Influx

I ran into Josh Kadis at the PSFK’s San Francisco conference. We chatted about bike trends and and marketing and I promised to follow-up, so here’s an interview we just did.

1. Briefly describe your background and what you do now?

I’m a marketing consultant
working mostly in the bicycle industry, but I’ve also had some strategy
projects for social networking sites. That’s pretty much my whole work
history; I started doing PR gigs at a few bike races in 2003 while I
was still working at a bike shop just after college and things
progressed from there.

Some stuff I’ve worked on… I was the marketing manager for the Kodak
Gallery/Sierra Nevada professional team in 2005 and 2006. This year I
launched a blogging and social media campaign for SRAM Corporation around their sponsored teams and athletes. I also help with the business and sponsorship side of MASH, which is basically the first action sports-style urban cycling film.

2. What’s the story behind the current urban biking movement and what forms is it taking?

Utilitarian urban bicycling – as opposed to the recreational
bicycling that most people in the US are used to – has always been a
part of life in lots of places around the world, from China to Holland.
In this country, the two most visible stories in urban bicycling right
now are bike commuting and fixed-gear/track bike culture.

The use of bicycles for commuting and alternative transportation is
benefiting from some extremely powerful societal and cultural trends.
Environmental values have become mainstream. People are concerned about
health and fitness. When gas prices were high and now that the economy
is bad, the fact the bikes are an inexpensive form of transportation
has become more relevant. Finally, urban living with a European
sensibility is very much in style.

On the other hand, the fixed-gear culture started with bike
messengers but it has inspired a much larger trend of people riding any
sleek, fast, skinny-tire bike in the city. Not many are riding true
track bikes without brakes, but lots of people ride a fixed-gear bike
with brakes, a single-speed, or just a road bike. This culture combines
the benefits of alternative transportation with action sports, style,
and youth culture. When MASH came out, they had premiers all over the
world, were featured in all these fashion magazines, and blew up in
Japan. Nothing like that had ever happened with bicycles before.

(definitions of fixed-gear and track bikes at http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html)

3. How do you see this evolving in 2009?

No matter what happens with the economy, more people will have more
reasons to ride their bikes to work and around town in 2009 than they
did in 2008. But that doesn’t mean that the bike industry is
recession-proof since most bicycling is still about recreation. Still,
strong bike shops are doing better than most retailers right now.

One evolution that you’ll see in 2009 is bike-sharing programs
rolled out in more major cities. They’re like Zipcar for bikes, except
that some of them let you have a certain amount of time for free before
they charge you. Paris’ “Velib” program is the gold standard, and DC
started the first for a major US city this year. Honolulu, Minneapolis,
and a few others are on tap for next year.

You’ll also see more celebrities on bikes and the general “fashionization” of bicycles. I recently interviewed
the CMO of Puma for my blog about how they’ve made bikes a part of
their strategy, and you’ll see more non-bicycle brands doing the same
thing in 2009.

4. Who are the companies and organizations that are supporting this movement, it seems to have its own ecosystem?

For something so big, there’s very little hierarchy. It’s really
just a chain of communities sharing ideas and learning best practices
from each other. Cicolvia program for car-free days in city centers, started in Bogota and spread to other cities in Colombia, then around the world.

Generally, you see the most progress in terms of bike lanes, bike
racks on transit vehicles, car-free days, and generally safer streets
for bicyclists in cities with strong bicycle advocacy organizations and
pro-bike mayors. London’s Ken Livingstone is a great example. In San
Francisco, the SF Bicycle Coalition just passed 10,000 members and
they’re a significant political force in the city.

The bike industry itself was fairly slow to react to the growth of
urban cycling. Until two or three years ago, there were road bikes,
mountain bikes, and lounge chairs on wheels. Now there’s an “urban”
category of bikes that are designed for fast, efficient city riding.
Bike companies are giving more money to advocacy organizations,
although it’s likely that the industry as a whole still spends more on
sponsoring professional racing than on promoting urban bicycling.

5.Is it possible with a renewed focus on alternative forms
of transportation that biking will see a resurgence, if not, what is
required to make this happen?

This is already happening, but mostly in denser cities and metro
areas with political climates that are more progressive on
environmental issues. In many places, the bicycle is not the most
practical means of transportation, but we can’t just tear up the sprawl
and start over. That’s why people in the bicycle advocacy community are
starting to talk about bicycling not just on its own, but also as part
of a system of alternative transportation. Instead of “ride your bike
to work”, the messaging is expanding to include “ride your bike to
transit” and “ride your bike to carpool”. Bicycling and other forms of
group transportation go hand in hand.

Practicality is only part of the story; fixed-gear culture will play
a role by changing the image of the urban bicyclist. It used to be that
dorky guy in your office building who’d get on the elevator still
wearing his helmet and reflective strap on his pants. Now it’s actually
cool to be a bicyclist, which is an amazing thing.

As a final note… thanks to all the little line items that were
included to pass the second version of the Bailout, you’ll be eligible
in 2009 for up to $20/month of tax-free reimbursement of bike commuting
expenses. Subtract $240 per year, and riding to work is almost free!