BikeWhip: Creating an easier Bike Rental experience in Bentonville

Bentonville has world-class trails, but the hardest part of the trip can be bike rentals. It can take hours to sift through what local shops have to offer. We sit down with Jeff Ireland, founder of BikeWhip, to unpack how a simple favor for a visiting brother exposed a bigger problem in planning for a cycling trip. BikeWhip brings local bike rental inventory into one place, using filters to narrow by bike type, size, budget, and e-bike options so riders can find what they actually want fast.

We also dig into the reality that many renters are beginners, and that intimidation can keep people from even trying outdoor recreation. Jeff explains how RideMatch helps riders self-identify their needs, answer a few simple questions about where they plan to ride, and get recommendations that fit their comfort level. The goal is not just convenience. It’s a better on-trail experience because the wrong bike can turn a dream ride into a frustrating day.

Then Andy Williamson joins to explain GORP, the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program, and why Bentonville’s startup ecosystem matters as much as the trail builds. We talk about mentorship, customer discovery, building in a living laboratory, and how partnerships like Visit Bentonville’s BikeWhip-powered rental widget can lift the whole visitor experience. 

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Transcript

Welcome To Bentonville’s Bike Boom

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Hello, listener, welcome to A New American Town, the podcast of Visit Bentonville. I am your host, Graham Cobb, and I am extraordinarily excited today to be visiting with Andy Williamson of GORP, that's greenhouse outdoor recreation program, and Jeff Ireland with Bike Whip. Welcome, gentlemen.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Awesome. Awesome to be here and to have y'all. Listeners, as you know, Bentonville has become one of the premier cycling destinations in America. Most visitors see the trails, the riding, and the experience. But what a lot of them just don't realize is that there are entrepreneurs building tools and services that make their experience better, using Bentonville as a living laboratory for this. And BikeWhip is one of those products. I'd love to visit with Jeff. If you could let us know kind of from the beginning, talk about your journey, talk about Bike Whip, what it is and where did it come from.

The BikeWhip Idea And Origin Story

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Yeah, sure. I'd love to. Probably the easiest way that I've been able to describe what it is is if you've ever used something like Kayak or Expedia to book a flight or a hotel, that's the same concept. So I'm doing the same thing for bike rentals. So it's taking all the bike shops in Bentonville, Northwest Arkansas, and combining them into a single platform. And that's to make it easier to find the bike rental that you're looking for. And where I came up with the idea was actually going back a couple years ago. I had a brother that was coming into town from Utah, and I volunteered to help him out to find a bike rental for him. And he had sort of a bike that he had in mind, you know, a type of bike. And so I thought, okay, this would be pretty straightforward. I can I know, you know, some of the bike shops. So I jumped onto Google, like most people probably will, and started typing in, you know, Bentonville bike rentals, and very quickly was overwhelmed by the number of options. So it's a kind of a good problem to have. We're spoiled here because we do have a lot of bike shops and a lot of options, but that's also part of the problem as well. And so I just found myself spending probably a couple of hours bouncing around all these sites and calling shops. And I actually had compiled a spreadsheet that had all this information where I was, you know, trying to compare and finally was able to hand that off to my brother. But I was like, there has got to be a better way to do this. You know, this is the mountain bike capital of the world. Truly, we deserve our own platform to find bikes. And so that's kind of how the idea was born. And so I just was like, okay, let me start building this out.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

So who is this who is this for? Is it for the hardcore mountain biker? Who can use this platform?

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Yeah, it's it's really I mean, simply put, it's for anybody that's looking to rent a bike. Nice. Right. And so that can be somebody like maybe more in my example where my brother had something specific in mind. And so a little bit more experienced rider, but also for beginners uh that maybe don't necessarily know where to start yet. Um, there's all also tools in there that help with that that process as well. So you talked about who bike whip is for, but how does it work?

