it does as everyone in this in-
dustry keeps believing and relying on it as if things are
going to somehow make customers stop, do a complete
turnaround, and start making it rain every time you
open your mouth.
— John Hamm
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August 15, 2018 5
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6 in the
news
Onshoring assembly allows Cervélo to shorten lead times
By Lynette Carpiet The factory assembles Cervélo
bikes specifically for the North Ameri-
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Employees at can market, including U.S. and Canada.
Santa Cruz Bicycles headquarters heard Santa Cruz and Juliana bikes distribut-
about it in November 2016, the day af- ed globally are assembled here as well.
ter the presidential election. That parent Graney said most people don’t
company Pon Holdings would onshore know that Santa Cruz assembles all of
Cervélo’s bike assembly from Taiwan its bikes stateside, but it’s something the
to Santa Cruz, California. But it wasn’t company has done since its start, main-
until this summer that the assembly of ly to provide customers options.
Cervélo bikes finally went live. “We have a warehouse full of compo-

Photo courtesy Santa Cruz Bicycles

Pon acquired Cervélo in 2012 and
Santa Cruz and Juliana in 2015. It also
owns a handful of other brands includ-
ing Focus, Gazelle, Kalkhoff and Fara-
day.
To be able to take on production
of Cervélo in the factory where Santa
Cruz and Juliana bikes are assembled,
the company doubled the size of its
footprint, adding 50,000 square feet to
handle the increased volume of parts
inventory, assembled bikes and an ex-
panded production line. It also retooled
a number of its fixtures and assembly
stations to accommodate road bikes
with aero seatposts and different types
of bottom brackets.
Cervélo bikes are coming off the
same assembly line as Santa Cruz and
Juliana bikes, said Joe Graney, CEO of
Santa Cruz Bicycles, and COO of Pon
Bike North America.
“It’s the same line but more of it,” he
said. “There’s more staff. We’ve been
growing pretty steadily with additional
warehouse people, component prep as
well as people on the line. For us, it’s just
additional volume.”
About 90 to 100 people work in the
warehouse and production department
out of nearly 200 employees at the for-
mer Wrigley chewing gum factory. To
expand its footprint in the historic
building, which houses other business-
es, Graney said they worked to move
several government agencies to new of-
fices within the building so they could
take up their space.
Graney declined to disclose exactly
how many bikes are assembled in this
facility, but said capacity is a few hun-
Assembly lead Zach Wilson ushers a Cervélo R3 through a pilot production run at
Santa Cruz Bicycles’ U.S. headquarters and assembly operation. The company is
onshoring Cervélo assembly to the same facility in Santa Cruz, California, where
Santa Cruz Bicycles assembles its bikes. Both brands are part of Dutch conglomerate
Pon Holdings’ bicycle division.
dred a day. Workers also assemble Re-
serve mountain bike carbon wheels
spec’d on Santa Cruz bikes here.
Before onshoring Cervélo’s assem-
bly, its bikes were put together by a
third-party assembler in Taiwan.
Graney said moving assembly to
the U.S. made sense for a few reasons.
“The first reason is to be able to offer ad-
ditional options and customization to
the product line. That’s difficult to do
when your supplier is 6,000 miles away,”
Graney said.
“The other reason is there’s an agil-
ity and speed aspect to it. When you as-
semble in Taiwan you commit to an or-
der. Any delays trickle downward. You
wait for bikes to be loaded to a contain-
er, a minimum quantity is built togeth-
er and shipped on a boat. They go to a
warehouse somewhere and are shipped
to a retailer from there. All those things
add up to a fairly long lead time. If you
made predictions for demand planning,
you can’t change them for a long time.
That leads to perpetual out-of-stock or
too much inventory scenarios.”
nents and we wait until the order comes
from a retailer and assemble the bike in
the configuration they want and ship
it out,” he said. “It’s a practical matter
to offer options for mountain bikers in
colors, tires, wheel sizes and materials.
“Most people are surprised, general-
ly, that this sort of thing happens and
especially here,” he added.
The former Wrigley building also
houses a U.S. sales office for Gazelle,
another Pon brand, but manufactur-
ing of Gazelle’s e-bikes and operations
will remain in the Netherlands. Pon has
“We stock product here and config- two large factories in Europe, in Dier-
ure it as is necessary and it shortens the en, Holland, and Cloppenburg, Germa-
supply chain that extends into Asia,” he ny, where it manufactures bikes and e-
added. bikes.
Graney admits that in doing assem- Cervélo will continue to be head-
bly, they take on the inventory risk as quartered in Toronto, its operations
a supplier rather than relying on large hub, but Graney said the Santa Cruz fa-
prebooked orders from retailers and cility is recruiting for inside sales, de-
basing their demand planning on that. mand planning and purchasing for Cer-
“We assume much more of the risk vélo out of the California office.
than a typical bike company would. We Graney said he’s proud to be able to
try to balance the risk. There’s a level onshore bike assembly from Taiwan to
you can deal with. This is our category. California, and to receive the backing of
For Cervélo it’s high-end road and tri, Pon to make the move. He admits, how-
for Santa Cruz it’s high-end mountain ever, that if it was a decision made today,
bikes. You can really hone in on that. perhaps it wouldn’t be as easily green-
What some business people see as risk lighted in light of new proposed tariffs
we see as a competitive advantage.” on parts and bikes.
Onshoring Cervélo’s assembly didn’t “Those guys were fully supportive
change pricing on the bikes. Graney of us making that move two years ago.
said since bikes are built to order, re- If we would propose that today, there
tailers can expect their orders to ship would be a lot more questions,” he said.
from the Santa Cruz warehouse in 24 “We’re not sure where the tariffs discus-
to 72 hours, depending on how long the sion is going and whether expanding
build queue is. Summer season is the production in the U.S. makes sense. I
high season so the queue is longer than hope there aren’t any moves that would
in winter. impact it negatively.”

Accell NA changes drop-ship fees as it works through inventory

KENT, Wash. — Accell North America ers and it’s a step to begin to put a struc- retailers that were problematic and this it at the same wholesale price,” he added.
has updated its fee structure for drop ture together to enable the company to action is allowing us to do that for brick- Still, the move caught some by sur-
shipments as of Aug. 1. The company rebuild its brick-and-mortar business. and-mortar retailers. We know that in prise.
said the change will help it cover costs “We entered the year having to clean some instances it’s helpful when we have “We were given a two-business-day
to hold and store inventory available to up excess inventory from the fallout of a stocking dealer that is drop shipping a notice of this drastic change resulting in
sell, as well as to cover logistical costs as- sporting goods last year,” he said, adding bike or needs to drop ship a bike to a con- us having to quickly scramble to readjust
sociated with shipping to different types that as a result many e-commerce retail- sumer. But it’s generally not the customer our business strategy,” said one anony-
of locations. ers sold off product and were competing experience we want,” he added. mous retailer, who emailed BRAIN.
Rather than a flat rate, ANA will as- on the basis of price. A lot of this excess Pizzi said a handful of retailers had “It’s just window dressing to cut out
sess a 15 percent fee to drop ship bikes to and end of life product didn’t have MAP a substantial e-commerce business and the companies that bailed them out when
consumers’ doorsteps. pricing as its inline product does and it would be impacted by the move but for they were in need, without care to rela-
Larry Pizzi, head of sales for ANA was nearly impossible for ANA to police. the majority of its brick-and-mortar deal- tionships,” this retailer wrote. “With two
and head of its e-bike business, said the “Now almost all of the excess inven- ers, pricing hasn’t changed at all. business days notice, hardly ample time
change in drop-shipment policies was tory is gone and we felt it’s time to dis- “If a stocking dealer bought a single for any business to prepare for a shift in
done to protect its brick and mortar deal- courage that. We had to eliminate those unit from our warehouse, they would get their business.”
 August 15, 2018 7

DemoWorx connects consumers with brands through demo experience

By Val Vanderpool
FOLSOM, Calif. — It was his own experience trying to demo a
bike he was interested in purchasing that ultimately led longtime
sales rep Brendan Gecik to launch his new multibrand demo
management company, DemoWorx.
Like many, Gecik started the process online, where he nar-
rowed down choices based on reviews and other research. After
landing on a model from Transition, Gecik turned to the brand’s
dealer locator to find a nearby retailer.
“They only had one in stock,” Gecik said. “They said they were
on the dealer locator but weren’t sure if they would even contin-
ue carrying the brand. So they offered me an EP deal on another
brand since I was in the industry.”
so they can follow up if the customer doesn’t buy who are looking for an increased footprint in the
right away. marketplace but don’t have the capacity to run their
DemoWorx will also add a one-on-one concierge own demos.
service where a customer can book a bike for a fee “That the average demo program cost is about
and ride it on their home roads and trails for 48 hours. $250,000 the first year, mostly in the vehicle and
Plans are also in the works to host mid-week corpo- equipment, and every year after that is about $75,000
rate events with Google, Facebook and other com- to maintain,” Gecik said. “We’re doing it on a small
panies with strong cycling communities. scale and not covering the whole country so we can
Brand partnerships will work on a contract fee, do it for a lot less.”
with the company supplying the product. Gecik said Gecik said DemoWorx still has space on the truck
it is a fraction of the cost of investing in a demo pro- for more brands. He can be reached at Brendan@
gram, making it more digestible for smaller brands demo-worx.com.

