So here’s some interesting news. Backcountry, the outdoor gear retail specialists, just scooped up Velofix. In case you don’t know, Velofix is the mobile bike shop network that’s been bringing mobile bike repair/bike delivery to your driveway since 2013. The Backcountry deal closed September 17.
If you’ve never used Velofix, their MO is simple and honestly pretty cool. Instead of dropping your bike off at a shop and watching your bike wait in the back for some attention, you can have a certified tech roll up in a fully-loaded van to build, tune, or fix your bike. All right there in your driveway.
Velofix has done this for over 215,000 riders across the US and Canada, with 96 techs covering roughly half of North America’s riders.
Backcountry can sell you a bike online, but they’ve never had a good answer for what happens between the time when the box shows up on your porch and you actually riding it.
Until now. Velofix techs are the way Backcountry will fill that gap. Seriously, Velofix can do builds, tune-ups, drivetrain and suspension work, e-bike diagnostics, bike fits, even race-day prep and support for teams and events.
Backcountry’s president, Kevin Lenau, says, “Backcountry has always been about connecting people to an expert they can rely on. Now that expert comes to the driveway.” He continues, “A rider in Boulder or Boston can order a bike from us and have a Velofix technician build it, tune it, and hand it over ready to ride.” Nice.
The first tangible perk lands for Summit Club+ members via exclusive offers.
What about existing Velofix franchise owners?
According to the recent article from BRAIN, currently about a third of Velofix vans are franchised. Backcountry doesn’t seem to have any plans to change that, and hopes the acquisition pushes more business to those franchise owners.
It sounds like there are still more details to work out, but we’re hoping that it’s a beneficial arrangement for all.
