In a recent Washington Post article, it was cited that the amount of people
riding mountain bikes off road has dropped in the past three years about 40%...from
14 million to about 10 million. The bike industry has recorded flat sales in
the 26" mountain bike market for some time now. My own personal perceptions
are that I don't see more people on the trail now than I did five years ago...it
seems like our sport has stagnated and possibly even dropped in popularity.
I have a theory on this that I'd like to divulge. I believe the industry has
simply made our sport too complex. Yes we have incredible single, double, triple
and quadrupal linkage suspension systems. We have 27 gears to choose from, multiple
frame designs and materials. In some ways, technology has made our sport easier
than ever...in others, technology has mode our sport more inaccessible than
ever.
Whenever I think of a full squish bike I think complexity, and I've been riding
for twelve years. Imagine what it's like to someone just getting started? Complexity
isn't appealing to me...I've got enough of that in life. Generally I've found
sports that require excess technology to be less appealing than those with a
more simple approach.
I believe the main problem with our sport is we have too much damned technology
to the point that it scares people from participating. If you go to a bike shop
and want to get a solid ride for off road use you have to spend probably $750.
Anything less than that and you'll be getting a bike that weighs a ton, or has
shoddy components.
Now imagine this scenario? What if the industry pushed singlespeed simple mountain
bikes to folks? With a singlespeed you could surely get a bike for under $400
that weighed sub-23 pounds and didn't break. No tuning of the gears...just get
out and ride. Like when we were kids.
It's a well known fact that sex and style sell. To me, a sleek singlespeed is
a hell of a lot more sexy and edgy than some porked out geared full squish bike.
I look at other semi-fringe sports that are succesful and I see a theme...simplicity
in equipment and tons of soul. Surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding are great
examples. You can pick up a surf board for $400 or so. Once you've got that,
there are a few other accessories to purchase, but all in all, you're set to
take on the ocean.
We need to make our sport simple. Get an awesome 1x1 for the amount of cash
you'd earn dishwashing for a week. Ride it till it drops, with the only maintenance
being a few drops of oil on the chain every now and then. There is so much soul
in riding down a singletrack. The problem is, with complex bikes and tons of
moving parts on squish bikes, it's hard to tap into this soul. And in the end,
soul is what will get folks hooked on riding bikes on trails.
Some may argue singlespeeding is too hard...it'll turn people away. Hogwash
I say. Surfing is hard as hell but it seems to me to be a growing sport that
has ingrained itself into american culture. I suspect most people like a little
challenge...hell, it makes the feel alive and sure beats staring at a computer
all day. They'll embrace singlespeeding as a challenging but simple way to beat
the stuffing out of their bodies, and commune with mother earth and their soul.
In turn, more people will ride and world will be a better place because of it.
Over and Out - Pluto Pilot