“That the average demo program cost is about

$250,000 the first year, mostly in the vehicle and
equipment, and every year after that is about
$75,000 to maintain. We’re doing it on a small
scale and not covering the whole country so we
can do it for a lot less.”
— Brendan Gecik, DemoWorx founder

That experience got Gecik thinking about how it could have

turned out differently if a demo would have been in his area.
“I was committed to the buying process and just wanted to
check the size. If there had been a demo scheduled in the next
two weeks where I could have ridden the bike, the process would
have been solidified,” he said. “And the brand wouldn’t have lost
that sale.”
Gecik also drew from his experience as an outside sales rep
and more recently, sales manager at Highway Two, as he came
up with the DemoWorx concept.
“I have pretty extensive knowledge of how bike sales work and
what the landscape looks like for small brands and how hard it
can be to get into shops. And one of the biggest hurdles is getting
product in front of consumers when they’re ready to buy,” he said.
“I realized everybody has the same struggle at retail. Having good
product doesn’t mean people want to jump on board with you.”
DemoWorx will give consumers the opportunity to see and
ride bikes rarely found on showroom floors via regularly sched-
uled demos. It will facilitate sales either through nearby retailers
or brands if they sell consumer direct.
Besides bikes, DemoWorx will also have some parts and ac-
cessories available on the truck for demo, which so far includes
product from CrankBrothers and Fizik, and other tire, suspen-
sion, apparel and helmet brands coming on soon. Gecik is in
the process of finalizing bike brands and plans to cap it at five to
keep the selection manageable (visit demo-worx.com to see the
most current bike list).
The demo tour will begin in California starting in September.
The demos will take place at trailheads or other public spaces, in-
cluding partner coffee shops, breweries and restaurants. The first
event will be held at The Pedaler’s Fork restaurant in Calabasas,
California, near Los Angeles. Gecik said the company looks to
expand to other markets in the future, including Colorado, Texas
and the Pacific Northwest.
“We don’t want to take away from current demo efforts, but
even for brands with a large demo presence, they’re still spread
out,” Gecik said. “A lot of companies come to California, which
is a vitally important market, only maybe twice per year. And
the hope is that they’re connecting with consumers during the
buying process, that when they come to town, they’ll find those
customers. We want to have a robust enough process where we
are demoing two weekends per month, so 48 times per year,
throughout the state.”
Gecik said demo events will be staffed to allow for time
to be spent with each customer to talk through the buying
process. Contact information will also be shared with brands
8

E-bikes, gravel bikes push dollar business up for suppliers through first half
By Lynette Carpiet This suggests that suppliers are selling pricier “E-bikes are kicking butt finally,” he added. “I think we have a
bikes to dealers, and could reflect the impact of high- long way to go. It’s 3 percent of units and 10 percent of revenue
BOULDER, Colo. — Bicycle Product Suppliers As- er-value e-bikes. Shipments of electric bikes were up right now. Mainstream is considered 15 percent. We’re far from
sociation members shipped fewer bikes to dealers a whopping 83 percent through the first half. mainstream. There are still a lot of dealers who haven’t accepted
through the first half of the year, compared to last Larry Pizzi, president of Raleigh Electric and the fact that they’re here to stay and will be a substantive part of
year. But even so, they tallied more dollar business. chair of the BPSA’s e-bike committee, said e-bikes business in coming years.”
Suppliers shipped 73,795 fewer bikes to retailers are bringing up dollar sales overall for the industry Bernie Doering, chair of the BPSA statistics committee and
through the first six months of the year — a 6.4 per- where units are down. senior vice president of global sales/marketing for Stages Cycling,
cent drop from last year. But, through June, suppliers’ “It’s e-bikes. The higher ASP (average selling price) said e-bikes are certainly pushing dollars up, but so are gravel
business with retailers totaled $564.7 million, or up is more than a couple thousand dollars a unit. That bikes, which tend to be a little more expensive, and Trek’s Proj-
6.1 percent from $532 million last year. makes up for a lot of that drop-off,” he said. ect One, which is seeing growth in business. “It’s a combination
of a lot of things,” Doering said.

Top 5 growth categories in dollars

(Supplier to dealer sales)

YTD sales Up from 2017 % change

Road-Other $46,014,184 $26,143,266 131.6%
Electric $56,646,452 $24,788,680 77.8%
Full sus. 29 $39,701,468 $9,222,862 30.3%
Road-cyclocross $16,064,698 $9,162,387 132.7%
Full sus. 27.5 $53,811,782 $5,117,280 10.5%
Source: BPSA Sell-In Report, Jan-June 2018

Supplier sales of gravel/adventure and wider-tire drop bar

bikes are currently captured in the BPSA’s monthly reports un-
der “cross” and “road other” which are subcategories of the larger
road bike category.
Doering said BPSA members are currently debating whether
gravel is sizeable enough to break out into its own category. The
big challenge is in how brands categorize the bikes.
“Not everybody categorizes a ‘cross bike the same way and
it’s also the same with gravel,” he said. “There are discrepancies
with different brands. Some of them just put ‘cross and gravel
bikes in the ‘other’ subcategory. It’s hard because we don’t parse
out what every brand does and how they calculate and catego-
rize bikes,” he added.
Regardless of whether they count them as cyclocross or
road/other, it seems both of these categories are capturing wide
tired, disc-brake-equipped drop-bar models as suggested by
$3,200 MSRP unit growth of 43 and 64 percent, respectively, helping hoist the
road category shipments’ total value to $149.75 million, up from
2-STAR NX EAGLE $135.73 million for the same period a year ago.
FORK: FOX 34 FLOAT RHYTHM But despite adventure/gravel bike gains, shipments to retail-
WHEELS: NINER ALLOY ers of drop-bar bikes overall declined 1.5 percent.
CONTROL KIT: ALLOY Shipment declines were seen across most categories through
the first half. Besides e-bikes, the exceptions were BMX, which
was up 21 percent compared to the same period last year, and full

THE NX EAGLE HAS LANDED suspension 29ers, which were up 21 percent as well. Shipments
of lifestyle/leisure bikes were up a modest 3.5 percent.
“All of us road bike people are fleeing to the mountain to

INTRODUCING THE REVAMPED JET 9 avoid drivers on their cell phones,” noted Pizzi, referring to the
growth in 29ers. “I broke my collarbone four weeks ago crash-
ing my mountain bike exactly for that reason.
“Thank goodness for mountain bikes. It’s a lot of enthusiasts
shifting from road bikes to mountain bikes because it’s not so
SRAM NX EAGLE 120 MM INTERNAL BOOST
DRIVETRAIN CVA SUSPENSION DROPPER POST 148MM SPACING safe out there on the roadways anymore,” he added.
While full-suspension 29ers saw big gains in dollars and units
through the first half, full-suspension 27.5 bikes still accounted
Niner Reps: for the lion’s share of mountain bike sales at $53.8 million through
N. CA NC, SC, GA, AL, TN, VA, DC, W.VA, DE, MD VT, NH, ME, MA, CT, RI
June. Suppliers sold nearly 31,000 units.
CO, WY, MT, UT, NM
ROBERT (970) 219-0448 GEORGE (802) 345-9205 NORA (843) 743-6090 JOSHUA (802) 917-3873 “I think it still will be the case that 27.5 will outperform 29
CENTRAL CA, LA IA, N. IL, N. IN, NE, ND, MI, MN, SD, WI KS, OK, KY, OH, MO, AR, S. IL, S. IN INTERNATIONAL in overall dollar and units sales. 29 is not going to go away, but
CRAIG (559) 359-3527 SCOTT (507) 313-0676 CODY (314) 825-6188 MONDO (714) 273-1727 that midsize is going to wind up becoming the go-to in volume,”
AZ, S. NV, S. CA
ANDY (480) 678-1508
N. FL NY, NJ, PA
MARC (908) 566-5254
INTERNATIONAL
BRIAN (360) 789-6007
Doering noted.
JEFF
TX, OK, LA
(407) 718-1311
WA, OR, ID, AK INSIDE SALES
Supplier inventory on hand is also low through the first half,
GLENN (512) 653-1800
S. FL
ROB (561) 573-1259 CHARLES (503) 490-3623 CHRIS (970) 672-2073 which might help keep prices up at retail. But at some point, in-
ventory does catch up with sales, and that could mean suppliers
may run low on product later this fall for fill-in orders.
 August 15, 2018 9

Dave Whittingham mourned across industry after bike crash

By Steve Frothingham visited SmartEtailing’s office in Boulder occasionally. to go back down and do it again?’ So, we did exactly
“Dave was always eager to show me around and I that,” Langley said.
BOULDER, Colo. — Dave Whittingham, known across the in- fondly remember one day where he introduced me Whittingham had a solo bike crash while on a
dustry and especially in his hometown of Boulder for his cre- to the amazing climb up Flagstaff Road,” remem- road ride in Boulder County on July 20. Friends sus-
ativity, quiet warmth, and love for the bike industry and cycling, bered Langley. pect that he dropped a chain and fell forward over the
died July 30 from inju- “He met me at my hotel with two coffees in hand. handlebars, hitting his head, though no one knows
ries sustained in a bike As we pedaled across Boulder, he pointed out all the for sure. Despite wearing a helmet, he suffered a brain
crash. He was 67. sights. When we got high up on the climb where injury and never regained consciousness.
After earning a there was a little spot with a nice view, we stopped Whittingham had three children: son Sam and
B.A. at the University to look down at Boulder. I told Dave how much I en- his daughters Meredith and Laurel, as well as one
of Colorado in Boulder, joyed the climb, which is when he said, ‘Do you want grandchild.
Whittingham started
his career in the bike
industry in the 1970s
as a manager at The
Spoke retail store, in THE BATCH APPROACH:
Boulder’s University
Hill area. Friends said

SIMPLE
he was a mentor to
many colleagues at the
store and members of
the thriving road rac-
ing community.
He went on to YOUR QUANTITIES.
work for a wide array

HONEST
Dave Whittingham was well-known of brands over a long
in his hometown of Boulder where career, as an employ-
he worked in retail and for several ee or consultant. He
bike companies. worked for Wheeler
Bikes, Curve Compo-
nents, Catalyst Communication, SmartEtailing, Inside Commu-
nications, Maverick Bicycles and Wheels Manufacturing. YOUR PROGRAM.
Whittingham worked with many industry leaders at Cat-

