Morgan Mallet shares the new NSMBA Shore Corps logo and I’m instantly in love. I mean, who wouldn’t be? The collaboration with Shore Corps sponsor Race Face looks fun, fresh, and pays homage to a classic North Shore brand that Race Face has long owned: Roach. 

And it really, really matters that Ingrid Doerr’s memory is being called upon only with the express permission of her family. It’s not that there’s a legal obligation or even that Ingrid would have had any objection with how much she gave to the local mountain bike scene in her life. It’s simply the classy, strike that, the necessary thing to do. I think it’s wonderful on all counts. 

The zombified remains of classic mountain bike brands, that at least once had meaning, are strewn across the industry. Often they’re re-animated or Báthoried with the willing participation of their past owners, though I’m positive that’s not better when they’re just being used to dress up mediocrity rather than taping into the creative spirit of the original companies. 

This is not in objection to someone trying to make a buck, and who am I to tell people what generic products they can put their name on? I simply think it’s sad to see once-profitable passion projects that earned cult followings reduced from creating fresh mountain bike culture to celebrating the achievements of an unrelatable past entity composed of (almost) entirely different people. I have a ton of examples that come to mind but listing them seems like an all-or-nothing exercise and with the following exception, I don’t want to be accused of singling anyone out. 

The same day I see the fresh & friendly Shore Corps logo I’m driving down Brooksbank Ave in North Vancouver past what used to be and is still labeled as John Henry Bikes. Years removed from their heady days as one of North Vancouver’s top shops, and with no family involvement in the business, at this point what’s there is really just a doppelganger wearing the building like some leftover U.S. Postal Lance Armstrong kit. 

I’d hazard that there is as much opportunity lost from folks like me who would never darken the door of the shop while John’s name is still on the sign than to be gained from people who remember how much fun was had at John Henry Days. There may not be many of either honestly, but then more’s the pity. 

True, John Henry Cromack’s story is not mine to tell. But I can say from my personal experiences that he is a gentleman, one of the nicest shop owners I’ve met, and I’d bet you twenty bucks he gave more young people, plenty of them high school kids with zero work experience, a start in the bike industry than any shop his size in Canada. Maybe anywhere. The groms were legion. It’s a matter of fact that he experienced life-changing health issues and some years down the road his shop ended up being owned by his biggest supplier. 

Businesses end all the time and the bike business is as hard as any. Increasing rents and staffing costs, online competitors unburdened by local taxes or expectations of trail support, decreasing margins, and poor industry partners are all huge challenges for owners to surmount with poise and grace and I’ve seen enough that I don’t think there’s a gram of shame in brands passing on to memories. Let’s recall their positive contributions to the culture.  

But I do think there is shame, and zero advantage, in using a brand name, even if you legally own it, without proferring credit to its origin and originator. And, that’s triply true when the people behind the name invoke good memories for members of the riding community and it has little, if any, potential to positively impact the current business. 

Nice of Race Face, and the Shore Corps, to set the example.