State of the industry: a running thread

[al-onestare]

In more batshit crazy news, Kona North American market are running a BOGOF on the new Process

Yep, buy 1 Process get another one free

Edit, also available in the UK via online.

 

[legrandefromage]

16 speed Sora,6061 ally frame £120 from ebay and it rides great. I try not to look at the sti cables !
View attachment 803417

Yeah but green?

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Yeah but green?

I like green

 

[d8mok]

i carry food and drinks in my pockets, never been frisked'

Urban myth. There is nothing stopping you walking in with food on show which you’ve purchased elsewhere. But it’s true that the added extras is how they make their money. The mark up on popcorn is crazy for example.

 

[pwebb]

Urban myth. There is nothing stopping you walking in with food on show which you’ve purchased elsewhere. But it’s true that the added extras is how they make their money. The mark up on popcorn is crazy for example.

I am pretty sure they hoover-up all the popcorn the kids spread around the floor, then empty it back into the hopper for the next screening

 

[pwebb]

my overwhelming sentiment wading through this thread is that we are now witnessing a long overdue adjustment in the industry and a permanent end to hyped up overpriced tat and (perhaps sadly) a race to the bottom between online retailers trying to survive against the odds - which they wont given the fact that their goods are manufactured in the self-same chinese sweat shops as the stuff on chinese retail websites at 10% of the cost. The bike buying punters are not all stupid enough to be taken-in by branding and marketing hype and the search engines they are using are regularly turning up results that highlight the crazy price differential between EU and UK sourced items versus the same item shipped from china or some holding warehouse in eastern Europe. When I see supposed 'premium' Shimano groupsets selling for just a few dollars more than the lowest end items, I begin to question what the difference is - and, from personal experience/inspection/disassembly I can truthfully state there is sometimes only an external decal difference between claris/tiagra/deore/slx/105 etc. and yet outside the chinese online world we are being led to believe there is 150-200% more value in the prestigious named items? Feels like the burst bubble of the automotive world to me - where the days of selling an Audi-badged VAG clone-car built in Barcelona for more than a better made Skoda from Czech republic are long gone and now the various VAG brands are all a similar price and even made alongside each other at more or less the same cost. This adjustment is long overdue to my mind and I welcome a return to realistically priced bikes and parts without the fake cachet nor celebrity sports star endorsement that over hyped them in the first place. If the parts are cheap mass-produced items from china , then I want to pay an appropriate price that reflects their quality and origin. Ditto the frame and entire bike - if it is a cheaply produced aluminium or carbon bike from china, indonesia etc - then dont try to sell it as anything else. This will still allow bespoke hand built products to exist and be preferred by those who choose to and can afford to commission something truly hand crafted - but lets not confuse the public by dressing up cheap everyday consumer products whose origin and value do not have any esoteric or unique appeal. I imagine that everyone on this forum bemoaning the plight of once solid brands is also simultaneously scouring the clearance items they can now scoop up for a few $/£/€ in the sales.

 

[ChromeChainstay]

I am pretty sure they hoover-up all the popcorn the kids spread around the floor, then empty it back into the hopper for the next screening

i bring a milk carton, and throwm my popcorn in, as my daddy did

 

[Woz]

The bike industry needs some proper true innovation to get it kick started again:

- we still have an ancient dominant 9/16" pedal fitting, should be a spline fitting by now; one for road, one for gravel, one for MTB.
- saddle rails have remained unchanged for a century. Clearly there should be a narrow tight arse version and fat arse version in the portfolio.
- there are no technical barriers for a wireless headset with power steering.
- handle bar grip area should be challenged, I say dust off the French obsolete 23.5mm standard which was sensible to begin with; that would make brake levers 6.4% stiffer and with some thought about 2.8% lighter. Obviously there would be adapters to use the new grips for old 22.2mm bars.
- bottle cage fitment needs to be beefed up too. 6mm diameter holes, and three fixture points on the frame instead of the inadequate two.

 

[Russell]

my overwhelming sentiment wading through this thread is that we are now witnessing a long overdue adjustment in the industry and a permanent end to hyped up overpriced tat and (perhaps sadly) a race to the bottom between online retailers trying to survive against the odds - which they wont given the fact that their goods are manufactured in the self-same chinese sweat shops as the stuff on chinese retail websites at 10% of the cost….. etc

brace brace brace!

 

[player]

Selling BOGOF will only be more hurt for the following year as it will be putting even more bikes into the market.

If members on here are now saying they now prefer to buy on the Internet more so than going into shops like John's then there is really no hope for the bike shops Is there.
Of course the younger generations we know don't but if us forty somethings are doing it then the market is already fooked.