PURE
alyst Communication, where he was a project manager from
1995-2000.
“I’ve always remembered him as just a nice, kind, happy per-
son,” said Dorothy Pacheco, who worked with Whittingham on
Catalyst’s Bicycle Business Conference. “He was the kind of per-
son you always wanted to have around,” she said. YOUR MARGINS.
Whittingham launched his own business, DRW Design, in
2000. DRW produced custom awards, retail display fixtures and
other projects for clients in and out of the bike industry.
For nine years, he made all the awards for the Colorado NICA
league, and he insisted on making each award just a little differ-
ent, said Kate Rau, the league’s director.
“Every single one was original,” Rau said. “That was just Dave.
He was an amazing individual, very understated and quiet, but
very creative and supportive of the league and of me personally.”
Whittingham also created four of the Lifetime Achievement
Awards that the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association has be-
stowed. The awards went to SRAM’s Mike Mercuri, retailer Chris
Kegel, Park Tool founder Howard Hawkins and Bill Austin of
Raleigh and Schwinn. Whittingham tailored each one for the
recipient.
“Dave was the ultimate team player,” said BPSA executive di-
rector Ray Keener. “We worked together on dozens of projects
over the decades, and you could always be sure of two things:
He would show up with creativity and dedication, and his kind-
ness and understated manner would make everyone around
him better.”
Besides the awards, in recent years Whittingham has been PRE-REGISTER TO LEARN MORE:
best known as the marketing point person at Wheels Manufac-
turing. He met Wheels’ founder, Dave Batka, at The Spoke in 833.789.8899 or info@batchbicycles.com
the 1970s.
“We were friends for a long time and I’ll miss him. He was my
first boss,” Batka told BRAIN.
While his creativity, industry knowledge and marketing skills
were valued by many in the industry, his simple love of bicycle
riding also was a constant.
Jim Langley worked with Whittingham in the early days of
SmartEtailing, fleshing out the company’s bike product descrip- VISIT US AT INTERBIKE BOOTH #3039
tions for retailer websites. Langley worked from California but
10 r e ta i l
briefs
Velo Cult shutters
store in Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. — Velo Cult, the Portland
retailer and popular gathering place for
cyclists, is closing to focus on online sales
of its branded products and soft goods.
Owner Sky Boyer opened Velo Cult in San
Diego in 2006. In 2012, he moved the
business to a 10,000-square-foot location
in Portland that served as a retail and ser-
vice shop, bar and event space. Velo Cult
sells its own hand-built frame, soft goods
and other branded products in addition
to Surly, Linus, Marin and Masi. “We’ve
hosted weddings, funerals, concerts,
poetry slams, musical jam sessions, parties
to celebrate all occasions, and even got
recognition on CNN, Travel Channel, and in
numerous magazines,” Boyer said. “With
this big space we ran into problems with
the bar in regards to the city. In the end,
the requirements from the city to keep
the bar going are too great for a business
like ours to take on. We don’t own the
building, so the expense for upgrades and
the change to the layout does not make
sense.”
Boulder’s Full Cycle to
field pro ‘cross team
BOULDER, Colo. — Longtime Boulder
retailer Full Cycle is fielding a professional
cyclocross team for the 2018 season.
Full Cycle Cross includes pro riders Maxx
Chance, Denzel Stephenson and Eric
Brunner, and is also sponsored by Giant
Bicycles, Donnelly tires and Stages Cycling.
The team will take on the majority of the
USA Cycling ProCX calendar and domestic
World Cup races. Grant Holicky will coach
the team, which will be managed by Mitch
Hoke. “With the solid support we are get-
ting from Giant and other sponsors, we
decided the time was right to make the
move back into the competitive cycling
scene,” said Full Cycle managing partner
Russ Chandler. “Our Tune Up taproom has
already played host to awards parties and
fundraisers, so we’re planning to leverage
the venue to the fullest.” Full Cycle also
began sponsoring Boulder Junior Cycling
and became the official technical support
sponsor for the local Cyclo-X series. It will
also field an ambassador and club-level
team, which is managed by cyclocross
racer and professional coach Chris Baddick.
Local ambassadors will lead regular skills
clinics and group rides available to club
team members and other cyclists. In 2017,
Full Cycle became a Giant Partner Store
and added the taproom and a coffee bar.
Virginia shop moves,
adds coffee and beer
RESTON, Va. — The Bike Lane owners
Todd and Anne Mader have moved their
Reston, Virginia, store to a new location.
The 4,400-square-foot space is about 200
square feet smaller than the previous store,
but the shop is now ideally located near a
popular 40-mile Rails-to-Trails path and is
close to a mountain bike trailhead. It also
serves coffee and will begin serving beer
brewed on site by late August. “Our new
location takes us into the heart of cycling
traffic along the W&OD trail while giving
cyclists the boost of a fresh cup of coffee
and the relaxing atmosphere of a pub.
Todd has been a home brewer for years
and I love coffee!” said Anne Mader. “We
felt it was time to bring all of our passions
together.” The Maders opened the first The
Bike Lane store in Burke, Virginia, 18 years
ago, eventually moving it into its current
3,800-square-foot space in Springfield, Vir-
ginia. The Reston store opened in 2008. In
its new location in Reston, The Bike Lane
employs 15 people, including two full-time
mechanics and two baristas. The full-ser-
vice shop carries Trek, Niner and Felt, and
offers rentals. “But we decided we needed
to add more experience to the shop,” Anne
said. “We’re also seeing business profes-
sionals from the offices in our building
coming in looking for coffee. We’re the
only retail in the building.” The shop serves
local Swings Coffee and snacks, and will
host food trucks on weekends.
Chicago shop produces
Harley-Davidson bike
CHICAGO — Heritage Bicycles has teamed
up with the Harley-Davidson Museum
in Milwaukee to produce replica 1917
Harley-Davidson bicycles in honor of the
museum’s 115th anniversary. An initial
run of 10 bicycles was sold through the
museum and will be shipped to customers
later this summer. The olive green cruiser
is built from start to finish at the Heritage
Bicycles General Store on Lincoln Avenue
in Chicago, where one of the replica bikes
is also on display. The Harley-Davidson
Museum will also have one of the bikes
on permanent display. Like the original
model, the replica bike has the “H-D” logo
stamped on the front chainring. Heritage
plans to make more replicas if there is
customer demand. The bikes retail for
$4,200, and
customers
can order
the bikes by
calling (877)
436-8738.
Heritage
Bicycles
opened
in 2012,
specializing
in custom
A replica 1917 Harley- bicycles
Davidson bicycle and serving
coffee and a
breakfast menu. It also sells a selection
of branded merchandise, parts and
accessories, including helmets, bags and
components.
s tat e o f
retail
What could suppliers do to make your life easier?
White Center, Washington
Aaron Goss, owner,
Aaron’s Bicycle Repair
Set MAP/MSRP at a margin that allows the
IBD to make a profit. The average margin in
Seattle for a bike shop to stay in business
is over 50 percent. The 40 percent margin
you see on many items has crept down on
items at $20 or less wholesale. Keystone is
rare. Get rid of MSRP and price MAP higher.
San Francisco, California
Karen Wiener, co-owner, The New Wheel
The most important ingredients in a good
supplier-retailer ratatouille are clear goals
and strong relationships. From a purchas-
er’s perspective, consistency is key: know-
ing when items are available, keeping that
information up to date, and making it easy
to get someone on the phone if a problem
does arise. A lot of the problems we see
are symptoms of bad business models.
Las Vegas, Nevada
Barry Winter, co-owner, Giant Las Vegas
Better integration with POS systems for
ordering or checking real-time inventory.
Provide timely updates regarding dis-
continued SKUs and subsequent replace-
ments. Make B2B sites more user-friendly
and intuitive. Enforce MAP policies and
stop flooding the secondary market and in-
ternet retailers with parts often costing less
than retailers are able to purchase through
wholesale channels. Don’t penalize retail-
ers with additional shipping expense due
to the suppliers’ inability to maintain inven-
tories across their distribution network.
Park City, Utah
Andre Shoumatoff, president,
Park City Bike Demos
What I’ve noticed, being fairly new to the
bike business, is there are inefficiencies all
over the place due to lack of standardiza-
tion. Billing is the biggest single area, to
the extent many brands have cues for their
accounting departments. I don’t view it as
the supplier’s “fault” but really a lack of
leadership in the industry despite the fact
it’s a massive $6.2 billion sector.
St. Paul, Minnesota
Benita Warns, owner,
Mr. Michael Recycles Bicycles
Ask me how they can serve my needs.
My shop has been in business for over
10 years, and not once has any supplier
ever approached us to offer an account,
let alone asked me how they could help.
Suppliers I approached either disqualified
my shop because we didn’t spend enough
money or had a six-page fine-print form
to fill out that required me to pledge my
personal assets to guarantee I would pay.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Marin Tockman, owner, Dashing Bicycles
Offer better credit lines for our small bike
shop. Our store has great credit and we
like to work with smaller bicycle and acces-
sory lines so we can stand out to people as
a unique bike store. The impact of having
very short terms, or for a lot of smaller
suppliers, having to buy everything on
credit card, mixed with stringent terms is
not sustainable.
Cary, North Carolina
Peter Cusden, co-owner,
All-Star Bike Shop
I hate early model introductions and model
years on bikes that don’t need it. We need
the fall as new model time, and allow us to
sell all the bikes that we bought. Many of
us only get a three- to four-month window
to sell before new ones launch. There is
way too much overlap, and we may have
models with selection of three different
model years on the floor. Suppliers focus
on what you bought for the current model
year but never seem to care what you still
have in stock.
Bound Brook, New Jersey
Marc Cianfrone, owner, Pop’s Bike Shop
Listen! Don’t just walk in with the program,
tell us what you expect for growth and
threaten us if we don’t hit quota. Give us
great product, at a healthy margin. P&A
should be minimum keystone, and bikes
minimum 40 percent. Enforce MSRP. Don’t
introduce new model years midseason
and devalue inventory; do it in January.
Stop front-loading us. While suppliers
bear responsibility for not following these
simple ideas, shops are just as responsible
for allowing it to happen.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mark Bedel, sales manager and master
bike fitter, Pro Bike + Run
Restructuring of the supply chain is a
significant challenge for both suppliers and
retailers. The trend of retailers stocking
smaller bike inventories causes shortages
and earlier introductions to satisfy the
gaps. The time lag, which I understand can
be nine to 12 months, to get production or-
ders placed and buy time on a manufactur-
ing line makes “just-in-time” marketplace
adjustments almost impossible. Shrinking
preseason orders makes this all the more
challenging. Brands are left to make edu-
cated guesses about production.
Dieppe, New Brunswick, Canada
Rick Snyder, president/CEO,
Mike’s Bike Shop
Geographically appropriate repayment
terms. After a long, cold winter in Eastern
Canada, that April 1 payment is no fun!
Enough with the booking process. It’s not
good for our business to take all the risk
and store unneeded inventory for months
just to earn a couple of points in discounts
so you can get your orders right. Keep
inventory in stock during the season.
 Product knowledge is an essential sales skill. Customers respond
to salespeople that are passionate about their products, and
know their competition inside and out. Product experience can
take the sales process to the next level – and there’s no better
place to build that knowledge base than the demo opportunities
taking place during Interbike Marketweek.

