Sign of the times

Prices were getting insane and with inflation I’m choosing between my kid’s sports equipment and my fun stuff. Guess who wins, rightfully so.

Funny thing is, the few riding buddies I know that switched over to E ride much less than before they got theirs, even though the narrative was more along the lines of “this thing takes me farther quicker.” (I know that’s not the case for the e-crew here that runs this place now before the pitchforks come out).
 
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There's also been a big slowdown in the advancements of geometry... they seem to have a lot of everything pretty dialed for now so new model years have very few changes that would make it a worthwile investment for a lot of people. Not many people gonna drop 5k to get udh instead of a trad hanger
 
scottay said:
Looks like JRA out in Simi went under. @UPSed LBS, I think. @UPSed
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AKAKTM said:
@Ed, did you say JRA closed? I hope not. Really good guys
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pperrelle said:
I saw that they are liquidating bikes on FB, so it unfortunately looks that way. I’m assuming that’s the same JRA?

https://mailchi.mp/jrabikesandbrew/...hjnDe2r6wWGW3SWiegzB4t5nZKDaLYFDX_tebXrQ5WtBU
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Yeah, sadly, they're going out of business. It seems the cycling industry is really hurting right now, especially the mom and pop shops.
 
That does it... Everyone, go to your LBS and go buy a bike right now! And accessories. Lots of accessories!

I did my part this year. Oh wait - that was November 2023. I guess I better go buy another one...

Such a strange turn of events. In 2020 and 2021 you couldn't buy a good used bike under $5000.
 
scan said:
https://bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2024/03/05/trek-plans-‘right-size’-10-cuts-spending
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Escape Collective did a 4-part podcast on the bike industry. Part 4 was almost like looking into the future about Trek. The person was hired to do logistics and operations and was blown away on how manual and siloed they were.

Here's some of the transcripts.
"And then we had we just had to panic like work with our three PL who will unreal through this. And they just managed to find storage facilities and dump bikes and really, totally don't one of them was like a makeshift carpark. Underground, like secure carpark. Yeah, incredible. And they were just putting bikes in there. So we knew what was on the shipments. But once they went in there, there was no inventory tracking, no control, there's no system set up. So we're like, I think there's those bikes over there. These bikes, and they were just stacked randomly. So it was a nightmare, like with up to around 60 to 70,000 bikes in the store in warehouses."

"If trek is going through this, it's a safe assumption to make that other big brands are to actually I've been told this directly from some of the biggest brands in the world. So you don't need to assume anything. If the magnitude of the problem that Matt describes for trek exists in little old Australia, New Zealand, multiply this problem by 10 for the US and 20 for Europe, and keep going with many other regions around the world. And then do it again for the other big brands."
 
I tried to sell my RIP MO towards the end of the pandemic when I was in the midst of 8 months of not riding. I finally got an offer for around 2000.. I said forget it.. I'll just keep it and let my newbie friends ride it..
Now I'm back riding so glad to have kept it...
 
RIGID said:
Escape Collective did a 4-part podcast on the bike industry. Part 4 was almost like looking into the future about Trek. The person was hired to do logistics and operations and was blown away on how manual and siloed they were.

Here's some of the transcripts.
"And then we had we just had to panic like work with our three PL who will unreal through this. And they just managed to find storage facilities and dump bikes and really, totally don't one of them was like a makeshift carpark. Underground, like secure carpark. Yeah, incredible. And they were just putting bikes in there. So we knew what was on the shipments. But once they went in there, there was no inventory tracking, no control, there's no system set up. So we're like, I think there's those bikes over there. These bikes, and they were just stacked randomly. So it was a nightmare, like with up to around 60 to 70,000 bikes in the store in warehouses."

"If trek is going through this, it's a safe assumption to make that other big brands are to actually I've been told this directly from some of the biggest brands in the world. So you don't need to assume anything. If the magnitude of the problem that Matt describes for trek exists in little old Australia, New Zealand, multiply this problem by 10 for the US and 20 for Europe, and keep going with many other regions around the world. And then do it again for the other big brands."
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I normally don’t listen to cycling podcasts but this is interesting. Thanks for posting!
 
doublewide said:
I'm sure the shop made a ton of money on your "My deal was so good I bet I paid less than any of you who bought bikes this year" bike. :Roflmao
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Hey - I deleted that comment and now you've used it three times! How dare you use my own words to point out inconsistencies in my commentary. :oops:
But - I did help the shop by buying stuff they had not yet sold. Don't worry, they made a killing off of me for the chain lube I bought!
 
Sasquatch9billion said:
I know our traffic is down on the site but, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Kona Bikes drama going down right now. The parent company did announce they're looking for a buyer late today-according to another bike site.
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“$100 million credit facility from asset-based lender (ABL) Eclipse Business Capital”

almost a sure sign they’ll get over leveraged, and then declared bankrupt. Sad.
 
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