When the Bicycle Industry (finally) accepted eBikes, it didn’t just bring in a new & thriving category, it gave us a taste of what can happen when we adapt to something most thought would never be on our radar. Is that a good thing and should we take that example as a reason to expand our offerings even further? From my experience, I don’t think the transition to the next level of motorized fun on two wheels is anything like going from analog to eBikes… and we are all too familiar with how rocky that journey has been despite how profitable it became. We are no strangers to having an identity crisis when things like this are first presented to us. I will never forget the outright resistance to eBikes barely 10 years ago and despite the curmudgeons & those overly concerned with how others have fun, eBikes are arguably one of the biggest things to happen in the Bicycle Industry since the safety bicycle.
I suspect many are making the same face as my daughter in the bottom left corner. As a proud traditionalist, I’m right there with you. The new eMotorcycles and what looks like an eBike cross-bred with a motorcycle make the eBike throttle-assist debates seem almost petty. And while this new category seems new, the conversations about their likelihood are anything but. Many industry leaders & trail advocates have addressed this possibility since eBikes were first being introduced. I could go on about how the term ‘motorized vehicle’ is being over-simplified because there is an astronomical difference between the average eBike’s power compared to your average dirt bike. For reference, a 750w eBike has max output of about 1hp. A 250 to 450 cc (4-stroke) dirt bike has between 40 & 60hp. Generalizing a traditional eBike with a traditional dirt bike is as silly as using a ’90s mountain bike as a gravel bi… wait, never mind. However, that gap between the two has been filled in and they are quietly looking for places to be used. I have seen many shops diversify into selling some of these because… well, it’s as simple as the consumers want them and they’re undeniably fun. No matter how much we want to shake our fists at them, at the very least we need to understand them and more importantly, that market.
I grew up with a dad who was as passionate about motorcycles & guitars as I am about bicycles. Much like I did to my department store bikes, he modified everything to suit him. From painting his Roy Rogers guitar & modifying the electronics of his 1962 Gibson SG, like most things, not even motorcycles were safe from becoming something they weren’t.
Before I went full send into bicycles, I never really thought about anything past what’s fun is fun, and that’s it. When you think about it, everyone does that until they center on something. As people mature, they seek individuality and often that seeps into their interests. Things like trail access aside, we (bike nerds) often use our interests as dividing lines based on tradition. When it’s a hobby or passion, that’s one thing. When you’re running a business, decisions without extensive consideration can be outright harmful. We’ve seen big brands collapse because something was seen as a trend and by the time they tried to catch up, it was too late. This is where we have to start considering what is good for our customers, our business, and whether it’s worth considering as a long-term plan.
Not long after I mastered two wheels on a bicycle, my dad found a fixer-upper, late 1960s, Honda SL 70 for me to ride. I’ve never gone from excited to terrified so fast. After several failed attempts, I was suddenly riding around the yard. Once I was comfortable in the backyard, we went around the block and I still remember how exciting it was to go to second gear for the first time. Like that initial fear I had, third gear was the equivalent to Ben Cranem’s GRX engine, and Pops said it was off-limits. I had a friend who had the legendary XR75 and another with a KX80 (so he said), and while I loved motorcycles, I never saw them as attainable as bicycles, and it was true as I didn’t get back into motorcycles until I was well into my 20s. While I was in college, I got into sport bikes & supermotos, and like cycling, it had a really tight-knit cult of its own. Through those connections, I was offered a sales position at a high-volume Honda dealership.
Motorcycle & Bicycle Shops – Same but different
Working at a motorcycle dealership was both very much the same & different in comparison to a bicycle shop. The customers, employees, and even suppliers mirrored almost everything I experienced in bike shops. There were multiple sub-cultures and for each, practices were in place to serve each one. So what was the big difference? Due to the complexity of motorcycles, there was an extremely rigid wall dividing sales, parts, and especially service. Not a single person, including management, got involved with the others’ processes. There was zero overlap and each department was essentially run like individual businesses. An easy way to look at it, the motorcycle dealer was a hybrid of a car dealer and bike shop. It had both the culture of traditional bike shops but the structure of a car dealership. Generally speaking, in the Bicycle Industry, there is often an overlapping gray area between the departments, if one at all. I started in shops where I played all three roles equally depending on what the customer in front of me needed.