Whether you’re weaving through the trees on the amazing dirt trails
at OutDoor Demo, or are shifting through some gears on the straight-
aways of The Circuit test track at the Interbike Expo, riding and
testing products will put you in a better selling position when you get
Photo by Thomas Schweighofer on Unsplash

back to your shop than before the event.

REGISTER TODAY
AT INTERBIKE.COM

September 14 – 20 | Reno Tahoe interbike.com

12
Continued from cover
Training
shop for a total of 1,408 people. This fall,
Bosch plans to train and certify 940 shops
and roughly 2,000 employees.
As more established retailers bring e-
bikes into the mix and dedicated e-bike
shops open, OE electric drive system man-
ufacturers and partnering brands are see-
ing increasing demand for training. How
suppliers handle training varies, but re-
tailers’ willingness to embrace e-bikes has
companies constantly evaluating curricula
and their approach to keeping shop staff
up to speed on technology.
But suppliers recognize that this is
only the beginning, and are also prepar-
ing to ramp up service training offerings
and broaden the scope as the market pro-
gresses.
“We know that with the increasing
sales of e-bikes, we will have more me-
chanics become certified. It’s a gradual
growth, but as it becomes more of a norm,
we’ll have more than 2,000 people certified
on STEPS,” said Ryan Miller, who leads
go-to-market teams at Shimano Amer-
ican, which supplies multiple OE part-
ners with its STEPS electric drive system.
“Right now it’s still the Wild West out there
when it comes to e-bikes. Although the
knowledge isn’t widespread in the bike
world yet, there will be a progression.”
A vast training landscape
For dealers wanting to learn how to ser-
vice e-bike drive systems, there is a wealth
of options. OE suppliers offer training,
either directly in the case of Bosch and
Shimano, or through partner brands, with
at least a basic course in diagnostics and
troubleshooting. Some suppliers charge
a fee for the courses, and others provide
classes for free.
Specialized, which works with Ger-
man manufacturer Brose to power its
Turbo e-bike line, offers five three-day
trainings a year at its headquarters in
Morgan Hill, California. It’s a mix of sales
and product as well as in-depth techni-
cal training. Specialized also offers train-
ing online through its Specialized Bicycle
Component University, and it will host 50
seminars between October and January.
Its nine demo trucks carry about 50 per-
cent Turbo product, with one truck dedi-
cated to Turbo e-bikes entirely. Drivers
focus on dealer e-bike education in the
off-season.
“They’re single-day courses in various
metro areas where retailers are looking
for this kind of training,” said Saul Leiken,
category leader for Turbo at Specialized.
“They’ll come for the day and receive an
abridged version of the training we have
in Morgan Hill. We’ll focus mostly on
troubleshooting so retailers can get rid-
ers back on the road.”
Rocky Mountain, which developed a
proprietary drive system for its Altitude
Powerplay e-MTB that will hit the U.S.
market by early next year, will require
its dealers to attend an in-person train-
ing before selling the bike. For this rea-
son, Rocky is targeting dealers with a good
reputation who are capable of servicing
the system.
Shimano has a robust online training to do premium service with each person
platform, S-TEC, where STEPS training is having their own system to work on. We
offered. It also sends tech reps and market- have them solving issues rather than just
“The training is mandatory because the ing staff to brands’ dealer events and sales removing the motor and sending it to Ma-
system is proprietary. It’s been a learning meetings, including for Pedego, which gura,” she said. “It’s sometimes complicat-
curve for us as to what level of training specs STEPS on its recently launched mid- ed. So we want the dealer to open the mo-
we need to provide. In our case, we need drive full-suspension mountain bike. Shi- tor and identify the defective component.”
to rely heavily on our dealers,” said Alex mano’s Miller said the tech training was Additionally, organizations like the
Cogger, product line director at Rocky mandatory for dealers who wanted to sell Professional Bike Mechanic Association
Mountain. “That’s part of the reason we STEPS-equipped bikes. and the Light Electric Vehicle Associa-
tried to make the design as simple as pos- “I think that was a really good ap- tion offer regional training several times
sible.” proach. We want to build that OE relation- per year, covering a variety of systems and
Many OE suppliers leave training ship when we have new entrants into the topics.
up to partner brands, including Yamaha, market. We want them to feel fully sup-
which works with Giant, BH and Haibike ported, so we do dealer training at their Not without challenges
in the U.S. market. These brands offer sales meetings,” Miller said. “We educate Most e-bike service courses cover the fun-
damentals of diagnostics, troubleshooting
the system and removing the drive unit
for replacement.
But some established e-bike shops are
already well beyond that, including San
Francisco’s The New Wheel.
“We believe in this technology, but we
haven’t really been in a position to rely on
suppliers to be ahead of us since we have
been in business for 8 years,” said Kar-
en Wiener, co-owner of The New Wheel.
“We consider our suppliers partners who
will help us, but when we sniff out a weird
problem, we dig into it and try to figure it
out. In-depth training isn’t available yet.
I think some suppliers are really hoping
their system is simple to deal with, but
that isn’t always reality. There are always
things you can’t foresee.”
At the other end of the spectrum lie
new entrants into the e-bike retail mar-
Barnett Bicycle Institute began offering an E-bike Fundamentals course earlier this ket. Many of these dealers don’t necessar-
year. ily have a bike background — which is
both a challenge and an opportunity for
training at dealer events and online, and them about how easy it is to work on the suppliers.
in some cases through reps in the field. system.” “A lot of EBDs don’t do service, they’ll
But for its new line of e-bikes entering the Oregon’s United Bicycle Institute and farm it out. They just want to put it togeth-
U.S. market this summer, Yamaha will of- Barnett Bicycle Institute in Colorado er and sell it,” said Shimano’s Miller. “So
fer education directly to retailers. Springs have also begun offering e-bike when you try to sell them on education,
“Our partner brands are very good at service classes, covering several brands’ a lot of them aren’t there yet. But what
servicing existing customers, so they take systems. Bosch recently introduced a level happens when a customer comes in with
care of it in the U.S.,” said Drew Engel- 2 course, which is taught at both schools. a problem and you don’t provide the full
mann, who handles new business develop- At UBI it’s a standalone 8-hour class, and service? That customer isn’t always com-
ment for Yamaha Motor. “For our Yama- at BBI, the same 8 hours of training is fortable going into the IBD, so I think we’ll
ha e-bikes, we’ve created an online video rolled into an almost four-day course that see some things changing.”
series on how to do diagnostics work if covers a variety of system and other top-
there is a need.” ics. The first class was held in June, and a The road ahead
Shimano and Bosch work directly second is planned for November. Many suppliers are looking at Europe’s
with retailers, offering training online, “We wanted to design a course that more evolved e-bike industry for ways to
out in the field and at industry events, in- broke down as many barriers as possible expand training as the nascent U.S. mar-
cluding Interbike. And although Brose’s for a mechanic to participate in the ser- ket grows. Some European dealers are
biggest partner is Specialized, it also has vice of an e-bike. That helps retailers sell being trained on how to do service work
product spec’d on other brands, including bikes as well,” said BBI’s Jeff Donaldson. themselves rather than send the unit back
Bulls and Fantic. Brose will begin offering “And it’s also about how to set up a shop for replacement.
training at Interbike this year, and is look- and how to handle batteries. PeopleFor- Specialized’s Leiken said that while
ing at CABDA and the Philly Bike Expo Bikes came down and spoke with the class the company isn’t currently training deal-
to connect with dealers. The company is about legislation and the three-class sys- ers to do deeper work, which is now done
also in the process of opening a service tem, which is a fundamental part of un- at its service center in Salt Lake City, it’s
center in Seattle. derstanding our identity in this world of something Specialized is considering for
“We want the brand to be the star, but things with a motor. It defines what is a bi- the future.
people do want to know what is under the cycle and what is not, and will help retail- “We want them to master the more di-
hood,” said Dan Jeffris, who handles OE ers decide what they’re going to work on.” gestible stuff, but the long-term vision is to
sales at Brose. “So we’re also looking at on- Bosch’s Wasko said that it is impor- train those retailers next year how to ser-
line platforms and have had preliminary tant for its training to evolve as mechan- vice directly,” said Leiken, a former IBD
discussions with BBI. I think having com- ics’ understanding of e-bike drive systems who also operated an e-bike shop in the
plimentary support will help a lot. It was expands. D.C. area. “It won’t be every single shop,
a limitation for us in the past, not having “The Level 2 course is a step beyond
that type of support on the ground.” just giving them the tools. It’s a chance Continues on page 15
14
Continued from cover
E-road bikes
hot drive system of the moment, the com-
pact Evation unit made by Munich startup
Fazua, has not yet received U.S. regulatory
approval. Fazua officials expect to receive
the green light in the first half of 2019.
Focus, for example, is champing at the
bit to begin selling its Paralane Squared e-
road bikes in the U.S. The bikes are now
hitting European markets.
The delay “affects us on a daily basis.
We get requests, definitely on a weekly ba-
sis, from end consumers or retailers about
this bike,” said Andreas Krajewski, mar-
keting manager for North America. “We
actually see the consumer pull that every
brand wants to have. That’s great, but it’s
not great when you can’t deliver the bike.
We could sell them today, that’s for sure.”
Fit for the road
The unique demands of road bikes have
created an opening for new drive system
suppliers like Fazua and Spanish company
Ebikemotion. The drive suppliers that now
dominate the premium electric bike mar-
ket, including Bosch, Brose and Shimano,
are for now excluded from the road mar-
ket because their mid-drive motor sys-
tems are too bulky and heavy.
Bafang, the giant Chinese drive sup-
plier, launched a new system for e-road
bikes, the M800, and should pick up spec
in future months. The 200-watt motor is
paired with a small 200 Watt-hour battery,
keeping the total system weight down to
under 10 pounds.
While Fazua and Bafang put the motor
in the bottom bracket, the Ebikemotion
X35 drive relies on a compact 250-watt
rear hub motor.
By using the Ebikemotion system,
The Bafang M800 system on a concept e-bike
Orbea and Bianchi have sidestepped the acceptance than e-mountain bikes simply starting and producing our MY2019 or- ing,” Krajewski said. “They want to have
Fazua delay. Their new e-road bikes, the because they are less controversial.
Orbea Gain and Bianchi Aria, will be
available at U.S. retailers in the fall. market to e-bikes has been related to trail predict how many drive systems we think to go with a battery that’s just enough for
“I guess ‘undiscovered’ would be the access, which of course is a non-issue for we can sell,” Reuter said. “For this predic- one climb or two climbs, and that’s it.”
best word,” Jim Stevenson, vice president road bikes,” said Julie Kelly, a spokeswom- tion, the U.S. market is a big thing for us.”
of sales and marketing for Bianchi in the an for Focus. “Our expectation is that out
U.S., said about the e-road bike market of the gate, there’s going to be an easier quickly Fazua can receive approval from maybe use it for 20 minutes.”
here. “We don’t know the size of the mar-
ket. We’ll bring it in and we’re going to go
out and put it out there and let people try it.”
With a price tag of around $6,000 to
$6,500, the Aria is intended for serious
road cyclists, not for riders who just want
a transportation bike. (Bianchi released
another e-road bike, the Impulso E-Road,
last fall that uses a mid-drive system from
Italian company Polini. But Stevenson said
Bianchi doesn’t plan to offer the Impulso
E-Road in the U.S.)
Stevenson expects the Aria to appeal
to longtime cyclists who want to ride cen-
turies but don’t have the time or stamina
to train. Bike tourists are another target
customer, especially couples where one is
a stronger cyclist than the other.
“Regardless of how big the market is
right now, it’s a market that will be there
and will grow over the next 10 years,” Ste-
venson said. The Evation battery can be quickly removed if a cyclist wants to ride without electric
The Ebikemotion system weighs 3.5 assist.
kg, or under 8 pounds, which allows for
complete carbon road bikes that weigh threshold for an e-road bike to overcome
U.S. regulators for the drive system. The
less than 26.5 pounds. for that reason.” company also needs to find a U.S. partner
Jordan Hukee, Orbea’s creative director, to handle servicing for the Evation drive
said the U.S. will focus on Orbea’s second-
Newcomer Fazua makes waves system. Reuter hopes to meet with poten-
Electrified road bikes are not new. The tial service partners at Interbike, where it
generation version of the Gain with a car-
bon frame. Orbea originally launched the
most notorious drive system is one made will have a booth.
bike in Europe with an aluminum frame.by Vivax, an Austrian company. The sys- “It would be best to have a very big
That’s because the Gain Carbon, which
tem, which fits inside a typical downtube, partner, and service wherever you need
Orbea says is the lightest e-road bike now
was linked to incidents of cheating by pro- it, and maybe a partner that everybody
on the market, is aimed at cyclists who are
fessional racers — only adding to the sys- trusts,” Reuter said.
already accomplished road bikers, so they
tem’s reputation. One benefit for OEMs is that the Eva-
are used to bikes that are light and sleek.But days before Eurobike, Vivax tion system mounts in minutes on an as-
“Everyone’s just been dying over the car-
abruptly pulled out of sembly line. The bottom bracket at-
bon one,” Hukee said. Orbea will also of-
the demo and the main taches with four screws, and
show, citing “restructur-
fer a gravel version of the Gain with a 1x there’s only one cable
ing in the company.”
SRAM drivetrain and 40c tires, and a flat- that runs from the
bar version for the urban market. Instead, Fazua seems drive unit
While road cyclists can be tradition-
to be riding the e-road to the
alists, some in the market believe e-road
bike wave. The young
bikes will have an easier chance of market
company recently re-
ceived an $8 million infu-
sion of investment capital
and has been growing its The Fazua Evation
drive system
workforce quickly. From
its founding in a small
room in Munich, Fazua now employs 50 handlebar controller.
people and has moved to a three-story Fazua sees an even bigger potential
building in the Munich suburbs. for “really cool” urban and transportation
Fazua co-founder Fabian Reuter said bikes, along with gravel road bikes. Lapi-
Eurobike 2017 was when everything “ex- erre is even using an Evation system on a
ploded a little bit” for the company, as high new full-suspension e-MTB.
profile brands like Focus highlighted the
drive in concept bikes. E-road making inroads
“We decided to produce ten times The emergence of e-road bikes also has
more drive systems for [model year] 2019, the potential of changing the “spec wars”
which just started, than we had the year in e-bikes. Instead of going for ever-larger
before,” Reuter said. That led to a scramble battery packs and higher-powered motors,
for financing and employees. Reuter said an e-road bike is all about using as little
production for MY2019 models began in as possible.
May, and the company is delivering on “We dropped the weight and dropped
time to customers. the watt-hours, which is totally contrary
“Right now — right in the middle of to what e-bike manufacturers are market-
ders — we are also preparing the upcoming bigger batteries, more power, whatever.
“The harshest blowback in the U.S. model years 2020 and 2021, and we have to But we flipped it around and said, we want
He added, “You don’t use the battery
But part of that depends on how for two hours or three hours. You just
 August 15, 2018 15