Filters And RideMatch For Any Rider

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Yeah. So like I mentioned, it's it's really for anybody, kind of all levels of riders, but there's sort of two main ways that it works and kind of based on what people are needing. So you have the type of rider who maybe knows what they have in mind, right? The type of bike, generally the parameters around that. So that was kind of my experience initially. And so from that standpoint, when they go to bikewhip.com, there's a variety of filters that are there. So if you're looking for an Enduro mountain bike, you know, size medium, certain price range, maybe you want a uh electric bike or a non-electric bike, there's a lot of filter criteria in there that quickly allows you to whittle down that list of you know over 150 bikes now to maybe it's 10 that fit that criteria. So it just dramatically streamlines that process and makes it a lot quicker for those that know what they want. On the flip side of that, one of the things that I hadn't really acknowledged or or realized in the beginning of building this was how many beginner riders there are out there. In fact, when I talked to bike shops or multiple bike shops that said more than half of their renters are beginners who really don't know what they want or what they need. And so that can be kind of overwhelming for them. And so when I learned that, then one of the features that I built in was called RideMatch. And what that does is it gives these riders kind of a guided experience where they answer some questions. You know, are they trying to, are they planning on riding on dirt trails, on paved trails? Are they riding around town? Like what are they wanting to do? And then based on that, it will give them a set of top pick recommendations to say, okay, here's some bikes that are most likely going to be the best suited for the type of riding that you're going to do, and here's where you rent them. And that's been very well received, and I've gotten a lot of really good feedback on that. And so I think that's a that's an area that I'm gonna continue to continue to evolve and develop and increase that capability.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

Awesome. And so you identified the problem with your brother, right? That's how you knew that there was a need for the solution. How did you know that this was for more people? Like that that a lot of people might face this issue.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Yeah, it so that kind of I would say didn't happen all at once, but was kind of a little bit gradual. So initially when I started having the where I when I had the idea, you know, I like most people probably talking to family and friends that I have that are into cycling, and hey, what do you think about this? Um, but where it started to really take shape, I would say, is when I got into the Gort program, one of the first things that's really emphasized there is customer discovery. So that pushed me to get outside of my immediate network and start, you know, posting on Facebook groups and asking people about their rental experiences and what did they find frustrating or how did it go for them. Uh also talking with bike shops around town and finding out kind of from their side of it, what are the friction points and and what do they see as far as the types of renters that they they get. And so the more I did that, the more I was able to kind of validate that, okay, this is this is real. Like I so many times I would talk to people and and let them know what I was working on, and they'd be like, oh yeah, I totally could have used that. My last trip that I was in, you know, coming to Bentonville, that would have been fantastic. And so that's it was yeah, helpful to kind of have a lot of those conversations and just get more and more data points to to validate that I was onto

Validating The Need With Shops

SPEAKER_01 6:32

the right track.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Aaron Powell How do you think about that working with working with the bike shops, but balancing that with the user experience. I guess how do you think about that and putting it all together?

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Yeah, so you know, the the way that I think about it is bike whip is a discovery layer. So it's all about kind of re reducing the the friction involved in in a in a rental for the for the rider. Um but by doing that, the idea is that that's gonna elevate the whole experience for everybody. So you might have heard the the saying of, you know, all ships riot ride rise with the tide. Yeah. Uh so that's the way I think about it is that by having this process be easier for people, it's gonna allow more renters to rent more bikes. And so kind of all bike shops win. Um, I heard from one person that basically was kind of so overwhelmed by the experience of trying to figure out where to rent a bike or what kind of bike to get, that they ended up just kind of scrapping that idea. They went and just bought some cheap bikes that don't almost almost like they were gonna be disposable, but just bought them for the for their their time out.

unknown 7:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Which can be okay. But one of the problems there too is that you know, if you if you go that route, it might be that it really sacrifices on the experience, and they may be like, okay, that wasn't really that great. Right. Whereas if you're if you're renting high quality bikes, it will change the experience. And so I think for most people, that's probably going to be the better route to go.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

So there are a number of places where folks can go and ride bikes, right? Um Bentonville kind of packs a lot into uh into a small footprint. Trevor Burrus, Jr. An extraordinary amount, in fact. Uh do you think this could have been built anywhere? Or did BikeWhip benefit from building it in Bentonville?

SPEAKER_01 8:16

Aaron Powell Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it was it's definitely been a uh a benefit to me, the the fact that I happen to live here. Yeah. Uh but one of some of the things that make Bentonville kind of a perfect testing ground for this is the fact that it is such a cycling destination. So not only do we have locals that are big into cycling, but we have a lot of tourists as well that are coming in and and needing to rent bikes. So and not only that, but the I'd say the variety of cycling as well helps. So there's people that are into mountain biking, into road biking, gravel biking, lots of people that are needing to rent urban bikes to just ride around town. And so that combination of sort of the diversity of riders along with the concentration of a lot of shops is is the perfect place to solve a problem like this. So is this a finished product?

SPEAKER_02 9:07

Are you still evolving it?

