- Active Topics
- Forums
- Create Topic
-
7 minutes ago, Lance Stephenson said:Look at the Youngster in the Squirt Kit...Mullet. Super skinny....He smoked the solo men category at the Dr Evil. Sep 2013
Being stared down by a weird stalker with a long mane 😂….
2
1
3 minutes ago, Jbr said:yeaaaaaaah... considering his zone2 ends where most other athletes metabolic/tempo zone ends, not that slow 🤣
Ya 480W FTP isn’t even my zone 9
Saw this posted on one of the sites in the week. Didn’t see anything in SA. Is there an FSA distributor in SA?
Big hours going slowly
smaller hours going very fast
7
1 hour ago, droo said:https://www.giant-bicycles.com/int/power-pro-power-meter-ultegra-r8000-2020
There's a newer one as well, can't find it on the Giant site though.
That’s the same Stages Gen3 based unit on the Giant Australia website👍
7 minutes ago, droo said:Already happened, Giant branded Ultegra PMs have been around for a while. And substantially cheaper than the Stages ones.
Thanks Droo, is it listed in their site?
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C57I6gdM9zY/?igsh=MXRhb2FyMXc2OHdqdw==
for the that course wasn’t technical group
So it turns out Stages owes Giant a ton of cash and Giant is sueing Stages to settle the unpaid invoices totalling $13million ish.
Four of Stages top execs have now joined Giant so lets wait for the technology to re-emerge under the Giant brand. Giant already builds the Stages bike computer and all the indoor bikes.
5
1
1
38 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:do staff work for free ?
do buildings cost nothing to run ?
is R&D free?
quoting material costs is being disingenuous, there are many other costs involved.
Are the companies making a tidy profit ? I'm pretty sure they are, but I dont think its as big a profit as everyone thinks.
Overheads like rental and salaries have not increased dramatically since inflation in the USA and Europe was low. China has seen drastic salary increases off a very low base hence I didn’t include these as driving bicycle retail pricing
57 minutes ago, PregoRoll said:alrighty then.
Much of the love and joy we get out of watching events, participating in events and seeing our heros dropping watts comes directly from Manufacturers efforts in the industry. Be it from revenue gain and reinvestment into the sport (Have a look at what Spez does for disadvantaged riders around the world) or from partnerships with other brands and event managers.
This is often funded from profits of sales and extra campaigns from unused marketing budgets.
If we would all like to go back to 2004 when there was barely any televised racing, Sponsored athletes and "good faith initiatives" then we can. Then you can have that super cheap bike with the fancy brand on the side. But that is not where we are.
Sure, manufacturers could drop some margin, I don't doubt that. But at what cost to the general industry and all those that benefit off of the brands reputation and reach?
My other main point regarding Support. We know how important a good Support Team is for a brand. We see major brands with infinite budgets unable to fulfill basic requests. Should they be visited with pitchforks because their prices are high but service is trash? No. You all keep purchasing their products. So why would they do anything to improve it?
Many, many "High roller" brands offer exceptional support service, Why? Because you bloody paid for it. Warranties arent free and are worked into the manufacturing price.
I think the social benefit aspect of bicycle marketing is the same as green washing. It’s overblown to justify high product pricing. I get it that raw material costs are higher and if anything is responsible for driving carbon bicycle prices upward it high energy prices ; crude, gas, and renewable.
add taxes and distribution costs plus distribution margins that shave all crept upward as more people in the supply chain cash in on the margins available.
In sa, exchange rate and import tariffs all add up .
everyone’s standard of living has improved over the past 20yrs.
a few things we as cyclists need to get over;
we don’t need a new bike every year
we don’t need n+1 <puts on flame proofs>
we don’t need top of the range bikes with xx1 axs when GX axs works just as nicely and even xo1 mech
we don’t need a new bib every week
1 hour ago, Shebeen said:I can see the power meter market being incredibly cut-throat going forward.
The technology has matured, the market has stabilised and it's ripe for a price war.
Problem is that most people who need a pm have one already, and they paid a lot for their current unit. Trying to get them to upgrade or increase the market is only possible with pricing getting slashed. You saw a similar thing with HRM watches and GPS units, but the market could handle both budget options and higher priced premium products. Power meters can only add convenience and accuracy going forward, and that will plateau (if not already).
In 3 years I see half the players left, charging half the price.
(the tech is exploding in sailing, but the pricing is still bonkers. https://theyachtrigger.com/cyclops-smart-link/#smartlink-products)
We can see this already. Favero is quickly becoming an aftermarket sales leader by offering good current value for a pm and they have options for the popular pedal interfaces. This is key to success.
4 minutes ago, betaboy said:I wonder if Sram would be interested in bringing Stages in-house and integrating into a new line. The electrical components are coming in leaps and bounds. LOOK have invested as they see the Chinese coming hard from a price point, so it’s will be a price war with established companies versus new kids. South Africa is a small market so tend to have limited supply and demand, so we do get milked but online has reshaped the consumers shopping habits. I see the LBS taking hard knocks to keep up with tech trends.
SRAM already own powertap and quarq. A third power meter company brings. No value. If shimano can swallow their pride they should buy Stages since they don’t know how to make a reliable powermeter on their own
i don’t think stages has anything proprietary that is worth purchasing . 4iiii does a crank arm conversion very well and offers left and dual sided at a lower cost.
2
15 minutes ago, ChrisF said:
Not sure if this is just an SA thing ....
A friend rented a bike at Bloemendal .... got hooked on MTB.
Bought a second hand HT .... I used a lot of my spares to fix that bike properly.