E-bikes see strong sell-in and sell-through in US market

Latest numbers show category is boosting overall dollar sales for bikes.
By Doug McClellan that the NPD numbers are really not in-
dicative of total market. They’re indicative

A merican IBDs reached an e-bike of what is happening in the dealer chan-

milestone this year: They sold more nel,” said Pizzi, who is also president of
than $100 million of e-bikes for the 12 Raleigh Electric. “I would say that the IBD
months ending in May, according to the market is less than half of the total reve-
NPD Group Retail Tracking Service. nue in e-bikes.”
That’s a jump of 83 percent over the That’s because many e-bikes are sold
prior 12-month period. Compare that through non-traditional channels, such as
with the overall bicycle market, which electric-only IBDs or direct-to-consumer.
saw sales increase by 5 percent in dollars Pizzi noted that $100 million repre-
for the same period. sents a relatively small 10 percent piece
While significant, these NPD sell- of total bicycle sales. By comparison, he
through numbers miss the bulk of Amer- said, Raleigh Electric’s parent company,
ican e-bike sales, said Larry Pizzi, chair- the Dutch-based Accell Group, earned
man of the e-bike committee for the more than 70 percent of its total revenues
Bicycle Product Suppliers Association. last year from e-bikes.
“The thing that I would emphasize is “There is so much upside to go here in
North America. I think the future around E-bike sales at IBDs reached $100 million for the 12 months ending in May.
e-bikes is very bright,” Pizzi said. “I think

83%
Increase in e-bike sales
May 2017 – May 2018
this year it’s really started to come into its
own in the IBD.”
The NPD, in conjunction with the er bike category except for full-suspen-
BPSA, also reports sell-in numbers from sion 29ers and the much smaller triath-
He added, “There are still a lot of deal- brands to retailers. Its most recent report lon segment.
ers that aren’t stocking e-bikes, so there’s for the period through June shows that Brands sold 29,176 e-bikes to retailers
huge, huge upside potential.” brands are continuing to pump e-bikes through June 2018, compared with 15,930
into retailers’ hands. for the same period of 2017.
For the first six months of 2018, sup- Pizzi began working in the e-bike in-

70%
of Accell Group’s total
revenue from e-bike sales
“...The IBD market is less
than half of the total
revenue in e-bikes”
– Larry Pizzi, BPSA
pliers sold 83 percent more e-bikes by dustry in 2002 and has been an evangelist
units to retailers, and 78 percent by dol- for them ever since. But he believes the lat-
lar volume. est sales numbers show e-bikes are catch-
In comparison, total dollar sales of all ing on in the U.S.
bikes rose by 6.1 percent while total unit “It’s exactly the same scenario that’s
sales fell by 6.4 percent. played out in Europe. It took us a long
e-bikes That’s significant, because it demon- time to get on the same path, but with the
strates how the much higher average value major brands like Trek and Specialized
of e-bikes has helped retailers boost sales all in, we’re starting to finally see it hap-
while selling fewer bikes. pen,” he said.
10% of total bicycle sales The average wholesale price for e-bikes E-bikes, Pizzi added, “ultimately will
May 2017 – May 2018 was $1,942 for the first six months of the be the growth driver for many years to
year — higher than just about every oth- come.”

