Stages Power Meters lay off entire workforce

[shaper]

Looks like Stages power meters going to bankruptcy

https://escapecollective.com/stages-cycling-lays-off-entire-workforce/

[betaboy]

Well Kona Bicycles, had to pack up their stand and leave before the expo was gong to open at Sea Otter! They were meant to launch new Gravel Bike. Over at Scott,Police had to be called in as a certain staff member refused to go! Then CC in the US is having a 30% online clear out, also rumbles that they will shutdown. The bike industry is slowly melting from irregular stock acquirements during covid and buy more so you get your order processed antics. Here in the middle ls the consumer. Dazed and confused as we witness our sport became even more elitist as prices surge higher and higher. When a good tire costs over 1K, what’s in store for us all?

[DieselnDust]

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

[DJuice]

Spez UK have a upto 50% sale.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/surprise-specialized-sale-slashes-hundreds-of-bikes-and-accessories-by-50/

 

[stringbean]

Everyone been predicting the bubble to burst for years and think it’s finally here.You can only take the p!ss with prices for so long.Continental road tire costs around 2k😳

Even those that can afford top end are thinking twice.

When you buy that 200k top end bike and 1 month later Spez are throwing it out less 40% you get pretty pissed.What will happen is cyclists will just hold on to what they got,no new or upgraded bikes while the industry falls on its face.

Lets just forget about all the BS marketing,just use what you have and go out and enjoy the ride😍

[ChrisF]

45 minutes ago, stringbean said:

Everyone been predicting the bubble to burst for years and think it’s finally here.You can only take the p!ss with prices for so long.Continental road tire costs around 2k😳

Even those that can afford top end are thinking twice.

When you buy that 200k top end bike and 1 month later Spez are throwing it out less 40% you get pretty pissed.What will happen is cyclists will just hold on to what they got,no new or upgraded bikes while the industry falls on its face.

Lets just forget about all the BS marketing,just use what you have and go out and enjoy the ride😍

 

Welllll .... MOST have been saying this.  There are the odd Hubber hell bent on telling us that the PREDICTIONS show a growing market, and that it is all good and well.

 

 

Back in the real world ... 

1. Only buy new if you really have to replace at this point in time

2. DO YOUR HOMEWORK !!!  Trek's local special is a JOKE compared to what they are doing overseas !  They are still milking us !!!  Okay, at least they are one of the first brands to embark on big specials in SA.  Some other brands are doing two-for-one specials in Europe, but hardly any discount here ....

3. As much as some Hubbers gets their knickers in a twist about "low balling" ..... the secondhand market is going to adjust as the real specials start on new bikes.

4. The more immediate issue .... it is getting stupidly difficult to get hold of some basic spares.

5. The closure of family shops such as Cyclosport is a vivid image of the REAL state of this industry.

[J Wakefield]

It's a shame to see this, I was fortunate enough to work really closely with Stages in 2019 and 2020 from their development and so forth in the USA. Great company of people and the 1 CEO who I worked super close with had a really bad accident and stepped away from the day to day to day for obvious reasons. we always kept in contact over the years.

Sad to see. 
 

[Irvin85]

2 hours ago, DJuice said:

Spez UK have a upto 50% sale.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/surprise-specialized-sale-slashes-hundreds-of-bikes-and-accessories-by-50/

 

And they are still making money on the 50% discount deals. We have been feeding the machine for years, there is still no justification on paying R2000 for a set of road tyres never mind R250k for a top end bike. If you look at the materials used a top end bike should sell for around the R80-R100k mark and they would still make a decent profit. 

[_David_]

[splat]

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/

[lechatnoir]

18 minutes ago, Irvin85 said:

And they are still making money on the 50% discount deals. We have been feeding the machine for years, there is still no justification on paying R2000 for a set of road tyres never mind R250k for a top end bike. If you look at the materials used a top end bike should sell for around the R80-R100k mark and they would still make a decent profit. 

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

[BaGearA]

15 minutes ago, _David_ said:

I don't ride road bike but that look like a very nice bike 

 

The motorbike however is a POS 

 

but alas apples to oranges 

[BaGearA]

I'm scared for the people working in the industry, looks like I got out at a very good time 

[_David_]

 

As someone else in this thread said, "You can only take the piss with prices for so long."

[Irvin85]

11 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

I bet you they do not give a rats ass about exclusivity, at the end of the day they just want to make money, so the model that they are currently using is based on manufacturing limited quantities and focusing on margins, or they can focus on volumes at a reduced margin. The thing is they need to find the sweet spot, otherwise they price themselves out of the market and end belly up. How much difference price wise is there really between a top end frame and the entry level carbon frame in manufacturing costs. they use the exact same mold but might be a better carbon. so maybe R1000 in manufacturing costs. It does not cost them more than R5-8k to manufacture a carbon frame at the scale that they are doing it. What is the manufacturing price difference between XTR and SLX? XTR might even be cheaper as they try to cut weight on it and take a knock on durability. 

 

[DieselnDust]

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