Thursday, June 09, 2011

The state of the bike industry ......

Our part time engineer, single track lover and general wise guy Christie had some pearls of wisdom recently about the state of the bike industry and its future


I wonder when the bike industry will start thinking outside the box (or should I say circle??) and come up with some real improvements??

 

I suggest they look at the following:

 

1. Make bikes cheaper by offering less options 

2. Design rear suspension bearings to last longer than the frame, improved suspension seals to increase service intervals... 

3. Standardize on frame interfaces such as seat post diameter, bb, headset, axles, brake mounts...

 

but instead of looking at above mentioned improvements to cut cost and survive hard economical times, and at the same time making it more affordable for the less afluant riders, they rather re-invent the wheel and come out with 29'ers, 3 different rear wheel axle options, 3 different front axle options, 10 models of each tire, numerous tapered headset sizes.... to name a few... and these all just inflate costs instead of reducing....

 

I'm all for improvements and using space age technology on bikes, but I would really like to see some standardization on certain things....

 

I mean, do we really need 3 different wheel sizes!!!??? nevermind all the other things like 5 different seatpost sizes....

 

The bike industry currently goes against conventional wisdom and in tough times, instead of consolidating and aim to be more cost effective, it re-invents the wheel (literally..) and brings out yet another specie, which just drives up cost further... it will be interesting see if it will mean the survival or demise of the bike industry over the next 10 years....

 


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