Rivendell saved for now... - Page 31

Burnette · #**451** 02-12-2019, 06:46 PM

Well trying to candy coat this trainwreck just got a lot harder to do with this last blog post. Oof.

Flat and/or declining revenue, voluntary pay cuts, questioning himself whether he can continue and "how will it end" musings is from his own blog.

Trying to deny what Grant has expressed himself just absurd.

peanutgallery · #**452** 02-12-2019, 06:55 PM

That's not a head tube, that's a flag pole. FYI

Relax, Rivendells are just evolving into something faster backwards...so can better reach your axe and edibles

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtbadge

Sloping top tube is great! 190mm HT (in the "54cm" size) for bars above the saddle and chainstays longer than a Long Haul Trucker on a "road" bike are ludicrous.

Joe Remi · #**453** 02-12-2019, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtbadge

It's hard to take you seriously when you immediately jump down the throat of every person on this forum that has suggested Riv hasn't made 100% perfect decisions leading them where they are - near complete failure.

Dude, there's page after page on this thread with people agreeing with each other. You can handle a little disagreement without saying weird **** like "jumping down peoples' throats". Man up and relax.

Joe Remi · #**454** 02-12-2019, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtbadge

Sloping top tube is great! 190mm HT (in the "54cm" size) for bars above the saddle and chainstays longer than a Long Haul Trucker on a "road" bike are ludicrous.

I had a 54 Roadini and I like my bars above the saddle. It's a nice bike.

dancinkozmo · #**455** 02-12-2019, 07:18 PM

Joe Remi · #**456** 02-12-2019, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dancinkozmo

He's relaxed.

AngryScientist · #**457** 02-12-2019, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Remi

Man up and relax.

discussing Riv here is fine, and has been for many pages.

directed remarks like this are what will get this thread shut down and not how we interact here. it's fine to disagree, but telling someone to "man up" - is a good example of how not to interact here.

discuss the topic, not each other please.

Joe Remi · #**458** 02-12-2019, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

discussing Riv here is fine, and has been for many pages.

directed remarks like this are what will get this thread shut down and not how we interact here. it's fine to disagree, but telling someone to "man up" - is a good example of how not to interact here.

discuss the topic, not each other please.

It's a callback, son. That dude accused me of "jumping down peoples' throats" and told me to "relax". Take it up with him.

dancinkozmo · #**459** 02-12-2019, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Remi

He's relaxed.

no , he's stoned

Burnette · #**460** 02-12-2019, 07:31 PM

Edited for compliance. Please read:

"To me, it doesn't seem like it should be a niche, but in fact it's a micro-niche. That's never been more obvious than it is nowhe thing is, I think all this stuff--from steel frames to friction shifters to lugs and saddlebags--should be the universal defaults.

Mark's cut back his pay 40 percent to reduce our payroll, but he seems to have cut his hours back about 10 percent. Spencer raised his hand to cut back as much, too. Robert and Jenny are down to 40 percent, too (related to not enough boxes to ship out). I've cut my pay significantly but am working the same hours. Isn't that how it's supposed to be?

Now is what counts, and how do we keep it going, keep these jobs and all of us together? Bikes and bags and bars? If not those, what?

It's not easy to find (1) a buyer; and (2) a buyer who understands that it's the people that matter most, and keeping "the culture" as it is, at least insofar as the culture helps and doesn't hurt. When you sell you can't dictate that. You can refuse to sell, but at that point what's Plan B?

Plan C is giving it to the employees. Do they want it? I don't know. They'd probably rather have some kind of job security than an albatross around their necks.

Would it be overwhelming? Are they looking for other work now, and I'm just super deluded? Does "the mission" carry any weight? Is it bad or brainless of me to think I hope it does? It's too much of a burden, to put that on them.

Plan Z is an angel investor who buys Rivendell and supports it and perhaps supplies a benevolent genius administration that can snip a few nose hairs, lance a boil here or there, and polish it up all shiny and keep it going."

