Who is bicycle manufacturers’ next big competitor? The biggest competitor may not be who you think it will be. And it certainly may not be the biggest competitor now. Did book stores realize Amazon was going to be their biggest competitor? Did record stores realize that music streaming would be their biggest competitor. My guess is that the answer is no or at least not until it was too late. So what does this all have to do with cycling?
The same is true for bicycle manufacturers, their biggest competitor is anyone with a better idea. The slow to innovate bicycle industry (see Road Bikes = Innovation Constipation) may not realize who will be their biggest competitor until it is too late also. The bicycle market is becoming a very lucrative growth industry, especially with the global bicycle market projected to reach $28,667.3 million by 2027, as reported by businesswire.com (see Global Bicycle Market (2021 to 2027) – by Type, Sales Channel and End-user – ResearchAndMarkets.com). So it may come as no surprise that Ford might be targeting the market by registering a US patent that may have reinvented the bicycle derailleur (see Is Ford about to change derailleurs forever? ) as reported by Cyclingnews.com
Take note bicycle manufactures. If you snooze, you may loose. Nevertheless, it’s good to see innovation in the very slow innovating bicycle industry as well as the potential benefits consumers generally see with competition .
Ken Whittaker