How Could There Be So Many 'Bent Makers???

NYC XYZ said:

How could there be so many makers of 'bents, given that there seems to
be so small a market for it

Same way there are lots of small custom building DF bike outfits...
They make quality niche products for a small clientele and charge large
amounts of money, which said clientele feel is worth paying.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

What got me wondering was Reynolds Weld Labs folding recently.

I hope no one else goes under.

We need all the brains we can get working hard on this market!

Peter Clinch said:

Same way there are lots of small custom building DF bike outfits...
They make quality niche products for a small clientele and charge large
amounts of money, which said clientele feel is worth paying.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

It seems to me that recumbent builders (at least in the US) survive
when they are "not too big, not to small". Clearly BikeE and Vision
became too big! That is they could not sell enough bikes to cover
their corporate overhead and make money. Similarly I am guessing that
a one man operation like George Reynolds probably couldn't make enough
money per bike to compensate him for the extensive custom labor he put
into each of his bikes. I think RANS, Bacchetta, and Volae are
probably the "right" size companies. Yet I wonder how RANS and
Bacchettta can offer so many models. Volae seems to have a good thing
going. First, Volae is a natural extension of a very successful retail
bike business (HostelShoppe). Next, they are not trying to build and
market a dealership network. Finally, they have essentially one frame
with mutiple options manufactured by a rock solid manufacturer,
Waterford Bikes.

Jim Reilly

NYC XYZ said:

Reminds me of the ol' Commodore Amiga (hello, Wogster; 'member that,
too?), and how there were like fifteen separate magazines devoted to
it, with another twenty that regularly covered it due to its
revolutionary promise at the time...within a year there was but three
left....

Commodore 64, remember that one?

Quoted message said:

How could there be so many makers of 'bents, given that there seems to
be so small a market for it such that even NYC, Capital of the World,
hasn't got one damned 'bent dealer, with the closest one miles away and
available by special appointment during non-business hours only???

Well the recumbent market, is very small, I read somewhere that it
represents only 1% of the total bicycle market. So bike shops know this
and IMO cater to the masses, which is why if you want a bent you just
might have to travel a bit further to get one.

Quoted message said:

Then again, maybe us 'bent riders own two or three! I'm already
looking at the titanium Hase Pino tandem...how much is it?

Ken
--
You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're
having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

NYC XYZ said:

How could there be so many makers of 'bents, given that there seems to
be so small a market for it such that even NYC, Capital of the World,
hasn't got one damned 'bent dealer, with the closest one miles away and
available by special appointment during non-business hours only???

Quoted message said:

My impression is that there are many more bent dealers per capita in the
Northwest than there are in the Northeast. For instance, Burley lists 4
bike shops within 20 miles of the Portland city center that sell their
recumbents. It lists 2 within 20 miles of downtown Seattle, 3 for Los
Angeles. And only 1 for NYC. I think it's a regional thing, and that
bents are more popular in some areas of the country than others. I don't
know what factors drive that difference in popularity, but it seems like
I see many more bents on the streets of Portland than cities of
comparable size in the Northeast.

---
John Knez

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It seems to me that recumbent builders (at least in the US) survive
when they are "not too big, not to small". Clearly BikeE and Vision
became too big! That is they could not sell enough bikes to cover
their corporate overhead and make money. Similarly I am guessing that
a one man operation like George Reynolds probably couldn't make enough
money per bike to compensate him for the extensive custom labor he put
into each of his bikes. I think RANS, Bacchetta, and Volae are
probably the "right" size companies. Yet I wonder how RANS and
Bacchettta can offer so many models. Volae seems to have a good thing
going. First, Volae is a natural extension of a very successful retail
bike business (HostelShoppe). Next, they are not trying to build and
market a dealership network. Finally, they have essentially one frame
with mutiple options manufactured by a rock solid manufacturer,
Waterford Bikes.

Jim Reilly

There are other small successful builders too, and so far Catrike and
Whizwheels have built up their businesses to make and sell large quantities
of three wheelers. Don't forget about J&Bs EZ line of bent 2 nad 3 wheelers
available to any bike shop that's a J&B customer.

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"John Knez" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

NYC XYZ said:

How could there be so many makers of 'bents, given that there seems to
be so small a market for it such that even NYC, Capital of the World,
hasn't got one damned 'bent dealer, with the closest one miles away and
available by special appointment during non-business hours only???

Quoted message said:

My impression is that there are many more bent dealers per capita in the
Northwest than there are in the Northeast. For instance, Burley lists 4
bike shops within 20 miles of the Portland city center that sell their
recumbents. It lists 2 within 20 miles of downtown Seattle, 3 for Los
Angeles. And only 1 for NYC. I think it's a regional thing, and that
bents are more popular in some areas of the country than others. I don't
know what factors drive that difference in popularity, but it seems like
I see many more bents on the streets of Portland than cities of
comparable size in the Northeast.

---
John Knez

Keep in mind it's one thing to be "listed" as a bent dealer and quite
another to actually have product

(as I found out with Optima, Challenge and M5)

Mark Leuck said:

Keep in mind it's one thing to be "listed" as a bent dealer and quite
another to actually have product

(as I found out with Optima, Challenge and M5)

Double-LOL!!

