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I just noticed that Vecusu has wisely closed a BD related thread with this statement:
Thread closing. When it was about the bikes themselves it was marginally acceptable. But this has devolved into a discussion about the company. Start a new thread if you wish to discuss the existential nature of bikesdirect. I'll grab some popcorn if that happens.
__________________
Vecsus
The thread did not bother me; but it was strange in terms of reaction by some members.
However, the thread helped me refocus on our mission.
Simply put: Providing High Grade Bikes at Lowest Prices That We Can
This is important to me and has been for 30 years. I have always had some criticism for doing this. Started when I began selling full nouvo record campy Colnago, Viner, Masi, and such for under $1000 - I was shocked how many people did not like that; but many loved it.
My feeling is it is an important mission to try to get cyclists on the best bike that they can afford; even though I know there are those that object to that.
In today's environment and economy it becmoes more important; I feel
Many may have heard; prices on bikes are going up - most companies have started with a 5% increase [that is only the beginning]
The best detailed reasons I have seen came from one of our suppliers:
1) The US dollar has lost 9% of its value to the major Asian currencies in the last 6 months. This is a significant issue for us as an importer, and the dollar continues to be highly volatile.
2) Raw material prices have skyrocketed in price; aluminum and steel prices are escalating without check. Recent flooding in Australia just raised iron ore prices by $500 a ton.
3) A flood in Indonesia resulted in a shortage of raw latex and rubber prices have gone up 40% in the last 6 months, with suppliers adjusting prices almost weekly.
4) Transportation costs are on the rise again as oil rebounds and impacts us on many levels, from moving product into the factory, shipping them to our warehouse and then sending on to you. Fuel prices will be going up, you hear it everywhere and we are already impacted with our transportation costs. We are already seeing this at the gas pump.
5) Inflation in Asia is very high, we were just informed the Chinese will raise minimum wage by 18% this coming March. Even though labor is not a high content on the cost of building a bicycle, it will result in increases.
6) Energy costs are rising and as a result the expenses in the manufacturing environment are rising along with them.
This is a forum on 29ers; so I should discuss my desire to get a nice multi speed AL 29er under $400 or a nice Ti 29er under $1700 or a nice FS 29er under $1300 - but some would object to details on that. And it maybe hard with todays increasing prices anyway.
But I think it might be interesting to talk about two examples of what we do:
Mini Velo: several factories presented me with the opportunity to introduce their Mini Velo in USA - one sample I got would have been $1500 to customers another would have been about $800. I thought these bikes would be fun 2nd, 3rd, or backup bikes for lots of people. But I understand not everyone has an extra $1500 laying around - so I designed 2 models that could be sold for under $300 delivered
Not for eeveryone but some cyclists will love these - with the help from a few forum members I was able to make some design improvements and we will try these out. Key to me is that people can afford them.
Classic City Bikes: the bikes that I saw as a kid in the 50s as being the import style bike from europe is back; made a bit more modern. Several makers have these but I felt the prices were just to high [as much as $600 for a single speed city bike and $900 for a 3-speed IGH]; so I reworked this concept a bit
and wanted to make this type of fun stylish practical bike available at the lowest cost I could. I wanted a bike at $199 delivered but for the reasons so well spelled out above I could only get a bit under $250. I think new riders, commuters, and just about any cyclist could enjoy an extra bike like this around the house. Key to me is that people can afford them.
These are examples of the existential nature of bikesdirect; our mission and what we do.
Our customers seem to like it and it brings us all a lot of joy to get people on quality bikes they can enjoy at a price that they can afford.
Thread closing. When it was about the bikes themselves it was marginally acceptable. But this has devolved into a discussion about the company. Start a new thread if you wish to discuss the existential nature of bikesdirect. I'll grab some popcorn if that happens.
__________________
Vecsus
The thread did not bother me; but it was strange in terms of reaction by some members.
However, the thread helped me refocus on our mission.
Simply put: Providing High Grade Bikes at Lowest Prices That We Can
This is important to me and has been for 30 years. I have always had some criticism for doing this. Started when I began selling full nouvo record campy Colnago, Viner, Masi, and such for under $1000 - I was shocked how many people did not like that; but many loved it.
My feeling is it is an important mission to try to get cyclists on the best bike that they can afford; even though I know there are those that object to that.
In today's environment and economy it becmoes more important; I feel
Many may have heard; prices on bikes are going up - most companies have started with a 5% increase [that is only the beginning]
The best detailed reasons I have seen came from one of our suppliers:
1) The US dollar has lost 9% of its value to the major Asian currencies in the last 6 months. This is a significant issue for us as an importer, and the dollar continues to be highly volatile.
2) Raw material prices have skyrocketed in price; aluminum and steel prices are escalating without check. Recent flooding in Australia just raised iron ore prices by $500 a ton.
3) A flood in Indonesia resulted in a shortage of raw latex and rubber prices have gone up 40% in the last 6 months, with suppliers adjusting prices almost weekly.
4) Transportation costs are on the rise again as oil rebounds and impacts us on many levels, from moving product into the factory, shipping them to our warehouse and then sending on to you. Fuel prices will be going up, you hear it everywhere and we are already impacted with our transportation costs. We are already seeing this at the gas pump.
5) Inflation in Asia is very high, we were just informed the Chinese will raise minimum wage by 18% this coming March. Even though labor is not a high content on the cost of building a bicycle, it will result in increases.
6) Energy costs are rising and as a result the expenses in the manufacturing environment are rising along with them.
This is a forum on 29ers; so I should discuss my desire to get a nice multi speed AL 29er under $400 or a nice Ti 29er under $1700 or a nice FS 29er under $1300 - but some would object to details on that. And it maybe hard with todays increasing prices anyway.
But I think it might be interesting to talk about two examples of what we do:
Mini Velo: several factories presented me with the opportunity to introduce their Mini Velo in USA - one sample I got would have been $1500 to customers another would have been about $800. I thought these bikes would be fun 2nd, 3rd, or backup bikes for lots of people. But I understand not everyone has an extra $1500 laying around - so I designed 2 models that could be sold for under $300 delivered
Classic City Bikes: the bikes that I saw as a kid in the 50s as being the import style bike from europe is back; made a bit more modern. Several makers have these but I felt the prices were just to high [as much as $600 for a single speed city bike and $900 for a 3-speed IGH]; so I reworked this concept a bit
These are examples of the existential nature of bikesdirect; our mission and what we do.
Our customers seem to like it and it brings us all a lot of joy to get people on quality bikes they can enjoy at a price that they can afford.
