Outside article on Competitive Cyclist

[fiamme red]

https://www.outsideonline.com/232713...nline-retailer

Now Competitive is almost unrecognizable from those early days of scrambling for inventory. On the colossal warehouse floor, cycling merchandise is stacked among Backcountry’s own on three-story-tall shelves. Pickers with scan guns walk the aisles to collect and box orders, though there is also a pair of new Perfect Pick units, two-story, Death Star–looking machines the size of apartment blocks where robots package orders automatically. Then there’s an automated boxing station that scans and weighs small to midsize orders and builds custom boxes around them. The factory typically ships between 40,000 and 50,000 orders daily, with an all-time record of 64,174 packages on November 26, 2012. Competitive accounts for around 15 percent of Backcountry’s total business.

I'll say this for them, they have a great website, even when product descriptions are over the top.

[fignon's barber]

Comp Cyclist is my favorite US on line shop. I think their customer service is excellent.

[jghall]

I'm a fan. Rarely have I ever had an issue with them. Even the minor bad experience, they turned into something positive. Their return policy for unused items is excellent

[Andy sti]

They are always one of my go to sites. Great prices, great inventory and fast shipping - Can’t go wrong. Just got something from them last week, actually.

[ptourkin]

They just laid off a bunch of people in Utah. I suspect they've either automated or outsourced some operations.

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by ptourkin

They just laid off a bunch of people in Utah. I suspect they've either automated or outsourced some operations.

Progress, I guess. In the future, humans will only work between the ages of 30 and 40, because their will be no work to do. More time to ride your bike. We were all born too soon.

[Climb01742]

Thanks for the link. The line I might disagree with:

"The company’s big break came in 2011, when e-tailer Backcountry.com offered to purchase it. "

Ok. They had to grow or die. But I miss stuff about CC when Brendan and Andy were in Little Rock. CC is still my first stop and things have smoothed out since the hiccups of the purchase/move/assimilation, but...[sigh]

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Climb01742

Thanks for the link. The line I might disagree with:

"The company’s big break came in 2011, when e-tailer Backcountry.com offered to purchase it. "

Ok. They had to grow or die. But I miss stuff about CC when Brendan and Andy were in Little Rock. CC is still my first stop and things have smoothed out since the hiccups of the purchase/move/assimilation, but...[sigh]

Is this Brendan or Andy??

[loxx0050]

Originally Posted by ptourkin

They just laid off a bunch of people in Utah. I suspect they've either automated or outsourced some operations.

Also the push for the rise to the minimum wage is a contributor to this trend too for the less skilled manual labor/entry level type jobs. McDonald's is looking to get rid of cashier's and just move to online ordering and
self service kiosks. One or two less people to pay considering lots of states are pushing for eventually $15/hr minimum wage. Not worth it for fast food to not automate since their products are supposed to be low prices.

I consider skilled manual labor things like welders, machinists, auto mechanics, and such. A person packing or sorting boxes doesn't need a trade school or college education to perform is unskilled labor.

PS - sorry for all the edits...stupid phone autocorrect and fat fingera typing.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by Andy sti

Great prices

Really? I stopped even looking at their website in, I dunno, 2012 or so? simply because their prices were so much higher than Excel Sports, Colorado Cyclist, Bike Tires Direct, Performance, or (especially) ProBikeKit. Maybe I need to revisit them.

I'll admit, I did love their descriptions of bike frames. No other vendor -- not even the manufacturers! -- could go on for an entire multi-thousand word tome about the virtues of, say, a BMC Time Machine or a Ridley Noah like Competitive Cyclist could!

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

Really? I stopped even looking at their website in, I dunno, 2012 or so? simply because their prices were so much higher than Excel Sports, Colorado Cyclist, Bike Tires Direct, Performance, or (especially) ProBikeKit. Maybe I need to revisit them.
!

The key is to buy something from them. Then they assign a "gearhead" to you, which is a personal customer service rep. They contact you every now and then, but the good thing is that when you need something at a certain price, you call your gearhead and tell him what price they need to be at. They've matched or beat any overseas price I've ran by them, plus no hassles about returning items.

[Climb01742]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

The key is to buy something from them. Then they assign a "gearhead" to you, which is a personal customer service rep. They contact you every now and then, but the good thing is that when you need something at a certain price, you call your gearhead and tell him what price they need to be at. They've matched or beat any overseas price I've ran by them, plus no hassles about returning items.

^^
ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!

[weaponsgrade]

I was surprised to see my local Above Category show up on the radar. I always thought they ran a much smaller operation.

[fa63]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

The key is to buy something from them. Then they assign a "gearhead" to you, which is a personal customer service rep. They contact you every now and then, but the good thing is that when you need something at a certain price, you call your gearhead and tell him what price they need to be at. They've matched or beat any overseas price I've ran by them, plus no hassles about returning items.

+1. Doesn’t even need to be your personal gearhead; just open up an online chat and ask them to price match. If they can’t, they usually come very close.

[fiamme red]

Summer apparel sale is going on right now. Lots of items are significantly discounted.

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/r...INT_ID=IB24210