Bicycle Industry Death Watch

It would be the last thing I would remove from my budget. When I was 21 I had a $4000 bike and no car. That was 15 years ago and I washed dishes. Now I get to have the bike and a car. But if it comes down to a new car vs a new bike, the bike wins everytime.

What was the $4000 bike out of curiosity?

Norco's P[HTML_REMOVED]A will keep them afloat alone. Try again.

I'd wager Brodie.

I'll second Brodie. When other companies were sending out full catalogues, they had a 3x6" double-sided pamphlet with pictures of 3 models, and no information.

What was the $4000 bike out of curiosity?

A Specialized FSR with a Carbon Fibre RS Judy. A solid 30 pounds even with a Ti Stem, thermoplastic bars, XTR groupset and syncros post. All with 3 inches of travel if it was lucky and canti brakes that, when wet, couldn't pull up a kitten on a tricycle. Should have put the cash into Microsoft and waited til the technology improved and just bought a bike company instead haha. But at the time I remember commenting on how I thought that bikes really couldn't improve much beyond that. Jeez, I'm glad they did.

Thanks there LRon. I'll stay in business in spite of that. In any case, as far as retail goes, I only know about the shore and whis/pembi. Around here it has been uber tough for retail shops for ever. They are always just barely making it by, and I think this has made them very strong. Especially in N. Van where there are too many shops in each block - way too many shops.

In my opinion, it all comes down to the people. As a boss, I need good people. If I have my head up my arse and hire the cheapest labour I can, then I may be die a bad death. If I have good people and treat them OK, then I will survive. Think about it. You get treated right you will be back. You get shafted by a shop, that shop may not see you again. Or your money.

Good staff and good customer service = success. Never changes.

In my opinion, it all comes down to the people. As a boss, I need good people. If I have my head up my arse and hire the cheapest labour I can, then I may be die a bad death. If I have good people and treat them OK, then I will survive. Think about it. You get treated right you will be back. You get shafted by a shop, that shop may not see you again. Or your money.

Good staff and good customer service = success. Never changes.

that's the reason i go to obsession bikes on lonsdale in north van. james has put together a great compliment of staff people.

Basically, they are as close to recession proof as it's possible to be. Yeah, the high end will suffer but for the savvy shops it's business as usual.

Think about it. You're cutting costs. buy a bike.

Oh, can't go on that big holiday. Lets stay home and ride bikes.

Man the news is so depressing. I'm going for a bike ride.

I just lost my job. I'm gonna go look for empties in the ditch …. while riding my bike.

Hey Johnny Hows things I agree sounds depressing I'm goin ridin to
There was a recession back in the early to mid eighties 81 - 84(just before epxpo 86) when MTB was really starting to get popular and there were a few local shops starting out then, still in business today. Also i heard from a really old timer that in the great depression of the thirties the bike industry did well.
Time to go hit Cypress
OUT

the british [HTML_REMOVED]#163;[HTML_REMOVED]#163;[HTML_REMOVED]#163; pound (stirling) is in similar position to the loonie, and since alot of stuff is being sourced from US companies paid for in US$ or Taiwan also paid in US $

when sterling was 1.9 against the US dollar we had good leverage, its now 1.4 and the gap is starting to be felt

our trade costs are starting to rise dramatically, and we are having to increase retail prices as the margins are too small on most bike stuff to allow the increase to be absorbed

its not just the weak pound (or loonie), costs for raw materials, factory production, fuel, shipping etc. is also rising and our suppliers are raising all their prices

in the UK, Shimano just went up about 10-15[HTML_REMOVED]#37; on Wednesday this week

tires have gone up dramatically in the last 2 months, as have inner tubes (a Maxxis DH tube selling at GBP[HTML_REMOVED]#163;8 in August is now [HTML_REMOVED]#163;12)

US boutique import frames are going through the roof - Santa Cruz frame selling at GBP[HTML_REMOVED]#163;1700 will probably be [HTML_REMOVED]#163;2300 by Christmas, with some of the high end DH frames hitting [HTML_REMOVED]#163;3000

a Taiwan frame we sell at GBP[HTML_REMOVED]#163;900 is going to be around [HTML_REMOVED]#163;1200-1300 by Christmas

production bike prices have risen about 10-15% on Specialized, Giant, Trek, etc. or pricepoints have been held with downgraded forks, components, etc.

the end of "cheap" living?

