Speedvagen Warehouse Sale

[Clean39T]

There’s a massive divide in today’s economy between those who’ve locked in certain fixed costs at the personal/business level and those who are blowing with the winds of inflation..

[callmeishmael]

Originally Posted by cbraden

2150?

Very close. £2050 is what we've agreed. Add VAT and you've got £2400, before the builder has paid himself a wage. I appreciate XCR is a more expensive tubeset, but it shows you why retail price for frames like that is >£4k.

[krooj]

If the tea hold true, this sucks - we have tickets up to PDX, dog boarding, and a hotel res for this weekend... all to do a fit session and get my custom frameset order going.



e: Even if it ends up that they are winding things down, I'm sure current orders could be fulfilled through contract builders. Also, Marinoni not having paint like Joe Bell is an understatement, but $1500 CAD IS $1500 CAD, and that hasn't really moved in years. Astounding what you can do operating in an uncool low CoL area with a diversified business model.

[FriarQuade]

Originally Posted by oldguy00

Maybe it depends on how many frames they can fabricate per year, working 8 hours a day? If it takes the average builder a week to put a frame together, then I agree with you. On the other hand, if they can cut the tubes to spec and weld together 2 frames per day, thats a lot different! I honestly have no idea how long it takes.

I've only built about twenty of the things. But with a home made jig that's not easy to setup, I can make a frame ready to go to paint in a day. This is a basic tig welded bike with no embellishments. So think of something in the style of Rock Lobster or DeSalvo, well made but not fancy. If I were to build regularly, I would think I could bring that down to about 6hrs.

The bigger time suck is getting to the point where you're actually ready to build the frame for the customer. Most builders have at least as much time in going through the tailoring process with the customer as they do actually making what they want. I've always thought it would make sense to have two different prices, one if you showed up with a build sheet and the other if you needed help getting there.

[buddybikes]

Good model on how many someone can build. Firefly is up to 1,300 bikes, that is for 11 years. There were only 3 of them for number of years, perhaps 5 now.
Yes of course they are on higher end, but so isn't speedvagon.

[username]

Originally Posted by Bavaria Joe

They will be closing shop. Some of the employees want to keep the brand by moving production to Asia.

Others have asked; I'll do the same: do you know what you're talking about? Or are you just rumor-mongering? If the former, that's a shame. I've owned a few Vanillas and SVs through the years. They've all been beautiful frames. One of the SVs was part of one of my favorite bikes ever—but for an injury that changed my riding position for the worse, I never would have let it go. I wish Sacha and the gang every success, though I understand their business model causes negative reactions in some people.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by username

Others have asked; I'll do the same: do you know what you're talking about? Or are you just rumor-mongering? If the former, that's a shame. I've owned a few Vanillas and SVs through the years. They've all been beautiful frames. One of the SVs was part of one of my favorite bikes ever—but for an injury that changed my riding position for the worse, I never would have let it go. I wish Sacha and the gang every success, though I understand their business model causes negative reactions in some people.

I’ll just add…if it’s the latter, it’s not good either.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Most annoying way to have a sale ever..

i

Yeah, pretty much. “If you have to ask if we have an item in stock…this sale isn’t for you.”

[cbraden]

Originally Posted by callmeishmael

Very close. £2050 is what we've agreed. Add VAT and you've got £2400, before the builder has paid himself a wage. I appreciate XCR is a more expensive tubeset, but it shows you why retail price for frames like that is >£4k.

That is crazy high COGS. A few warranty claims on those would really impact a small builder balance sheet. Even at 4k retail, that seems like a very lean business model.

[KJMUNC]

Let's play with some ballpark numbers here: 125 frames at $6k is $750k, and that's if you assume you could process all 125 in a year. Those Firefly numbers suggest roughly half that annual output, so using them as an example, that's a two year backlog. So now you're talking $375k gross annually, for a business that requires brick/mortar, material purchases, employee wages, healthcare, marketing, etc etc etc.....ownership margin starts looking really, really thin.

Lots of builders here who know the real economics, but seems there are a few models: a.) stay small (like 1-2 people) and live with that scale, b.) have some alternative backing/support to do what you love and not worry about financials, c.) or operate on an absolute razor thin edge and be one decision/event away from having to close up shop. These options likely hold for the vast majority of sole proprietorships, but are further exacerbated by the product being truly niche.

Hope they figure it out and keep making cool stuff.

[pdonk]

Originally Posted by krooj

If the tea hold true, this sucks - we have tickets up to PDX, dog boarding, and a hotel res for this weekend... all to do a fit session and get my custom frameset order el.

Maybe you'll get lucky and one of the garage sale frames fits and is what you want.

Or maybe you just get to see cool bikes. When I went it was a builder's workshop weekend and I got to see bikes I otherwise would not have.

[krooj]

Originally Posted by pdonk

Maybe you'll get lucky and one of the garage sale frames fits and is what you want.

Maybe! I've wanted an SV for 15+ years and will be kinda bummed if that doesn't happen :/ Either way, the fit is on the Friday and we'll spend the rest of the weekend walking around Portland to see how we feel about buying a home up there in a few years.

[KarlC]

Who's going to the garage sale?

Anyone want to make a deal on a 54 rim brake for me?
.

[krooj]

Originally Posted by KarlC

Who's going to the garage sale?

Anyone want to make a deal on a 54 rim brake for me?
.

I'm happy to ask about it on Friday. PM me your number and I'll see if we can't work something out.

[username]

Originally Posted by krooj

I'm happy to ask about it on Friday. PM me your number and I'll see if we can't work something out.

I want the tricycle, but built for a guy who's 6'. Ask on my behalf?