State of the industry: a running thread

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Looks like Kent Outdoors are using an existing distributor for their watersports brand to service Kona. Mount Green Agencies run watersportsworld.co.uk.

makes sense for them I guess , but good to see the Kona UK team being transferred over though.
Yep, they're the new Paligap/Second Level Sports/JP Saville.
 
Well spotted @FluffyChicken with the £629 price tag.
Your post reminded me of one of Top Gears Stig intros - ‘some say he was the only person to buy a DFS Sofa when they WEREN’T having a sale’
 
Maybe it is also time to start changing ourselves. We all find the joke about the "N+1" bikes funny. But a more realistic formula would be "Min (1, 1-N)", that is, the less bicycles you can get away with, the better, but at least 1 as the world is a better place when everyone has a bike. Hoarding 40 unused bikes and snapping deals in the used market is maybe not the best way to allow for affordable bikes for newcomers. And I am very guilty of this...
Glad I gave two away now:p
 
Everything that's wrong with the industry.
Over-engineered hubs attempting to solve a non-existent problem just to sell more stuff.
Heavier than DT Swiss 350. Cost? £575. For one rear hub.
And this young engineer wants this "adopted across the industry".

 
That is insane but nothing surprises me any more, same with the 27.5, 650 B, Bullshit and Gravel Bikes. Also the 29er bullshit, that wheel size is just the same as a 700c, the rim diameter is 622mm which has been around for donkeys years it is just wider tyres, then we have 27.5, 650 B plus size.
 
My favourite?
Through axles! (Specially the different thread pitches🤯)
Derailleur hangers!
Disc brake pads!
Headset bearings!

We have boxes of different ones, £1000s in value in each box, but our chances of helping a customer with anything slightly unusual? 50:50

And if I buy the remaining stock of a deceased bike shop, there's boxes more - costing them about the cash flow fluidity that killed them😪
 
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It might well be better, but who can afford to change out their entire fleet every time something new comes along? Nobody.
Even if you buy a bike/wheels with these new hubs, all your existing bikes still don't have them. Right?

It might be alright upgrading all the time if you only own one bike to swap out.
But if you are truly serious about cycling you probably have more than one bike anyway...

I was always on the forefront, getting the latest stuff all the time.
But right around 2013 I think it was I got fed up with the whole idea of bringing in new wheel sizes just for the sake of it. As you may know, I had a rental bike fleet in Tenerife. And that's where I said "enough!". It's silly fitting 150cm riders to 29er bikes or even 27.5ers. It's a step backwards IMHO. People were even starting to turn their noses up at €2000 bikes that were only two years old!

I dodged a bullet with the ridiculous "integrated seatpost" frames that were coming onto the market around that time. Not so good for traveling and fitting them to different riders is it? Luckily that one didn't seem to catch on. Then the whole disc brakes on road bikes thing.

Then along came tubeless. I have a set of tubeless wheels which I haven't got many kilometres on, I've tried it but I don't think I like it. To much pfaffing about. I had to take a special trip to the service station in the car just to seat the tyre beads onto the rims!! Not very practical is it??

And I think that's how we become curmudgeons.
We slowly realise that newer isn't always "better". What we've already got is generally good enough.

I've actually kept my main bike that I do most of my riding on a 3x9 drivetrain.
I have other bikes that are 10 speed, 11 speed and even 12 speed.
I actually kinda like 9 speed as you can still build up your own cassettes and modify them a bit.
Cassettes are way cheaper.

I still like to buy new things all the time, but only if they fit my existing frames, the latest of which is from 2007.
 
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