This is indeed an interesting subject that has been covered by many writers. I listened to an NPR story yesterday in which Malcolm Gladwell was talking about choices and the problems that come with having too many.
Trader Joes is a good example of a store offering *less* choice but selling *more*. I would argue that Rivendell and Rivelo are as well—they have far fewer items than a typical bike shop, but what they do have is carefully curated. --Eric Norris [email protected] @CampyOnlyguy (Twitter/Instagram) > On Mar 13, 2017, at 12:22 PM, Bob Lovejoy <[email protected]> wrote: > > Sorry if this would seem to be off topic, though hopefully it is not, but > Grant, in another post stated, and I hesitate to quote but it was a point I > totally agree with and think about. > > "...The bike MARKET is super crowded, and it leads to dozens of categories > and aberants and variety...and on one hand it's cool that bikes really can > travel motorlessly over more terrain--that's one of the good things, although > I'm not talking about eFat bikes penetrating the wilderness when i say > "good"--but it also leads to overspecialization with too many categories, and > then new riders go shopping and ask for bikes by category and not by this is > how I'm gonna use it...." > > Not that I am anything more than a participant and supporter in the world of > bikes, but it makes me a little crazy when I hear of sagging bike sales, at > least here in the U.S., maybe worldwide. Bikes sales should be growing! And > the more bikes out there, the better the world might be... > > Anyway, I was just listening to a Ted Talks podcast, maybe the latest ( > http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/519264798/decisions-decisions-decisions > ) and a researcher, Sheena Iyengar, was talking about an experiment she did > with displaying and selling jars of jam at a fancy grocery. > > To cut it short, they displayed 24 different jars of jam for sampling and > selling... 60% of the people stopped to look and sample but only 3% (of the > 60%) bought. > When they displayed only 6 different jars of jam, only 40% of the people > stopped, but 30% (of the 40%) bought. > > Not that there are any great answers to the dilemma, but I do believe the > bike industry has, in a race to the end, fallen into the trap. I tell people > these days, trying to sound enthusiastic and positive, that there are now > bikes for almost every conceivable circumstance. And there is no argument > (from me) that that is a truly bad thing. Still, Sheena calls it a "choice > overload problem" and I think that's a very real effect. > > With that, I do think Rivendell has approached the problem well! They might > have bikes that overlap in function but they span different price ranges and, > in this world, that is a necessity. And each and every one of the bikes is > designed to be ridden, enjoyed, bring a smile. > > I have not listened to the entire podcast just yet, and don't know if it's > fully recommended, but that part of the discussion (16:00-18:00 in) made me > think. > > Bob Lovejoy > Galesburg, IL > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch > <https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout > <https://groups.google.com/d/optout>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
