yt in canada

I agree. The system is totally broken as far as I'm concerned. Say a $3000 retail bike is sold to a dealer for roughly $2000. That leaves $1000 for profit, which out of that comes the rent, employee wage, owners wage and keeping the lights on. Now factor in the ever infamous 'bro deal' just to make the sale and the shop is left with a couple hundred bucks. Over time it's inevitable that said shop will run out of money. Granted there are some successful shops in the LM but they are few.

Don't know of any shops that only sell bikes. Clothing, accessories and service are a big part of the businesses.

Don't know of any shops that only sell bikes. Clothing, accessories and service are a big part of the businesses.

Not so much. I think online is killing the clothing, parts and accessories sales that used to bring in $. Service will be the last man standing.

It's a nail in the coffin for many an LBS IMO.

Maybe, but probably not. The bread-and-butter for the vast majority of shops is bikes from ~$700 to ~$1200 with some of the higher end shops selling more bikes in the ~$1500 to ~$3000 range.

The savings at these price points would not be as substantial as the high end super bikes we are talking about. Factor in the lack of support and the mechanical confidence of the average mountain biker and we are really talking about a small, but no doubt noticeable, number of sales.

Even when it comes to ultra higher end "super bikes" (6k+?) I think it is very easy to forget what a small minority of riders we (on the NSMB gear forum) represent.

I would guess that the majority of riders who frequent the gear forum are doing 80%+ of their own mechanical work and would be comfortable building a bike up from a box. Fair? That is tiny fraction of the riding population.

Service will be the last man standing.

As more and more shops figure out how to operate on lower margins, and more and more manufacturers adopt global MAP policies I think things will balance out.

There will always be grey market parts, and jerks showrooming shops for shoe size etc but great customer service, fair prices, an increased focus on service, smarter buying, and careful brand selection will make it work.

Agree with most of what Drew said above. In terms of focus, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the local model: typically a big Norco/axiom shop with little attention to cycling beyond the hobby. Nobody is e-undercutting Bromptons, edgerunners, Simcoe, Public or city bikes in any meaningful way. The margins is right there and yet we have travel to Seattle before we see anything like this: http://familycyclery.com/

Had my eye on the Capra Pro for a while.

Glad YT finally has Canadian distro.

I would guess that the majority of riders who frequent the gear forum are doing 80%+ of their own mechanical work and would be comfortable building a bike up from a box. Fair? That is tiny fraction of the riding population.

And in steps Velofix…

I see your point on the lower end though.

I see your point on the lower end though.

I was sitting having a snack at the Ladies Only picnic table this summer watching the swarms roll up to Espresso having a bit of a laugh about what someone would think if the NSMB.com gear forum was your window into mountain biking vs. the reality on the trail:

NSMB.com Gear Forum // Reality On Fromme

26" wheels Dead [HTML_REMOVED] replaced with 650B // Majority of people still riding 26" wheels (obviously this will change over time)

Most FS bikes Carbon // VAST majority of FS Bikes aluminum

XO1, XX1, XTR, XT // X7, X9, SLX, XT

35% of people riding high-end hardtails // Almost no one riding hardtails -- most that do are on entry level bikes or old bikes

You can go on-and-on-and-on.

So take what a small % of bike sales are for "hardcore mountain biking" vs. city/commuter/family, then cut out all the bikes under 3K (4k even?), and you are left with a tiny % of a small % of bike sales and even then what % of those people are going to buy a YT?

I was sitting having a snack at the Ladies Only picnic table this summer watching the swarms roll up to Espresso having a bit of a laugh about what someone would think if the NSMB.com gear forum was your window into mountain biking vs. the reality on the trail:

NSMB.com Gear Forum // Reality On Fromme

26" wheels Dead [HTML_REMOVED] replaced with 650B // Majority of people still riding 26" wheels (obviously this will change over time)

Most FS bikes Carbon // VAST majority of FS Bikes aluminum

XO1, XX1, XTR, XT // X7, X9, SLX, XT

35% of people riding high-end hardtails // Almost no one riding hardtails -- most that do are on entry level bikes or old bikes

You can go on-and-on-and-on.

So take what a small % of bike sales are for "hardcore mountain biking" vs. city/commuter/family, then cut out all the bikes under 3K (4k even?), and you are left with a tiny % of a small % of bike sales and even then what % of those people are going to buy a YT?

I don't think the LBS will die, but they may have to re-focus some of their sales categories a bit… service will always be a money maker and I think a lot of people still need to touch and see new bikes and products before they buy.

However, I am happy that Joes like me who don't have massive amounts of disposable income can get into a higher end bike without re-mortgaging. And I hope this trend continues.

BTW, I still support my LBS and will continue to do so.

Rob, I guess my point is that if any shop uses YT or Commencal direct sales as the reason they are going out of business that is incredibly disingenuous.

As Tyler pointed out it seems few shops are trying to offer a unique experience vs. the classic "everything to everyone" approach. If you try to defend everything you defend nothing. (***edit: turns out that is ~ a Frederick the Great quote for any other nerds that were interested)

The name of their Tues DH bike undoubtedly has some other meaning. But I like to imagine that they saw the Iron Horse Sunday name and in their ESL way decided to one up them. :)

The name of their Tues DH bike undoubtedly has some other meaning. But I like to imagine that they saw the Iron Horse Sunday name and in their ESL way decided to one up them. :)

from a Pinkbike article on the new bike:

Markus Flossmann, the owner, CEO and founder of YT Industries dropped in to show us his latest beauty: a 27.5-inch wheel version of YT's Tues DH racer. Markus says that its name conjunction of two German words that translate to, "do it" in English.

I was thinking if I was a local bike shop, and service was my thing, I'd look to see if YT had some sort of rep programme with stores or I'd stick up a sign that says "YT delivery and assembly done here."

I'd look into charging $100plus for delivery (who likes UPS and wants to head out to airport, or have them try to deliver always when your not home) and assembly, first tune and safety check, and fitting (sag, seat, stem length etc.).

No inventory cost to store, I'd have a happy customer who didn't own a torque wrench so benefits from an experts advice, an expert s/he will come back to for tune ups and other repairs and add ons…creating that life long customer, who buys their commuter in-store etc.

Of course this may not be an option or strategically viable for business, but it might be…

Those YT bikes look hot/ are hot.

One thing though: I have quite a few friends over here in Germany who ride them. Some Capra Carbons - and the frames are quite a bit heavier than advertised. Like up to 500-700g heavier per frame (!). And while it rides really great, the front triangle seems to flex more/not be as stiff as that of my Specialized Carbon Enduro.

Not trying to hate: The prices are great and I really love the Capra frame design.

Just keep in mind that YT is just a regular company. No miracle workers =)

A lot of hype over here and now in Canada as well ;-)