Continued from previous page
Another brand “feverishly” awaiting
U.S. regulatory approval of the Evation
system is Fantic, the Italian brand that is
mostly known for its e-mountain bikes.
“I really think the same pattern we’ve
seen on the e-mountain bike side will hap-
pen on the e-road bike side, and actual-
ly even quicker, because these systems are
smaller, sleeker and more integrated. They
just don’t scream as loudly, ‘hey, we’re an e-
bike,’” said Rich Kelly, national sales man-
ager for Fantic. The company is selling two
e-road bikes in Europe. One is a gravel bike
and the other more of a classic road bike.
Bulls Bike, a big German brand with
a small but growing U.S. presence, is also
anticipating releasing its Fazua-equipped
e-road bike in this market.
“This is a segment we are taking very
seriously. In fact, we are bringing a couple
of e-road bikes with the Fazua system to
this year’s Interbike,” said Fernando Enda-
ra of Bulls. “The American interest is defi-
nitely there, and I think Fazua is the obvi-
ous way to go.”
Bulls brought a drop-bar e-gravel bike,
the Dail-E Grinder, to the U.S., which it
equipped with a Bosch CX mid-drive mo-
tor. “That thing was sold out in less time
than we expected,” Endara said. “So, yes,
this is a segment we’ve got our eyes on.”
Giant has offered an e-road bike
model for years, and is currently offer-
ing the second generation of its Road-
E+ model in the U.S. It’s a more tradi-
tional e-bike with a heavier mid-drive
motor and a semi-integrated battery on
the downtube.
John Munhall, director of product
management at Giant USA, said the bike
has mostly appealed to older riders who
seek a fitness bike that will let them keep
up with their riding buddies. The Road-E+
also appeals to cyclists who don’t equate
a road bike ride with an act of endurance.
“Traditionally as road cyclists and
mountain bikers, we take pride in suffer-
ing,” Munhall said. “But there is a faction
of riders that want to enjoy the romantic
beauty of road riding without that X-fac-
tor of punishing themselves in tough ter-
rain.”
Continued from page 12
but the ones that really invest in training,
tools and marketing for e-bikes. It will be
important as the market grows. We al-
ready have 550 retailers selling Turbo, and
I think we’ll see more decide to invest this
year. When I opened my e-bike store in
2015, Europe had just hit its tipping point,
where over 50 percent of euros spent on
bikes were spent on e-bikes. I think we’ll
hit that in dollars in the next three years.
We’re well on our way to becoming an e-
bike majority market.”
BBI is looking in that direction as
well, with the realization that as more e-
bikes hit the market, the more techs will
need to know to provide good service —
especially as product ages and warran-
ties run out.
BBI’s Donaldson likens it to the early
days of mountain bike suspension.
“We need to get a whole lot better at
doing electric motor rebuilds in order to
teach it. And we intend to do that. We
don’t want to go cowboy style into this,”
he said. “So it’s definitely on our radar.
This is going to be like mountain bike
suspension. It was a new technology at
one point, and more mechanics had to
learn how to work on it rather than send
it back for service. We should start to pre-
pare our mechanics for when they will
have to do this work on a deeper level.”
Going beyond technology, brands
are also looking at broader education as
e-bikes become more mainstream. Shi-
mano is adding three STEPS tech reps
who will hit the road to educate not
only about the drive system, but also the
3-class system, e-bike legislation, e-MTB
trail advocacy and other issues.
“It’s also about educating the indus-
try about one, this is a new product that
could bring new customers in, and two,
make sure you’re educated about things
like where people can ride it,” said Shi-
mano’s Miller.
“We’ll support events and programs
working with land managers. It’s about
the engagement, and with the consum-
er as well. We don’t want to educate just
about the drive system. We want to edu-
cate on the whole picture.”
 There are many reasons to attend Interbike Marketweek – from
the invaluable educational content curated specifically for
retailers in the bicycle industry, to the amazing demo
experience at one of North America’s premier bike parks &
resorts, to the invaluable tech clinics, face-to-face
conversations and more.

But at the top of the list, are the hundreds of brands that invest
in exhibiting at our events, in an effort to support you – the
independent bicycle retailer. They believe that a unified event
saves time, resources and money – for themselves and the
retailers that attend. Where else can you see, touch and feel
thousands of products for the N. American market, in every
category of the bike industry, and speak directly to the people
who bring them to market – all under one roof?

REGISTER TODAY
AT INTERBIKE.COM

September 14 – 20 | Reno Tahoe

and many more.
 August 15, 2018 17

Suppliers scramble to deal with tariffs on Chinese-made e-bikes

By Steve Frothingham
WASHINGTON — E-bike importers in the U.S. and Europe
continue to work to head off proposed and partially enacted
tariffs on Chinese-made e-bikes in both markets, while also
exploring other sourcing options.
In the U.S., a proposed 25 percent tariff on Chinese e-bikes
and e-bike motors could be enacted this fall. A public com-
ment period and public hearing was held in late July, and con-
sumers, retailers, suppliers and trade groups filed hundreds of
comments in opposition, while PeopleForBikes reached out to
congressional members who have been concerned about the
Trump administration’s escalating trade war.
In Europe, the European Commission imposed provisional
anti-dumping duties on Chinese e-bikes in mid-July. The tariffs
range from 21.8 to 83.6 percent, depending on the manufactur-
er. There, the industry is more divided. It was an industry group,
the Electric Bicycle Manufacturers Association, that filed a
complaint with the commission, seeking the anti-dumping du-
ties. A group of importers tied to the LEVA-EU trade group has
opposed the move and has filed suit against the Commission.
Both actions are causing suppliers to look to source e-bikes
from anywhere but China. European suppliers are looking to
Eastern Europe for manufacturing and assembly, while U.S.
brands are looking to Taiwan and other Asian countries, while
also contemplating U.S. manufacturing or assembly.
For example Giant Manufacturing is headquartered in
Taiwan but manufactures most of its e-bikes in China. The
company announced in July it planned to open a new factory
in Hungary. Ideal, another Taiwanese company with plants
in China, is planning to expand its factory in Poland. In the
U.S., Detroit Bikes has said it’s available to manufacture and
assemble e-bikes, although the company would still have to
import motors and other components that may be
subject to the proposed tariffs.
So while suppliers explore options, PeopleFor-
Bikes and the Bicycle Product Suppliers Associa-
tion have been active in Washington trying to head
off the tariffs.
PeopleForBikes encouraged suppliers and oth-
ers to submit comments in opposition to the U.S.
Trade Representative. At least 230 comments were
submitted via the PeopleForBikes website, while
others were submitted directly.
Bob Burns, a vice president and general counsel
for Trek Bicycle, testified at the July public hearing
on behalf of PeopleForBikes and the BPSA. Don
DiCostanzo, founder and CEO of Pedego, also testi-
fied.
Both argued that a tariff would harm U.S. busi-
nesses and consumers and would not protect any
U.S. e-bike manufacturers, because there are very
few of them.
“While the proposed tariff has the potential to
hurt the jobs that our industry supports in areas
such as engineering, marketing and sales, it is also
unlikely to have any positive effect on domestic
manufacturing,” Burns testified.
“Virtually 100 percent of the electric-assist bi-
cycles sold in the U.S. are manufactured overseas,”
Burns said. “And, 100 percent of the motors used in
these products are manufactured overseas. Simply
put, there is no domestic manufacturing footprint
protected by the proposed 25 percent tariff.”
DiCostanzo also pointed out that U.S. e-bike
companies have few options to source their bikes
and motors.
“Pedego’s business is reliant on imports be-
cause no companies manufacture electric bicy-
cles in the United States,” he said in his testimony.
Meanwhile, PeopleForBikes has been reach-
ing out to Congress, even though the tariff does
not require congressional approval.
“There are members of Congress who are very,
very concerned about this issue and the overall
anti-trade posture of the administration,” said
Alex Logemann, the director of state and local
policy for PeopleForBikes.
“We want to be as loud as possible to make
sure these members know the bike industry’s
concerns.”
PeopleForBikes legislative consultant Charles
Cooper is leading the charge in Washington. Be-
sides the proposed e-bike tariff, the organization
was getting set to oppose proposed tariffs on a
wide array of bike products including complete
bikes from China. Those tariffs were initially
proposed at 10 percent, but President Donald
Trump later told the U.S. Trade Representative he
wanted it raised to 25 percent.
The decision-making timeline for both pro-
posals is somewhat vague. Logemann said a deci-
sion on the e-bike tariffs is expected in mid- to
late September, judging by the USTR’s speed in
enacting earlier proposed tariffs. A decision on
the wider hitting proposed tariffs was expected
about a month later, with public hearings sched-
uled for Aug. 20-23. The change from 10 per-
cent to 25 pushed the timeline out further as the
USTR extended the public comment period from
Aug. 30 to Sept. 5.

