Friday Group Ride #154
At work, we are putting together our marketing plan for the year, and yesterday I sat for an hour with a guy who sells ads for one of the major cycling rags. When you buy advertising, either with a magazine or a website, typically you get a demographic breakdown of the audience they offer access to. Almost invariably the gender breakdown is something north of 90% male. The median age is almost always north of 40. Income is high. Graduate degrees are not at all uncommon.
I see these breakdowns enough that I shouldn’t be surprised by them, but I always am.
Our sport is male-dominated and wealth-driven. Despite a recent uptick in the profiles of some female pros, the industry, as a whole, is still trying to figure out how to attract more women and more young people. The classic “pink it and shrink it” approach to women’s bikes and apparel isn’t working. Whatever urban styling that’s been applied to lower price point bikes isn’t drawing in the youth.
I am told that the median price for a bike purchased last year by subscribers to the major magazines is somewhere between $3200 and $3900 dollars, and that close to 50% of readers will buy a new bike this year, despite having bought their most recent bike in the last three. (Please don’t quote these numbers as hard data. I am only summarizing the information I have received from many outlets to form a composite picture).
The point is that all us upper-middle class and wealthy men buy early and often and dominate the consumption side of the industry. It doesn’t not necessarily stand to reason that these numbers correlate directly to the participation of women and the less affluent, who may simply not read magazines and/or ride used bikes that don’t make it into anyone’s data, but given what I see out on the road, I don’t think they’re far off.
Regardless, this week’s Group Ride asks the question: How do we change our sport to be more inclusive? What are the prejudices built into both pro racing and bike building that turn off those outside the core demographic? Is change and growth even necessary? Given the recent retirement tirade by Nicole Cooke and the disturbing derth of stock bike options for smaller women, the answer seems obvious, but solutions to the problems range from similarly obvious to vanishingly obscure. Your ideas greatly appreciated.
I don’t know there’s a simple answer to the cost of entry question. I’ve read comments on various websites displaying downright incredulity at the idea anyone could even train on, let alone race on Tiagra, three-year old 105, or Veloce, or Rival. We that don’t do so and know we could are as much to blame as anyone else. When I was 18 I rode a sub-23 minute 10 mile time trial on a 531 frame with a mish-mash of whatever I could afford, all of which was out of date even then. The frame had a bottom bracket like a noodle. I have never gone faster since then …Bikelink, I like your thinking.
I think the point that too often gets missed is that you have to be a “rider” before you can be competitive cyclist. If we are trying to build and populate the sport with individuals that jump from interested & curious to full-fledged competitors we need to start with riders who love the sport for what it is. When you love to ride the equipment and the kit is secondary. As a riders fitness, skills and passion for cycling grows the progression to competition and the attendent higher performance gear will happen.
I think if I was a middle aged single woman and wanted to date . I would buy a bicycle and find some cycling club to ride with or associate with on regular basis . You garanteed to find suiters . It always happen in Velo Club Monterey . The Demographics are so in their favor. The Alpha Males would be battling at your front wheel. To change the situation , the bike industry needs to concentrate on bringing people up through the sport . Hold clinics in Elementary Schools and form a customer for life. We are too much a gasoline automobile driven culture . Maybe with harder economic times coming toward us, simplified life and more earth friendly transportation might turn the demographics around. Single woman , you see the numbers , buy a bicycle .
I have all kinds of stories with a different slant but they all seem to say the same thing. Last Spring, a lady shows up at the group ride and some jerk tells her “You need to flip the stem to be more aerodynamic” The lady had no idea what he was talking about. We start off on the group ride(slow night) and the group is splintered within minutes due to pace. I hang back and ride with the lady and find she is trying to get healthy and lose some weight. I have never seen the lady again. Without groups, most ladies are not going to take off for a 20 mile ride in the countryside. I have no idea if the lady is still riding but I doubt it. Bike is probably hanging in garage.