good shops will survive, but I expect the currently over saturated 2nd hand market to be re-invigorated, customers are already looking for big price cuts especially in the high end market and we are looking at discounting incoming 2009 stock to remain competitive, and 2008 is becoming very easy to sell due to the disparity between 08 prices and 09

gotta keep it tight (keep costs as low as possible) and give great service

one sector that is growing is the "credit crunch pedallers" as they have been labelled..people ditching cars and buying hybrids and entry level MTN bikes for low-medium mileage commuting and getting around

I'll second Brodie. When other companies were sending out full catalogues, they had a 3x6" double-sided pamphlet with pictures of 3 models, and no information.

what year was this, and how does it have any relevance on today's market?

what year was this, and how does it have any relevance on today's market?

this year…

poorly engineered bikes in '08, too. excessively heavy, linkages hitting frames, poor suspension performance.

their freeride bikes are gone for '09, too.

this year…

poorly engineered bikes in '08, too. excessively heavy, linkages hitting frames, poor suspension performance.

their freeride bikes are gone for '09, too.

the soul of riding left brodie ages ago. nothing more than crappy catalogue bikes for the past few years.

this year…

poorly engineered bikes in '08, too. excessively heavy, linkages hitting frames, poor suspension performance.

their freeride bikes are gone for '09, too.

it is true that initially brodie isn't making a freeride bike for 2009, their biggest bike as of now is three different models of 6" travel all mountain bikes. However, it is possible that something might appear later in the season in a completely different form. I did get a few days in this year on a borrowed brodie damien, other than the weight it was a sweet bike, it just mowed everything in its path down thanks to the plush 4bar and marz suspention. If I was on a heavy budget I would consider rocking on in the bike park or for shuttles, due to them normally only being around $3000.

Funny about the linkage hitting the frames though, I've seen quite a few brodie dullies and I can't remember seeing that happen.

Seriously though, if you want a really high performance freeride bike would you really go for something like a brodie or kona? No, you would look at other things. (on that note brodie has their ht frames dialed)

this year…

poorly engineered bikes in '08, too. excessively heavy, linkages hitting frames, poor suspension performance.

their freeride bikes are gone for '09, too.

I've got their 2009 catalogue in my hands right now and it's over 40 pages of glossy full colour pics and info. Certainly more than a pamphlet with 4 bikes and no info.

Granted their builds were pretty heavy, but the frames themselves are a lot lighter than they're given credit for (though still not featherweights).

I haven't heard of linkages hitting the frames, or poor suspension performance before, but the latter is subjective and former the sounds like hearsay, but correct me if I'm wrong.

As for the no freeride bike thing, their freeride hard tails are in full effect, as are their all mountains, but the shore-style freeride bikes will be around in the summer of 09. I don't think that taking some time to work on the bikes is a sign of pending doom for a company that's been around as long as they have.

Guess, its a good time for a first post, with the BS flying.
2009 Brodie catalogues are indeed over 40 pages, they may of done a teaser pre-release, but I never saw any.
And I too have never heard of the linkages hitting frames nor had an issue with suspension performance, unless it was set up by a pre-schooler…………
(I have been riding and selling Brodie's since 2005)
From what I know, and as said above the bigger dualys will be out later.

Just realized, the 4 page brochure you saw WAS the teaser media kit.

Guess, its a good time for a first post, with the BS flying.
2009 Brodie catalogues are indeed over 40 pages, they may of done a teaser pre-release, but I never saw any.
And I too have never heard of the linkages hitting frames nor had an issue with suspension performance, unless it was set up by a pre-schooler…………
(I have been riding and selling Brodie's since 2005)
From what I know, and as said above the bigger dualys will be out later.

Werd man.

I picked up a 2004 Brodie Demon in the beginning of 2005 for a pretty good deal thanks to dan from On Top. It was the best bike in the genre that I could find/afford at the time. What I got was a heavy but damn reliable freeride/dh bike that pretty much could run over anything in its path (it was very similar in geo and feel to the old M1's). Just let me say again, for people on a tight budget, brodie is a pretty good deal, especially at the end of the year when shops are clearing out their previous season stock.

FullMonty, if you actually knew what brodie is offering for '09 then you would jump to the differences in the suspension between last and next years bikes. Had you actually looked at the bikes you would have realized that all of the pivots on the '09 brodies are on the top, meaning that all of their duel suspension bikes are single pivot instead of 4bar rear linkages.