[email protected] wrote:
> Last night I was visiting a friend. Some people in his neighbourhood
> are building a 1.5million dollar house. It is 8.000 square feet with a
> 7.000 square foot hangar. They are only a family of four. I think that
> if they own bikes they will have the $200 deraillerus and it won't make
> one bitof difference.
>
> I was reading in an old issue of bussiness week that they high priced
> bicycle market is the one that is growing the most. There are lots of
> profits to be made in bikes above $5000, and lots of bikes being made
> in the $6000 to $10000 dollar range. I think that this is actually good
> and is giving life to the LBS. The LBSs in El Paso are actually doing
> very well.
>
> I was talking to a friend who owns an LBS and he was telling me that
> people like us are the worse clients in the world. We buy 1 tire, two
> tubes, and maybe a pair of shorts a year,and we complain that they are
> too expensive. We do all our repair work, and some of us are still
> using the same campy record derailleurs and shifters from 15 yrs ago.
> When that one fails, we may go to our junk bin and pull a suntour honor
> from our first bike so that we can keep riding.
>
> His market is in the newbies and the wealthier people that will spend
> $200 w/o problems in a repair or fancy clothes and thousands in new
> bikes. One of his clients has a Merlin with record components. He
> needed a new chainring for his cranks, but he said that he didn't like
> to have bikes with mixed parts. so, he ordered a new crank for his
> merlin and a new colnago c40.
>
> Andres
>
I recently helped my friend select and buy a *used* bike. This fellow
has plenty of disposable income (works as a VP in a public technology
company), but just didn't understand why bikes should cost over
$350-400. We had a good discussion about it, and pretty much concluded
that bikes in US are in the "luxury market." He cited as evidence that
there was no way the "average" person in China (which is probably now
the primary exporter of bikes, and where there still are more bikes
than cars, even now) would have paid been able to afford $400 for a new
bike. In other words, why the instantaneous mark-up once they get
shipped to these shores?
Prior to this purchase he rode a low-end lead-plumbing Shimano
"Tourney" equipped commuter bike, purchased from Costco, virtual daily
(i.e. weather permitting). It was only retired because the cost to
replace worn components on it exceeded the original cost of the bike.
While I am not extravagant myself, I myself would probably not balk
paying about $1K for a new bike every 5 to 10 yrs. But this guy would
not have done this under any circumstances. Which was why I steered
him toward used bike market.
He bought 10 year old bike, full Deore XT equipped, virtually unused,
as in NOS condition, for slightly over $200. While he appreciates the
mechanical precision of this bike over the older one, I still don't
think he would pay anywhere near $400 for a new bike when the time
comes.
It's just amazing to me the difference in "utilitarian" and
"recreational" marketplace. You look at bike marketing in the US these
days, bikes are really marketed as status symbols, and not as a means
of reliable transportation.
>
>
> Tim McNamara wrote:
> > Alex Rodriguez <[email protected]> writes:
> >
> > > In article <[email protected]>,
> > > [email protected] says...
> > >
> > >>what does it do for $200?
> > >
> > >
> > > The same thing your $15 cheapo Shimano derailleur does. It just
> > > looks prettier while doing it. People will pay more for prettier.
> >
> > Prettier, lighter *and* cooler than yours are a successful marketing
> > combination.
