Opinion
The Bicycle Industry Was Overcrowded and Didn't Need Another Brand
“And the bike industry is an overcrowded industry. It's not an industry that is needing another brand. Not 10 years ago, not today. It's a, it's not a slam dunk.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Weiner: Most Bike Companies Still Suffer From Pandemic Inventory Gluts
“A lot of bicycle companies
Not priority.
Still have too much inventory from the COVID days.”
Assertion Supported
Weiner: E-Bikes Are Quickly Becoming 50% of Bicycle Industry Sales
“E-bikes are quickly becoming 50% of the sales in the bicycle industry.”
Insight
Weiner: Innovation Is the Only Path to Market Share in Declining Bike Market
“Innovation is the only way that we can gain market share in a market that is declining right now.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Why Bike Brands Avoided Puncture-Resistant Tires
“Other bike companies, they weren't selling bikes with things like puncture-resistant tires, because those cost more, and most customers don't see that on the price tag.”
Assertion Supported
Why Taiwan Remains the Primary Hub for Quality Bicycles
“Taiwan is still where, where, where most quality bicycles are made, because all of the suppliers are there, from the frame welding, to the seats, to the handlebars, to the grips, everything is made in Taiwan, or at least in, in, if you want a high quality bike…”
Assertion Contradicted
In 2014, No Belt-Drive Bike Cost Under $1,000
“At the time, I don't think you could find a belt drive bike. Under a thousand dollars.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hiring a PR Firm Was Priority's Single Largest Pre-Launch Expense
“That was our single biggest expense before we launched.”
Insight
New Startups Cannot Grow at 10 Percent Without Underlying Issues
“You can't grow at 10% when you, when you're a brand new company or something's, something's wrong.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Every Single Bike Company Ran Out of Inventory in 2020
“Every single bike company had no inventory.”
Disclosure
Priority Bicycles Sells About 70% of Its Bikes Direct-to-Consumer
“Now we sell about 70% of our bikes consumer direct.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Weiner: Priority Bicycles has over 1,000 corporate and hotel locations
“Now between hotels and corporate campuses, we have over a thousand locations using our bikes, which is amazing.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
In 2014, Very Few High-Quality Bicycles Were Sold Online
“And back then in, in 2014, there wasn't a lot of bicycles being sold online. And those that are, were pretty low quality.”
Disclosure
Priority Raised Hundreds of Thousands in Seed Financing From Coal Systems
“You know, I don't remember the exact number, but it was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was not a little amount of money. I approached John, who was one of the founders of Coal Systems, and I presented him what my plan was for Priority Bicycles, an…”
Assertion Supported
Priority Sold Over $200,000 in Bikes on Kickstarter Day One
“And I think in the first day in Kickstarter, we sold over 200,000 dollars in bikes.”
Assertion Supported
Priority Bicycles Raised $550,000 During Its Kickstarter Campaign
“Five 50, so half a million dollars.”
Disclosure
Why Priority's Second Product, a $300 Kids Bike, Failed
“I built a bike that I wanted, not a bike that our customers were telling us they wanted. And so, the first lesson there is, is, you know, listen to your customer, because if, as much customer support as I was personally doing at the time, I was hearing from cu…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Priority Reached 30 Percent Margins on Commuter Bikes Via Volume Purchasing
“No, we were getting it up to the thirties. We were getting the margin up there, but we were also starting to buy in volume.”
Disclosure
Weiner Declined Early Funding Interest From VC and PE Firms
“And we were getting approached by VC and PE firms rather consistently. And a lot of the people that run those companies ride bikes and they were hearing about us and they were reaching out. And the timing just didn't feel right. We didn't have enough staff to …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Priority Reached Millions in Revenue and Cash-Flow Positivity by Year Four
“I don't know if it was five. I would say it was a little south of that, but it was a couple million dollars. And we were cashflow positive. Not by much, but we were cashflow positive every year.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Priority Still Faces Six-Month Lead Times on High-End Gears
“But the higher-end gearing system that we're using on, on our higher-end bikes, we, some of them we still are six months out.”
Assertion Partly supported
Most Bike Companies Saw Sales Decline 30 to 60 Percent in 2023
“The, you know, everything we read with industry data says that most bike companies are down 30 to 60%.”
Disclosure
Dave Weiner: Priority Bicycles' initial model supported the company, not him
“The classic bike was still doing well. So I knew that we had a win that could carry the company, though it couldn't carry me.”
Disclosure
Weiner Handled Bike Manufacturing Like a Major Software Implementation
“Doing software programs, I became a project manager. So I handled this the same way I would a big software implementation. I had every step. I had every supplier. Everybody was in my database. I knew who I was contacting which days. I knew who I was following …”
