Makro Cannondale

[bertusras]

Dos it matter? on Ali frames nothing much changes in one or two years bar the paint job. And to be honest SLX is SLX no matter what the year bar a few grams. So for less than half the price who cares. Regarding guarantees, do you really need one with the hoops you have to jump through anyway. 

 

At that price it does not matter

 

Except that it's not SLX? It's Altus and Acera.

[Nick]

Dos it matter? on Ali frames nothing much changes in one or two years bar the paint job. And to be honest SLX is SLX no matter what the year bar a few grams. So for less than half the price who cares. Regarding guarantees, do you really need one with the hoops you have to jump through anyway. 

 

At that price it does not matter

 

I was more intrigued by the sourcing of the bikes and deal around it. Year model gives an indication of sorts whether it is dumping of old stock from another market or Makro making a long-term play in the bike market.

[Edge_Design]

I think it is purely volume based.

In claremont/ kenilworth there are bike shops next to, few doors away or a couple of blocks down the road.

They are big shops, some have more than one branch and most of them sell omnico's products 

 

I'm guessing those shops are the ones that have been around for a very long time and have a long standing relationship. It would be much harder for new entrants to get those brands. I'm not sure if you are referring to Omnico's brands in general or Cannondale specifically as every bike shop will stock some Omnico products, but won't necessarily get access to all of them.

 

A few of those shops have since closed down and none of them stock Cannondale. My LBS stocks Omnico products, just can't get 'Dales (apparently). 

 

They appear to treat Cannondale as their premium brand and are probably very sensitive about who stocks them. When it comes to their Ryder products almost every bike shop in SA stocks those (presumably the 25 in Durban). I guess they are competing with the likes of Specialized so need to give a similar premium brand image.

[scubes]

The Cannondale Trail 7 and Trail 5 are coming to Makro- I asked them and this is their reply:

 

Our distribution and merchandise teams believe that the Trail 7 should be in all Makro stores by Friday 21st September with the second drop of Trail 7 and Trail 5 stock coming into stores around the 5th October.

 

On Cannondale's website the Trail 7 looks basic with Altus 2x9 and Suntour fork and Sunrace 11-36 on the back. Nice to see it is not a 3x9 at least. 

 

The Trail 5 looks a bit better with a Rockshox fork and it looks like a 1x10 setup with a 30T upfront and Sunrace 11-42 on the back. 

 

I don't know what Makro's pricing will be? And will the landed specs be the same as U.S. ones?

[Gnarly]

All good and well apart from the fact that there is only one 'dealer' in KZN and it's CL. 

 

My LBS sells plenty of bikes but apparently no matter what they have tried they can't get it right. Bit unfair if you ask me, don't think CL needs much protection.  

 

Not saying this is the case with your LBS, but have you ever thought they could be over their terms or credit limit with the supplier? And they just spin you a story that supplier wont supply. 

 

I think most would be shocked to know see how many distributors are owed money by the shops. 

[BikeisLife]

Not saying this is the case with your LBS, but have you ever thought they could be over their terms or credit limit with the supplier? And they just spin you a story that supplier wont supply. 

 

I think most would be shocked to know see how many distributors are owed money by the shops. 

I wasn't looking for one, was just having a general chat with them and told them I rode a buddies one and how wicked the lefty is and then they explained they've tried to stock them but they can't get it right.

 

Guess that could be the case, but I don't think so, they pretty honest with me about everything and I'm sure they wouldn't have brought it up for no reason, but who knows.

 

 

[Andymann]

I was more intrigued by the sourcing of the bikes and deal around it. Year model gives an indication of sorts whether it is dumping of old stock from another market or Makro making a long-term play in the bike market.

I've been following this thread with interest, because in 2006/2007 during the height of the CIT/Chicanes/Caynenne parallel Motorcycle import stage I was the Product Manger for Yamaha South Africa and I reckon I know exactly how Omnico are feeling.  We fought tooth and nail with Yamaha Japan about these non-official imports but the reality was at that stage, we were very minor players in the world market (for example an American Yamaha dealer sold more R1's in a month than we sold in a year).  To compound matters, the bikes being brought in were not direct from the Factory, but from a Dealer in Miami, who ordered excess stock, claimed the Volume Rebate form the Factory, and then sold them to whoever in the world needed bikes.  So Yamaha Japan didn't care less because they already had the sale.

