Are shops selling the bikes that average people want?
 

Most people I see walking into bike shops these days want someone to fix their flat tires, and "have someone adjust that squiggly thing that the chain goes through".

I don't think any amount of world class salesmanship would convince them that they simply must have the latest vintage-style hybrid-gravel e-bike that's made from sustainable materials at a factory that is located in a country where homeless people are housed in mansions and drink only the finest scotch while smoking fine Cuban cigars that you can't even get in the US.

People want what they want, and since they're the ones with the money to spend, their dollars get to decide what is built and marketed and what isn't.

I think this is a false assumption. Shops sell a lot of comfort/hybrid bikes because they do make people happy. Not everyone is training for a century or to become a "serious cyclist" and just wants to do some casual pedaling around without having to strain their back and/or strain their neck in the drops. If it weighs 35 pounds vs. 20, it's really not a big deal.

On the weekends, I see a fair number of people out riding comfort/hybrid bikes and some appear to be doing rides of 10 miles or more (based on how far from town they are). For a lot of people, that is plenty and they all look pretty happy.

I'm sure there are some people that buy them and later decide they want a road bike, but I'll bet there are also plenty of people that buy road bikes and later decide they want the comfort/Hybrid.

A good bike salesperson will be explaining the pluses and minuses of the different types to maximize the number of satisfied customers.

Want; Yes
Afford; No
Need; Subjective
Trendy; Absolutely

Are they selling the bikes cyclists want? Rather a more important issue.

Answer----if they are in business, yes.

Don't forget a lot of advertising dollars go into persuading people what they want.

As for upright bikes/unsuspended hybrids .... from what i see, there are some fair number of folks who prefer not to ride drop bar bikes. old folks out cruising, young couples out cruising, Sunday morning I aw two middle-aged couples in bike gear, looking as fitter or fitter than I, out riding roads and trails, and they were all on flat-bar bikes.

My take is most people who are not "cyclist" type riders, but rather are "people who ride bicycles," don't necessarily put out enough power through their legs to keep their butts off the seat and the weight off their arms, so a more upright postures is less fatiguing overall. And those folks still ride "seriously," in their own ways ... they just don't compete, or try to achieve ever-higher goals, and all that.

Look at the websites .... every major manufacturer sells high-end CF (and metal of course) racing frames with top-end components and flat bars. Somebody is spending $1500-$3500 dollars for flatbar performance bikes.

I figure there are people who have a little disposable income, are willing to spend a little to get the good stuff (they think they are worth it) and they also don't identify with the whole "bike racer" ethos,. They don't want to be bent over, they don't care about Strava, they just want to buy and ride quality bicycles and enjoy doing it.

This general topic always amuses me.

Look, Americans don't need Any help shopping,. There are freaking whole TV networks--Many of them---just pushing a huge array of different products. As soon as anyone thinks they see a market niche or think they can create one,. someone is there selling the product. if Americans Wanted a particular type of bike, it would be on the market. And if people are riding a certain type of bike ...

The old folks with Walmart bikes on their motor homes---don't need anything better. They are happy. The folks buying the upright bikes ... probably want them. And remember ... much as we all obsess about weight, most people do not and do not Want to ride up big hills, and weight really only matters on hills, and even then, only on pretty big hills (relative to the rider) where even a light bike would still not make a big difference. (As someone who has tried the same hills on bikes weighing over a range of a dozen pounds, I can tell you that if you don't have the lungs, legs and hear, ten pounds less bike weight isn't going to get you up that hill.) On the flat, for a casual rider, a 20-lb bike is not much different than a 30-lb bike.

This is the internet age. Forget computers ... most people can do more on their phones than I could on a desktop. If they want a bike, they will look at a hundred bikes in a minute.

Caveat: I don't know a thing about any of this. I just go on what makes sense to me, and whatever I imagine explains what i see in bike shops, Walmarts, and on the road.

My question to the OP is ... how do you know? What do you think people Really want? And why do you think a lot of people are buying the wrong bike and quitting, and what bikes do you think they should buy?

I sure don't know, but this could be an interesting, if almost wholly abstract, conversation.

Open a bike shop and find out. If you're still in business in a few years, I suppose you're selling what people want. If not, you missed the mark.

How the heck would we know? Ask some average people instead.

Capitalist!