So no, things aren't ok and weren't done right and no, it's not just Amazon and accessories here.

AngryScientist · #**461** 02-12-2019, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Remi

It's a callback, son.

i'm not your son.

do not talk down to me or anyone else on this forum.

this is a friendly space, and personal tit for tat crap is not going to fly.

that goes for everyone here.

final warning.

Joe Remi · #**462** 02-12-2019, 07:46 PM

I don't think anybody said things are ok, sometimes the responses in this thread read like people have a thought in their head, then respond to that thought. The latest Blahg is obviously not positive and in no way reflects "ok", so nobody is saying that.

My point - derived from several things Grant has posted this year - is that the bikes are selling but the parts/accessories aren't. So you guys can keep sermizing that the problem is "the bikes are weird" or whatever and that needs to change, but changing bikes that are selling is not going to solve a parts/accessories problem.

I don't think things are ok, I just don't understand the point of starting from a "bad bikes" premise that isn't there, then trying to extrapolate from it.

Burnette · #**463** 02-12-2019, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Remi

I don't think anybody said things are ok, sometimes the responses in this thread read like people have a thought in their head, then respond to that thought. The latest Blahg is obviously not positive and in no way reflects "ok", so nobody is saying that.

My point - derived from several things Grant has posted this year - is that the bikes are selling but the parts/accessories aren't. So you guys can keep sermizing that the problem is "the bikes are weird" or whatever and that needs to change, but changing bikes that are selling is not going to solve a parts/accessories problem.

I don't think things are ok, I just don't understand the point of starting from a "bad bikes" premise that isn't there, then trying to extrapolate from it.

Read that blog again, "it doesn't seem like it should be a niche, but in fact it's a micro-niche. That's never been more obvious than it is nowhe thing isfrom steel frames to friction shifters to lugs and saddlebags--should be the universal defaults."

So even he gets the premise that what he thinks is right is is "micro" in want and that he thinks friction shifters and saddlebags should be a default for people, but they are not, you can indeed extrapolate that they are screwed because they are pushing a philosophy and bike line that that not enough people are buying or buying into.

It's a big operation and all phases have to click or it goes under. Speaking of which, again in his own blog he goes on at length on ways to end it, all if them fantasy.

Black Dog · #**464** 02-12-2019, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dancinkozmo

im thinking the 'roadeo' has got to be the dumbest bike name in all of cycledom

I will take your roadeo and raise you an Ottrott.

More on topic. The employees seem to be complicit in some way by not sitting the boss down and telling him that the big white thing in front of the ship is an iceberg. If they are a family and that’s what really matters then it is time to do what is best for the family and face some reality. At some point ideology has to take a back seat to family. They should be telling this to him and if they are and he is not listening then he doesn’t care as he claims. These are bikes, make some money selling things that people will buy and keep offering your vision. When the business dies so does your movement. Stop rearranging the chairs on the deck and steer the ship.

Joe Remi · #**465** 02-12-2019, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burnette

Read that blog again, "it doesn't seem like it should be a niche, but in fact it's a micro-niche. That's never been more obvious than it is nowhe thing isfrom steel frames to friction shifters to lugs and saddlebags--should be the universal defaults."

So even he gets the premise that what he thinks is right is is "micro" in want and that he thinks friction shifters and saddlebags should be a default for people, but they are not, you can indeed extrapolate that they are screwed because they are pushing a philosophy and bike line that that not enough people are buying or buying into.

It's a big operation and all phases have to click or it goes under. Speaking of which, again in his own blog he goes on at length on ways to end it, all if them fantasy.

We're talking past each other. If I keep saying the bikes are selling and you say they aren't, we're conversing in two separate realities. My understanding is bike sales are "decent", parts/accessories are not. I don't have a solution short of what Performance just did, which may be inevitable. Continuing to run RBW as a brick-and-mortar shop is probably not feasible.