Sheep-Dog Bites #8
BMX's Technology War

When I started Bikeguide, my intention was a place for people to come and get good help with their bike regarding maintenance, part selection and as a side effect a nice place to hang out. It was never meant to be so big, or become an industry sounding board or anything else. Over the years it has grown to mammoth proportions and pretty much every major and minor company in BMX watches it for one reason or another. I have witnessed some funny, disturbing, and just plain messed up things during the time BG has been alive. Being the 5 year anniversary of the domain name, I decided I should write down some of these things.

While at Interbike a few years ago I chatted with a few company owners. They all knew who BG was and who Sheepdog was, even if they did not recognize me. Most liked the site. They loved seeing how people responded to their products, and how if there was a trend developing with a part having a problem, they could get a jump on it before it got worse. They could also gauge enthusiasm for new products without you knowing they were watching. They liked how people would express an opinion openly. This formed a catch22 for them and myself. A few would have liked to support BG and advertise here but are scared it would impact how people responded to their products, meaning I lose out on the advertising dollars. While this used to be a problem, it is not anymore as BG is now self sufficient (Yippee!).

This does bring up something I find much more interesting though; how companies feel about the internet. There are 2 schools of thought on how the internet affects BMX and companies, and how they use it. One likes it, the other side has a far different opinion of the internet, you, and your opinions. More important, how they feel about forums like this and the ability for it to spread information.

Let me start by saying, if you have a good product, you pretty much have little to fear of the publicity a site like BG can give and loads to gain from it. The first camp buys into this thinking. They like seeing your responses and interest. It gives them a direct line to the way customers are thinking without a research group, or trial and error. For this reason most companies watch BG. Simple enough. Some take it a step further.

Companies like Odyssey, G-Sport and Seshin as well as shops like Albes and Empire actively participate in forums like this. If someone has a problem, they can address it publicly. Everyone knows they stand behind their products because of this, you can see it anytime someone does have an issue. This takes any bit of bad publicity and turns into positive publicity. Do they have to do it? No, they can survive without it, but BG gives them an audience of their users and a method for them to reach people directly without being swamped by phone calls or email. For them, the internet has been a boon. A new avenue of advertising.

There is however a flip side to this.

Some companies see it as a liability. They feel that one person can break a part, post it on the internet and basically harm the company. These companies usually do not participate on boards, do as little as possible with the internet and basically are living in the stone-age. They want to control every bit of information you see and read. I guess that is smart in some ways. With only positive things being said, there is no fear or worry that one of your products may be defective or crap and the masses knowing. No way for anyone to say how poor your warranty is, or better yet spread lies.

One even went as far as claiming sites like BG are killing BMX. Bikeguide IS BMX, not the company. Riders participate on BG, without riders, there is no BMX or companies to support it. Luckily, most of the holdouts are waking up to the fact that that cannot fight it. A bad company is a bad company; a bad product is a bad product. The more aware people are, the more important it is for you to make a better product. Which is really what they should be doing in the first place right?

As you can probably guess I am from the first camp. I understand where some would see forums like BG as a bad thing, but I feel this is more of a miss-understanding and missed opportunity than anything. I have no doubt that George of G-Sport's internet activities are what helped him get noticed by Odyssey and bringing his parts to the U.S. I can actually bring to the forefront several companies who have used the internet to make a name for themselves that would otherwise have never really begun to have a chance. Before the internet you either needed lots of capitol to advertise, some friends who were good riders, or be prepared to take a very long time to get anywhere. Now you have small companies like Seshin (and formerly RNC) who sprang up on a small budget and gaining interest without ever using a print magazine. Magazines and travel cost money, as do top riders, all of which can spread the word of your product. The internet can do it for pennies on the dollar.

All of this pales in comparison to what the internet has really done for BMX.

Want to take a road trip and need a couch to sleep on? In the old days, racers did this because they traveled enough, today, you could arrange an entire cross country trip and never use a hotel. Not to mention always have a few locals waiting for you to show you the best places to ride, or have a few waiting at the local skate park. At the very least, directions. See the companies bitching about the internet forget, BMX is not about them, it is about you, the rider. This is like a small local group of riders, except in this case, it is a world wide one (and composes of a ton of people).

Sites like this allow me to travel to a new place and know I have friends there before I even walk out the door. It allows me to find out what part is complete junk and I should not waste my money on. But most of all, it allows us to converse about BMX with other BMX'ers. I often used to worry about BMX going through another crash like in the late 80's early 90's. With the internet, even if it happens again, the ones really into BMX will be FAR more organized than they were back then. We no longer need the magazines to tell us what works, is cool, when the next comp is, is the newest skate park.

We can tell the companies what we want rather than waiting for them to decide what they want to sell us. Notice how much more companies have jumped onto the internet, notice how much different our bikes are now? Sunday and Seshin are probably 2 of the best examples of listening to what people wanted. Both have tons of features people have been screaming about for years. Companies are making frames with no brakes, frames with brake systems that they spent more than 5 minutes on, frames with more dent resistance. Lighter frames, steeper head tubes, shorter posts, different bottom brackets. Granted much of that could have come about on its own, but there has been more radical changes to our bikes in the last few years than the entire 20 before. I attribute much of this to the internet.

BMX forums are here for you, the rider.
That is who it was built for, and that is how I intend to keep it that way.