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Uh I think there's no probably no such thing as a finished product. So there's there's always gonna be an evolution. Yeah. Um, I think what's there now, I think is very well rounded and I think really hits on the key things, the key pain points that that I started out wanting to solve for. Uh, but yeah, it's it's continuing to continuing to evolve. Um I was just at Bike Fest this past weekend and talking with somebody and he was checking out the the app on his phone, and you know, and I was just kind of looking over his shoulder and watching how he interacted with it, and I was like, sort of taking mental notes. Okay, that that maybe wasn't exactly how I anticipated that that user would would do that. So maybe I need to rethink that part. Um so yeah, there's there's always going to be things to improve upon, and and as I get more and more user feedback, uh decide maybe extensions of how I can make the product better.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Yeah, one of the things that I think is so relatable to business from specifically mountain biking, but really almost any outdoor recreation sport, is that there's always room for improvement. Like you you might dab that rock garden a couple times. You can always stop and try it again and just like gradually get better and gradually kind of overcome challenges. Were there specific challenges that you had to overcome to take this from an idea to a product that people could use?

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Yeah, I mean I think from a product perspective, there certainly were challenges in just thinking about the best way to approach it. You know, how do I wrangle all of this data and make it accessible and easy and uh for people to use and how to how they can apply the filters and those kind of things. But I think for me, probably the bigger challenge is is more about okay, you've got this product now, how do you let people know about it? And so, you know, it's one thing you could have the greatest product in the world, but if nobody knows that it exists, then it does you no good. And so I think that's really where um, again, like I think the Gort program was really helpful, things like this are really helpful, but basically getting that word out so that people, you know, local people know about bike whip, people that are coming in, if they're searching for how to find a bike rental, they're gonna discover uh discover bike whip. And so that's a lot of where my focus is now is trying to figure out the best way to kind of accelerate that and accelerate that awareness. And so it's and it's been exciting because just in the last month or two, I've seen really a pretty drastic upward trajectory in that where I'm finding a lot more, a lot more web traffic. I'm hearing from more people that yeah, that I've heard of that, you know. So um, yeah, that's been

Partnering With Visit Bentonville

SPEAKER_01 11:44

really encouraging.

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Was that the genesis for like the the Visit Bentonville partnership was just to help tell people about this tool?

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Partly, yeah. I mean, I I saw that as really a natural partnership where it could be mutually beneficial. I think that's the way, you know, the best uh avenue for any kind of partnership. Uh so from my standpoint, I saw that as as kind of an increased amount of credibility. I mean, Visit Bettonville has a great reputation and well respected. And so by uh establishing that partnership, I think it's it's something that's helped me, you know, uh talk to people about, talk to uh bike shops about, like, hey, we've got this integration with VisitBentonville now. And so I think that's that's uh certainly been helpful from that standpoint, as well as just the fact that and I guess I could uh talk briefly about it, but now if you go on to Visit Bettonville's website and you're you know they have rental resources there, and right at the top of the page now there's an interactive widget to help people find rentals that happens to be powered by BikeWhip. So if you uh click on click on that widget, it's gonna send them to BikeWhip. So when that got established, I mean I immediately saw an uptip uptick in traffic from having that integration in place. And so and I think, you know, hopefully on the on the flip side, Visit Bentonville's seeing that as a benefit as well because now they're providing an additional an additional service to their visitors that's helping people rent bikes.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

Aaron Powell Well, you know, uh Bentonville's culture in its in its economic DNA is the customer is first, right? It is about customer experience. In retail, look, if you're not my customer, you are a customer of my competitor because everybody needs the things that Bentonville is really good at selling. So kudos to Visit Bentonville for understanding that it's really important to not just sell somebody, but to deliver a top-notch experience.

Where BikeWhip Goes Next

SPEAKER_02 13:38

When you think about where bike whip's going, what's the future? Where do you see the greatest opportunity for you guys?

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Yeah, so I mean in in the in the immediate near term, you know, the the greatest opportunity is just going to be to become sort of the the default place that people think to think about to rent bikes in Bentonville. And so that's that's kind of number one and and at the forefront of my mind right now is just building this out here, establish establishing it to be that source for for rentals. But longer term, I mean this is the same problem exists in other cycling destinations as well. So that that would be the strategy is is prove this out here, um, establish it in Bentonville where it makes a ton of sense, and then replicate that same business model in other cycling destinations and across the country.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

Nice. Well, we're excited to watch the watch the success. I I love that you're allowing people to be honest in their assessment of their own skill level to understand what kind of bike fits their needs. After I have this experience, do you then come to me and say, how did it work?

