SA Pricing - flogging a dead horse

[Hairy]

I needed a rear axel machined for my SS commuter, this part could not be found anywhere in SA, and no one really wanted to do the hunting for it. The cost of the rear axel alone was half the price of a new set of wheels from ROOK ..... so now I am sporting a new (well not so new anymore) and upgraded wheelset from ROOK.

 

One should not have to resort to getting a machine shop to make spares for a product that is really massive in the cycling world.

 

 

How expensive would that be, what does an engineering shop typically charge per hr and do they charge min 1 hr labour per job?

 

 

I'm in engineering and would not be interested in making that part even for my own bike. Set up time on a manual milling machine would be over an hour for one part.

[Hairy]

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/

There Are Shops That WILL Ship The Parts to SA.
try sjcycles.Co.uk

[MORNE]

All I can say on this is that if I was looking to start a business NOT A FKCU would I be getting into the bike game.

 

Most of your customer base is busy planning on emigrating

Those that remain's buying power is being eroded by the minute

Theres a new player "taking the market by storm" every 5 minutes

And... Your customers think the word warranty actually means unlimited no questions asked forever guarantee.

 

#notgonnafuckinhappen

 

the problem with this negative perception in general for most us 'minorities' is that not all of us realise or want to accept where the ACTUAL buying power lays in Africa...and it definitely is NOT with us white middle class people buying overpriced bicycles lol.   

 

The big guys....even the 'boeremafia' in Stellenbosch couldn't care less about the white middle class when it comes to buying power. Why cater for 10 million people who are semi responsible penny pinchers if you could exploit 50 million in SA alone who don't really care that much about their disposable income.

 

They are  interested in these guys on the ground who don't put their money in a bank account,  want to buy fried chicken everyday, use lay bys to have the best cellphone, clothes, shoes, car to create a perception of status...even though they still live in a rundown house somewhere. 

 

Alot of clichés i know but THATS where the actual buying power is in Africa and it will be clear to anyone willing to wonder into some "dodge" area's mall at month end. Their priorities are totally different to yours and mine....and the people who know and exploit this are cashing in every second of the day.

 

so yes...if one is to start a retail business and you are serious about being financially successful, you'd definitely explore exploiting the majority rather than the minority.   

this is probably why all our bike parts are so expensive.....they are trying to get rich off of 1% of that minority group  ...

[Eddy Gordo]

the problem with this negative perception in general for most us 'minorities' is that not all of us realise or want to accept where the ACTUAL buying power lays in Africa...and it definitely is NOT with us white middle class people buying overpriced bicycles lol.   

 

The big guys....even the 'boeremafia' in Stellenbosch couldn't care less about the white middle class when it comes to buying power. Why cater for 10 million people who are semi responsible penny pinchers if you could exploit 50 million in SA alone who don't really care that much about their disposable income.

 

They are  interested in these guys on the ground who don't put their money in a bank account,  want to buy fried chicken everyday, use lay bys to have the best cellphone, clothes, shoes, car to create a perception of status...even though they still live in a rundown house somewhere. 

 

Alot of clichés i know but THATS where the actual buying power is in Africa and it will be clear to anyone willing to wonder into some "dodge" area's mall at month end. Their priorities are totally different to yours and mine....and the people who know and exploit this are cashing in every second of the day.

 

so yes...if one is to start a retail business and you are serious about being financially successful, you'd definitely explore exploiting the majority rather than the minority.   

this is probably why all our bike parts are so expensive.....they are trying to get rich off of 1% of that minority group  ...

Lots of credit cards and various store credits. Always in the red, earning a living to pay the monthly installments

[Wayne pudding Mol]

Mountain biking is just ridiculously priced in general.

I know many walking away from it and starting trail running or surfski'ing. A mate started riding last year and bought a reasonable bike, 2 sets of kit, servicing etc etc and entered one 3 day event. He tallied it all up and it came to well over 100k.

A decent MTB now days is over 60k (xt or gx dual sus), plus repair fees that are more than KTM.

I just started surfski;ing. A good brand new boat is 12k, carbon paddle 2k, with another 2k on accessories to complete the jockboat look. Done.

Surfskis don't work very well in JHB but I get your point - personally I drive a cheap car and ride an expensive bike (or 2)  Also, no sharks on the trails

[MORNE]

Surfskis don't work very well in JHB but I get your point - personally I drive a cheap car and ride an expensive bike (or 2)  Also, no sharks on the trails

i do't know where my fear of the ocean started exactly..i remember as a kid going in so deep that it would take some proper effort getting back in lol. But these days i just ask people if they would  sporadically walk and jump through the Kruger wearing a Kudu outfit(wetsuit?seal?) to wait and see what happens

[Skubarra]

 

I know many walking away from it and starting trail running or surfski'ing. A mate started riding last year and bought a reasonable bike, 2 sets of kit, servicing etc etc and entered one 3 day event. He tallied it all up and it came to well over 100k.

