Iowa Corridor's bike shops turn a lifestyle into a business

“Cycling used to be a recreation, for people in Iowa City especially,” said Ryan Baker, owner of World of Bikes in Iowa City. “Now it's more of a lifestyle.”

His customers, he said, are riding their bikes to work, to the grocery store and out to dinner in the evening.

Established in 1974, World of Bikes employs 5 full-time staff year-round and hires an additional 12 to 15 part-timers during warmer months. Baker counts on his staff to be able to cross-serve - employing technicians who can sell when necessary, and salespeople who can leave the sales floor to repair or build bikes.

The bulk of business is what Baker calls “family bikes” - hybrid and children's bicycles. He estimates 15 to 20 percent of his business comes from repairs, with the rest coming from new bikes, parts and accessories.

New bike sales also are the biggest part of Hall Bicycle's business.

Established in 1898 in Cedar Rapids, Hall Bicycle has been in Karl Moscrip's family since 1912. His grandfather bought out the original owner in 1929, and Moscrip has been the owner for 36 years.

Hall Bicycle employs four full-time staff members, and supplements with eight or nine part-time employees seasonally.

Trends and Evolutions

To keep up with the latest biking trends, Baker said at least one staff member attends four trade shows each year to look at new products.

“Because of these shows, and through research online and in publications, we sometimes have insights on new products even before our manufacturer's reps are talking about them,” he said.

But the biggest trendsetters, Baker said, are the people walking through his doors.

“Who the customer is and what they ask for dictates what we keep in stock,” he said.

For Hall Bicycle, Moscrip said the biggest trend in recent years has been the increase in women's bike sales.

“Our average customer in the past few years has been split pretty evenly between men and women in the 30- to 60-year age group. But now we're seeing more women as customers, and we're seeing a lot of women's road bike sales.”

Men's road bikes sales were down last year from 2011, but women's road bikes were up.

“Right now, road bike sales are up, while mountain bikes are down slightly,” Moscrip noted. “But that varies. What has stayed pretty steady over the past 10 years is hybrid bike sales.”

Road bikes also are typically a strong sales category in Iowa due to RAGBRAI, he added.

Moscrip often sees trends within small groups of people who come to his shop. If one person buys a mountain bike, especially in a group of younger riders, he said it's not unusual to see that person's friends come in to purchase a mountain bike in the following weeks.

“They all want to keep up with the other guys, so that's part of what happens to affect sales,” he explained.

In 2008, between the flood and economic slump, Hall Bicycle saw a large increase in bike repair sales.

“People didn't want to buy something new,” Moscrip recalled. “They were dragging stuff out of the garage or basement that was 15 or 25 years old, and trying to fix that up.”

Today that surge in bike repairs has waned - he still has customers who want to fix up an old bike, but not as often, and “not that 25-year-old stuff as much anymore.”

More Customization

Specialty bikes are becoming more popular as well.

“We used to take a bike and recreate it, so to speak, to serve a person's needs,” he explains. “But now it's seems like there's a bike already being produced by our manufacturers to fit that niche.”

Road bikes, for example. In the past, they were considered competition-style bikes, with an aggressive ride position for speed.

If a customer came into the store looking for a competition-style bike he or she could use for longer distances such as RAGBRAI or a charity ride, but didn't want to ride in traditional road bike position, Baker and his staff would retrofit it with higher-rise handlebars and stem, a different saddle, wider tires, etc. But today, that type of bike already exists.

“We can walk over to it in the shop and say, ‘You want a road bike, but you're not going to race? This kind of bike is designed for that,'” Baker said. “Instead of taking a hybrid and putting fenders and racks on it, and adding lights and kickstands, we can order it and the box comes with all of that stuff ready to roll.”

Because the options have grown so much, Baker works with vendors within a one-day delivery area.

“If we see a particular bike style becoming popular, we can react and get more of that bike on hand pretty quickly,” he said.

Tech Accessories

Although the majority of sales for shops in the area are new bikes, accessories and new technology sales are

increasing.

One popular unit selling right now is a bike-specific GPS.

“These systems integrate with devices on your bike to tell you your speed, cadence, etc.,” Baker explained. “They're mounted on handlebars and tell you that information right away, but can also be downloaded to your computer to track your weekly ride route and whether you're getting faster or more powerful.”

Electronic shifting is another hot item.

“Accessory sales have been growing in the past few years ... ,” Moscrip said. “Part of that is because there are some new things available, but part of it is also because people are beginning to figure out that it's a lot more enjoyable to cycle if you've got the right stuff.”