Interview: Tutto Mountain Bike, Italy - Part III

Here's the third installment from an interview I did, for Seven Cycles, with an Italian mountain bike magazine a few years ago.  You can read the first and second parts, too.  Since it was never published in English, and probably no one from the US saw it, I am posting a bit of it here.  

Keep in mind that I was trying to communicate in language designed for non-English speakers.

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Tutto:  “How is the American mountain biking evolving. In the past it was leader:  the top riders, the most important races and events, the best frame designers were American. How is the movement today?”

Rob V.:  I think that the US was the ‘leader’ in large part because that is where the sport initially developed.  This combined with the States’ large number of inventors and the ease of starting a company in the States, gave the US a head start.  However, this leadership changed very quickly for two primary reasons:

1. Financial support and infrastructure of mountain biking in the States is nonexistent, relative to European support.  Because there is essentially no support for mountain biking in the US, it will not develop.  For example, the women’s national champion for mountain biking in 2003—Mary McConneloug—won a silver medal at the PanAm games.  However, she received no support from the USCF—United States Cycling Federation—to get to the games.  In fact, somehow, she ended up owing the federation money!  This is no way to develop champions.
   
2. The popularization of the culture of cycling is very important to the future of the sport of mountain biking.  I don’t want to generalize too much about Europe but cycling is a top sport in nearly all European countries.  In the States, by contrast, cycling is a fringe sport.  It is not part of the popular culture, and it is becoming less so over time.  This is a serious problem; and certainly plays a critical role in why the US is not the ‘leader’ in mountain biking anymore.
   

Without federation support for mountain biking, not much else will happen.  Mountain biking will be relegated to subculture status.  This lack of support and status have the best and the brightest—athletes, designers, and promoters—go to other sports or industries. 

Tutto:  “When we met you, we asked you why a person so young as you were did a job that needs a lot of experience, and you answered us that you were lucky. Do you still have the same enthusiasm or do you think that the mountain bike world has changed?”

RV:  For me, the changes in the mountain bike world are what provide me enthusiasm.  There are certainly things I miss about the industry 15 years ago when it was all new and every design was a new design.  However, the industry is maturing and this offers new challenges for innovation.

One of the major changes in the industry, I believe, is that the products are less important.  Ten years ago the rider was looking more at technology, innovation, and materials.  This has really changed quite a lot from the focus of today.  For example, 10 years ago, everyone wanted to know details about the titanium we used, how it was formed, how the grain structure was maintained, how we did tube butting, etc.  These days—and I have seen this shift very noticeably in the past few years—almost no one really cares about those things. And, I think these topics will become less and less important.  There will certainly always be people that find these topics important, but the mainstream is moving away from these. 

Today I see that riders are more interested in the experience and the culture. 

Experience:  By this I mean the experience the rider has with the company, brand, and bike.  Can this bike do what I want, regardless of material and technology.  Will it get me where I want to go?  Will it help make my riding experience better? 

Culture:  the rider is looking more at how the company relates to the rider’s values and philosophy.  Does this company represent what is important to me?  Do I connect with this company?  Do I understand this brand and the employees of the company?

Tutto:  “Where do you live and where do you ride, if you do it?”

RV:  I live in Somerville, Massachusetts.  This is 5 kilometers west of Boston.  I commute and ride for fun.  I don’t do either as often as I would like. 

There is some fantastic riding in this area.  It is very diverse due to the geography of the north eastern United States.  The riding tends to be technical single track.  However, we also have great mountain climbs and descents nearby. It can also be a lot of fun to ride right in the city of Boston; the city is a great challenge for riding and always interesting.

Currently, I believe the best place to ride near Boston is the Vietnam trail.  It is a diverse trail network that is well managed by our local mountain bike association:  NEMBA.

I did race for 13 years; mostly mountain bikes and cyclocross.  I also road raced as training for mountain bike racing.  I raced all along the East Coast and in the Midwest.  Now that I run a business, I do not have time to race anymore.  My commitment to our employees and maintaining a successful business preclude me from investing enough time in training to be able to race well.

Comments

[Yoshi]

In Japan thease days, many bike riders think about bikes that "Europian bikes are sold by the BRAND name but Amerikan bikes are by the QUALITY." In the past, Bikes were almost Europian's, but now American bikes have occupied more than half(including Mtn) in Japanese market in spite of the fact that Main stage of bikes is still in Europe. That is great, and because of inprovement of American technology, I think.