If you haven’t noticed yet, we’ll tell you here: The bike industry is undergoing a radical shift. The opportunities and potential have never been greater – and neither have the challenges. What follows: a lot of motivation and bad news for pessimists!
Oh, how great was the simplicity of the nineties – when road bikes were still road bikes and mountain bikes were still mountain bikes. Today the world is so much more complex: The bike industry is changing from a clearly defined and stratified sports industry to one where worlds collide – billion-dollar-companies and underdogs, pro performance and beginner friendliness, luxury comforts and athletic aspiration, mass production and craftsmanship are all in competition. With a fascination for technology and increasing digitisation on the one hand and a staunchly held “Technology? No thanks!” view on the other, a market is emerging in which the needs of consumers couldn’t be more diverse.
The result? Constant innovation and development – some solves real problems, while the rest is simply old tech disguised as innovation or innovation in need of a problem to solve, creating problems we didn’t have before. The Design & Innovation Award not only honours the most outstanding products of the coming season but also provides orientation in times of a complex and increasingly fast-paced world of trends and would-be trends.
Once again we spared no effort in testing the latest products for you on the legendary South Tyrolean roads and trails around the Dolomite paradise of St. Vigil. One of the central findings of this year’s awards was: “There is no perfect product for everyone, but for everyone, there is a perfect product.” As in previous years, there was a range of exciting products from underdogs as well as established brands and some brands that were previously considered less innovative. The market and the brands are changing rapidly, requiring all of us to be open-minded and to think on our feet – provided that as a consumer you want to make the right choices.
For many, “bike time” has become synonymous with “me time” – a luxury that we’ve lost to our job, family, shopping and mother-in-law. First-class products, which intensify this short but valuable leisure time or enable new experiences, are an important topic. Which is why this year we have added an Adventure and Camping category to the Design & Innovation Award – the bike community is an outdoor community after all. Be it in a campervan with a satellite TV or in an ultra-light one-man tent, more and more people are finding their way back to themselves and nature away from the crowds. The boundaries between the different outdoor industries are blurring, a problem that many manufacturers and trade fairs are being confronted with, but which in reality could also be a great opportunity.
The best way to predict the future is to shape it yourself. More concretely: Don’t let these fast-changing times paralyse you, take responsibility and don’t place the burden of change on “the others”. Don’t wait for someone else to live out your dreams for you – take the initiative instead of trolling forums and social media with pessimistic comments. The mere dream of a better world has never created a better future – you’ve got to go out and create it yourself.
You have the power to change the future – as manufacturers by creating real innovations, and as riders by influencing the market through conscious consumption, and perhaps even becoming an entrepreneur yourself. If you have an idea that can make the world a better place, make it happen, I dare you! In times of crowdfunding and low interest rates, this is easier than ever. The future is a game like any other – If you’re not at the table, you’ve already lost. Make it count!
With this in mind, we’re looking forward to an amazing 2019 season full of exciting new products. We’ll see each other again in the future, more precisely in January 2020 in the next Design & Innovation Award special issue.
Director
Design & Innovation Award