When I went to work for a big-box store, it was much like that power sports dealership with separate service & sales departments. I worked there and at another shop prior, with one of my favorite people to wrench with. He was a pleasure to chat with while being the quintessential crotchety bicycle mechanic we have all grown to love. I never will forget him confronting a manager (multiple times) when asked to help a customer with sales. None of the managers rode bikes much less understood the culture. He recognized the divide that was established by upper management and wasn’t about to let them take advantage of him without compensation. He was too good at what he did for them to argue. That was when I began to better understand (value) the difference between a structured ‘corporate-like’ environment vs your friendly neighborhood bike shop. Neither is good or bad but when you go from a traditional shop environment where you wear multiple hats to a structured big-box store or dealership, it’s important to realize that those who understand numbers more so than your role, won’t fully understand how you feel about something unless you say something. Even good managers will unintentionally take advantage of an employee because they’ll assume everything is fine unless they say something. Had I not seen him stand his ground, I would have probably let myself become management’s scrambled prey, and burned out fast.
So hate, debate, and resistance aside, do we even have the ability to bring in products that may or may not be more suited for a specialized power sports dealer? If they can sell eBikes, what’s stopping us? Are eMotorcycles the next eBikes and are we underestimating their potential in the Bicycle Industry?
Bikes, eBikes & Motorcycles, oh my!
So here we are again. Ten years after we made these same faces about eBikes, are we being under or overly accepting of this next level of motorized entertainment? Is it our place to sell something that can’t be ridden in the same places practically everything else we sell can? I know of a few bicycle shops that have embraced eMotorcycles as an opportunity but I am almost certain that their approach is nothing like those taken with bringing in eBikes. I am a big fan of creatively diversifying one’s inventory to prevent putting too many eggs in one basket, but I want to hear what others think about how these higher-power bikes do or don’t fit in. From my somewhat experienced background on both sides of the two-wheel fence, offering products that are very different in use, but seem close to the same from where the general public stands, might create a confusing identity. Selling something like tents or guitars next to bicycles won’t confuse or upset anyone but selling similar-looking high-powered throttle-driven eMotorcycles next to eBikes can stir up emotions on all sides. For instance, mountain bikers have always had an uphill battle when it comes to gaining trail access. The cheap eMotorcycles we are already seeing on our trails are bad enough. Will selling them alongside permitable bicycles increase the demand/justification for their trail access? Will the debates motivate land managers to keep everyone off the trails so they don’t have to deal with it? I mean, who is rightfully entitled to act as the ‘Fun Police’ in these situations? I know we think we are… but I’ve seen trails & their access inch one gap-jump & motor at a time to both successful evolvement… and closure. I find it hard to say with any certainty what things will look like 10 years from now and I think we need to make sure we’re prepared for whatever that is.
I can already hear the clinch-induced squeaks from shop stools as people prepare to comment but understand that I’m not trying to stir debates or hate. Rather than start off with our traditional level of disdain for these eMonstercycles, I think it would do everybody good to learn as much about them to put ourselves in the best position possible when considering how we approach selling or competing against them. This isn’t the time to groan because people are going to buy them from someone so at the very least, we need to be prepared. Aside from complaints, how do you feel this somewhat new & growing category affects your business & community? Have you brought them in and if so, what’s the reception from your team & community? Are you able to manage them along with bicycles without having to make too many changes, or are you treating it as it’s own separate business? Have you looked into them and turned away? I’m looking forward to hearing what others have experienced because I’ve heard all the evils associated with these things, but little about what we’re doing to accept or counter them.