There is a growing trend, both within Australia and overseas, towards mobile bicycle repair businesses. In an age of time poor consumers and ‘I want it now!’ service expectations it appears that there is a large pool of consumers who are prepared to pay a little more to have someone come to their house or workplace and repair their bicycles on the spot.
Mobile service operators can also quite easily sell spare parts and accessories.
In the USA and Canada, the market leader in the new mobile servicing category is Velofix. We have already reported about them twice in the past, here and here plus a related stories about Australian mobile repair businesses including this one here.
Previously when we wrote about Velofix we reported that they had 31 franchises. Today comes the startling news that less than two years later they have just surpassed 100 franchises.
The city of Indianapolis will also soon be home to Velofix. Longtime cyclist and entrepreneur Brian Brackemyre has purchased three territories in Indiana after examining the local Indianapolis market for over a year.
“I couldn’t be more excited about bringing Velofix to Indiana and being the 100th franchise partner,” said Brackemyre, “The product and service offerings from bike repair to bike sales, to bike setup and assembly are tremendous. I am looking forward to getting my shop on the road and interacting with local Hoosier cyclists, organizations and businesses.”
The recent additions, paired with planned expansion in other European and English speaking territories, places Velofix co-founder Chris Guillemet’s ambition to lead the world’s largest group of bike shops firmly on course.
He said of the future, “Our goal is to be the largest group of bike shops in the world, and to surpass 100 franchises sold in North America is validation of our business model and the future of the cycling industry. We are a bike shop on four wheels – we provide a premium service by certified mechanics, we sell the best parts and accessories in the industry and now with Velofix Direct we will deliver, build, fit, safety check, add accessories and follow up with a service call 30 days later to make sure the customer is 100% satisfied with their new bike.”
“The retail landscape is changing fast in the cycling industry and we need to provide service and sales where and when the consumer demands it. Evolve or die has never been more true,” added Guillemet.
The Velofix Direct program that he is referring to is the latest trend where mail order bicycle companies are finding synergies with mobile bike fix operators as a channel for the delivery, final assembly, customer fitting and serving of new bicycles.
Some of this article was previously published in Cycling Industry News and Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.
