August News

PBMA august Newsletter

PBMA Technical Workshops and PBMA eTech

There is still time to register if you haven't already. In cooperation with some of the industries leading manufacturers the PBMA is teaming up with premier eBike technology manufactures to provide overview and hands-on training on an array of eBike motor, battery and controller products. Discover what you can and can't do within your service department and start taking advantage of an emerging market segment.

The PBMA is dedicated to leading the charge in eBike technical education. We just spent a full week on the other side of the world learning first hand from the manufacturers themselves. We saw motors, batteries and all types of electronics being built, we saw eBikes on assembly lines. Most importantly we learned a lot about just how serviceable some of the drive systems are and we want to share that with you.

Workshops cost $375 for non-PBMA members. Individual PBMA mechanic members can attend for $275, a PBMA member shop wishing to send more than one mechanic receives a further $25 off per individual ($250 per employee). What that cover? Snacks, lunches, a reception event (with food and beverages) and if staying on site breakfast!

Who's going to be there? Bafang, Campagnolo, DT Swiss, Magura, SRAM, SR Suntour, STAN'S and potentially a couple more. You'll learn about the latest and greatest from each company in a small group environment, gaining the edge that will set you apart from your competition. What's more is we've included key presentations focused on creating more value and profits in your service department.

We are happy to confirm the following dates and locations:
Denver - November 7 to 9
Portland - January 9 to 11
D.C. / Dulles - February 6 to 8
a sample schedule can be found by visiting any of the above location links

We look forward to sharing what we've learned with you. We are confident you'll come away from PBMA eTech and PBMA Workshops feeling confident in your ability to be profitable in the world of service well into the future.

THE PROFESSIONAL BICYCLE MECHANICS ASSOCIATION'S MISSION IS TO PROMOTE, DEVELOP, AND ADVOCATE FOR THE PROFESSIONAL BICYCLE MECHANIC.

Interbike 2017

The PBMA is excited to announce we are returning to Interbike for 2017. Is it going to be smaller? Perhaps, that simply means more time to have quality conversations with those interested in learning more about the PBMA.

What's going to be big? The Interbike Mechanics Challenge is back! The PBMA will once again be involved in the judging and creation of the awesome and fun challenges. Defending Champion Win Allen is committed to return, who's going to give him a run for his money? Last year came down to a technicality which resulted in Win - winning. Is it going to be so close again this year?

The PBMA believes in education. Technical seminars at this years Interbike are presented by the PBMA and will include a couple of PBMA produced sessions. The first is focused on wheel building and features speakers Ric Hjertberg, Jude Gerace, Rich Swaris and Steve "Gravy" Gravenites. The second session is focused on building profits in your service department. Long time mechanic hero Brett Flemming along with Mike Reisenleiter will bring the conversation from futuristic ideas to real time dollars and sense.

If that's not enough swing by the PBMA Booth 3271, meet some of the board members, have a chat, ask questions and find out what's happening with mechanic certification. You could also swing by during one of two informative sessions about certification.

Click here for more details on all things PBMA at Interbike 2017

The Experience Promotes Value
- Brent Williams

Last week I had an interesting retail experience.

I walked into a retail store, that sells a device that I enjoy and use on a daily basis. They have a very nicely merchandised sales area, a service department where you can watch the technicians work, a waiting area for customers waiting on service…pretty much a really nice retail operation.

This entire industry is being crushed by the internet because prices are being depressed by lots of competition, YouTube is teaching people how to do their own maintenance and upkeep and they’re fighting a huge amount of unfair competition from Chinese knock-offs, among other business pressures.

Does this sound familiar?

I walked in, needing some simple service on my “thing”…a cheap thing, at that. Bought at Target…a *GASP!* BigBox store. But you have to understand, I’m a thing user. I use and enjoy my thing. I have better, more expensive ones, but this thing is an inexpensive model that I use mostly just as a beater. Yeah, I bought it at a big box, not at their store. I do business with them regularly, but this one is just a beater.

