State of the bike industry..

NJ-XC-Justin

KY-DH-Freddy
I don't know about that. So many things in there just don't seem real. First and foremost on my mind is how someone from a company writes and publishes an article regarding a lawsuit of theirs -- while the lawsuit is ongoing.

Regardless, they don't dispute owing the money, so I'm not sure how this is newsworthy.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
I don't know about that. So many things in there just don't seem real. First and foremost on my mind is how someone from a company writes and publishes an article regarding a lawsuit of theirs -- while the lawsuit is ongoing.

Regardless, they don't dispute owing the money, so I'm not sure how this is newsworthy.

good point, makes me think twice about specialized though...
 

clutch

New Member
This might only be interesting to me.

It is old news but maybe worth a read. Or not:


http://www.thebusypixel.com/2007/07/27/why-bicycle-warehouse-dropped-specialized-then-got-sued/

It sucks that specialized made them take that off of their own site. Looks like it was "resolved" as of last October.

http://specializedbicycle.blogspot.com/2007/07/we-dropped-and-sued-by-our-1-vendor-it.html

You can also see the emptybeer commentary here:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=320704&highlight=specialized+warehouse
 

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
Always two sides...

..to every story and the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

Key takeaway here is that whenever you do business with anyone, understand all the terms and risks. And for the risks you decide to take, figure out how to best mitigate them. There is little altruism in business...it is a rare occasion a company (especially a "big" company) will act in a manner not completely aligned with it's own self interest (or at least what it thinks is it's own self interest).

The funny thing for me is that the practice of Specialized not providing product to a shop if another particular brand is sold in the shop smells a lot like what Intel gets blamed for, and is constantly being challenged in antitrust courts, all over the planet. 'Guess it is the deeper pockets...
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
I was in Knapps yesterday just to browse and they used to have Gaint but it looks like the are move towards a almost all specialized shop, I know they were heavy on Specialized before, but they seem really heavy on it now. Specialized makes some cool looking bikes but they come with a hefty price tag.
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
the dark future..

There is a trend in the works where a few brands are pushing dealers to act as a factory store for the said brand.

The downside to this is that even if you don't want shoes or a helmet or whatever from brand "x" you still pretty much have to carry them in the store.

I am all about picking the best items in each category. I have a hard time believing that one company can dominate all categories.

Choice and competition is ultimately pretty good for the end user.

On my last trip to Cali I stopped in a Specialized concept store in San Diego. I for one found it to feel antiseptic and Barron. It was weirdly perfect and awkwardly lacking character.

Some folks might like this but it wasn't for me.

One of my favorite things in the bike shop is to find new widgets that change the way we look at bikes. It is hard to find this new way of thinking in a store polarized with one brand.


IMO of course..
 

ChrisG

Unapologetic Lifer for Rock and Roll
There is a trend in the works where a few brands are pushing dealers to act as a factory store for the said brand.

The downside to this is that even if you don't want shoes or a helmet or whatever from brand "x" you still pretty much have to carry them in the store.

I am all about picking the best items in each category. I have a hard time believing that one company can dominate all categories.

Choice and competition is ultimately pretty good for the end user.

One of my favorite things in the bike shop is to find new widgets that change the way we look at bikes. It is hard to find this new way of thinking in a store polarized with one brand.


IMO of course..
I agree.
 
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