The Prototype Paradox: Race-Day Tech vs. Retail Reality

One of my favorite parts of the bike race season is being able to sneak looks at prototype bike frames and components. It is common for racers to test and even race prototype versions of unreleased products before they are available for consumers to buy. In fact there are some journalists who specialize in reporting on this tech.

Racing on unreleased tech is most prevalent in the mountain bike World Cup where it is common for riders to be racing on frames for a full season before they are released. For a long time, I thought that letting riders publicly race on unreleased products was a smart move for the company to create excitement for upcoming products, while at the same time, showing the world that the product has been vetted by the best riders in the world.

 However, recently, I have started to realize that there may be some downsides to this announcement too. Firstly, excitement for a product usually peaks soon after it is announced, and it seems like it would be better if the product was available for purchase at that moment to best capitalize on this excitement. Furthermore, if there is still inventory of the outgoing product in the supply chain, it becomes significantly less valuable as soon as the new product is announced. I believe that there are some benefits of letting pros race on unreleased products, but let me explain why it would be better for the cycling industry if companies keep a wrap on the new products until they are ready to be sold.

For the love of racing, it is amazing to see racers showing up with cutting-edge technology. Mountain biking, and downhill specifically, is often compared to F1 racing, as riders rely so heavily on technology to be competitive on the track. The races come down to really thin margins, and the thing that makes the difference is oftentimes the bike tech. As a team, you should want to give your athletes the best, most up-to-date tech available in order to give them the best chance of getting good results. Likewise, you would want your products to be tested by the best athletes in the world under race conditions. In addition, having World Cups won with products before they are even released is about as good a testimonial as you could possibly get.

With these reasons being valid for why you would want riders to get time on products before they are available to the public. Here are my reasons for why I think it still may be better to wait until a product is ready for purchase before letting athletes race on it. 

Nothing is better than deciding that you want to buy a bike part, and it being available at a local bike shop ready for pick up the same day.  Just like in this scenario, ideally the time between when a customer wants to buy a product and when they get the product should be minimized. On the same note, If I have to order a product and it takes two weeks to arrive, most of the time when the product arrives I'm not even excited for it anymore. I believe this same thing happens when there is a peak of excitement when a product is first spotted being ridden by a pro, only for it not to be available until months later. By the time a product is available, the consumer’s attention is already on the next thing.

From the perspective of a business trying to make a living in the cycling industry, this can be frustrating too. For example, this past weekend, there was a new Giant Anthem being raced that has yet to be announced. If I was an independent shop who had purchased some of the outgoing Anthems this spring, it is likely that I would still have at least one or two left in inventory at this point in the year. However, now that people know that there is a new model coming down the pipeline, the value of the ones I have in stock are cannibalized by the future model. In other words, why would potential customers pay full price for a model when they can see that there is a better and refined version coming soon?

In my assessment of the pros and cons, it led me to the conclusion that it would be best to launch the product once it is available to purchase. It would be really cool to see a product being announced at a World Cup race and be available for purchase the same day. Off the top of my head, I can't think of an example of this being the case, but it would be a baller way to launch a product.