Happy 2025! How can we help you reach your cycling goals this year?
Since the bicycle fever that spiked during the COVID pandemic, turmoil has been the one consistent theme for those of us in the business of manufacturing, handbuilding, selling and promoting bicycles and bicycling. Many of the industry's largest players responded to the spike in demand during the pandemic by hoarding inventory of components and materials, challenging smaller operators with fewer resources. Component makers like Shimano and SRAM as well as material manufacturers like Columbus and ENVE saw their lead times grow to 18 and even 24 or more months. Bike companies looking for saddles and tires saw the same lead times for these essentials, as well as for spokes, handlebars, stems; Well, everything. We responded by giving longer projections to suppliers, who did their utmost to provide realistic timetables. Our lead times for new bikes grew to as much as 12 months, which was exceptionally short for the time!
A new Ristretto next to the Wallowa River. Photo: Dwan Shepard
If you've been in this game for a while, you would know that these conditions would not and could not be permanent. The hoarding and overproduction by those with the deepest pockets would eventually have a downside. We've seen that play out in the marketplace for the past 24 months or more, as the big bike brands have been saturating the market with the bikes they overproduced at below-cost prices. These bikes are impossible for many people to resist. I shudder to think how many of these bargain bikes don't fit their new owner's physique, let alone serve a purpose that's really going to be of use.
Picturesque touring, Co-Motion style! Photo: Alan Metts
Sadly, the irresistible deals in the marketplace have had an impact on many businesses whose value is or should be more permanent. Consider the brick-and-mortar bike shop, whose owners have had to contend with their suppliers circumventing them to sell new bikes to consumers directly, at prices lower than they had sold these same bikes to their dealers only weeks prior. That's devastating to a small business.
More iconic views. Java Rohloff Co-Pilot tandem in Patagonia. Photo: Gary Keene
For an American independent bicycle brand/builder like Co-Motion Cycles, the abundance of irresistible "bargains" in the marketplace, coinciding with other economic hardships for many people, has made our handmade bikes a tougher sell. Maybe it's due to too many people having picked up a bargain bike elsewhere, or it could simply be that people are struggling with balancing their budgets. We get that. But real and honest value is still the best thing we have to offer, and it is an actual bargain. Hear me out...
Is there any better feeling for a family? Photo: Guy Prevost
We've been producing world-renowned bicycles right here in our Eugene facility for over 36 years. Our incredible staff takes immense pride in their work, and I take equal pride in them. They're incredible. I know you've heard this before, but it really does make a difference when you invest in something of long-term value, made in your own country, perhaps not far from your own home. No Co-Motion bicycle has ever been built outside of Eugene, Oregon, USA. We're proud of that, too.
Just add a few tubes & it’s a bicycle frame! Photo: Carol Sachs
The people who have come to us for their bicycles are amazing, too. Many of them have stayed in contact with us to share the adventures they've had on their Co-Motion bikes in their neighborhoods or farther afield, from Coos Bay to Cuzco, Paducah to Paris, Bar Harbor to Bangladesh to every imaginable point on the globe. We love hearing from them -from all of you-, and it's a great reminder to us that each of these wonderful people is not only having great experiences, but they're also counting on us to provide them with the equipment to get them there safely, reliably, comfortably, and with the purpose-build disposition that Co-Motion really stands for. That is real value.
Thanks for reading, and for thank you so much for being part of our family,
Dwan Shepard, founder
Some old guy. Photo: Carol Sachs