A Canyon between you and me: how D2C is missing the mark

Direct to consumer sales (D2C) have been a sore spot for bike shops for years. I wrote about it almost a decade ago and I have only gotten more correct. In 2016 shops were complaining about people buying parts online at lower than wholesale prices. Now bike shops have to compete with companies selling entire bikes. Bikes range from the slightly better than garbage at BIKESDIRECT to the deceptively nice looking bikes from Canyon. The big bike companies are in on the action too, brands like Specialized and Trek who both at one time pinky-promised to never sell direct, are shipping bikes to customers houses. A decade ago 1 in 5 people didn't even own a smartphone, now people are using them to buy $10,000 bikes.

Ok so it's 2026 and everyone is selling direct, why haven't all the bike shops disappeared? It has never been easier to buy a bike while you are super high and watching cartoons. Why hasn't the convenience of shopping in your underpants made local shops extinct? Local bike shops still exist because most D2C bike brands are doing a bad job selling you bikes. Shopping has evolved, spending habits have changed, but brands are still trying to sell you bikes the same way they did 10 years ago. 

Here's how the playbook generally goes

Get photos of thin-hipped Europeans riding bicycles in the mountains (preferably on a hairpin) > Write copy with words that elicit a sense of longing for the carefree days of youth > Include numbers showing how this model is better than that other bike > PROFIT!

*Now with the added ADD TO CART button and a "size guide" if you are lucky

I found this image in less than 17 seconds

This tactic works on folks who decided they want to buy the bike before visiting the website, or after the third pretty picture. If this tactic worked on even ten percent of bike buyers shops would close en masse, but that's not happening. Online bike sales only really work for high end bikes if there is enough demand and you absolutely cannot buy that bike in a store. You'll buy a kids bike online because in less than two years Braxtyn will grow out of it and you know he's not making the pro peloton anyway. You might even buy an e-bike for yourself or your partner because it doesn't matter if it fits when you have a throttle. But high end bikes? You may look at the pretty pictures in bed alone but you still want someone to tell you that it's a good purchase.

The new addition of ai to everything hasn't helped sell bikes either. Let's face it Ai mostly sucks.          Ai feels artificial and has yet to really be "intelligent" all while killing the planet. Ai is basically a glorified data scrape designed to look like new, relevant information, given to you by someone you wouldn't like if they were a real person. 

The Tarmac SL3 is just won the tour de France

So what is the path forward?

Bike companies should embrace the fact that no one can see behind the curtain. Instead of having fully built bikes in boxes, they can keep inventory separate and unbuilt. This allows touchpoint customization. Handlebars, stems seatposts and crank arms all able to be selected by the rider. Companies could also take customization a step further and allow semi custom paint in approved designs and colors. There are two large companies that have moved this direction: Orbea and Quintana Roo. They aren't offering every option in every model but I appreciate that they are evolving the business model. The "discount" from a brand like Canyon is almost insulting if you have to buy a $900 handlebar and spend another $200 to have it installed.  Trek also offers a semi custom option but only if you are willing to spend $9,900 and even then the options are limited. 

Bike brands also need to embrace bike shops, not just the shops that sell their brand but the idea of "local bike shop" more broadly. What if I have a shop that I love but, I want a bike they don't carry? I should be able to have a bike shipped to almost any shop I want for assembly and that shop should be able to submit a work order ticket for a reimbursement check. The shop could happily charge for a pre purchase fitting, get compensated for the build and sell the accessories and kit. The loyal customer is happy, the shop is making money and the cost to the brand is very small. 

Lastly: Warranties should be transferrable and shorter. I propose a five year warranty that can be transferred within a 5 year period for the frame and fork. Used bikes lose a significant amount of value in part because they lack a warranty, but what if used bikes didn't lose so much value? The vector of price between new and used would be smaller and selling new bikes for full MSRP would be easier.  Limited time warranties streamline claims because anyone who needs a frame warranty will be easier to handle and anyone who doesn't qualify will be easier to dismiss. Warranty claims are a place where D2C brands can win by being prepared to deal with brick and mortar shops. If Canyon is willing to process a claim and send a frame to any shop, the rider is more likely to buy a Canyon. No more rider hesitation (and yes guilt) because you didn't buy from "your" bike shop.

Offering a "lifetime" warranty is kind of a scam anyway, It sounds good and sells bikes but the goal from the company is always to avoid replacing bikes. Bike frames come out of a mold, and each of the sizes come out of the same mold, so frame defects are statistically rare. Failures that occur after 5 years would fall into two categories: Shimano crank type failures, which impact the entire product family or environmental failures, which are not defects. 

"OH no did you ride your bike on a trainer? Sorry, you should have purchased a dedicated trainer bike, your new $5000 frame is garbage" -Some guy at Trek probably

It's 2026 and the big scary future of retail is already here, customers are already shopping on their phones while they have 3 other screens open. People care more about what you can do for their future than what you achieved in the past. Hopefully bike brands can evolve to best suit the needs of riders while still supporting independent shops before ai becomes sentient and the Terminator robots force us all to work in the lithium mines. Also if any large bike companies want to hire me to consult, I accept payment in Bitcoin, we are living in the future after all. 

-Isaac

(written in my underpants, high as a kite)