Now being in my fifties and discovering I will never ride with Lance as I did in the late eighties and early ninties . I still put in a 150 – 200 miles a week . I have decided to give back to the sport. After all these hard years pounding my body , I can at least one or two gentle rides a week in which I ride with women. My goal now in cycling is to be fit enough to ride with the prettiest women. (No ! Not the fastest ) After my thirty something years , I have learned some pointers that could help bring some ladies into the cycling club . With all people new to the sport , Just get them comfortable first, Upward stem placement and flat pedals are fine at first . You have to ignite the desire first to ride. Gears are next and learning your body is like a big semi truck . Semitrucks have lots of gears and you need them too to get over the terrain . Once they figure out how to use the gears to their advantage , You got them hooked most times . Then , you can work on rider position and clipless pedals . Baby Steps ! I like to drop back and help pull newbies back to the bunch . If they can not hang , I drop back and help shelter them to get them home. You would be surprised how hard you work just to shelter a newbie and get them back home. I have long given up my macho ambitions of killing the pack for my testerone spirit. I derive great pleasure of seeing somebody new come into the sport and be a regular on the sunday ride . It is up to us each one of us to help make a new person feel at home in the sport . You will loose more than you get into the group . You have to a least try . Some turn out to be life long friends . I still communicate with some I help bring into the sport in the late eighties back in Dallas at the Richardson Bike Mart . It is good feeling to bring new people into the cult and watch them thrive . Now, I live in California for twenty years and I still hear from those newbies from Dallas so many years ago. That is way you grow the sport . Take a pupil under your wing and teach them what you have learned. They get good and kick your butt , go find another to kick your butt . If they kick your butt , you were successful. Byrdie on the left coast .
@Patrick – Well said. Why do we males always do the wrong things on rides when it concerns women? We are either “the tough guy” or condescending. Neither one helps the sport…. and when I say “sport” I’m not talking about racing…. I’m talking about helping someone to become a rider. I was a group ride leader for 2 or 3 years at a local shop. I still ride with them when I can even though it’s been a few years. Of all the women who rode with us back then, only one, -ONE!!!- is still on the ride. I see the guys trying to prove how strong, smart, and sexy they are and the women never returning.
I live in Boulder. There are rides of all levels here, all of the time. If you absolutely HAVE TO HAMMER, go do it else where… not on rides with female newbies! Jeez…. be an adult, will ya?
Males often do the wrong thing because we seem to think that women will show up on our rides and act like the other guys. Ain’t happenin’ Women are often riding for completely different reasons than men. If you really want to attract women, you need to figure out why – and how – they want to ride. Then you set up the ride to match that, not do the usual men’s ride. This is a little like method acting. Know the subject, be the subject.
This applies to newbies of any gender. I’m not sure how this thread morphed into attracting women to cycling.
And racing. Another comment a few back, “As a riders fitness, skills and passion for cycling grows the progression to competition…will happen.” Some people just plain don’t want to race. Their progression leads elsewhere. Accept that. Pushing people to do something they don’t want to do will push them away from that activity. Cycling has much more to offer than the narrow and exclusivist world of racing. Ride a bike to ride a bike. Fun is enough.
Great question. I think the way to expand the demographic of our sport and make it more inclusive is to make it fun, friendly and social. It’s a rare person (myself and, likely, many of you) who will battle through a sea of less-than-friendly group rides trying to make friends and acquire the requisite fitness. It’s also a rare person who wants to head out solo for hours on end with nothing but their thoughts and the open road.
Truth is, there is an undercurrent of exclusivity in our sport that needs to be countered with friendly beginner rides and skills clinics, taught in such a way that it brings back the joy people felt when they were first on bikes as kids. In many areas they have these.
When I first met my wife, I would tell her about my time on the bike and what it was like and the racing and how alive I felt and all she gleaned from those stories was, “What’s your obsession with suffering?” And she was a boxer for many years! That helped me to realize that most people are not like ‘us’ and that kind of talk can put new people off to our sport.
Make it fun, friendly and encourage people to ride a bike. For whatever reason. Oh yeah, and be quick with a smile. It’s about the people.
That’s the thing about disposable income; it’s disposable. When I see an issue of Outside Magazine that includes a review of a $400 pocket knife, I have to wonder, “who buys this stuff?” I only ask because I already know who “needs” that stuff…..
I belong to a free to join cycling organization here in Las Vegas that has 2500 members of all levels of fitness and ability. Bikinglasvegas.com was started by Lisa, a female cyclist and web designer, to provide a resource and forum for local cyclists. I’ve never found anything close to it in other cities. I’d say most BLV rides contain 25 to 40% female riders.