SPEAKER_01 14:43

That's an excellent question. So that is on the roadmap. So today, no. There's not really that feedback loop, but that's something that I want to build into the into the future because I think that will not only help me learn more about the experience and how I can improve it, but I think there's additional um benefits from that as well. So yeah, there's there's a variety of things kind of feature-wise that I think will will help in that that uh in that case. But yeah, it's a future future roadmap item to kind of close that loop.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Well, thank you for for for thinking about how you can make not only your product better, but make the user experience better. Because I think we can all agree that as rad as outdoor recreation is, it can be intimidating at times. So when you can get honest with yourself, I'll tell on my own party uh the first mountain bike trip I ever took was with my father and his friends. And let me tell you how much they oversold our slash their ability on the trail, right? So then you get off in a situation in Bend, Oregon, and you've got a four-hour trek planned and you realize that it's probably gonna take seven because these trails are just a little much.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Yeah. You know? So And the experience level is one part of it, but also just making sure you have the right bike type, you know? Because if they're thinking they're gonna ride a mountain bike trail and they rent a bike that's meant for riding the streets, you know, that's gonna really dampen that experience. So just making sure that they're they're getting paired up with the right bike is is not only important to help them take the anxiety out of finding the bike, but then it's gonna end up being a much better experience for them while they're on the bike. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: 100 percent.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

Um Andy has been sitting here patiently, like some sort of mountain biker just chomping at the bit to get in. To drop in. And at a lift line. Yeah, to drop in, like enough with this cue. Come on.

How GORP Helps Outdoor Startups

SPEAKER_02 16:39

Let's session some trails. Andy, tell us a little bit. Um, our listeners have heard about GORP. What is GORP and and why why is GORP a thing in Bentonville, Arkansas?

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Aaron Powell Yeah. So the GORP, the Greenhouse Auto Recreation Program, is an incubator for early stage companies just like Bike Whip. They've identified a problem. We help them with C capital, mentorship, uh, 12 weeks of intentional curated content and learning, uh interns to help them through some of the problems and guiding them through really getting from that idea to launch, because uh entrepreneurship and these experiences that they're creating, whether it be uh an awesome tech platform like ByteWhip, uh experiential provider, or a manufacturer creating something great, all contribute to the visitor experience in the broader economy here, and it's part of a healthy outdoor ecosystem. So we're here to help continue to keep those cranks turning.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

Aaron Powell Yeah. And you've done this all over the country, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Aaron Powell I've been fortunate to lead a few of these programs in other areas, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:37

Aaron Powell What's Northwest Arkansas, you know, why does it make sense to focus on this in Northwest Arkansas?

SPEAKER_00 17:43

Aaron Powell Well, you know, um it's it's part of a mature outdoor ecosystem and cycling ecosystem. You know, you build the trails and they are key. They're probably 70 percent of the equation. But if you build it, they may not come. So all these different programs, the support really help amplify both the visitor experience, but also opportunities for residents and locals to see their dreams of being an entrepreneur and own in their own business come to reality. So it's a really part of a healthy, uh, vibrant, dynamic community. And it creates the culture, it creates the buy-in, it creates all the things that you know this this region is really known for and it's great at incubating. Our companies come through this program, and our accelerator programs can can validate their ideas, they can live test their products in their backyard, they can um create amazing partnerships because of the broader network of all the companies that are here in the region. Um it's it's a great place to start, grow, and uh move your business. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

Man, that is awesome. And and there's been some success stories already in this kind of relatively short timeline. You've seen, and I'll forget some apologies in advance, but you've seen companies like a trail pilot, a lockstop, uh Sturdy Used Gear, who I just saw as like fully opening their store today, this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Nargo bikes, roasties, bearten, Janewick. What what's a common thread? What do you see as a common thread with these companies?

SPEAKER_00 19:13

You know, their products are all across the spectrum, which is one of the great things about it. But there are a few similarities. You know, they're all really trying to solve a problem that they all experience themselves, this grassroots, uh bottom-up approach. Like I've this is a pain point, just like Jeff, and I've experienced that same rental problem. Like I won't help my friends rent bikes anymore. When he told me about his product, I'm like, oh my gosh, I love that. I'm excited to help you get through that. Um, they all started, similarity, they all started as cyclists, runners, hikers, campers, and and really like I have an idea to improve my own outdoor experience. They're not just really inventing problems, they're they're solving them, which is really great. Um but you know, some of the uniqueness that uh that really, you know, entrepreneurship may not be for everybody, right? And they've got a passion, they've got a hunger and a desire to see it through, and they're willing to ask for help, and they're willing to take advice, and they're willing to put in the work. And it can be a lot when maybe you've got a full-time job, family, and other things. So, you know, these these companies that are coming through this program have made a huge investment and are serious about not only their own business, but being a part of this amazing uh ecosystem here in Northwest Arkansas.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

Trevor Burrus, Jr. You know, being a founder, being an entrepreneur is terrifying. It can be really lonely, it's high pressure. Um sometimes you feel like you're you're just out there on an island. One of the first founders I met when I moved to Bentonville was Andrew at Liveson. And then I mean, not long after that, uh I had Danny Collins with 37 North in my office. Like these are some of the maybe not I won't call them old geezers, but they're old.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Staples.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

Yeah. It's staples. Um and they give back, right? Like they've come back to the program, they've mentored folks. Can you talk about how important that is?

