Canyon Bicycles coming to US, more online purchaces?

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by Matthew

Maybe they are nice, but are they really going to be better than the hundreds of other bikes that are available here already? Never swung a leg over one so I don't know but how different can they be really?

maybe not but from what I have seen from them, they are really good deals compared to similar brands.

I also like the way they look. Would love to try one.

[spiderwj]

They look nice. I agree with Matthew that there are already a plethora of carbon bikes for sale and I wonder what makes Canyon bikes different. Seem to have favorable comments above so I guess we'll see . Always love new bikes!


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[kramnnim]

How much of their appeal is due to how hard they are to get here?

[R3awak3n]

They are hard to get in Europe too I think, you have to wait to get one it seems.

[yoshirider]

I have a pair of matching Ultimate Cf SLX's. It was a pain in the butt ordering from them and having it shipped from Germany to France and then from France to the US. They ship via UPS (or maybe it was DHL?) from their Koblenz factory... So that means courier charges when they finally get this going? It took a few months for my frame set to even be ready to ship. Also, when I had a customer service issue I had to reach them via their form on their website and responses took a couple days. The reps are very nice but the whole process was just slow, slow, slow. If I needed to reach them via telephone to Germant I had call as soon as I woke up in the morning due to the time difference.

So glad the second frame set was a brand new crash replacement I bought off of eBay UK. It was shipped via the global shipping program and surprisingly came in a few days despite going through so many shipping partners. That was easy... I need a Staples button to press!

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by yoshirider

I have a pair of matching Ultimate Cf SLX's. It was a pain in the butt ordering from them and having it shipped from Germany to France and then from France to the US. They ship via UPS (or maybe it was DHL?) from their Koblenz factory... So that means courier charges when they finally get this going? It took a few months for my frame set to even be ready to ship. Also, when I had a customer service issue I had to reach them via their form on their website and responses took a couple days. The reps are very nice but the whole process was just slow, slow, slow. If I needed to reach them via telephone to Germany I had call as soon as I woke up in the morning due to the time difference.

But, but, but, ordering from yer living room in your jammies is the new norm, isn't it? LBS' that might have a bike to actually ride before you buy are dead, old fashioned, the stuff of Ned Ludd..right? Anything bought via the worldwideweb is better, faster, lighter, stiffer, cheaper..and will never break, right?

Sarcasm intended.

Not the first euro brand, MO only, to come to market. Fondriest comes to mind..remember the ad now, "those bike shops, which were the 'bump in the road' to getting a great bike"..or something.

[old fat man]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

But, but, but, ordering from yer living room in your jammies is the new norm, isn't it? LBS' that might have a bike to actually ride before you buy are dead, old fashioned, the stuff of Ned Ludd..right? Anything bought via the worldwideweb is better, faster, lighter, stiffer, cheaper..and will never break, right?

Sarcasm intended.

Not the first euro brand, MO only, to come to market. Fondriest comes to mind..remember the ad now, "those bike shops, which were the 'bump in the road' to getting a great bike"..or something.

Vecchios was/is a different breed of LBS. 99% of LBS don't have your size/color/model in stock so you're making a trip there, putting down a deposit so they can order it, then waiting 2 weeks, maybe more before they have it. And many of the higher end bikes are sold out by the time the season is underway. The only thing Specialized and Trek have done with "online sales" is save you that trip to put down the deposit. You're still waiting for the item to arrive and at the mercy of the LBS to retrieve it.

If I had a Vecchios caliber shop in my area, it might be a different story.

[benb]

Originally Posted by kramnnim

How much of their appeal is due to how hard they are to get here?

This. Reminds me of when Spotify started out Euro Only.

Personally I think they're mostly ugly and they don't make much of anything that would fit me.

Less $$ is always nice but you'd want spares of any odd parts if you have to wait around when something breaks, particularly if you were going to race one.

[zap]

Originally Posted by saab2000

A buddy of mine is German living in the US, is in the shipping business and has friends on both sides of the pond. He owns two Canyons and thus far is less than enamored. And he'd be the first person to swoon at what they do. They have been less than responsive (non-responsive) to enquiries made for extra parts and other questions.

