29er Encroachment on the SS board!
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SS % on this board is rising too
It seems to me that an awful lot of the new 29rs being shown off here are single speeds............maybe because an SS 29r is the closest thing to the perfect bikePadre said:Heh heh....there are two pretty active threads on the SS board...1 about a Rig and 1 about an SS KM...it seems their owners didn't even know about this board... pretty cool to see more people "seeing the light!"
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you nailed it. The 29'er single speed feels more like true trail bike, a BMX bike designed for single track. I'm riding a 20" Karate monkey, 34 x19. It shreds!Mattman said:......maybe because an SS 29r is the closest thing to the perfect bike
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And there were postings about 29"ers even before that......shiggy said:
The big difference is that 6 years ago there were a lot less of them willing to entertain the concept.
It sure is funny though that for all the smack talk since '99 about no tire options, no suspension options blah, blah, blah, you see rigid bikes running Nano's to this day.
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So true Bigwheel. Of the people that used to complain, and even still do, various probably are actually riding rigid with Nano's.
I sure am one of them, and even raced that setup 8 days ago. Had nothing constructive to complain about that setup. I myself was the weak link, I had put the bike together, and it failed on me, 10 times in one hour I dropped a chain...
I sure am one of them, and even raced that setup 8 days ago. Had nothing constructive to complain about that setup. I myself was the weak link, I had put the bike together, and it failed on me, 10 times in one hour I dropped a chain...
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Agreed, the number of 29" related postings on the SS board seems to have skyrocketed in the last 6 months or so. There seems to now be a great deal of openness towards the 29" thing among the responses to these posts -- which until recently was often not the case. Even though certainly not everyone is into the 29" thing, it seems most people on the SS board now accept the choice of big wheels at least as much as they accept a particular choice of frame material, or saddle, or suspension fork, or tire, or headset.Bigwheel said:And there were postings about 29"ers even before that......
The big difference is that 6 years ago there were a lot less of them willing to entertain the concept.
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The 29er "killer app" ...
I think the bike companies could really market this idea if they tried. Associate 29er with single speeds. This is the foot in the door that could lead to wider market acceptance and ultimately getting the component costs down.GlowBoy said:
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Boring market analysis rant, all rights reserved.
Unless you offer an outstanding product or price, demand for it is always going to be marketing-depending.
If a company decides to market 29", such that it's effectively a replacement for 26"ers offered by the many competitiors on the market, sales will simply grow at the cost of those 26"ers.
Would all 29" Fisher owners now be riding 26" Fishres if it weren't for 29"? In the beginning, many customers came from loyal Fisher riders, but those are running out, they already ride 29".
Right now people everywhere on this globe are deciding towards 29". The few companies that offer them, get their business, others, not.
Look at Specialized, and imagine 29" is now 1% of the market (actually less probably).
They won't be hurt right now not offering any 29"ers, but they would at least sell 1% more bikes (very big deal in a boardroom meeting) if they would. Actually, them joining would most propbably function as a catalyst for the acceptance of 29", and attract a lot of attention. "Wow, even Specialized is now doing them, it MUST be the big new thing". I wouldn't be surprised if Specialized would prove unable to make enough 29"ers to answer to demand.
Surly has been out of KM's for months. But I don't think it's their stock policy to have the product only 6 months a year. They just sell faster than they can finance/stock/build them. And don't forget, we're talking about a 6lb XC rigid frame+fork here. Very, very niche normally, but now that there's still minimal brand diversity, they get a disproportionate marketshare. Once 29" is 10% or 50% of the market, surely they won't sell 10x or 50x more, as there will be other offerings closer to what the customers normally would have bought. A nice thing about the KM is that because of it's unique position in the market, being reagarded the best handling stock frame, while being many people's first 29"er, it also converts quite a few riders to steel and introduce them to singlespeed, where they normally wouldn't have tried that. With no-name 29" frame littering the market everywhere for $250 or less, the KM wouldn't be a "big" now, those intrigued people would have taken the then cheapest option to try 29", and never have considered steel or singlespeed. Now, many are probably hooked, simply because of the KM existing.
With the 29" and SS markets feeding each other, for now it works well, but if 29" as a product wants to sell big, it will have to let SS go a bit. There's no way everyone will ride SS one day, bankrupting Shimano and SRAM. Gearies will always outnumber SS'ers, and that's good. But 29" as a concept will probably (be made to) work for 95% or more of those now on 26" wheels. In those 5%, the riders under 4'11", dirt jumpers and 4-crossers. Just so much more market potential in 29" than SS, though SS definately has a bigger impact on the rider's well-being
Unless you offer an outstanding product or price, demand for it is always going to be marketing-depending.
If a company decides to market 29", such that it's effectively a replacement for 26"ers offered by the many competitiors on the market, sales will simply grow at the cost of those 26"ers.
Would all 29" Fisher owners now be riding 26" Fishres if it weren't for 29"? In the beginning, many customers came from loyal Fisher riders, but those are running out, they already ride 29".
Right now people everywhere on this globe are deciding towards 29". The few companies that offer them, get their business, others, not.
Look at Specialized, and imagine 29" is now 1% of the market (actually less probably).
They won't be hurt right now not offering any 29"ers, but they would at least sell 1% more bikes (very big deal in a boardroom meeting) if they would. Actually, them joining would most propbably function as a catalyst for the acceptance of 29", and attract a lot of attention. "Wow, even Specialized is now doing them, it MUST be the big new thing". I wouldn't be surprised if Specialized would prove unable to make enough 29"ers to answer to demand.
Surly has been out of KM's for months. But I don't think it's their stock policy to have the product only 6 months a year. They just sell faster than they can finance/stock/build them. And don't forget, we're talking about a 6lb XC rigid frame+fork here. Very, very niche normally, but now that there's still minimal brand diversity, they get a disproportionate marketshare. Once 29" is 10% or 50% of the market, surely they won't sell 10x or 50x more, as there will be other offerings closer to what the customers normally would have bought. A nice thing about the KM is that because of it's unique position in the market, being reagarded the best handling stock frame, while being many people's first 29"er, it also converts quite a few riders to steel and introduce them to singlespeed, where they normally wouldn't have tried that. With no-name 29" frame littering the market everywhere for $250 or less, the KM wouldn't be a "big" now, those intrigued people would have taken the then cheapest option to try 29", and never have considered steel or singlespeed. Now, many are probably hooked, simply because of the KM existing.
With the 29" and SS markets feeding each other, for now it works well, but if 29" as a product wants to sell big, it will have to let SS go a bit. There's no way everyone will ride SS one day, bankrupting Shimano and SRAM. Gearies will always outnumber SS'ers, and that's good. But 29" as a concept will probably (be made to) work for 95% or more of those now on 26" wheels. In those 5%, the riders under 4'11", dirt jumpers and 4-crossers. Just so much more market potential in 29" than SS, though SS definately has a bigger impact on the rider's well-being
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