The Bike Boom?

Comment

Comment by Peter H on June 11, 2008 at 8:23am

Dave, I purchased my bike simply to save money. In about 15 weeks, the bike would have paid for itself - based purely on rail tickets. But, if a person wants to start riding, they should choose a motivation that will allow them to keep going. For example, if my motivation to cycle was fitness, I would have given up long ago. Just my 2 cents.

Comment by DamianM on June 10, 2008 at 10:30pm

Sorry, that's a bit of a rambling post... it made sense in my head :)

Comment by DamianM on June 10, 2008 at 10:29pm

We interrupt your piling on to bring you an alternative viewpoint.

It could be a good thing....

Bigger stores, putting some more cash into the industry might create a bigger market, that helps specialty LBSs by making the distribution chain more streamlined. See the thread about niche bikes in small sizes not being available due to the size of our market.

To counter John's post... I'm sure you have dealt with some absolute nuffies in LBSs as well as big chain stores. I've had a bike purchase experience in the last few days, on closer inspection the lock ring holding the rear cog on the hub wasn't even finger tight, and the pedals had no grease on the threads.

Finally, I don't know if any of you guys have been to the US and made a visit to Performance, but what we are discussing here doesn't sound dissimilar. Performance is like a Bunnings of bike stuff, pretty much anything you want is in there, and it hasn't seemed to have hurt the smaller retailers so much.

Comment by John H on June 10, 2008 at 10:18pm

I was in Supa Crap Auto spares yesterday. The first pimply faced ald asked me if he could help. I was looking fro grease nipples. The poor lad explained it was his first day & admitted he had no idea what I was talking about. I found four examples of the product on a stand at the back of the store & showed them to him. He still has no idea what a grease nipple is or does. I then proceeded through the checkout where a very disgruntled check out chap explained to me that Supa Cheap was actually a description of their staff reimbursement rates & had nothing to do with their product. I had to agree, as they were not all that cheap, actually about the same prices as Rip Every Poor Chap Off next door.

If the product knowlege of their staff in the bicycle industry is of the same high standard, then I don't think they will do much harm to the LBS, only the other department stores.

There is a market for the product & as long as it gets bums on saddles, then it is good in some ways. There is a vast untapped market for bicycle instructors out there, but not through that avenue.

Comment by Jonathon Troy on June 10, 2008 at 4:23pm

The major thing with Cell bikes and others is the internet sales - you can order a bike from Cell at a discount to it's in store price (instore bikes get assembled and therefore are more expensive)
The bike gets sent to you at a nominal cost and you assemble it yourself. The DIY option may lead to some interesting work (they may even make bike club bikes look like colnagos). The thing will be aftersales service and the hazards of ordering stuff of the net (will it fit?).
I doubt it will shake the tree too much (most of us serious cyclists will still go to the LBS for servicing, accessories and bikes) The LBS that go will be the ones that are poorly run or aren't up to scratch as regards service etc. It may be a shake up but it won't be a shake out.

Comment by Simon Sharwood on June 10, 2008 at 3:54pm

I reckon a rising tide floats all ships and there is no reason an LBS should not do well in a market where there are more bike shops servicing more demand. And a certain percentage of buyers from super cheap will eventually become aficionados who go looking for style and uniqueness. Just how much uniqueness is, of course, hard to gauge

Comment by Colin on June 10, 2008 at 3:51pm

Wow Dave, 22 seconds apart with those two posts - yours had more detail, but we both had the same conclusion. All I'd add is that the Chinese copy 'em strategy will lead to masses of well-built bikes that are very cheap - a good thing for cycle commuting, if not for those who love style and uniqueness.

Comment by Colin on June 10, 2008 at 3:47pm

Their goal is to be a category killer - the type of store that when people think "bike" they automatically head to Super Cheap. They won't sell K-mart stuff, and they won't sell bikes over $6,000, but they plan to dominate everything in between. I think they're gonna make life very hard for the average LBS, just the way that Bunnings and Mitre 10 made life difficult for small hardware stores.

Comment by Jonathon Troy on June 10, 2008 at 3:31pm

Who knows they may even put Cell bikes to shame?

Comment by Farnsy on June 10, 2008 at 3:09pm

Ahh, I thought of that (ie the injuries) too. However "Supa Cheap Cycles" (or whatever they are going to call themselves) suggests a new model for cycle retail. I imagine they may well organise "how to ride" classes for new cyclists (aka POBs, or People on Bikes). The Supa Cheap model is to maximise the yield from POBs so they will be looking to sell POB's anything they can ("would you like spare tubes with that?").

One of the more interesting issues is going to be which major cycling brand signs up with Supa Cheap. Trek?

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