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#46
12-08-2018, 07:18 PM
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Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. I spent a good part of the summer driving across the US. I didn't see alot of this going on.
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#47
12-08-2018, 07:37 PM
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Years ago (late 90s, early 2000s), December meant selling 200-300 bikes for the Holidays. It was a $hit show to make sure that we did not double sell a bike. We had a master list that was matched up daily to make sure when someone came in to pick up a bike that was a present, it was actually there and ready to go. Boatloads of layaways and what not. Kinda crazy but fun
These days, 10-20 for the month of December. I do better in March/April. Minimal on the kids bikes, we just don't a lot anymore - no one asks. Kids Huffy repairs, more of an oddity than the norm. Middle-aged adults wearing a rut into the ground with a blown out $400 comfort bike? That's more the norm Quote:
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#48
12-08-2018, 07:43 PM
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M
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#50
12-08-2018, 09:14 PM
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__________________
 🏻* 
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#51
12-08-2018, 09:28 PM
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#52
12-08-2018, 10:13 PM
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I get it, that's pretty lame.
I stock what sells, rim tape is easy and cheap. Can't fix going out of biz for someone Quote:
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#53
12-08-2018, 10:17 PM
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Purchasing power of the average American has been steady or in decline for decades. Growing wealth inequality fragments the market for products into the low end and luxury goods. In the case of a nonessential (to most people) item like a bicycle, demand for that low end can drop out entirely, creating more and more competition for a vanishingly smaller pool of people willing to drop thousands of dollars on a bike(s). Just one more depressing anecdote of late-stage capitalism.
I see these discussions pop up on cycling message boards not infrequently, and most of the comments from both the consumers and industry members are focused around what types of bicycles to sell, online vs traditional retail, etc. That misses the point entirely. Yes, increasing cost of entry to cycling is a problem, but it is an accelerant to a process that would probably be happening even if the industry- and enthusiasts- focused on affordable entry level products and had a welcoming attitude. I'm about 30 in what's generally considered one of the most cycling friendly cities in the country. Maybe 5% of my friends and peers ride bikes recreationally in a way that would be recognizable to people on this forum (mostly touring and off road, nobody cares about road riding) and even they are chasing the bottom end of what people might consider enthusiast level gear. This should be prime time for people to start getting into the sport. In previous generations people would be settling into their careers, maybe they've bought a starter house... Not in 2018. Consider one guy I know who just bought a base model 27.5+ Salsa Timberjack - that thing is 1200 dollars! That's a ton of money for any normal person, and is considered barely acceptable by modern standards. That's probably half his monthly take home income. And it's not just bikes. Houses here start at maybe 250k. Everyone I know is paying $300+ a month in student loans. How much do you have to care about riding to justify it financially? How much do you need to make for it to even be an option? IMO the industry and sport are ****ed until we fix the bigger inequities in our economy. Last edited by Burning Pines; 12-08-2018 at 10:19 PM.
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#54
12-09-2018, 04:19 AM
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I echo oldpotatoe's comment that 'safety' is a major issue keeping people away from road riding. This is very anecdotal but one friend has had to stop running and bought a Peleton indoor bike. Many of her friends have one. She loves it. Uses it daily. Her concern - safety. And she is an Army grad. I would be curious to see Peleton's sales. Maybe it is a passing fad, but Concept 2 has done very well in the indoor rowing machine world. Peleton checks a lot of boxes: convenient, all year (an issue if you live in a colder climate in winter), safe, and it fits the "relate to one another over the internet" world we live in.
Safety seems to be a leitmotif of our cultural ethos - witness the decline of football, the use of bike helmets, the shootings, the airport color system, the effect of phones on driving safety..... I think 'safety' is on people's minds, perhaps much moreso than in the past...
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#55
12-09-2018, 04:33 AM
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#56
12-09-2018, 06:35 AM
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 My LBS ,(Where I work), not only have both in stock but if requested a employee would install them. Not a big deal or complicated but the service is there for free.
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#57
12-09-2018, 07:00 AM
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From Mr M. Walrus Quote:
__________________
Chisholm's Custom Wheels Qui Si Parla Campagnolo Last edited by oldpotatoe; 12-09-2018 at 09:57 AM.
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#58
12-09-2018, 07:11 AM
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-poor choices -too expensive/too cheap bikes -wrong sizes -crappy LBS or internet companies -etc.. The core of cycling is that picture of kids riding around in their neighborhood and beyond on their bikes in the summer..and where that leads in their and other's future. Safety, riding safely w/o fear of getting smacked by a car..fix that and people will ride...no, I don't know how. I think bike lanes and education goes a long way but a lot even yell about those..when trying to turn left out of one into a 'car' lane..Education....When my grand kids go ride their bikes..I am either with them or they just ride up and down their col-de-sac..NEVER out onto the road. Fer criss sakes, even some of their 'neighbors' roar down the no exit street too fast...
__________________
Chisholm's Custom Wheels Qui Si Parla Campagnolo Last edited by oldpotatoe; 12-09-2018 at 07:14 AM.
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#59
12-09-2018, 07:57 AM
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Also, I know plenty who do not have substantial take home pay, but they do find a way to piss away their disposable income through services they really cannot afford. Buying a new bicycle is relatively cheap in comparison. It’s simply not in their view of options. I also imagine there will be loads of Peleton bikes and gift subscrittions given this Xmas, w/about half left to the wayside come April.
__________________
Why Science? You can test it silly!
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#60
12-09-2018, 08:51 AM
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There are lots of ways to spend money these days that weren’t around a short while back. Its easy for a couple to spend $2500 a year on phone service. Then ya’ gotta have a new phone on a regular basis for another hit. An internet connection and maybe some kind of TV service can hit $1200 yearly. Add in some student loans and there goes a lot of bucks and proportionatly more for those who didn’t come first in the employment lottery.
If one wants to ride, a 1990s aluminum Trek or similar bought used can get you going for a couple hundred dollars. So, some of this isn’t about “can’t ride” but about “can’t ride the ride that the internet experts and marketers tell you you have to have”. More and more, the industry has become about filling the pipeline and less about satisfying the end user. The goal is to make the comsumer consume what the industry dictates, what industry needs you to buy to hit their numbers. The need for constant expansion of the numbers sold is a shaky house of cards and will fall in on itself. The current conditions will winnow out some of that as players drop out. For the smartest and best operators at the retail level this will be a good thing once the bloodshed stops. In the car business there is a saying that “there’s a seat for every ass”, and its true. But the retailer has to be smart enough to be able to make it work. In the end it’s about people and talking to people and most important - listening to people. The concept store, and the high volumn turn model benefits the manufacturer not the bike shop owner, employees or the consumer. In that version of the world the shop is to simply sell the consumer a new bike rather than have a skewer on hand to make a repair. Get units out the door, buy more and repeat. I suggest that a model that promotes customer service and satisfaction would go far to make long term success in the bike biz. For a shop to do that they have to make a profit - its their way of putting food on the table. It comes from a properly symbiotic transaction - add value through service to the buyer and be paid for it. A benefit of the bargain for both the seller and the buyer.
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