Here it is very nearly June and the trails I frequent are only now beginning to dry out enough to be classified as ride-able. Naturally the buzz associated with this annual phenomenon is enough to keep everyone in my riding circles giddy with excitement so it’s pretty easy to just assume all is well in the world. In truth the evening news hints of dark undertones: an international economy teetering on the brink of collapse, oil spills in the gulf that could irreversibly damage the global environment and the ecology, sports icons firing doping allegations back and forth, and all this usually within the first three-minutes of the broadcast!

So how does all this doom and gloom relate to our niche? Well surprisingly, on a grand scale, the cycling market seems largely unaffected by the recession (first domestic now global). This isn’t so say that bike and accessory makers haven’t been hit by any means, far from it in fact, but rather that while many industries have been pummeled so hard that there is a strong chance they may never fully recover, the damages here have been kept to a minimum.

I can report on this quite confidently due to continued growth in the one sector that usually crumbles at the first sign of trouble: R&D. Indeed, as far as mountain bike technology is concerned, the innovations coming down the pipeline haven’t so much as flinched in response to the turmoil all around while seeming economic rocks (like the neighboring Japanese powersports market) have slowed to a grinding halt. So bad has it become that many companies have decided against importing new models for the 2010 model year and are withholding 2011 plans until after positive change is witnessed. Yet here in our little bubble, the manufacturers have been chugging steadily along.

Of course, I would be remiss to pretend we in the industry aren’t feeling the effects of the economic pinch in all sorts of little ways, a few of which are highlighted below.

Factory Direct Manufacturers

The trend from a few years back of being able to cut out the middleman (in this case the bike shop) by ordering quality equipment factory direct has certainly suffered. Gone are staple companies Kinley, Woodstock and Ibex leaving only Fezzari to hold the factory-direct fort. Not that bike shops, many of which have been pushed to the brink of existence due to their inability to compete with the internet, are complaining mind you, the sad reality is that competition always benefits the consumer most. Less options when going in to buy a new bike is never a positive market trend for the customer.

Media Test Fleets

The media can always tell when things are getting rough economically simply by the way the manufacturers behave. A few years ago securing bicycle test models was as simple as firing off an email or placing a phone call to the PR departments. These days many of the major brands are reporting that they simply don’t have the budget to allow their test fleet to circulate through as many publications as they once did. Again it is the consumer who loses most when these cuts are made. There is a sad inverse relationship in that as times get tougher customers are less willing to spend frivolously. In other words, they do more research before dropping coin on a big-buck item like a new bike. When the manufacturers that produce the items in question are crying the blues and making less information available to the consumer, it simply lessens their odds of selling more units and so the cycle continues.

Advertising Revenue

Fortunately publications like MBT that are privately backed don’t rely upon advertising revenue to stay in business are unaffected by this trend, our contacts in the print biz are reporting some troubling signs. For the same reason PR departments are given less to work with and race teams are being scaled back with massive budget cuts, so too are advertising budgets drying up. In the event that this means little to you, keep in mind that the magazine industry is one that is almost entirely dependent upon advertising revenue to stay afloat (subscription revenue and newsstand sales often operate at a loss). The domestic mountain bike press, which has been fledging even when times were good, could end up proving unable to weather the storm if the trend continues.

Racing/ Sponsorship

Sadly, sports like ours are already infamous for paying peanuts at the upper-echelon of competition when compared with the types of salaries being flaunted in stick and ball sports despite participation risks that are downright laughable in comparison (think of how much a pro golfer knocks down to try to hit a ball into a hole surrounded by well manicured grass). As budget cuts invariably sweep across the manufacturers and sponsors, incentives and rider contingency programs will suffer as well. When that happens competition dries up (after all, money has a way of drawing the best talent) and then fan attendance/ dedication wanes.

I don’t mean to come off as pessimistic. After all, the theme of my column is actually that all factors considering, ours has been one of the surviving markets. The truth of the matter is that as things continue to improve, we can only expect the cycling industry to continue to flourish as well. This issue celebrates the onset of the season for much of the country and besides, who needs any more doom and gloom reporting? That’s what we have the evening news for.