 

My guess is this might be very similar - Makro had probably sourced these bikes from another store (Walmart?) and are just bringing them into SA.  They already have the Volume rebate, so whatever extra they make in margin here is SA is a bonus.

 

Sorry Omnico, but you won't win the "We aren't going to honor the Warranty battle" - so what you should do (which is how we did it at Yamaha) is welcome these imports into your dealerships for servicing - put a brief out and specifically say that in the interests of safety and the good Cannondale brand etc, etc, we would prefer to check these over ourselves at say R300 per service - at least then the dealer will get some sort of relationship going with the customer, and maybe when the time comes, you'll get him or her onto a more expensive (official) upgrade.

[Dicky DQ]

I've been following this thread with interest, because in 2006/2007 during the height of the CIT/Chicanes/Caynenne parallel Motorcycle import stage I was the Product Manger for Yamaha South Africa and I reckon I know exactly how Omnico are feeling.  We fought tooth and nail with Yamaha Japan about these non-official imports but the reality was at that stage, we were very minor players in the world market (for example an American Yamaha dealer sold more R1's in a month than we sold in a year).  To compound matters, the bikes being brought in were not direct from the Factory, but from a Dealer in Miami, who ordered excess stock, claimed the Volume Rebate form the Factory, and then sold them to whoever in the world needed bikes.  So Yamaha Japan didn't care less because they already had the sale.

 

My guess is this might be very similar - Makro had probably sourced these bikes from another store (Walmart?) and are just bringing them into SA.  They already have the Volume rebate, so whatever extra they make in margin here is SA is a bonus.

 

Sorry Omnico, but you won't win the "We aren't going to honor the Warranty battle" - so what you should do (which is how we did it at Yamaha) is welcome these imports into your dealerships for servicing - put a brief out and specifically say that in the interests of safety and the good Cannondale brand etc, etc, we would prefer to check these over ourselves at say R300 per service - at least then the dealer will get some sort of relationship going with the customer, and maybe when the time comes, you'll get him or her onto a more expensive (official) upgrade.

Looks like someone knows marketing here...

[Coolspin]

Looking at the specs that is nothing more than a R4499 bike. With a Cannondale decal for the brand conscious.

So you mean an entry level Cannondale then.

[Andymann]

We tried the whole warranty thing, we put out press releases, we even tried to register the Yamaha Tuning Fork here in SA as a trademark so we could claim Trademark fraud.  None of if worked, and actually all we did was piss off the customers and I believe even drove some of them away from the Authorized Dealers.

 

Parallel imports are not going away - Omnico needs to think smartly here.  They are not fake Cannondales, they are just not official ones - so welcome them and thank Makro for giving their bike Workshop more turnover!

Edited September 14, 2018 by Andymann

[Skubarra]

We tried the whole warranty thing, we put out press releases, we even tried to register the Yamaha Tuning Fork here in SA as a trademark so we could claim Trademark fraud.  None of if worked, and actually all we did was piss off the customers and I believe even drove some of them away from the Authorized Dealers.

 

Parallel imports are not going away - Omnico needs to think smartly here.  They are not fake Cannondales, they are just not official ones - so welcome them and thank Makro for giving their bike Workshop more turnover!

 

Insightful posts like yours on this thread is why I like the hub..

[PeterF]

The Cannondale Trail 7 and Trail 5 are coming to Makro- I asked them and this is their reply:

 

Our distribution and merchandise teams believe that the Trail 7 should be in all Makro stores by Friday 21st September with the second drop of Trail 7 and Trail 5 stock coming into stores around the 5th October.

 

On Cannondale's website the Trail 7 looks basic with Altus 2x9 and Suntour fork and Sunrace 11-36 on the back. Nice to see it is not a 3x9 at least. 

 

The Trail 5 looks a bit better with a Rockshox fork and it looks like a 1x10 setup with a 30T upfront and Sunrace 11-42 on the back. 