Guess how they treated me? Did they meet with criticism and insults? Tell me to take my beater back where I bought it? Spend time telling me why their uber-expensive things are all way better than my beater?

Nope. They didn’t do any of that.

Instead, they greeted me nicely, offered me a bottle of water while I waited…which, by the way, was about 2 minutes. They listened to my needs (a battery) for my Timex watch. Yeah, it’s a watch. A $35 Timex, with a dead battery.

They didn’t give me a hard time, instead, they very quickly got me the battery I needed, chatted nicely, inquired if I was a regular customer (I am), asked me if I had any other watches I might want to look at while they changed my battery and were just generally nice to deal with. They didn’t even charge me for the battery, once they knew that I was a regular customer. By the way, they didn’t even do anything to verify that…they trusted me.

What’s the point here, you ask?

The point is that the jewelry business is just like the bike business in a lot of ways. We both depend on retail, but “direct to consumer” is a model that is rapidly taking over their industry. They depend a lot on service work over sales. Their products are viewed as “luxuries” just as ours are viewed as “toys”…non-essential in today’s society.

How do they fight those issues? By being aggressively professional about it. They value every customer, especially the ones with beaters, because they know that their only hope of survival is to turn lots more people into consumers of their products.

The jewelry business understands how to be professional in business. Make people feel at home, understand their issues, listen to their concerns, work on their stuff…no matter what it is or where they got it.

Most of all, they understand that the only way to survive in today’s economy is to convert internet/big-box/Amazon/Craig’s List buyers into loyal jewelry consumers…just as we need to be making more cyclists.

Professional Mechanic Profit in a Mature Market
Opinion by Larry Theobald

There are varying definitions of the term mature market, but I think most will agree the bicycle business is pretty mature these days. Everyone who wants a bicycle has one (or three) while sales slump, bike shops close and brands get bought up by large corporations in economy-of-scale moves.

Who is left to sell bicycles to? The industry seems to be taking a full-on “tech” approach touting disc brakes, electronic groupsets and ever-increasing categories (aero-road, gravel, endurance, etc.) to tempt those previously uninterested in cycling into purchasing a new bicycle.

Who are these new buyers? Perhaps this is a sweeping generalization but I’ll cite an example from our recent cycling tour season in Italy. We had a guest who was a 30-something corporate litigator, a person so new to cycling I had to ask, “Did you ride a bicycle as a child?” as this person’s skills and cycling knowledge were so very rudimentary. Turns out she enjoyed a very sheltered childhood with riding a bicycle outside a rare opportunity, but when she decided to purchase an adult bicycle, walked out of the IBD with a state-of-the-art $7K+ hydraulic disc-braked and electronically shifted machine!

Despite spending more than seven thousand dollars, this machine was not only the wrong size, but the IBD seemed to have done little to nothing in the way of adjustments to improve the client’s fit. Whether the client simply didn’t want to spend the time to have this done or the shop didn’t care enough to do it is unknown, but I believe it was the latter.

The new breed of clients like these will likely never bother comparison-shopping via the internet. They want hands-on, personalized service and have the disposable income to pay for it. These are the same folks who would never take their expensive German automobile to a quick lube center to have the oil changed or tires rotated, instead they’ll return to the dealership or if they find those services lacking, to a qualified professional mechanic who specializes in caring for expensive automobiles like theirs.

A PBMA member could and should jump on this market. How long the bike industry’s marketing campaign will continue to attract this type of client is unknown, but there’s money to be made taking care of clients like these right now. They’re busy, affluent and eager to learn the reasons why a pro should look after their expensive toys. A long-term service arrangement with clients like these could provide an excellent income to a PBMA member, whether he or she works in an IBD or provides independent or franchised mobile services.

Rather than lament the downward trends of a mature market PBMA members should take full advantage of this trend for as long as it lasts.