Hase Spezialraeder listed some unusual US dealers -- a sleep-away
obediance school for dogs in North Carolina and wheelchair dealer in
Rhode Island, among others -- some of whom don't seem to actually sell
any Hase bikes!!!!

oldslowbenter said:

There are other small successful builders too, and so far Catrike and
Whizwheels have built up their businesses to make and sell large quantities
of three wheelers. Don't forget about J&Bs EZ line of bent 2 nad 3 wheelers
available to any bike shop that's a J&B customer.

I understand that J&B is anything but small - rather they are a major
player in the Taiwanese bicycle and bicycle component manufacturing
cartel.

--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley (For a bit?)

Ah yes. I forgot about all three! It seems that Catrike and
Whizwheels continue to refine their trikes from one year to the next.

Jim

Johnny Sunset said:

oldslowbenter said:

There are other small successful builders too, and so far Catrike and
Whizwheels have built up their businesses to make and sell large quantities
of three wheelers. Don't forget about J&Bs EZ line of bent 2 nad 3 wheelers
available to any bike shop that's a J&B customer.

I understand that J&B is anything but small - rather they are a major
player in the Taiwanese bicycle and bicycle component manufacturing
cartel.

AFAIK, they are a trading company, not a manufacturer, as such:
http://63.239.115.228/ they are a major player as you stated.

--
Michael J. Klein & Asian Castings Consortium
[email hidden]
Yangmei Jen (Hukou), Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan, ROC
Please replace mousepotato with asiancastings
Mozilla Thunderbird

"Michael J. Klein" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Johnny Sunset said:

oldslowbenter said:

There are other small successful builders too, and so far Catrike and
Whizwheels have built up their businesses to make and sell large
quantities
of three wheelers. Don't forget about J&Bs EZ line of bent 2 nad 3
wheelers
available to any bike shop that's a J&B customer.

I understand that J&B is anything but small - rather they are a major
player in the Taiwanese bicycle and bicycle component manufacturing
cartel.

Guess I should have started a new paragraph. The J&B was a comment on the
"not too big " that J Reilly made. Yes, J&B is a BIG player and has
distribution in many outlets not bent specific.that was my point.

Quoted message said:

AFAIK, they are a trading company, not a manufacturer, as such:
http://63.239.115.228/ they are a major player as you stated.

--
Michael J. Klein & Asian Castings Consortium
[email hidden]
Yangmei Jen (Hukou), Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan, ROC
Please replace mousepotato with asiancastings
Mozilla Thunderbird

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Ken M said:

Commodore 64, remember that one?

Yeah, but that was total mismanagement, not a marketing issue.
Actually, their marketing was great, being widely available at
mainstream consumer outlets at the time, and not just hobbyist
shops...like 'bents, say (and then, just barely!).

Quoted message said:

Well the recumbent market, is very small, I read somewhere that it
represents only 1% of the total bicycle market. So bike shops know this
and IMO cater to the masses, which is why if you want a bent you just
might have to travel a bit further to get one.

Do 'bent makers reach out to one another? Seems like since they all
seem to be cyclists first and foremost, maybe they wouldn't mind
sitting down together to hammer out some strategy to promote the sport
WRT 'bents in particular, thereby creating an ever-larger market for
themselves.

Of course, they'll need to work out how to deal with big boys like
Trek, etc., swooping in once they're successful....

Quoted message said:

Ken
--
You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're
having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

Michael J. Klein said:

Johnny Sunset said:

oldslowbenter said:

There are other small successful builders too, and so far Catrike and
Whizwheels have built up their businesses to make and sell large quantities
of three wheelers. Don't forget about J&Bs EZ line of bent 2 nad 3 wheelers
available to any bike shop that's a J&B customer.

I understand that J&B is anything but small - rather they are a major
player in the Taiwanese bicycle and bicycle component manufacturing
cartel.

AFAIK, they are a trading company, not a manufacturer, as such:
http://63.239.115.228/ they are a major player as you stated.

I understand that J&B has interests beyond distribution, but like many
business relationships today, the connections may not be obvious to the
public.

--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley (For a bit?)

NYC XYZ said:

Do 'bent makers reach out to one another? Seems like since they all
seem to be cyclists first and foremost, maybe they wouldn't mind
sitting down together to hammer out some strategy to promote the sport
WRT 'bents in particular, thereby creating an ever-larger market for
themselves.

Of course, they'll need to work out how to deal with big boys like
Trek, etc., swooping in once they're successful....

Are you familiar with the saga of the Trek R200? I doubt that Trek will
be marketing another recumbent anytime soon.

--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley (For a bit?)

Johnny Sunset said:

Are you familiar with the saga of the Trek R200? I doubt that Trek will
be marketing another recumbent anytime soon.

--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley (For a bit?)

Wasn't aware it was a whole "saga!" Looked too high-school-workshop to
me, though...not surprised it didn't take off. I can imagine folks who
are used to streamlined Trek DFs scratching their heads at something
costing twice as much looking like a middle school science project.

Ah, how to promote this kind of bike...what do y'all do for a living?
Don't we have any used car salesmen here??

I just got a DF in September after they stole my eight year-old...and I
was hedging on an Airborne deal at $1K! But $3K for a 'bent? After
counting so many sheep, your eyes close and you just murmur, "What's
money?"

Ain't there some kind of 'bent association? National Garage Tinkerers
Society of some kind?

Now I'm really curious...R200...Trek...googling!