Video: Seth // Edit: Curtis // Words Here: Daniel
I have ridden hundreds of different bikes over the years, and I’ve always enjoyed dissecting their varying nuances and seeing the technological progression that happens year after year. Experiencing the innovation that has come to bikes during my lifetime is nothing short of remarkable. These advances have completely changed the way we experience bikes in nearly every way. It’s small, subtle changes year after year that have evolved how we ride the most, and while it’s oftentimes difficult to tell the difference some of those tweaks even make, take a bike from 10 years ago and the same model now and it will be a significant change.
Innovation drives those advances, and it involves taking risks and, at times, failing. However, innovation is critical to moving the needle forward. Specialized, arguably one of the more forward-thinking brands in the industry, has used the slogan “Innovate or Die.” With its seemingly unlimited budget for research and development, innovation is part of the brand’s ethos. It is in a position to try, fail, learn, and try again.
However, it’s not like that for all brands, and risk tolerance or acceptance is something that any brand or product team must figure out independently. As unlikely as it is with all of the checks and balances engineering teams and product managers have in place, a product completely failing for a large brand like Trek, Specialized, or Cannondale, even with an extensive product portfolio, can be devastating. A product failure for a company like Beno Technologies, which crowdfunded the Reevo into existence (you can check out the crowdfunding page here), is an extinction-level event. And I suspect that’s exactly what happened here.
