A sign of the economy - sales!

[ThomD]

I just saw that Competitive Cyclist is having a sale on current year Turners and one model of Intense. I guess with the ecomony in the dumps people aren't buying as many expensive toys. I wish I had been getting in more MTB this year, I'd be very tempted. I'm not riding enough to justify it.

 

[adrenaline503]

Sales are great but there is a pretty big problem in the industry. Most to all of the quality component manufacturers are based overseas, in Japan and the EU. The weakening US dollar has greatly increased the cost to US shops and builders. But, the increase in lower cost commuter bikes has helped offset the damage. Anyways, try to support your local bike shops if you can. There are a lot of great online sales that cant be passed up, so at least go buy a water bottle cage from a local guy or something.

 

[ThomD]

Sales are great but there is a pretty big problem in the industry. Most to all of the quality component manufacturers are based overseas, in Japan and the EU. The weakening US dollar has greatly increased the cost to US shops and builders. But, the increase in lower cost commuter bikes has helped offset the damage. Anyways, try to support your local bike shops if you can. There are a lot of great online sales that cant be passed up, so at least go buy a water bottle cage from a local guy or something.

I'm with you there, except that my LBSes are already dead. We lost about half a dozen LBS between 1998 and 2002. Now I shop at REI or Rivendell (but at least they are local). I don't think I even have a local Intense dealer.
Wrench Science is sort of local, but I don't know if they even do in person sales.

Sort of moot for me. No new bikes in the budget for a while. I can dream.

 

[DaveInDenver]

LBS are still around and still kicking, despite the news of their demise. I have three shops within an 8 block radius of my house. And good ones, selling Intense, Santa Cruz, Orange, Pinarello, Merckx, Masi, Colnago, Independent Fab, Orbea, Scott, Trek, Fisher, Lynsky. Expanding out to within a few miles there's also a Performance and an REI (being near hipsters and college students certainly helps, I'll admit that). I didn't pay full retail for the Blur I got in 2003. Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty. Same with bikes as 4WD parts as used record stores, repeat customers who bring in a sixer once in a while get remembered.

 

[Christophe Noel]

That is certainly a sign. It is a sign the bike industry shot itself in the foot over the last decade. The first bad idea was opening the market up to so much internet sales. Bad. Then the mass exodus of production shipped off to Asia didn't help. That was a bad scenario in the making since the early 90s and always assumed the dollar would be strong.

Plus, the industry worldwide has just gone overboard with bicycle complexity and the costs inovloved. I'm a pretty young dude. I bought a top tier Guerciotti in 1986 for $2300. A top tier Colnago EP now easily tips $11,000.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I bought a top tier Guerciotti in 1986 for $2300. A top tier Colnago EP now easily tips $11,000.

FWIW, accounting for inflation, that Guerciotti would be about $4500 in today's money (not accounting for differences in dollar strengths). So even correcting for the horrible exchange rate in 2008, there's still a lot of cost and pricing problems in the bicycle market it seems.

 

[Christophe Noel]

FWIW, accounting for inflation, that Guerciotti would be about $4500 in today's money (not accounting for differences in dollar strengths). So even correcting for the horrible exchange rate in 2008, there's still a lot of cost and pricing problems in the bicycle market it seems.

Yes. My point exactly. I got my start in the bike biz in '86. I stopped working full time in the bike industry in '06. The changes in the industry have been amazing.

My latest complaint....mountain bike complexity and lack of service life. If you're going to plunk down $750 for a fork, it should live more than 3 seasons before becoming a relic and off the service radar. Another major complaint is bang for buck. I recently installed SRAM RED on one of my road bikes. Does the rear derailleur justify the $350 price tag? NO.

My final complaint - You can stroll into your local shop with your $10,000 road bike and hand it over to be repaired by some ding dong lacky. Why the lacky? Because shops can only afford to pay a mechanic $8/hr. Would you take your 7 series BMW to be serviced by a nose ringed 20 year old earning $8 an hour?

I don't see much changing in the bike world. I know one thing - my single speed is the bomb. I replaced my entire drivetrain last week. Total cost = $65

 

[RedDog]

I don't know. There may be another way to look at this too. I see bikes here flying out the doors and there is yet another co-worker at our firm peddling in now. Four bikes now from a staff of 13 on pleasant days. That's four vehicles not on the road or burning fuel.

Granted, these are usually affordable sport shop bikes generally, but I didn't move up from a $300. Iron Horse Journey hybrid to my new Santa Cruz until this year. The IH I nearly wore out taught me I was going to be serious about this and was staying with it - a path which began long before these runaway gas prices. I can use the exercise; I enjoy the fresh air; the Jeep is parked not costing me a penny as it waits for adventures it was actually designed for. Seems like win-win to me.

Another staffer moved up from a beater 10-speed with rust to a Kona this spring -just over $1,000. from a specialty bike shop in Edmonton. This is a single female on a modest income. A thousand dollars is a ton of money to her. She too is taking it seriously. Frankly, if this energy pricing situation continues, I don't know how the bicycle industry can lose if they manage themselves properly. It seems to me a large number of people are going to be red carpeted right to their front doors.

Edit - I should add that when I bought my Santa Cruz this year, only ONE of FOUR high line specialty bike shops I initially emailed inquires to even bothered to respond to me. Calgary Cycle got the sale, and my business for likely some time to come. I've since been back for a break-in tune up (free - as in all service for the life of the bike) and bought another couple hundred in accessory items while there.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

It is interesting... In regard to the Turners that is actually something that came down from Turner themselves across the board... Our thought is they must have a glut of product and/or geared up for a big year against the likes of Ellsworth and such, but things changed and sales have slowed.. Aka not a thriving economy with lots of excess income or retard excessive spending like 2-3 years ago. In the retail world $4500 is a lot of $$ for a bicycle honestly. For all of us who are plunking down but these are major major expenses, with gas prices and everything else going up, it is a big deal. I twice almost had the cash to buy the Ventana I just got starting in March, but twice had to bump it off to a later date before pulling the trigger. Only way I was able to afford it is because I really really wanted the bike

So it all makes sense...

I do agree though, what a world and industry it is. Where you can buy 380g of aluminum (that probably cost less than $7 in materials) for over $200-$400, or buy this complicated piece of machinery for $150. Honestly, $100 for a seatpost (aka simple piece of aluminum that has been billet machined)? $35 for a set of simple levers that were made overseas? My friend Todd also recently commented, the most interesting aspect of it all is no one seems to be making any money with it all, on top of it...

I equate it much to the people with the huge car payments. Basically the price and value of cars is as overinflated and expensive as it can possibly be. What a beast/slave we are to our automobiles for 90% of the American population... Then there are us aftermarket modifiers aka big expense spenders for our cars, on top of that..!