The snow would melt, the rains would relent somewhat, skiing would go to sh*t, and mountain bikers would gradually start popping their heads into the shop. It was a time for new shoes and helmets, refreshing or replacing rigs, and a generally positive sense of the new season ahead. There would always be inklings of impatience, but truly only a gentle foreshadowing of April, May, and then the silly season of summer ahead.
Now, I suppose it’s entirely possible that I’ve been spending too much time looking back through fogged-up safety glasses. The mild weather this year and the fact many a rider’s rig is way more f*cked than normal for this time of year doesn’t help. But those two admittances aside, I still think there’s a great change that’s taken place over the last couple of years and here I’m standing solidly on my admittedly anecdotal sense of things as the foundation is reinforced by many other shop folks I know.
Back then, the red days of fall and winter would deliberately turn black via one long positive shift at a time, like running through all twelve gears on a SRAM T-Type drivetrain. Now, the bottom line shifts instantly like I just throttled through the entire range of a SRAM Eagle Grip Shifter.
We’re out of what? We had a bunch last week.
This year, no one I know was ready. Some local shops have key staff away on ‘off-season’ vacations and others haven’t even had the conversation about how they’re staffing up for the year. I’m re-writing my ‘NO POACHING!??‘ piece from 2021 because the rules have certainly changed. I’m surprised all our sales reps haven’t added an extra income line collecting match-making fees.
The half-cheeky denials of yesteryear have given way to braggadociously bagging bike industry folks on the trails, in the pub, and in plain sight in public parking lots in front of their friends and co-workers?!? A couple years ago if you told me you heard a shop owner say “We just stole the best sales guy from [insert shop]” I would have known you were full of it. Today? Not so much.
But the season has arrived and it’s suddenly embedding coins in the ceiling while hammering itself out of the frame like a FOX D.O.S.S. dropper post at max pressure. Wait, is that reference too old? Okay, it’s eating bearings and shocks like a poorly aligned Trunnion mount.
Anyway, what I actually logged in to say is that if you’ve been thinking about beating the rush you are now the rush. So if you need a bike for spring break or an easter trip or just generally hate downtime, book it in ASAP.
We’re pulling suspension to drop at SWerx or shoot to Fluid-Function. We’re bleeding, rebuilding, or replacing brake systems. I’m pulling and pressing frame bearings like folks who normally park their bikes have been riding a couple or few times a week all fall and winter. Insert another dozen dirty doings or so for effect, right? It’s all come on like a multi-ratio gear dump.
Shops Seriously Shifting Seasons (TT#19)