Cycling Business Podcast

In this episode i'm joined by former Garmin, BMC and Trek pro tour rider Pete Stetina to talk about his recent transition from pro tour racer to gravel privateer. We talk in depth about the state of the booming US gravel race scene and how Pete successfully switched from the pro tour to building his own privateer gravel program.

 

This is a fascinating insight into what it takes to strike out on your own as a gravel pro, building a commercially viable set up from scratch without the support of a pro team. Making things even more challenging Pete achieved all of this during COVID and has still gone on to dominate the US gravel scene so far this season.

 

Some links to items we reference in the podcast:

 

Shasta Gravel Hugger. https://www.gravelhugger.com/ 

Pete's website. https://www.peterstetina.com/

Pete's Insta. https://www.instagram.com/pstetina 

Stetina's Paydirt Gravel Event. https://www.stetinaspaydirt.com/

Welcome back to the Cycling Business Podcast after a rather long break! 

 

In this episode i'm joined by my former Canyon colleague Rhys Howell to talk everything eRacing (that's racing on Zwift, not eBikes!). A brand new branch of the sport that's growing fast and shaking up the world of cycling.

 

Rhys has been a pioneer in the eRacing space founding and managing the worlds first pro eRacing team sponsored by Canyon. We get into the nuts and bolts of racing and how he runs the top eRacing team in the world, we talk about some of the ethical challenges in the sport right now, and look at what the future might look like for eRacing.

 

If you like what you've heard please give us a rating or review on iTunes, and stay tuned for the next episode. Also check out my other podcast focused on mental health, The Blackdog Cast.

 

Links and other resources we refer to in the podcast:

Canyon eSports Discord Channel. Home to the Canyon eSports community & public racing teams.

Canyon eSports Team Instagram.

Canyon eSports Team Website.

Zwift Twitch Channel For Streaming Of Premier League Racing.

Cycling News. What is the Zwift Racing League & How To Join.

The political world has been rocked on both sides of the Atlantic in the past 6 months, first with Brexit and then the Trump presidency. With future trade and economic policy extremely uncertain in both cases where does this leave the global bike business?

Will leaving the EU mean a boom for UK manufacturers? And what affect could a potential US trade war with China have on an industry that imports 98% of bikes sold in the US from Asia?

Tune in to hear from US bike market research expert Jay Townley on how things are shaping up in the US market since the Trump election win, and Alan Weatherill from Hope Technology in the UK to hear some positives from the Brexit vote.

 

As with every publishing business, the cycling media landscape has changed beyond recognition in the past 10 years with the move away from print to digital platforms. Long-standing print publications have faced challenges on all sides to maintain both editorial quality and advertising revenue in the face of competition from new digital publishers.

But beyond this, what specifically has changed for both publishers and brands and how do those on both sides of the business need to adapt to this changing media landscape? Is print in terminal decline? And how are digital platforms challenging for both valuable consumer attention and ad budgets?

I'm joined by 2 guests with some heavyweight experience on both sides of the publishing landscape to look at this in more detail; Neal Rogers, former editor of Velo News and current US editor of Cycling Tips, and Richard Schofield, cycling media consultant and former publisher of cycling titles at Future Publishing.

We talked at length in a previous episode about the challenges that the growth in consumer direct sales places on traditional bike retail. With the local bike shop facing increasing competition on all sides how can it stay relevant and survive in today's changing market place? 

In this episode we're joined by the founders of 2 very different businesses who are part of a shift in todays bike retail landscape; Chris Guillemet from mobile mechanic network Velofix, and Sam Humpherson from London bike / coffee shop Look Mum No Hands! 

Tune in to hear how both the franchised mobile mechanic business and the growth in bike / coffee shops are providing consumers alternatives to the traditional bike shop.

It's very well known that the majority of larger bike brands manufacture many of their frames and other components in Asia, in particular in Taiwan and China. But beyond this, most consumers know very little about this major part of the worldwide bike market. Is this simply by accident or by design?

In this episode we're joined by Andrew Herrick (CEO of Intense Bikes) and Neil Webb (Founder and MD of Bowman Cycles) to take a closer look at exactly what goes on when bike companies source product from Asia. What are the challenges involved, and should we collectively be concerned about any of the environmental and ethical questions this raises?

In this edition we're looking at the impact of the consumer direct online business model on the bike industry. With the growth of online brands such as Canyon, consolidation of online retailers with Wiggle's acquisition of Chain Reaction, and both Trek and Giant implementing hybrid click and collect services - where does this leave the rest of the industry and in particular the increasingly challenged brick and mortar retailer? 

We're joined by 2 guests from both sides of the consumer direct debate; Brendan Quirk, founder of Competitive Cyclist and now President of Rapha North America, and Eric Bjorling, Brand Communications Director with Trek Bikes.

With KickStarter and other crowdfunding platforms becoming increasingly popular with cycling related projects in recent years, we're joined in this episode by 2 entrepreneurs who have had success in using KickStarter to launch their cycling related companies. 

Adam Vollmer from Faraday Bicycles and Doug Bairner from Lumo share their experiences and lift the lid on the nuts and bolts of running successful crowdfunding campaigns; Why are cycling related projects so popular in the first place? What exactly goes into making a successful campaign? What are the pros and cons of the different crowd-funding platforms? What other funding options exist once the crowdfunding campaign has finished?

Against the backdrop of an increasingly competitive yet commoditised road bike market, how do high end brands differentiate themselves? Erik Joule from Stinner Frameworks and Julian Franco from Franco Bicycles share their take on this issue.