Another year. More shows. Different cities. More drama. And the annual paradigm shift. The shakeout began years ago, almost the day after the niche became fashionable. At some point after Y2K, bicycle framebuilding became this year’s coffee bean roasting, home brewing, and needlecraft simultaneously. And in less than 24 hours after it started, the genie was leaving the toothpaste tube.
It’s interesting watching from the sidelines. It’s sad as well. Sad, because for every success story there are eighteen failures. The failures are not statistics, they’re people who lost money and their pipe dream to make a bicycle for someone else. First they learned to make a frame. They made seven more. And then a brand started. Training or practice seemed a foreign language. It’s all so, so totally ass-backwards.
I can’t think of any trade, or any craft – or any line of work at all, in which so many folks tossed a hat into the ring expecting a return on such a mediocre, and small, and limited investment. On one level, it’s an insult to a profession when gates are opened wide enough to allow under-skilled and unprepared folks to become part of it. On another level, maybe they should make rice for six years before touching the fish.