A decent MTB now days is over 60k (xt or gx dual sus), plus repair fees that are more than KTM.

 

 

This is a topic for a whole different thread but there is just no way you have to spend that kind of money to have a decent mtb ride. If you spend 100k to start up only to realise mtb'ing is not for you then you have more money than common sense.

 

The reason we see 60K as average has more to do with how mamils choose to spend their money than what we actually need.

[Beard]

I don't know if it was a good or bad thing but my wife want to get me some cycling gear and went to a LBS albeit a boutique one... She never quite realised what my "hobby" actually costs.

[Eugene]

Mountain biking is just ridiculously priced in general.

I know many walking away from it and starting trail running or surfski'ing. A mate started riding last year and bought a reasonable bike, 2 sets of kit, servicing etc etc and entered one 3 day event. He tallied it all up and it came to well over 100k.

A decent MTB now days is over 60k (xt or gx dual sus), plus repair fees that are more than KTM.

I just started surfski;ing. A good brand new boat is 12k, carbon paddle 2k, with another 2k on accessories to complete the jockboat look. Done.

Let me guess most of that R100k went into the 3 day event. Man multi day races are expensive.

 

Seriously though, your friend did not have to spend so much. He could have saved 60% on that

[BigDL]

I once had dealings with the product manager of one of the biggest bike brands in SA. He told me that SA was one of the biggest markets in the world with respect to high end mountain bikes. In fact, at one point, South Africa was the biggest consumer of 29 inch mountain bikes in the world. I think the Rand may have taken care of that.

 

While I doubt we are bigger than the USA, I certainly think our market is way bigger than a single store in the USA and a lot bigger than most people think.

We tend to be large players on some luxury items. I remember, when I dealt with leatherman tools. SA accounted for 75% of global sales outside the US. I can well believe that SA are bigger players in the cycling world than we may think

[Shebeen]

i do't know where my fear of the ocean started exactly..i remember as a kid going in so deep that it would take some proper effort getting back in lol. But these days i just ask people if they would  sporadically walk and jump through the Kruger wearing a Kudu outfit(wetsuit?seal?) to wait and see what happens

this must be so much fun.

 

surely they have drone sharks operating during the big scenes

 

[Shebeen]

This is a topic for a whole different thread but there is just no way you have to spend that kind of money to have a decent mtb ride. If you spend 100k to start up only to realise mtb'ing is not for you then you have more money than common sense.

 

The reason we see 60K as average has more to do with how mamils choose to spend their money than what we actually need.

 

 

wonder if the Tread survey will reveal the first time the average epic bike is over a 100bar

https://www.treadmtb.co.za/bikes-of-the-2018-absa-cape-epic-all-the-stats/

 

 While the average bike value edged closer to R100 000 for 2018, the increase is the lowest it’s been since the event began recording this statistic in 2008. It’s worth noting that the weakest the Rand has ever been against the Dollar was in January 2016 at 16.84.

[RocknRolla]

The bottom line is, we are getting shafted by the quid pro quo that is the cycling industry in SA.

Look at the prices CWC could achieve with parallel imports. and this abruptly came to an end....

 

I still think, buying from across the pond is the only way. May seriously consider getting an Aramex Global shopper account. Luckily I have a mate in the UK, and another in the states that could assist me going forward.

 

But I say, vote with the wallet, and let the local distributors come to the party, not the other way around.

[Headshot]

We tend to be large players on some luxury items. I remember, when I dealt with leatherman tools. SA accounted for 75% of global sales outside the US. I can well believe that SA are bigger players in the cycling world than we may think

And SA was the 8th biggest market for BMW's a few years ago.

 

(And we are still waiting for the perosn who posted how tiny our market is to respond with the stats on which he relies) 

[Hairy]

It is getting closer to the point where my MTB will be run as a Single Speed .... just like my commuter bike!

[Skubarra]

wonder if the Tread survey will reveal the first time the average epic bike is over a 100bar

https://www.treadmtb.co.za/bikes-of-the-2018-absa-cape-epic-all-the-stats/

 

 While the average bike value edged closer to R100 000 for 2018, the increase is the lowest it’s been since the event began recording this statistic in 2008. It’s worth noting that the weakest the Rand has ever been against the Dollar was in January 2016 at 16.84.

 

A bit mind numbing that so many people have the money to spend that on a bike AND have money left to enter the Epic, but on the flipside, surely in principle it's wrong to spend more money on an event than what your bike is worth so that's how you justify a 100K bike