How Big is the Handbuilt Bike Segment? Part III

Last time we looked at the total number of handmade bike builders in the U.S....which turns out to be a pretty big number. Turning to output and value, estimation is even more challenging; without direct observation, we must rely largely on informed-insider opinion and observation. The following, then, is intended only as a "thinking out loud" …

How Big is the Handbuilt Bike Segment? Part II

Last time we worked through the bike picture outline of the bike trade in the U.S. The really short story is that a lot of bikes are sold overall ("a lot" - that is - if you only took "bike shops" as your frame of reference), most of them for kids, most of them comparatively …

How Big is the Handbuilt Bike Segment? Part I

How do the handbuilders fit into the larger bicycle industry?While it is clear to even a casual observer that the U.S.-made, hand built and/or custom bike segment is small, just how small is difficult to establish with any certainty. This is to some extent just a fact of the size - it is difficult to …

Change of Pace

Quick update to preview a bit of a change of pace. Thus far I've been bogged down in project framing here on the blog...but that is all, fundamentally, throat clearing until I can get to the "meat" of what I envisioned with a project blog: a place to toss up bits of work in progress …