Is the inflated Bike market finally crashing?

Hate to be the bearer of (more) bad news but the used bike market is going to explode this Spring, cutting into LBS sales tremendously.

Hope y’all banked some of that Covid profit. 😳
 
Portsmouth NH lost one of their LBSs, I was looking to kill time yesterday and found out Pedal Power Cycles is closed. Small shop, but they were friendly. I bought a few things there over the years I've been up here for work. Colonial Cycles about a mile up the road and Papa Wheelies in town are still open.
 
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mfennell said:
Costco bikes? It's hard to imagine loving building those!
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Have you checked them out? They're not Walmart bikes in that most of the bikes Costco sells have components that are held together with hex bolts, threadless stems and forks, and easily replaceable components that we're all familiar with. Not like the Bike Shaped Objects (BSOs) at Walmart where you'll need a screw driver, adjustable wrench, and a set of sockets to put them together. Most of the brands Costco have are not common to us but they do sell the Intense 951 also. I'm not suggesting they're a legit place for us by any stretch as a place to go for our riding needs and I kind of said that with tongue in cheek but I've helped my neighbors fix/adjust their BSO bikes and the Costco ones are steps above them. In fact a neighbor bought a bike for his son from Walmart and he asked me to give it a once over because he said something didn't seem right. I did just that with him watching and I pointed a few things out to him and suggested he return it and get a bike from a bike shop. I think the fact that he was there and was able to see why cheap bikes are cheap when I pointed them out and is potentially unsafe he promptly returned it and went to our LBS and got a Trek for his son which he loves. I gave his son's Trek a once over with him there and the bike was perfect. I pinpointed out the deficiencies that was on the Walmart bike compared to the Trek to confirm that he made the right choice. I also reminded him that once his kid outgrows the Trek it is much easier to sell it than a disposible Walmart bike. Working on Costco bikes are a lot more like working on my own bikes than the BSOs from Walmart, Amazon, eBay, etc. Just my opinion.
 
tonyride said:
Have you checked them out? They're not Walmart bikes in that most of the bikes Costco sells have components that are held together with hex bolts, threadless stems and forks, and easily replaceable components that we're all familiar with. Not like the Bike Shaped Objects (BSOs) at Walmart where you'll need a screw driver, adjustable wrench, and a set of sockets to put them together. Most of the brands Costco have are not common to us but they do sell the Intense 951 also. I'm not suggesting they're a legit place for us by any stretch as a place to go for our riding needs and I kind of said that with tongue in cheek but I've helped my neighbors fix/adjust their BSO bikes and the Costco ones are steps above them. In fact a neighbor bought a bike for his son from Walmart and he asked me to give it a once over because he said something didn't seem right. I did just that with him watching and I pointed a few things out to him and suggested he return it and get a bike from a bike shop. I think the fact that he was there and was able to see why cheap bikes are cheap when I pointed them out and is potentially unsafe he promptly returned it and went to our LBS and got a Trek for his son which he loves. I gave his son's Trek a once over with him there and the bike was perfect. I pinpointed out the deficiencies that was on the Walmart bike compared to the Trek to confirm that he made the right choice. I also reminded him that once his kid outgrows the Trek it is much easier to sell it than a disposible Walmart bike. Working on Costco bikes are a lot more like working on my own bikes than the BSOs from Walmart, Amazon, eBay, etc. Just my opinion.
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True, I though about that Intense. They were selling for 3,500 (with 500 gift card back) a month or two ago. That's a lot of bike for the money and the Costco warranty can't be beat.

That being said, I've never seen the expensive bikes in store. The ones in store (like the Northrock XC27) seem to have one assembled unit for display with the boxes behind it for purchase. I don't think they have anyone assembling them for customers like the other big box stores.
 
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xmonger said:
T

True, I though about that Intense. They were selling for 3,500 (with 500 gift card back) a month or two ago. That's a lot of bike for the money and the Costco warranty can't be beat.

