The combination of beautiful summer weather, frustration with the MBTA’s bus service, and the desire to be in better shape has made me contemplate purchasing a bicycle. A colleague who often bikes to work (and everywhere else) dismissed my rationale for not-biking—that I wasn’t in good enough shape—by saying “Anybody can bike. You can bike. That is not an excuse. ”
Last week, I was having a conversation with my sister and brother-in-law about the upcoming tax free weekend and thought it was a good time to make the commitment to getting in better shape, using less energy and biking to work.
After asking a few bicycling insiders, I went online to do my own research on the best shops in the area. I Googleed a few of the names and ended up going to my favorite customer review website, Yelp. I was pleasantly surprised to find many shops reviewed on Yelp. I wanted the bike to have a local home, and since I live in Somerville, I knew there were many choices in the area. My research led me to Broadway Bicycle in Cambridge and WheelWorks in Somerville.
Last weekend the weather was beautiful. The perfect synergy for bicycle shops: ideal weather and no taxes. After handing over my ID, I was able to take each bike for a 15 or 20 minute spin and enjoy everything. After visiting three shops on Saturday (I also went to Wheelworks in Belmont) I had ridden 5 different bikes and had gotten a workout. I also had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. I knew what I liked for feel and ride. All that was left was fine-tuning my research and making sure the front-running brand was reliable and reputable. I also wanted to double-check on the front-runner of bicycle shops, too, Broadway Bicycle in Cambridge.
I wasn’t the only one with designs on buying a bike that weekend. All three bicycle shops were full of people. There were lines. At Broadway, they talked to me and took my questions seriously (however, dumb I may have felt asking them) didn’t treat me badly, and never condescended. I felt like I was being welcomed to the community of bicyclists.
That evening was online research time. This was an investment for me. I didn’t want to be buying a bike that would be a short-term solution. I didn’t want to have to upgrade quickly if I got into biking. I wanted something that would last. After reading many reviews on multiple sites, I decided the Marin Muirwoods. The sites I found most useful:
While the riding experience of the Muirwoods was positive but I needed validation about my experience from other customer experiences. I needed to know that my gut feeling was correct.
As marketers, we need to place ourselves in the role of the consumer. We need to know what it means to not have experience with the product and be a bit anxious. Subsequently, we need to know what the consumer needs to build a trusting relationship with a company.
I was not only going to rely on the information from the company or my own experience but from the community of bicyclists who already use the product. Their stories were the most influential to my decision-making process.
Now, it’s time to bike to work!