This holds a lot of promise but his experience with Canyon hasn't yet been great.

I think they will need to invest a lot in a US shipping facility and US-style customer service before they launch.

Good buddy had similar experience dealing with Canyon last year when he was in Germany. He finally did get the bike and had his sister ship it to the USA.

[David Kirk]

This feels like a tipping point to me and that the other guys will also need to move in the same direction to keep market share. I spent a doze years in bike retail when I was a young man and can feel their pain. I suspect that life will only get tougher for bricks-n-mortor retail from here on out.

dave

[Hermes_Alex]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

This feels like a tipping point to me and that the other guys will also need to move in the same direction to keep market share. I spent a doze years in bike retail when I was a young man and can feel their pain. I suspect that life will only get tougher for bricks-n-mortor retail from here on out.

dave

This is basically what a lot of people are thinking in the business. There's a lot of hope that Canyon will bring about an end to the stigma of direct-sale bikes, by virtue of their size and clout.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Hermes_Alex

This is basically what a lot of people are thinking in the business. There's a lot of hope that Canyon will bring about an end to the stigma of direct-sale bikes, by virtue of their size and clout.

Hope by whom? It's still a flat market. If Canyon goes up 3-4%, somebody goes down 3-4%. I guess Canyon and other MO only manufacturing outfits like it since they basically double their margin. I'll bet distributors don't 'hope' this, unless they already sell direct, which a lot of US and UK distributors already do.

[ftf]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Hope by whom? It's still a flat market. If Canyon goes up 3-4%, somebody goes down 3-4%. I guess Canyon and other MO only manufacturing outfits like it since they basically double their margin. I'll bet distributors don't 'hope' this, unless they already sell direct, which a lot of US and UK distributors already do.

What is the point of distributors though, other than to take a cut, exactly?

All they are is at best a logistics company, which in this day and age isn't saying a lot, IMHO. In reality they are a warehouse, with a fedex account, that takes a cut.

If anything bike shops should hate the fact they have to go through a distributor, which just brings in the product and then marks it up, instead of everyone just buying straight from the source. This is a side argument though, as I'm sure US bike shops are going to love canyon.....


Yeah it's a flat market, but in a fair market it won't matter, supply and demand right? Who has the best product at the best price wins the customer RIGHT? Free market and all RIGHT?

What I find funny is pre internet, when it was hard to get things from overseas and what not these forces worked in favor of the bike shops, you pretty much had to go there, and they loved those forces, they loved the whole free market system, now it's turned on them, and boo hoo, woe is us, come support us for no reason! You need us right? Right? RIGHT?

The game has changed, and any bike shop that want's to stay in biz needs to realize this and change as well.

[Russian bear]

Canyon will have warehouses/customer service centers in Salt Lake and (some place on the east coast I forgot), so you won't have to call Germany if you need parts, warranty service etc.

Looking forward to these coming to the market. Just hope they can keep up with demand.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by ftf

What is the point of distributors though, other than to take a cut, exactly?

All they are is at best a logistics company, which in this day and age isn't saying a lot, IMHO. In reality they are a warehouse, with a fedex account, that takes a cut.

If anything bike shops should hate the fact they have to go through a distributor, which just brings in the product and then marks it up, instead of everyone just buying straight from the source. This is a side argument though, as I'm sure US bike shops are going to love canyon.....


Yeah it's a flat market, but in a fair market it won't matter, supply and demand right? Who has the best product at the best price wins the customer RIGHT? Free market and all RIGHT?

What I find funny is pre internet, when it was hard to get things from overseas and what not these forces worked in favor of the bike shops, you pretty much had to go there, and they loved those forces, they loved the whole free market system, now it's turned on them, and boo hoo, woe is us, come support us for no reason! You need us right? Right? RIGHT?

The game has changed, and any bike shop that want's to stay in biz needs to realize this and change as well.

So your solution is that instead of a few "warehouse, with a fedex account" relationships for a bike shop, they should have to manage dozens of individual relationships with suppliers across the world for various products?

And that those same suppliers now need to build relationships and track accounts for thousands of individual bike shops, across borders and geographies, currencies and taxation/importation areas?