Top Mountain Bike Shopping Trends You Need to Know
You used to buy a Canyon bike the way you’d book a trip to Moab: online, directly, and with the expectation that the value came from skipping middlemen. Canyon’s direct-to-consumer model helped reshape the industry, proving that riders would buy high-end bikes without ever swinging a leg over the top tube first.
Now? Canyon bikes are showing up in Amazon search results, complete with Prime shipping for some models. They’re also appearing in REI stores – not just on shelves, but integrated into the co-op’s blend of in-person service and online ordering.
To purists, that might feel like Canyon is breaking its own rules. But this isn’t a pivot away from DTC. It’s a broader play for visibility and convenience – a recognition that not every customer starts their bike search on a bike brand’s website anymore. Some start with an Amazon query. Others start in the REI parking lot.
Canyon isn’t alone. Across the bike world, brands are rethinking how – and where – they meet potential riders. The future of bike buying is no longer strictly in shops, and it’s not just DTC either. It’s something messier, more varied, and a lot more interesting.
Canyon’s Quiet Expansion – The DTC Icon Goes Hybrid
Canyon started selling bikes direct to riders in 2003, years before “DTC” had a tidy acronym or a billion-dollar valuation. The model was deceptively simple: engineer the hell out of a frame, price it below the competition by skipping retailers, and deliver it in a box stout enough to be mistaken for an air-drop crate.
For a while, it worked like a well-tuned derailleur. Canyon scaled up across Europe and the U.S., sending carbon and aluminum missiles to anyone with Wi-Fi and a credit card. No test ride. No local mechanic’s blessing. Just a promise: performance without the markup.
But now that box might come from an Amazon fulfillment center.
And soon, you might see a Canyon Torque nestled between backpacking packs and sleeping bags at REI.
These aren’t flukes. They’re footholds.
Amazon offers reach – some of Canyon’s lines are now listed on the platform, some with Prime shipping. That’s tens of millions of eyeballs that would never wander into a bike shop, but might get curious between a new blender and a late-night helmet search.
REI, on the other hand, offers presence. As of late 2023, Canyon bikes began appearing in select REI stores and on its website. It’s not full-scale retail – it’s a showroom handshake. You still order online, but you can see the bike in person. You can talk to someone who doesn’t use “torque spec” as a punchline. You can ride it.
Canyon, in short, is threading a needle. They’re not abandoning DTC – they’re adding new lanes to the freeway.
Why? Because the landscape has changed. Brand loyalty now has to compete with search engine optimization. And while Canyon’s website still leads the charge, a single “in stock now” badge on Amazon might be the loudest marketing they’ve ever had.
The Marketplace Middlemen – New Platforms, Old Tensions
Amazon isn’t a bike shop. It’s a vending machine the size of a continent. And yet, here we are.
Brands like Canyon are betting that customers want two things: options and speed. They want to browse bikes with the same casual indifference they use to shop for camping socks or waterproof Bluetooth speakers. And they want their bike shipped, tracked, and delivered before the weekend.
The upside? Convenience, exposure, and the warm buzz of an “Arriving Thursday” email.
The downside? Support gets murky. Assembly gets iffy. And the brands lose the context that bike shops (and even good brand websites) provide – the sizing tools, the service plans, the mechanics who can spot an out of true wheel from 20 yards away.
It’s a tradeoff. And depending on who you ask, it’s either the evolution of the industry or the beginning of the end.
Boutique Sites & Curators – The Rise of Digital Gearheads
While the giants chase scale, smaller players are doing the opposite: getting personal.
Boutique-focused e-commerce sites like are leaning into a hybrid model – think concierge-style support meets the scalability of online inventory. Some offer live chats with real riders. Others have “bike fit advisors” who won’t upsell you into carbon you don’t need.
Then there are the niche curators. Sites that focus on indie or boutique brands, often mixing gear sales with storytelling. You won’t find a Specialized or a Trek here – but you might find Starling, Revel (while still around), or Stinner. You’ll read about geometry choices like they’re cocktail recipes. You’ll care about tire compound again.
And on the near horizon: Radnut’s own ecommerce platform. We’re working on launching later this year, a curated space for boutique bike, ski, and snowboard brands – a platform built not on algorithmic firehose strategy, but on nuance, community, and character. It won’t be for everyone, and that’s the point.
It’s Etsy with skier’s and biker’s soul.
What About the Bike Shop?
Caught in the crossfire are local bike shops – still the beating heart of cycling culture, and still the place you’ll go when your “easy-to-assemble” direct shipment bites back.
Some shops are evolving. Trek and Giant have built hybrid models that support both DTC and dealer-based channels. Others are shifting toward service-focused revenue – tuning, fitting, community events. A few have partnered with brands that still believe a floor model and a handshake matter.
But others? They’re fighting for air. The margins on new bikes were always tight. Now, they’re thinner than ever – and sometimes, entirely gone.
The Rider’s Equation – What Are We Buying, Really?
In the end, this all circles back to the rider. Not the brand. Not the platform. The person staring at a screen, deciding whether to click “Buy Now” or to walk into their local shop.
Buying a bike today is part gear hunt, part UX experiment. There’s more choice, more noise, and more risk. But there’s also more freedom. You don’t have to settle for what’s in stock at the one shop near you. You don’t have to choose between boutique and big-box.
You just have to know what matters to you – and where you’re willing to compromise.
Conclusion – This Isn’t a Bike Shop. It’s the New Wild West.
Canyon selling on Amazon isn’t the end of anything. It’s the start of something looser, faster, more uncertain.
Brands are moving like riders on a new trail – trying different lines, some smooth, some sketchy. The terrain is changing. So are the rules. But one thing hasn’t changed: the moment you swing a leg over and drop in, it still comes down to the ride.
Even if your trailhead starts with a tracking number.
