Small Biz Owners: What big/national bike groups or associations are best for business networking?

Hi - I'm a cyclist and Chainlink member, and I'm writing an article for a small business magazine (NFIB's MyBusiness) on how entrepreneurs are using their affiliations with bike groups to network. I need to list some big bike groups that are conducive to this, so I'm curious to hear from any business people who have belonged to one.

It seems like a lot of them (America Bikes, People for Bikes) are advocacy groups, and I'm not sure if those are necessarily a good source of business networking. If you're a small biz owner with insights into that, feel free to email me at ceralc2002atyahoo.com - I'd love to hear any tips on the right way to build a business through these types of affiliations. Thanks!!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Mailing on May 16, 2014 at 7:06pm

For those IN the bicycle business, the national organizations through which you can do a lot of networking, make good business contacts, and learn a lot are the National Bicycle Dealers Association and the Bicycle Product Suppliers' Association.  The three major events where the industry comes together are 1. The League of American Bicyclists' Bike Summit (March), 2. The Bicycle Leadership Conference held at Sea Otter (April), and, of course, 3. Interbike (Sept).  America Bikes and People for Bikes are heavily involved with the Bike Summit.  However, riding together is not the focus of any of these events (although there are rides "on the side"), so I don't know that any of this fits with your story line.

Permalink Reply by Clare Curley on May 17, 2014 at 10:39am

Thanks, Chris! This is aimed at people outside of the industry, but I do plan to include League of American Bicyclists. Have you been to the May events that they sponsor? I wonder if those are conducive to non-industry people ...

Chris Mailing said:

For those IN the bicycle business, the national organizations through which you can do a lot of networking, make good business contacts, and learn a lot are the National Bicycle Dealers Association and the Bicycle Product Suppliers' Association.  The three major events where the industry comes together are 1. The League of American Bicyclists' Bike Summit (March), 2. The Bicycle Leadership Conference held at Sea Otter (April), and, of course, 3. Interbike (Sept).  America Bikes and People for Bikes are heavily involved with the Bike Summit.  However, riding together is not the focus of any of these events (although there are rides "on the side"), so I don't know that any of this fits with your story line.

Permalink Reply by Scott Chillson on May 18, 2014 at 10:50am

There are a lot of executive-types in Vision Quest and training clubs like that you might want  to talk to. 

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