 

I don't know what Makro's pricing will be? And will the landed specs be the same as U.S. ones?

You are looking at the 2018 spec, but Makro will be selling 2016 models.

[Eugene]

I've been following this thread with interest, because in 2006/2007 during the height of the CIT/Chicanes/Caynenne parallel Motorcycle import stage I was the Product Manger for Yamaha South Africa and I reckon I know exactly how Omnico are feeling. We fought tooth and nail with Yamaha Japan about these non-official imports but the reality was at that stage, we were very minor players in the world market (for example an American Yamaha dealer sold more R1's in a month than we sold in a year). To compound matters, the bikes being brought in were not direct from the Factory, but from a Dealer in Miami, who ordered excess stock, claimed the Volume Rebate form the Factory, and then sold them to whoever in the world needed bikes. So Yamaha Japan didn't care less because they already had the sale.

 

My guess is this might be very similar - Makro had probably sourced these bikes from another store (Walmart?) and are just bringing them into SA. They already have the Volume rebate, so whatever extra they make in margin here is SA is a bonus.

 

Sorry Omnico, but you won't win the "We aren't going to honor the Warranty battle" - so what you should do (which is how we did it at Yamaha) is welcome these imports into your dealerships for servicing - put a brief out and specifically say that in the interests of safety and the good Cannondale brand etc, etc, we would prefer to check these over ourselves at say R300 per service - at least then the dealer will get some sort of relationship going with the customer, and maybe when the time comes, you'll get him or her onto a more expensive (official) upgrade.

My brother had a Yamaha dealership back then. And you guys took away the rights when you found he was selling Grey products.

 

I still laughed at him and told him it was his own fault

[Swany05]

You are looking at the 2018 spec, but Makro will be selling 2016 models.

Entry level 2016

[Oufy MTB (Roadie)]

I've been following this thread with interest, because in 2006/2007 during the height of the CIT/Chicanes/Caynenne parallel Motorcycle import stage I was the Product Manger for Yamaha South Africa and I reckon I know exactly how Omnico are feeling.  We fought tooth and nail with Yamaha Japan about these non-official imports but the reality was at that stage, we were very minor players in the world market (for example an American Yamaha dealer sold more R1's in a month than we sold in a year).  To compound matters, the bikes being brought in were not direct from the Factory, but from a Dealer in Miami, who ordered excess stock, claimed the Volume Rebate form the Factory, and then sold them to whoever in the world needed bikes.  So Yamaha Japan didn't care less because they already had the sale.

 

My guess is this might be very similar - Makro had probably sourced these bikes from another store (Walmart?) and are just bringing them into SA.  They already have the Volume rebate, so whatever extra they make in margin here is SA is a bonus.

 

Sorry Omnico, but you won't win the "We aren't going to honor the Warranty battle" - so what you should do (which is how we did it at Yamaha) is welcome these imports into your dealerships for servicing - put a brief out and specifically say that in the interests of safety and the good Cannondale brand etc, etc, we would prefer to check these over ourselves at say R300 per service - at least then the dealer will get some sort of relationship going with the customer, and maybe when the time comes, you'll get him or her onto a more expensive (official) upgrade.

I was thinking more or less the same thing about how do you make something 'good' out of something 'bad' and you nailed it.

[Andymann]

My brother had a Yamaha dealership back then. And you guys took away the rights when you found he was selling Grey products.

 

I still laughed at him and told him it was his own fault

I remember that - it was a real tough decision - if I remember correctly we were struggling to get hold of XT660Z stock but all the Grey Dealers were fully stocked. So we were having a real moan again at Yamaha Japan.  They sent out the Africa Manager to investigate, and during a visit to our local Dealerships he naturally migrated towards a new Tenere which was standing on the floor....and noticed the VIN was not one designated for SA.  If they had only just PDI'd the bike, registered it and sold it as used, they would have been fine.  But it was advertised new.

 

Talk about egg on our faces.  There we were shouting about Parallel importers to Japan, and the first bike the delegate checks at one of the official dealers is a Parallel import.  I don't think Japan ever took me seriously again after that!