Any member can organize a ride, as well as having many “BLV sanctioned” rides organized by Lisa herself. There is (usually) a monthly beginner’s ride to acquaint new cyclists with safety on the street and within a group. The group rides are always ‘no drop’ with a sweeper to make sure no one rides at the back alone. We have designated regrouping points so the faster riders can do their thing without splitting the group too much.
Agro attitude from anyone is not tolerated! It is meant to be a safe, social organization. Everyone in the group, male and female, wants us to be an example to our community of what recreational cycling should be about: Safety, fun, fitness, and friends enjoying a common passion for cycling.
Simply lower the cost of bicycles,provide more disposable income,free time and transportation to lower income and young riders. And while you are at it make clothing that’s less otherworldly and single purpose.
I think it is a better idea to face facts. This is a middle age boys club. If you are reading this I’ll bet you are perfectly suited to join.
Robot – I think I help with identification of the problem.
Patronizing, middle-aged bloke can’t spot when he hands out sexist insults and then wonders why there are few females in the sport he and his buddies frequent.
Whilst you wrote “given the recent retirement tirade by Nicole Cooke”, the Leadership editor at Forbes had a different take http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2013/01/18/the-anti-lance-armstrong-bicycling-champion-nicole-cooke-calls-him-a-criminal-who-should-go-to-jail/
I thought it a very articulate and controlled statement on what fundamentally broke down into issues of sexist exclusion and incompetent/complacent/corrupt leadership, at virtually every level.
No woman is going to come near your club, or spend money gaining the entry tickets – bike, clothing, if you can’t be bothered to treat issues raised in say, that statement, with anything approaching the genuine respect they deserve.
Then look at the phrase you put beforehand – “Is that growth necessary?” I don’t think anyone would be surprised that a poll of the core demographic you identify would generate a popular “No” response to that question. “Who is bothered – we are quite happy playing amongst ourselves.” Of course that would not be the right answer.
All manner of tinkering could produce minor changes but the sport of cycling has attracted some very unpleasant characters to it and that ugly side spins down to the local club-run, where, as so many point out in other posts, there are macho guys parading around thinking they are just one ride away from the Tour and they don’t want some female, gate-crashing the dream-world they have created for their leisure time.
My wife cycles, I cycle and our, now adult, children both cycled. Cycle with other club guys ? A minority had a decent attitude the rest – cave-dwellers. We gave up trying to socialize our enjoyment long ago. (Yes – the bad attitude of a lot of motorists is a huge negative but getting an education system in place alongside gaining a license, is a big ask.)
I have been in local cycle stores and winced at the patronizing and dumb attitude of the owner towards the odd female who dares to venture in and ask. All the sport specific magazines reinforce the considered irrelevance of female participation or at best offer random tokenism and at its highest level, the sport has prejudice designed in, within the rules of participation.
I am not for quotas forced onto organizations but this is one broken plot that will not mend itself any decade soon. At every level, clubs, shops magazines and in the administration of the sport, it has to introduce women into the management. And those women have to be capable of telling the guys how it is, and when those guys come back with “feeling better after your tirade dear” they need to kick the misogynists where it hurts.
This is interesting as, in my mind, the sport of cycling developed along with the rise of the bicycle as a vehicle for the urban poor to become more mobile. Cycling has shifted from the sport of the working class to the sport of the rich somewhere along the way.
I think most people are lazy. That is why some motorist get angry when you block their progress . I have been riding at lunch @ work for ten years. People at work have express interest in riding at lunch. I even had to build bicycles for people so I would have riding partners @ lunch . They all start out with good intentions. At one time, I had four people riding with me at lunch . Now , I am back down to the lone wolf riding at lunch . There is one lady that says she is ready to come back and ride at lunch . I practically built and gave her a bicycle . She missed for three weeks in a row. I know riding at lunch is tough. The company has installed showers and even bought the riders kits with our company logo on it . They are not too strict on the time for lunch either . I tune all the bicycles for the riding employees and use my money to help keep running . I have given parts, clothing ,my time ,and mechanical skills. We are in Monterey and have the best weather most year round . It is home of the Sea Otter. Still , it has boiled down to just me . I have always kept the pace where everybody could stay in contact . I just think that most people are lazy and it is too easy just not to do it . I think many new riders are scared of traffic too. Probably the traffic is a major determining factor.
