Editor’s Letter – Batteries Included

With a focus on next year’s product introductions, it’s always part of IO’s annual summer show issue to consider the coming seasons and project into the future. In this Summer 2014 edition, however, those themes fill the pages.

The main feature story, for starters, takes a look at the wearable computing market, an area of which we only have seen the tip of the iceberg. A few pages later comes an introduction for many to an emerging textile dyeing technique using supercritical fluid CO² that conservationists hope can clean up a messy process. And, of course, there’s the hundred-plus shiny new products that retailers must project for 2015 and beyond. So it seems fitting to continue down the path of looking down the road; and on that road, trail or path, we see lots more bicycles.

Earlier this year, Outdoor Retailer partnered up with Interbike to put on the inaugural ChargedUp media event, held at a resort in the hills of New Jersey. Along with highlighting some emerging outdoor technology, a primary intent of the event was to introduce media members to electronic bicycles. Well, it worked, because this editor is now along for the ride.

Those unfamiliar with electronic bikes, or possibly skeptical of the concept, should keep in mind that the experience on an e-bike is completely controllable. Due to the battery and motor, e-bikes certainly are heavier than regular bikes, but pedaling can be exactly the same as on a standard bicycle. If a hill gets steep or legs get tired, the rider simply shifts gears to engage the pedal assist, and things suddenly get easier without the loss of any speed. Shift again, and it’s even easier to pedal. One more shift and you’ll think you’re back on a 1970s-model moped. In some ways, it’s simply an electrical-charged extension of the original concept of gears.

Even so, purist likely will not be pleased, preferring to stick with human-powered pedaling, and we certainly can see their point. On the other hand, no matter how one feels about e-biking, it’s hard to deny that adding pedal assist to the traditional bike frame immediately makes a very large and long-standing outdoor activity more accessible to a wide range of consumers. All of a sudden, biking longer distances and chugging over hilly terrain becomes as easy as pedaling through the flat lands of Phoenix – even easier, if one can believe it. Throw on a comfortable seat, and you’ve practically eliminated just about every potential pain point and excuse for not riding.

Consider the commuter who contemplates riding to work every time he can’t find a place to park his car, but the office is just a bit too far for biking to make sense. Now maybe he rides there three times a week. A commuter also now can cruise to the office, sweat free, and then bust it home from work to get a full workout. For an avid enthusiast whose spouse or partner isn’t as enthusiastic about riding, an e-bike’s the great equalizer. Pedal assist allows your partner to keep up, while you still get to take your normal ride. For the 40- or 50-something who used to crank but the old joints and muscle ain’t what they used to be, an e-bike gets them comfortably back in the saddle. The list of applications goes on.

And it’s not like biking is a small opportunity in the first place. The most recent OIA figures, for instance, count more than 50 million U.S. bicyclists over the age of 6-years-old on our streets and trails, accounting for more than 2.7 billion annual outings. The National Bicycling Dealers Association estimates that about 15 to 20 million bikes are sold each year. E-bikes build on this large base with no learning curve and very little evangelical work required. Already, about 34 million new electronic bikes will be sold worldwide this year, says Ed Benjamin, chairman of the Light Electric Vehicle Association.

Prices admittedly will have to come down a bit before the market hits the masses. Right now, e-bikes typically run anywhere between $1,500 for a standard cruiser bike and up to $10,000 for the most bomber mountain bike. That’s plenty cheap enough if you view it as an alternative to an automobile, but if a company can come to play with a quality product that falls somewhat below the $1,000 mark, it’s not hard to see e-bikes being “the holiday gift” at the end of that year.

Sure, it will be a hard sell to many avid cyclers and bikers, but purists and enthusiasts already spend their disposable incomes at specialty sports dealers. E-bikes are about expanding on that market. And while bikes represent a limited opportunity for traditional “outdoor” stores, every new bicyclist who finds or rekindles affection for a daily or weekly ride eventually might need a jacket or pouch or pack or performance gloves or smartphone holder or a Buff or lip balm or …

That e-bike ride just might take them right by your store. –MV