The Florida State Time Trial Championship is a 40km out and back course held this year outside of St.Cloud, Florida. The course is utterly flat and mostly straight, windswept and fast. It is one of the few, regularly scheduled full length time trials that also offers Eddy Merckx and junior categories and a team trial.
My view is that making a small change to how I conduct business and run my life is better than doing nothing, and that if everyone tries to introduce small changes, these changes will take hold and make a difference, hopefully in time to prevent a dystopian future or one that is just not very comfortable. This is how I have arrived at doing what I can to make A-D Bikes a circular and sustainable bike company.
The last time I was around for the double loop in 2022, it was a balmy 40 degrees by the time the ride was underway. The Gatorade flowed freely. My feet and hands were warm. I wore a wind vest and arm warmers. It felt like early spring in Maine. If I had been asked to identify a single, simple, cycling-related and personal measure of how the climate has changed over the past twenty years, this would have been it.
John Burke (CEO of Trek Bicycle Corpoation) understands the Circular Economy better than he did when he was brainstorming on the white board. Mr. Burke is on the right track and he is ready to bring Trek and the entire bicycle industry kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century. If there ever was a time for a serious restructuring of the bicycle industry it is now.
John Burke is indeed the first bicycle industry professional that I am aware of to recognize that sustainability is the new gold standard for the industry (not the Tour de France).
What started out trying to be a reseller has evolved into something closer to LKQ Corporation. The only difference is that the deproduction operations of Frame and Wheel are integrated with a bicycle brand, A-D Bikes.
The pandemic ruthlessly exposed the bicycle industry’s dependency on the global supply chain and the weaknesses and vulnerabilities which are encapsulated by N+1 Thought.
The model year convention is the most explicit manifestation of N+1 Thought there is. What better way to sell another bicycle to someone who already has one than to use a date to signal that the latest model year is somehow better than the one the owner already has?
The retailer or brand is making a large investment in a range of models, colors, categories and sizes and hoping that the right person is going to walk in the door within the next twelve months and make a purchase.
The problem is that when the price point selection is broadened, the consumer is overwhelmed with too much choice. A good example of this is the Specialized Diverge gravel bike.
What drives the bicycle industry to repeatedly produce more bicycles and e-bikes each year than the market can absorb? Sunk costs. Economies of scale. Ride it out the door. A bike for every price. Model year.
The Florida State Time Trial Championship is a 40km out and back course held this year outside of St.Cloud, Florida. The course is utterly flat and mostly straight, windswept and fast. It is one of the few, regularly scheduled full length time trials that also offers Eddy Merckx and junior categories and a team trial.
My view is that making a small change to how I conduct business and run my life is better than doing nothing, and that if everyone tries to introduce small changes, these changes will take hold and make a difference, hopefully in time to prevent a dystopian future or one that is just not very comfortable. This is how I have arrived at doing what I can to make A-D Bikes a circular and sustainable bike company.
The last time I was around for the double loop in 2022, it was a balmy 40 degrees by the time the ride was underway. The Gatorade flowed freely. My feet and hands were warm. I wore a wind vest and arm warmers. It felt like early spring in Maine. If I had been asked to identify a single, simple, cycling-related and personal measure of how the climate has changed over the past twenty years, this would have been it.
John Burke (CEO of Trek Bicycle Corpoation) understands the Circular Economy better than he did when he was brainstorming on the white board. Mr. Burke is on the right track and he is ready to bring Trek and the entire bicycle industry kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century. If there ever was a time for a serious restructuring of the bicycle industry it is now.
John Burke is a white board guy. He uses that idea very effectively in the Trek Sustainability Report August 2023.
John Burke is indeed the first bicycle industry professional that I am aware of to recognize that sustainability is the new gold standard for the industry (not the Tour de France).
What started out trying to be a reseller has evolved into something closer to LKQ Corporation. The only difference is that the deproduction operations of Frame and Wheel are integrated with a bicycle brand, A-D Bikes.
The pandemic ruthlessly exposed the bicycle industry’s dependency on the global supply chain and the weaknesses and vulnerabilities which are encapsulated by N+1 Thought.
The model year convention is the most explicit manifestation of N+1 Thought there is. What better way to sell another bicycle to someone who already has one than to use a date to signal that the latest model year is somehow better than the one the owner already has?
The retailer or brand is making a large investment in a range of models, colors, categories and sizes and hoping that the right person is going to walk in the door within the next twelve months and make a purchase.
The problem is that when the price point selection is broadened, the consumer is overwhelmed with too much choice. A good example of this is the Specialized Diverge gravel bike.
What drives the bicycle industry to repeatedly produce more bicycles and e-bikes each year than the market can absorb? Sunk costs. Economies of scale. Ride it out the door. A bike for every price. Model year.