Stop segmenting your market so much. If you’re only trying to communicate with Men over 40 with high incomes, then you are ignoring a huge chunk of the market/potential market. Marketing people love segmenting, but the truth is that its a dangerous behaviour. Instead you should look to appeal to light and non-buyers. The heavy/loyal buyers (those 40+ males) will buy anyway, and they’ll buy from either you or your competitors because they all have a repertoire within the category. Only a minute %age of buyers are 100% brand loyal.
I’d also argue that you need to look at advertising outside of the major magazines – all you’re doing there is preaching to the converted, to that small segment of consumers who are already on board.
Finally be aware that the point of advertising is not to persuade. It isn’t and it doesn’t. Studies over the last 10/15 years have helped us to learn far more about how people make buying decisions and how advertising works. It works by building memory structures at a subconscious level. The argument is that by adopting a reach-based marketing strategy, you are more likely to build these memory structures, and so are more likely to ‘come to mind’ in the buying situation. To assume that all purchase decisions are made consciously or rationally is a huge mistake. Most purchase decisions are made at a subconscious level and then post-rationalised at a conscious level.
This is all borne out by proper scientific research conducted by the likes of the Ehrenberg Bass institute. Marketing is still stuck in the dark ages, relying on received wisdoms, and gut feeling, rather than empirical evidence.
Hmmm…so many threads on the lack of female cyclists and reasons. I’m in my late 40′s. I’ve been riding since my mid-twenties. I picked up cycling after law school. So, I have that part of the demographic – over 40 and decent income- now. I didn’t when I started riding. By way of background, I’ve been an athlete all my life playing tennis in my youth and on my college team. After college and through law school, I got the running bug and participated in local races including marathons and half’s. I must say that, in my experience, there definitely is something VERY DIFFERENT about dynamic of amateur competitive cycling versus say- competitive tennis, running or even golf- Why is racing bicycles so uninviting to most women? It’s an attitude that bike racers have that is different than your average club running racer or tennis player. I think it’s real. Anyone else know what I’m talking about?
In my experience, cyclists who race tend to be very snobby and exclusive in their attitudes…men and women alike. I’m not talking the real Pro’s here, but your average Joe or Joann Blow cat 3 or 4 racer from Timbucktoo. I’ve even experienced this attitude in the higher end bicycle shops in my town– you not a racer, you nobody. I went into my LBS about 15 or so years ago wanting to buy a new cycling computer with a cadence monitor and was promptly laughed at and talked down to…you don’t need some thing that high tech, … Bottom line, this attitude doesn’t invite any one, especially not women to invest in the equipment and compete.
I don’t know the answer…other than to say to the racers, get over yourselves!! seriously, any one can ride a bike!!? Just like any one can run a marathon or play set of tennis or 18 holes…sure, there will be different levels of expertise, but who cares?! it’s not that big a deal.
Spotting there is an issue is the first step in fixing the problem…keep the dialogue going. In my area of the mid-us, it is getting better. More women are riding; there are women-exclusive groups modeled after Velo Bella that are helping women– lessening the intimidation factor of the testosterone-fest group rides and providing support groups for new women racers.
The ladies in my area have a saying.. …”chicked”…it’s when the female rider drops the bad ass boy on the bike. To the women reading…keep riding. Don’t settle for the pink bar tape and lesser components if you don’t want them. Insist on a proper crank length.
As an industry, cycling sucks at appealing to youth and women. It’s where the long-term growth lies, but not the immediate profit. And given our 30-day to quarterly statement business culture, cycling may always suck at appealing to youth and women.
All is not lost. Like all movements, to be successful, it needs to happen at the grassroots level.
That means, LBSs (Local Bike Stores) must take the lead. Many good ones already have.
In my community, we have not one, but three very good bike stores carrying top shelf brands and offering very good, knowledgable, friendly service. Yeah, we’re lucky.
One store offers mid-tier group co-ed club rides, along with training and club rides geared especially for triathletes.
Another offers club rides for Cat 3-2-1 riders (drop rides, bring a map, you’re gonna need it to get home) for the competitive set. But also, women’s only group rides, led by a woman. No drop. And no testosterone fueled advice or breakaways.
The third shop is home to the somewhat geriatric riding club, and also the recumbent club, which includes handicap-able riders.
Two of these LBSs each sponsor professional races in the summer, closing off two adjacent downtowns to traffic, and bringing out cyclists and non-cyclists alike get up close to the whoosh and whiz of a pro peloton. (Followed by kids races for tykes on up through middle school.)