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Yeah, we're we're always excited to have uh both of those uh companies come and share their learned experience and having just an amazing support structure, the the willingness of the community here to to give back from seasoned veterans that have been in the bike and outdoor industry for 30 years, that are now here helping mentor these companies, that alumni network and that sense of community, both engaging the mentors and and speakers, but also just the cohort-based peer learning. Jeff is alongside, you know, six or seven other companies that are, you know, that support system and know you're not alone, knowing you've got the University of Arkansas and the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation there to support you, the your colleagues going through this same thing really gives you the, as I heard from one of his peers in their um in their kind of post-program feedback, the wind at my back and the support to encourage me to really jump outside my comfort zone and take that leap.

unknown 21:58

Trevor Burrus

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Oftentimes people don't think about like their vacation experiences uh uh as being also a business or a professional development opportunity. And in Bentonville, with the close proximity and access everybody has to like trails and then you know this program, for instance, like GORP sits on a trail, like you are half a mile, three-quarters of a mile away from like the gateway to Oz, right? In Slaughterpin at All American. Um there ways without being a part of a program that if I'm here over the summer enjoying some some trail time, can I pop in and learn a little bit of something? Are there public-facing opportunities with my whistle in entrepreneurship.

Resources And How To Apply

SPEAKER_00 22:48

You know, um, the Office of Entrepreneurship Innovation at U of A has uh some great online resources. Not only are we supporting companies in this uh in-person cohort, but we have GORP around the state and have a lot of great resources on our website. So our Smart Start resources on the GORP, if you just Google Greenhouse Outdoor Rec program, our Smart Start resources help you kind of walk through like I got an idea, but I'm not sure. I need some help kind of framing it in through the lean canvas process. We've got resources for the entrepreneurial law project to help you work through some of the legal aspects for free. We've got marketing and branding support and graphic design support, all designed to help wherever you're at in your evolution of a business to do that. And we're fortunate here as well that, you know, tourism is the red carpet to residency. And people come here and they they they they they feel the vibrancy, they want to be immersed in that community, and they're like, I I could see myself here, or they see a problem, like this would be a great place for me to start my business. And and tourist tourism is a reason why we have a lot of these amenities and a lot of these great restaurants that are open and available to us as residents here. But the the inspiration comes when the light goes off, like I could actually create my next step and my evolution of my own career and my own journey here by doing something I love, which means creating great things to help people uh have a better outdoor experience.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

Tourism is the red carpet to residency. That's outstanding because if I can't see myself recreating somewhere, it's pretty hard for me to see myself actually relocating or living somewhere. Great call out. If I am uh an entrepreneur that's identified a challenge or a gap in the market, I have a solution that I want to try out. How do I how do I get in touch with GORP? What's the next step?

SPEAKER_00 24:38

We want to hear from you for sure. So you'd go to GORPGORP.uark.edu. Uh reach out to me. I'm on the website as well. But we have two cohorts every year. So if you're not ready this year, uh this summer, uh keep thinking about it. Let us know how we can help and get your application in the future.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Say that one more time.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

It's gorp.u ark.edu.

SPEAKER_02 24:59

And that's u-ar-k.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Uark. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 25:01

Yeah. All right. So, Jeff, what is next for Bike Whip? What do we what should we expect to see in the future?

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Yeah, I mean, from a product standpoint, I would say just continuing to iterate, continuing to evolve and expand in making it easier and easier for people to use the platform. And then from a business standpoint, uh, you know, the thing I'm looking to do next is to continue to establish partnerships similar to the one with VisitBentonville. So other tourism types of organizations, you know, hotels, Airbnbs, any of those kind of uh companies that could help where there's a natural um natural place to partner, um, that's gonna be a big help as well as far as building that awareness for for Bike Whip.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

That's outstanding. And folks can learn more at bikewhip.com. BikeWhip.com. That's pretty easy. Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us. Great conversation, and uh, we look forward to seeing you on the trail. Thank you. Whether you're a visitor or you call Bitonville home, visit Bittenville is here to keep you connected to the people, the places, and the experiences in our new American town. Check the show notes for links to our website, social channels, and our newsletter.