10 states down: BPSA and PFB

work on e-bike model legislation
BOULDER, Colo. — In four years, the Bicycle Product Suppliers
Association and PeopleForBikes have worked on e-bike model
legislation that increases access for e-bikes in 10 states, and both
groups are eyeing another 20 in 2019. So far, Arizona, Arkansas,
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee,
Utah, and Washington all have an e-bike law on the books with
minor variations in specifications for each state.
State campaigns are in full swing in Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Maine, Massachusetts and Oregon; with a dozen more cam-
paigns in the works.
“When the partnership began in 2015, e-bike regulations were
a complete patch work, confusing for retailers, consumers and
agencies,” said Alex Logemann, PeopleForBikes’ director of state
and local policy. “The goal of the partnership is to ultimately cre-
ate a better retail and riding environment for e-bikes.”
In 2015, PeopleForBikes and BPSA mobilized manufacturers
and suppliers to establish e-bike classifications based on existing
U.S. federal laws that control e-bike manufacturing standards,
and international regulations that control products in markets
across the globe. E-bikes were organized into three classes: Class
1 is a pedal-assist e-bike with a top motor-assisted speed of 20
mph, Class 2 is a throttle-assist e-bike with a top motor-assisted
speed of 20 mph and Class 3 is a pedal-assist e-bike with a top
motor-assisted speed of 28mph.
The class system separated low-speed e-bikes from higher-
powered vehicles and simplified the process of establishing regu-
lations around the use of each class.
“It’s a system that manufacturers, dealers, consumers, law-
makers and agencies can agree benefits the industry, customers,
cities and states,” said Larry Pizzi, chair of the BPSA electric bi-
cycle committee and vice president of the BPSA. “Passing this
law in 10 states in four years is phenomenal, and we’re proud to
have created a national standard that states now want to adopt
for consistency with their neighboring states.”
18
through the
grapevine
Trump, China and Carbon Wheels: I suspect
by now that Donald John Trump and his take-
no-prisoners approach to trade will most likely
wreak a toll on the bicycle industry. It already has.
As of Aug. 1, American manufacturers that buy
American-made aluminum paid 11 percent more
and 33 percent more for steel. Steel and aluminum
manufacturers boosted prices and upped their
margins after the Administration’s May 31 decision
to slap a 25 percent tariff on foreign steel and a 10
percent tariff on aluminum imports. Anyone and
everyone in the industry is now paying attention
to tariffs. So let’s turn to Adam Smith and his
seminal work, The Wealth of Nations, written in
1776 . (Actually, the book’s title is much longer but
Wealth of Nation’s will do.) One of Smith’s core
principles is simple: When trade is free all nations
gain, while a tariff free-for-all diminishes the wealth
of all nations. Still, I suspect if Smith were writing
today he would recognize that a few rules of the
road are necessary. Smith’s laissez-faire approach
to trade never quite worked out. Yet here we are in
the midst of the 21st century listening to bombast
from DJT that trade wars are easy to win. They
are not and here’s a recent example from a U.S.
company, who shall remain nameless. It was set
to launch a deal with a Chinese factory to make a
new brand of carbon rims. They sealed the deal
last month just as the Chinese government issued
a warning to factory owners making products for
U.S. consumption based on American intellectual
property. They must stop until further review.
Otherwise the factory could risk a shut down or
wholesale confiscation by the government. As
tripsforkids.org a company exec said in an email, “Needless to
say we were all stunned.” The factory, however,
will move the program forward and could begin
production if and when Trump’s trade war ends.
Uncertainty certainly abounds.
Trump, China and Carbon Wheels II: One could
argue whether the industry needs another
branded carbon rim. Still, Smith would say that
free trade in carbon wheels would offer consumers
higher quality at lower prices. That, in turn, would
Changing lives with one simple tool–the bicycle. make bicycles more attractive at prices that would
allow consumers to step up to a better bike. Such
a purchase would benefit the wheel manufac-
turer, the bicycle maker, the wholesaler and the
retailer all of whom would presumably profit with
the sale of additional bicycles spec’d with new
high-tech wheelsets. Smith also might add that
perhaps China had an “advantage” when it came
to making carbon wheels and that we should
recognize that, just as the U.S. has an advantage in
developing new and innovative wheels. Still, it’s
unlikely Smith would absolve China of its many
trade sins. China did exploit its membership in
the World Trade Organization to its benefit at the
expense of many nations; it has demanded highly
proprietary information be shared with Chinese
manufacturers; and it has made it difficult — if not
impossible — for U.S. companies to break into
China’s consumer market. Just a few sins among
many. But Smith most likely would argue against
a trade war to right past wrongs. Instead, he might
seek alliances and strenuous negotiations to bring
a transgressor like China to heel without putting
global trade, jobs and profits at risk. Unfortunately,
Trump and his nativist advisers see it differently.
Nonetheless, industry eyes have now turned
to whether e-bikes, e-bike motors and other
parts and accessories will face a 25 percent tariff
threatened by the Trumpians. If imposed, such
a tariff would not bode well for the industry and
a category that shows some signs of life. Again,
uncertainty certainly abounds.
Dollars and units — a disconnect? The Bicycle
Product Suppliers Association early this month re-
leased a report on sales through the first half of the
year. Depending upon your POV and your status in
the market (maker, supplier or dealer), the report
could be viewed several ways. First, overall dollars
earned in bicycle deliveries of all types ratcheted
upwards 6.1 percent to $564.7 million — nice. On
the flip-side, however, the number of bicycles sold
slid 6.4 percent to 1,088,193 units, a decline of
73,795 units — sad. What we don’t know is, who
in the chain pocketed the extra cash from higher
price-point sales. But what we do know is that the
missing 74,000 units never delivered may be far
more important than the dollars earned. Let’s note
that 74,000 fewer customers bought a bicycle
from IBDs. Dealers had 74,000 fewer opportunities
to upsell them on helmets, shoes, water bottles,
apparel and a host of other profitable doo-dads.
For manufacturers, that was some 148,000 wheels
and pedals never sold, 74,000 chains, saddles,
stems, handlebars, drivetrains, hubs, and a zillion
spokes and nipples that never made it to market.
Another way to interpret this is that cycling is
going the way of skiing, golf and other high-
cost outdoor activities. Fewer participants but a
wealthier clientele who have money to spend. A
recent readership survey by VeloNews should give
us pause as we think about the future. Say what
you will about VeloNews, it reaches cyclists who
earn lots of money and spend lots of money on
bicycles and stuff. On average they are 51-year-old
males earning $211,000 a year and spend about
$6,200 on cycling gear, services and travel. Is this
where the market is trending long term given the
increase in dollars and continued decline in units?
The industry apparently left a lot of customers un-
touched. Will they show up once the BPSA tallies
its year-end sales? Again, uncertainty is certain.
A fisherman’s trade addendum: Matt Wiebe,
BRAIN’s tech editor, has been fishing for salmon
off the coast of Alaska for 45 years. He began that
annual pilgrimage to our northern shores as a
teenager. He has a license to fish a certain section
of the Alaskan coastline and owns an aluminum
boat to haul in his catch. While waiting for the
salmon to run he sent me a text. It seems more
U.S. fishermen want new boats equipped with jet
drives. The boats can maneuver safely closer to
shore to catch their allotment of salmon as the fish
make their annual run up Alaskan riverways. Alu-
minum boats typically require $140,000 or more
in aluminum. But as a result of Trump’s 10 percent
aluminum tariff some fishermen are canceling
new boat orders. Many of those types of boats are
made in Washington state where jobs will be lost.
Some of those orders are now going to Canadian
manufacturers where jobs will be created. Another
lesson in unintended consequences. Or in Trump’s
case trade unhinged by tweets.
Got a tip for our Through the Grapevine writer?
Email Marc Sani at msani@bicycleretailer.com.
 August 15, 2018 19

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NBDA 23 www.nbda.com
West: Ellen Butler
Technical Editor: Matt Wiebe Tel: (720) 288-0160
mwiebe@bicycleretailer.com ebutler@bicycleretailer.com
(505) 820-8176
Niner Bikes 8 www.ninerbikes.com
Taiwan/China: Wheel Giant Inc.
Features Editor: Val Vanderpool 193 Tze-Chiang Road, Changhua, Taiwan, ROC Pacific Cycles Inc. 17 www.pacific-cycles.com
vvanderpool@bicycleretailer.com Tel: 886-4-7360794 & 5
(949) 206-1677 Ext. 209 Fax: 886-4-7357860 or 7360789
rep@mail.wheelgiant.com.tw
People for Bikes 4 www.peopleforbikes.org
Staff Writer: Marc Sani
msani@bicycleretailer.com Italy/Switzerland: Ediconsult Internazionale
(949) 206-1677 Ext. 205 Plaza Fontane Marose, 3-16123, Genova, Italy
Tel: +39 10 583 684 • Fax: +39 10 566 578 Pro Patch Custom Accessories Marketplace www.propatchinc.com
sport@ediconsult.com
Contributing Editor: Doug McClellan
dmcclellan@bicycleretailer.com
(505) 780-5065 Production Manager/Classified Sales:
ProNet Inc. Marketplace www.pronetcycling.com
Ron Bertola
Tel: (949) 206-1677 Ext. 207 • Fax: (949) 206-1675
Contributor: Patrick O’Grady rbertola@bicycleretailer.com Propalm Marketplace www.propalm.com.tw
ogrady@maddogmedia.com