All really good stuff, and educating the community in what cycling’s all about.
But we need more, especially aimed at high school and younger kids. Programs that get these kids in cycling clubs, in club kit, and thinking about competing. An avenue to cycling that appeals to top athletes competing on their school football, softball, volleyball, basketball, soccer, baseball teams — a summer sport, if you will, that’ll lead to a lifelong love of cycling. (In many communities, especially those in bike loving states like Colorado and Oregon, this is already happening.)
And also, a way to show kids of all athletic ability that cycling is a lifestyle. That it’s a commitment to health, being outdoors, a sport to enjoy casually with friends or alone, a petrolium-free way to commute.
So to the industry I say this: skip the ad campaigns and marketing hype which attempt to appeal to youth and women. Put that money into programs your LBSs can leverage at the grass roots level. Education programs, exposure plans, youth development leagues and clubs. Race sponsorship co-op funds. Safety clinics and helmet drives.
The boys will be boys, us old guys finding new gray hairs and checking our portfolios every day. We’ll keep buying bikes and gear and kit, even if we don’t need it (especially if we don’t need it). Take a fraction of that ad buy and push it down to the store level in outreach programs and do it now. There’s a leadership position in there for the Specialized, Trek, Cannondales of the world, and for the smaller players who also contribute, this tide will raise all ships.
Promise.
In my area, we have year-round riding conditions (mounatain, road, cross, BMX, whatever). We have an active lifestyle, we have an active cycle club, and several well stocked LBSs locally and access to many more within a few hours. We have clear roads with little traffic. We have everything one would need, but we really have no grass-roots movement. Kids don’t cycle – girls or boys. I have a garage full of bikes, but they rarely come out.
What will it take for children – the future of the sport, to ride a bike? For any reason? At all?
We all started, I’m guessing here but probably accurately, with a cheap bike, and we rode it – to school, to work, with our friends, whatever. That grew, not into a fitness craze, but into just sort of place in our lives. We had a bike, and we used it. Not for exercise, not for coolness, not for a way to wear tight fitting clothes.
I find the discussions of finding a new way, finding a new market, finding a new cohort somewhat presumtuous – as if marketing will deliver results. As if a well organized campaign – from LBSs, to local clubs, to whatever, will actually generate results.
On the high end of the scale of presumption is the hubris of the male dominated triple-A type personalities that are in the business and sport. In the mid-range are folks like the above commenators who work very hard to be inclusive and pass on thir knowledge while themselves staying fit and on their bikes. I applaud your efforts, really. However there is a thread of presumption that your efforts will deliver results – that that woman who came out once to a group ride should come out again because you tried (please don’t get me wrong – I respect your efforts immensely)
Maybe its because we (the “sport”) have labelled cycling as a “sport”, rather than a state of being, a form of transportation, a tool in the game of childhood, a teacher in the development of a human being.
I argue that cycling, to truly rebuild its place in life, must be a part of life. No battles with drivers over the roads, no hubris from bike industry, no $4000 bikes on Sunday morning rides with $1000 worth of tight clothing on a chubby middle aged group of men. Just a part of life.
To be a part of life, there must be a bicycle, inexpensive, sized correctly, for every human and for every way of life. From the Dutch style, to the pure carbon road bike, to the little girl’s bike with training wheels and streamers on the grips – and everything inbetween. The bicycle must be a part of life.
And, now, with the freeways, airports, game consoles, tablet computers, risk-intolerant parents, bitter automobile drivers, dopers, and middle-aged chubby males on pure carbon road steeds, it is not.
I continue to ride. By myself, on quiet roads, for the pure pleasure. Without an answer to your question.
I think Kemelyn has it right. Cyclists are snobby and exclusive in their attitudes, and it’s a huge turn-off for new people entering the sport. I think a perfect example is showing up for group rides; often people spend more time sizing up other riders by their look and equipment rather than being friendly and introducing themselves.
When I show up to play hockey in a new rink, players are infinitely more friendly and inclusive. There seems to be something about cycling where riders are playing a dominance game and it starts before any one ever puts shoe to pedal. I like group rides and to a certain extent, you need them to get better, but it usually feels more like a chance for people to flaunt fancy wheels and pretend they are cycling tough guys instead of making people feel welcome. If we’re going to get new people in the sport, that’s got to change.