Took him about 2 months to reach the point where he "needed" a full suspension .... despite me introducing him to @Me rida my bicycle and explaining to him that it is the RIDER, not the bike, yada yada ....
Bought a full suspension off Bike Market .... this time I did not get involved in fixing it up ....
Took about 3 or 4 months until he broke the budget to buy a brand spanking new Scott Spark full suspension ....
Rode it HARD !! Lots of air time .... and could not (would not) understand why he had to keep taking it back to the dealer for the one suspension issue after the other. (my guess - he kept on bottoming it out with hard landings). Then winter came ... lekker om in die modder te speel ....
Two extreme mud events and the bike took a serious hammering, all this before the bike had even reached 1 000km.
He refused to pay for a true strip down and rebuild .... not surprisingly a few components have since seen early failure. Currently hanging on the wall as he cant get spares for the freebody, and wont pay up for a new freebody .... So a nice frame hanging on the wall, and no cycling ....
Sorry, back to the point .... is this an SA thing where "we have to" progress to the latest and greatest" at the expense of our budget ? His version of this "expensive hobby" may well put people off MTB ... while in reality that 2nd hand full suss could still have been serving him WELL, and the sport could have been relatively affordable ....
Well right here in bikehub land we keep telling people that longer lower slacker is better and to stay off those murderous 69 degree HA monsters.
we fulfill our own prophecies here. Just get people out on bikes should be the objective
5
2
5 minutes ago, shaper said:The China effect is yet to come I think... quietly they are jacking up their quality of frames which are now becoming UCI Approved at half the price, as well as opening distributor networks world wide for warranty etc.
https://elvesbike.com/product.php?lm=8
as well as their wheels like Elite Wheels etc
Oh yes this is potentially an industry saviour but I wasn’t referring to this. I was referring the rapidly growing middle class in China that is quite brand conscious and looks to spend on brands like pinarello, colnago, Look , Parlee etc. That volume is keeping those boutique brands going.
we established brands like rolls Royce , Ferrari , are making money hand over fist becssue while a recession is happening , the rich are immune and profit off of that recession. High prices bicycles are targeting those wallets but that’s a highly competitive market.
back to stages, I suspect they were more a victim of being dependant on Shimano to supply their cranks to sell power meters . The exercise bikes and gym closures is a big factor but the power meter market needed them to produce their own crank or couple their on technology to something more transferable and generic.
they have taken a hit with the crank recall, with the supply shortage post covid while there was a sales boom and now a down turn. They were just not well positioned to absorb these crests and troughs. Being more self sufficient could have saved them
30 minutes ago, lechatnoir said:if they charge 250k and people buy it, then the price point isn't wrong. sure they could charge less and likely have a greater turnover from that model, but where would the exclusivity be if they charged less? that perception has a trickle down benefit for their other models.
but for stages though, none of that applies. their demise is collateral damage from a very broken industry
The word sustainability comes to mind.
over pricing may still result in continued sales but it is not sustainable in a declining market. This is were premium brands will always have an edge because “pedigree “
30 minutes ago, splat said:In other news, Colnago is heading in the other direction:
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/the-pogacar-premium-colnago-bucks-the-market-trend-and-triples-turnover-in-three-years/
That’s the China effect
3 hours ago, shaper said:Looks like Stages power meters going to bankruptcy
https://escapecollective.com/stages-cycling-lays-off-entire-workforce/
This is terrible news
Just now, Mamil said:I'm not sure you need a sports doctor so much as a specialist physician for a full medical assessment and workup.
Yeah that’s what I was thinking. Sounds like a lot more going on here that resulting in poor recovery and muscle build.
i’d say go see a specialist , pathologist and if anything are sure ours familiar with SAIDS guidelines if you plan to continue in sport.
20 hours ago, Jva said:Herewith the final update.
So Assos got back to me, gave me a voucher to buy a replacement pair of bibs on their international website including shipping, just did that and fingers crossed will have a new pair of bibs by the weekend.
Their feedback is that the reason for the wear is the saddle and they suggest I change saddles, I will investigate and look at that option. ( for interest I had my saddle measured and set up for me by Specialized, also don`t have a saddle bag ?). My only and original question still is all my other bibs are ok, why just this particular one? Anyway lessons learnt. I really cannot fault Assos Switzerland for their after sale service and will definitely give them a big thumbs up. I wish more companies had this type of after sale support.👍😀
The shape of the chamois plays a role here. One of the reasons I didn’t get along with the power saddle or any of the other brand names it’s sold under is that the saddle flares too gradually so my thighs would rub the saddle all the time. My assos bibs have the thickest pads, but with thin wings, of all my bibs so it would pinch my nutt. A saddle with a narrower nose and a more aggressive flare out to the width is better suited to me and my assos bibs.
my ciovita bibs pads feel thick but they’re softer so under compression they’re a little more accommodating on a wide nose saddle. The result is in ciovita I now have to buy the supremo with it thicker pad but thinner wings or Vye bibs to avoid this nutt cracking effect.
These are elements worthy of consideration when purchasing bibs and contact points
29 minutes ago, Bosbrommer said:I am selling mine in next week. As new condition. Factory 34 SC in black.
“Mint”…
too early in the week?
14 hours ago, Bicycle Yard WESTERN CAPE said:J bend 28H
I don’t think these were available in anything other than j bend?
Stages Power Meters lay off entire workforce
in The Bike Room
Posted
There were quite a few supply chain challenges post Covid. Our biggest problem is still exchange rate. SA will need to align with either the West or the East eventually. The fence sitting isn't helping our cause either way