That being said, I've never seen the expensive bikes in store. The ones in store (like the Northrock XC27) seem to have one assembled unit for display with the boxes behind it for purchase. I don't think they have anyone assembling them for customers like the other big box stores.
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I can't find the photo, but I once had three identical Northrock Beach Cruisers in the store, all from different customers. Each one had the front fender installed correctly, but the fork it was attached to was backwards on each bike. At least they are consistent.
 
jimvreeland said:
In Summit we could survive on Bankers alone.
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I was talking to someone about this and how your shop is in a unique location because of the money.

Id imagine, the pre Specialized ownership, you guys were able to commit annually to a certain amount of S-Work bikes. Thats a tough to do year after year.
 
tonyride said:
Have you checked them out? They're not Walmart bikes in that most of the bikes Costco sells have components that are held together with hex bolts, threadless stems and forks, and easily replaceable components that we're all familiar with. Not like the Bike Shaped Objects (BSOs) at Walmart where you'll need a screw driver, adjustable wrench, and a set of sockets to put them together. Most of the brands Costco have are not common to us but they do sell the Intense 951 also. I'm not suggesting they're a legit place for us by any stretch as a place to go for our riding needs and I kind of said that with tongue in cheek but I've helped my neighbors fix/adjust their BSO bikes and the Costco ones are steps above them. In fact a neighbor bought a bike for his son from Walmart and he asked me to give it a once over because he said something didn't seem right. I did just that with him watching and I pointed a few things out to him and suggested he return it and get a bike from a bike shop. I think the fact that he was there and was able to see why cheap bikes are cheap when I pointed them out and is potentially unsafe he promptly returned it and went to our LBS and got a Trek for his son which he loves. I gave his son's Trek a once over with him there and the bike was perfect. I pinpointed out the deficiencies that was on the Walmart bike compared to the Trek to confirm that he made the right choice. I also reminded him that once his kid outgrows the Trek it is much easier to sell it than a disposible Walmart bike. Working on Costco bikes are a lot more like working on my own bikes than the BSOs from Walmart, Amazon, eBay, etc. Just my opinion.
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I always hated working on bso when I was wrenching. I would always try to gently lead customers into buying a real bike, but would still try to make a bso work as well as I could. I figured that there’s a potential future cyclist there, and having a bike working correctly gave them a better chance of enjoying it and getting hooked.
 
TJYeti said:
I always hated working on bso when I was wrenching. I would always try to gently lead customers into buying a real bike, but would still try to make a bso work as well as I could. I figured that there’s a potential future cyclist there, and having a bike working correctly gave them a better chance of enjoying it and getting hooked.
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Yup, I like to show them why they should buy a real bike from a bike shop rather than just telling them they should. One person said his brakes feel squishy, noisy, and didn't have enough stopping power. I adjusted the brakes the best I could and then pointed out why it is impossible to have any more braking power. I would squeeze the brakes and rock the bike back and forth showing how much the calipers flex. Then I would point out how the seat stays would bow out when brakes are applied. That's just one example. One guy has a bike with mechanical disk brakes but the calipers had a lot of play in them and wiggled a lot. I showed that to him also and said that's just how they're made. I think he still has that bike though but I never saw him ride it. I guess some people just can't spend more than a couple hundred bucks on a bike.
 
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In case anyone else is in the market for a new bike Specialized is having a nice sale right now.
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Steve Vai said:
OMG. The amount of regional and support people that bring nothing to the table and still pull a Salary is absurd.
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This is our model in general. Especially any government function. Not specific at all to the bike industry.
 
GreenMachine said:
MTB - bike market in major trouble ;
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I trust not many of us are surprised by this assessment. It does bring to mind the very long, extremely enlightening and entertaining thread from the Covid era that basically bashed the GP’s ignorance of all things 2 wheeled. If I recall correctly the consumer was soundly bashed, mocked and driven from the doors of LBS’s. Is that thread archived ?
🍿🍿🍿
 
ryderX said:
I trust not many of us are surprised by this assessment. It does bring to mind the very long, extremely enlightening and entertaining thread from the Covid era that basically bashed the GP’s ignorance of all things 2 wheeled. If I recall correctly the consumer was soundly bashed, mocked and driven from the doors of LBS’s. Is that thread archived ?
🍿🍿🍿
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The used bike market also really stagnant .
A lot of the new bikes are also kitted out in “ sx - nx “ at absurd prices .
 
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