Elitist! :D

Yes, bike shops are selling what most people "need". Most people ride (if they ride at all) two miles a couple times to the ice cream shop in summer. Pretty much any bike will do for that purpose. Hybrids are practical, durable and usually cheap... they're ideal for that purpose. So is a yard sale Schwinn Varsity.

I see it like this a good bike salesman is going to try to give you at least what you need and maybe a step or two up, but he is also going to ask your budget. In Iowa we have ragbrai, some people walk in the bike shop and they have 5k to spend and darn it their going to spend it. They ride the weeks worth of 450 miles and the bike sits the rest of the year, they have their bragging rights and usually in the spring the bike is on craigslist or back in a shop for sale.

A shop that knows their customer base will do that..

Out here they don't tie up money in high end bikes

lots of MTBs , because the county has a lot of open spaces.

and cruisers and such ..

I think there's a false assumption here. I think the "average" person wants the $79 bike from Walmart. I think the "average" person worries that they're splurging more than they should on that $179 Shwinn from Dick's Sporting Goods. I think it is an unusual person who knows whether there is an LBS in their L.
I can't tell you how many times I've tried to steer someone new to the game toward a $400-$500 intro bike from an LBS only to be told that's way more than they're willing to spend.
Often (but far from always) that person will be back in a year or two riding a bike that I suggested back when they started. I've got one friend that rides a 15 year old Huffy and claims he's happy with it. Considering that I can't get him to ride farther than 1 mile, he may be telling me the truth. I cannot convince him that he might be willing to ride farther if he had a better bike.
I have not given up.

I only know from the industry distribution numbers, which feels superficial, but 74% of the bikes are sold by mass merchants and the rest by "specialty bike retailers" (bike shops) which is 13%, and by sporting good stores and other outdoor specialty stores.

So 3/4 of the people want the big box store bikes and 1/4 want the bike shop and specialty bikes. Assuming that there is little or no overlap, which isn't that strong an assumption IMO.
Breakdown of U.S. bicycle unit sales in 2015, by channel of trade

This is me
 

Being the unofficial voice of the average cyclist I say yes the lbs carries the perfect bike for everyone or they can order it or it hasn't been invented yet and someone is working on that.

You should head over to www.rivbike.com

Disagree 100%. You are telling people want they want, not taking into accound what they want. The person buying an Electra likely has no intentions on being fast, and riding around flat MUPs weight means almost diddly squat. Likewise, the MTB trails around me are packed with $2k MTBs that people buy and use as intended, the shops have no issue moving them on a regular basis.. Both groups are getting what they want out of their purchase, they are buying the correct bike no issue.

And, as I recently learned, most average riders from Northern Europe, even ones who tour thousands of miles a summer.

What people want is a magical unicorn that doesn't exist. They want something extremely light, super durable, works really well with no maintenance, is super comfortable, but fast and costs nothing and in a color they get to pick.

Depends on the shop. Most brand name shops I'd say no just on price. I don't think the avg person cares that much about weight within reason and I don't think weight would make much difference in performance as they say it's easier to lose 5 pounds off the rider than the bike for the same effect and I don't imagine 10 lbs makes a significant distance anyway. 60 lbs i'm sure you'd notice. I'd think the avg person would be fine with a walmart bike they'll leave in the yard anyway and will be lucky to last 3 years before its rusted solid. I think an off brand shop with mid range bikes is good for the avg mid range person but those are rare/ driven out by big box stores. I don't think type matters as they usually have all/ most types and as much as i wish I'd gotten something more specialized then my hybrid another thread on marketing made me rethink that. It's great around town, on mups and light singletrack and can be a beginning tourer if/ when i get around to that. There's no need for 4 bikes.

I doubt that "average" people shop for a bike starting with zero information. The biggest source of "advertising" may be word-of-mouth. I think that people look around at what other people are riding, and compare themselves to those people, then buy a type of bike that they think people similar to themselves have been happy with. They ask their friends for advice. They have plenty of exposure to that kind of information before they set foot in a bike store.

They check out the web forums, where there's sure to be a consensus on what kind of bike to get, and people willing to provide patient, friendly advice. ;)

People know that I'm a cyclist -- it's hard to miss the bike hanging next to my office. They start casual conversations. I usually advise them to ride the bike that they already have, if they have one. Remember that the manufacturers are "competing" with a huge inventory of bikes sitting in garages. I offer to help them get it working. I try to provide an honest critique of the difference between a WalMart bike and an entry level LBS bike.

I'll take two of those please. Red.