Strike Now Marketplace www.strikenow.com

www.bicycleretailer.com Taichung Bike Week 18 www.taichungbikeweek.com

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20

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Huffy Technical Customer Service
Representative
Huffy is looking for a Technical
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in Miamisburg, Ohio. If you have
call center and bicycle assembly
experience, check out www.Huffy.
com/Jobs for more information.
TURN KEY BIKE- SKI -TAPROOM
FOR SALE
Sandpoint Idaho
20 year Established business in
community, Sales, Service and Repair
for Ski’s and Bikes. 6 taps and 3
display coolers, all tools and equip
fix,incl. Long term lease option.
Vendor accts transfers. 208-255-8626
Turn Key Mobile Bike Repair
Business
Red Bus Bicycle Works is for sale.
A completely turnkey mobile repair
and service center.
$10k in tools, $10k in inventory. Fully
built out 2003 Ford E-450 Thomas
built 20ft. shortbus. Website and URL.
Vendor Accounts.
Asking price is $19,000 USD
contact@redbusbicycleworks.com
Transition Tri is hiring a bike
sales/service associate
Transition Triathlon is looking for
an associate who can help with
bike sales and service. Must have
great customer service and basic
bike service skills. Experience with
tri bikes a plus. Contact Steve@
transitiontri.com
Independent Sales Reps Wanted
Seeking established independent
sales reps/rep groups to represent
Wilier Bicycles, Cinelli Bicycles,
Selle San Marco and USE: Ultimate
components and Exposure lights.
Experience selling high end cutting
edge products preferred. Multiple
territories are available. Please send a
resume to: jobs@cyclonebicycle.com
Univega USA hiring
Independent Reps
We are proud to be bringing the
Univega brand back to the IBD
channel and will be assembling
bikes in our South Carolina factory
beginning this fall. Univega USA is
looking for Independent Reps to cover
several open territories and will be
offering competitive commission rates
and opportunities for rapid growth
over the next several years. Come
be part of something special!!! All
inquires should be directed to John
Georger our Vice President of Sales at
JohnG@Univega-USA.com
Purchasing Associate position at
The Pro’s Closet Inc
The Pro’s Closet Inc. (TPC) is the
world’s largest retailer of previously-
owned bikes and cycling gear.
The Purchasing Associate is
responsible for responding to
customer inquiries regarding selling
bicycles and gear through The Pro’s
Closet Inc. This position requires
the ability to quickly and accurately
identify bicycles and components
along with their market value to
generate competitive offers.
We offer excellent benefits including
participation in ownership of the
company through stock option grants.
Full job description can be found
at: https://www.theproscloset.com/
pages/careers
Made in the Shade here in
CENTRAL FLORIDA
20 year old bike shop with an
indoor cycling/fitness studio for
sale. Turn-Key opportunity to own
a well-established business with a
great cycling community awesome
customer base! Owners moving.
CoachCottle@gmail.com
Live the dream in Moab UT while
wrenching for Western Spirit
Cycling
We’re hiring a full time mechanic
to start early September. Fun
environment, super flexible schedule
and many perks such as free bike
trips and on site living. Save your
entire paycheck while living for free!
mark@westernspirit.com
classifieds
Join the REI Team
At REI Co-op, we understand that
benefits matter. We have a workplace
built on respect, integrity and balance,
plus:
- Health care coverage for full-time
employees
- Bonus/incentive program
- REI Retirement Plan
- Generous gear and merchandise
discounts
- Paid time off
- Professional growth and
development opportunities
Go to REI.jobs and search “Bike” for
positions open near your location.
jparker@rei.com
Live the Dream: Own a Santa Fe
Bike Shop
Award winning shop and indoor
cycling studio for sale. Official stop on
annual century ride. Owners moving.
Loyal customers. Loved in community.
$300K+ annual gross. Get on board
in the 21st century’s hottest active-
destination town.
commerce@spindoc.com
Bicycle Fleet Rebalancer/
Mechanic wanted for Tech Co.
Hiring full-time fleet rebalancer/
mechanic. Ideal candidate familiar
with basic bike repair, comfortable
working outdoors, biking in varying
weather conditions, excellent
customer service. 2+ years as bike
mechanic, valid driver’s license, clean
driving record required.
info@bikesmakelifebetter.com
Marketing Assistant for
Pivot Cycles
Pivot Cycles is looking for a friendly,
self-starter who loves multi-tasking,
has excellent writing and proofreading
skills, along with previous marketing
experience, to join our team of MTB
enthusiasts. The position will assist
with online content across multiple
channels, campaigns and marketing
strategies, demo events and other
marketing activities. 1-3 years of
marketing experience or a BS in
Marketing is preferred.
Full-time employee benefits include
medical, dental, company matched
401k, paid time off, paid sick leave
and an employee purchase program.
jobs@pivotcycles.com
Inside Sales Representative -
Parlee Cycles
Parlee Cycles is looking for a
talented and competitive Inside
Sales Representative that thrives
in an active sales environment and
is passionate about cycling. This
role is fundamental in achieving our
Parlee sales growth objectives while
being the point person for sales and
customer service.
Responsibilities:
-Maintain daily outbound contact to
Parlee accounts in specific territories
to provide sales and customer
support.
-Create new sales opportunities with
existing Parlee accounts.
-Prospect and develop new Parlee
accounts within the territories.
Send cover letter & resume.
Jobs@ParleeCycles.com
Seeking Managers, Sales
Associates & Bike Technicians
Pro Bike + Run is seeking experienced
sales associates, mechanics, and
store managers with strong
interest in cycling or running. At
least six months related industry
experience or equivalent education is
strongly preferred. Download and
complete an application at www.
probikerun.com under About >
Employment. Please email resume
and application to jordanc@
probikerun.com.
CYCLERY U.S.A.
MIGHT BE LOOKING FOR YOU!
Do you love bikes as much as we
do? If so, we’d love to have you join
our team.
We’ve been in business for over 50
years and recognize the importance
of cultivating a strong team of
employees within a positive work
environment. We offer comparative
pay with commissions, medical
insurance, vacation & sick pay, paid
holidays, great employee purchase
pricing, 401K benefits, plus a fun and
friendly work environment.
Now hiring for Store Manager, Sales ,
and Service Technicians.
applications@cycleryusa.com
Law Offices of
Steven W. Hansen
Representing manufacturers,
distributors and retailers on all types
of legal issues since 1986.
Sign up for our newsletter at:
www.swhlaw.com
(562) 866-6228
legal.inquiry@swhlaw.com
August 15, 2018 21
Canyon Bicycles -
Bike Program Specialist
Position: Bike Program Specialist
Reports to: Marketing Director
Location: Carlsbad, CA.
Travel: 30% - Domestic and International
Summary of Role and Responsibilities
•Supervising and shepherding Bike
programs for the company.
•Directing and overseeing activities to
ensure sales targets, marketing position-
ing, and bike launches are successful.
•Directs and trains the Inside Sales team
on bikes and bike technologies
•Working with the Operations Director,
provides help with bike forecast such as
market and competitive analysis
•Works closely with the US Marketing
Director to execute all aspects of the bike
marketing plan.
Work Experience:
•3+ years of cycling industry experience
•Proven track record of successful team
leadership and achievement of results
•Thorough knowledge and experience in
program management
•Experience in consumer direct market-
ing (B2C)
•Strategic thinking, yet comfortable with
and effective at tactical level
•Thorough product knowledge of bi-
cycles
•High level retail operations experience,
including inventory management and
purchasing
•Strong and effective project manage-
ment skills and ability to lead and direct
outside resources
•Ability to manage multiple projects on
various levels with different
and converging timelines
•Excellent verbal and
written communication skills
•Ability to clearly articulate goals and
objectives to a wide range of audiences
•Comfort level working independently
and cooperatively to lead a diverse group
with a bias towards actions that generate
consumer awareness or engagement
•Operating experience collaborating and
aligning with global counterparts and
ensuring global brand excellence on a
regional level
•Previous experience working with a
premium positioned brand and under-
standing tactics that can both build or
potentially erode brand equity
•Marketplace understanding and abil-
ity to activate a network of internal and
external resources
•Sufficient experience and knowledge of
Microsoft Office to independently create
Power Point presentations, excel spread-
sheets and marketing materials in word
•Excellent interpersonal skills – willing-
ness and ability to resolve conflicts in an
appropriate and constructive manner
•Experience in determining and manag-
ing marketing budgets
•Willingness and ability to travel up to
30% domestically and internationally
•German language skills a plus
•Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Busi-
ness Administration, Engineering or a
related field
Canyon US is an Equal Opportunity/Af-
firmative Action Employer.
Qualified applicants send resume with
salary requirements to: recruitingcan-
yonusa@gmail.com
22
guest S TA F F
editorial editorial

Mechanics, business Companies report sales

owners and sales staff growth in uncertain
must value their time business climate
By James Stanfill ing for money for your time and still look profes-
sional? If it was on your pricing board to begin A s we put the final touches on this issue, we were into early
August and just over a month away from heading to the

I had this thought in regards to a question some-

one posted recently on Facebook. They asked
the Professional Bicycle Mechanic Association
with, neither you nor your customer would ques-
tion the subject at all.
Why are we as an industry so afraid to value
annual Interbike show in Reno. But with impending import
tariffs on Chinese goods, including bikes and related parts
and accessories, and an escalating trade war, the feeling this
group the following: “Customer just called. He the skills involved in knowing what we know? summer was one of uncertainty.
has a 4-5k budget on a mountain bike. Wants to This case in particular is a mobile operator who Talk of tariffs on imported bikes and parts that would im-
pick my brain for advice. Talked for 20 minutes clearly has a client base or they would not have pact pricing, making goods costlier to consumers, and po-
already. Considering a Stumpy or even a Canyon. called and asked for his valued opinion. tentially stymie purchases of bikes and gear took some of the
I told him about a Yeti I am borrowing. At some We seem to openly value the time of engi- wind out of our sails.
point, I should charge him for my time … How neers, product managers, marketing depart- This new potential hurdle was the topper in a year filled
to handle this professionally and make it profit- ments and sales reps, but what about owners, me- with uncertainty stemming from fundamental changes in
able?” chanics and sales people? After all, these are the how we do business, from marketing to selling to how we
This got me thinking about some questions people who work directly with the customer to work and how we buy and consume products. There are seis-
this person should ask of himself, such as: “What convey your true marketing message. mic changes happening quickly in our society and they breed
is the value of this customer to me? Do they have It doesn’t really matter where the customer uncertainty as we look at the short-term and even longer-
a history of business with me? I know the retail ends up purchasing their product, it seems we range view.
dollars on the bike aren’t going to put food on my are steering people to our online stores more ev- Recent headlines both in our magazine and mainstream
table. Are they good bike owners (i.e. they bring ery day. What happens when there are no edu- news media reporting mergers, retail closures, declines in
their trusty machines for regular service from cated mechanics, sales people or owners left to sales and in trade show attendance fuel more uncertainty. For
their favorite mechanic)?” answer those questions the product description many of us, this puts us in wait-and-see mode rather than
So, to address the idea of charging for con- cannot? enabling us to be proactive about preparing for changes hap-
sulting time, we should consider the following. A Value your time. As an owner, it’s up to you pening now and into the future.
consulting fee is relevant and fair but should also to make sure this is happening, especially in the But in the midst of this uncertainty there is some good
be disclosed up front. internet age. news. Companies are seeing growth in their businesses
“We can help you choose just the right bike, As professionals working in an industry, we through the second quarter of this year.
including x y z,” but it should absolutely be on have the knowledge that others seek. They are Fox Factory reported 15 percent growth in sales in the
your menu at the get-go. Otherwise. we just look coming to us because the internet can’t solve second quarter and 13 percent through the first half; after a
greedy for specifying after the fact. Each and ev- these problems. It can’t help them with a true tough start to the year, Dorel reported a rebound in bike sales
ery store out there bases their labor on some ma- bike fit or genuine knowledge. in the second quarter and 10 percent revenue growth com-
trix of value, or so we should hope. Why not sim- Opinions matter and consumers will gladly pared to the same period last year; Shimano said sales were
ply post it? A consulting fee. We don’t care if you pay for professional knowledge when it comes up 7 percent through the first half, and Garmin posted 23
buy here, but if you’re going to value our opinion to decorating their houses, seeking therapy, or percent sales growth in its fitness division year to date.
(which takes time), this is what it costs. so many other professional services, so why not And while members of the Bicycle Product Suppliers As-
Why be afraid of that? Time is money after their $5,000 bike, too? sociation reported shipping fewer bikes to retailers through
all. If this is a customer, their long-term value is Those are my thoughts on the subject. And the first half, business picked up from declines seen earlier in
greater than the retail profits offered by the slim perhaps the more who think this way, the better the year to end at 6.4 percent down in units, compared with
margin you receive. Think about that. Perhaps off we’d all be. 9.3 percent in the first quarter. Dollars actually grew despite
the consultation fee is a percentage of your actual this decline by $32.7 million through the first half.
hourly charge, but it should be there. James Stanfill is president of the Professional Bi- There are obstacles, and uncertainty prevails, but let’s not
Not being able or willing to put it out there up cycle Mechanics Association. He’s a former director let the unknowns paralyze us from taking the necessary steps
front creates just the situation this question from of operations at USA Cycling. He’s also worked at to address the headwinds we face today.
Facebook poses. How to go back and handle ask- Specialized and Cannondale in technical positions.
Register today
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