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chasewarner2 Liked a bike check Trinity Mountain Bikes - Prototype #1
10/10/2023 5:53pm
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chasewarner2 Liked a bike check Trinity Mountain Bikes - Gravity
10/10/2023 5:52pm
This bike check has 6 comments.
Noeserd Liked a reply to forum topic MTB Tech Rumors and Innovation
10/9/2023 1:45pm
But then why motorcycles doesn't suffer the same rigidity problems? It's not like they have massive axles or big contact points for example this is my bikes axle
This forum topic has 30430 replies.
Uncle Cliffy Liked a comment about Feature A Year Later, Is World Cup Downhill Racing Better?
10/9/2023 1:40pm
BRING BACK WARNER! DOWN WITH PAYWALLS!
This feature has 26 comments.
ahleic09 Liked a reply to forum topic MTB Tech Rumors and Innovation
10/8/2023 8:17pm
Steeper STA at least
This forum topic has 30430 replies.
Dowks Liked a bike check Forbidden Druid V2 custom build
10/8/2023 5:55pm
This bike check has 11 comments.
thomas1965 Liked a bike check On One Hello Dave, mullet, rigid
10/8/2023 5:54pm
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TimBud Liked a reply to forum topic MTB Tech Rumors and Innovation
10/8/2023 3:26pm
More importantly there’s one behind it with a Zeb Enduro?!!
This forum topic has 30430 replies.
Jakub_G Liked a reply to forum topic MTB Tech Rumors and Innovation
10/8/2023 3:25pm
And there are plenty of others, that stayed low pivot and work just as well? Maybe every suspension layout has pros and cons and there isn't one clearly dominating the others? Blasphemy I know.
This forum topic has 30430 replies.
Pedals Liked a reply to forum topic The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
10/7/2023 8:16pm
I guess I should've put a caveat in there that Sales and Marketing folks don't count. They live in a different reality. I once visited a friend who worked for a large bike company that starts with 'T'. He invited us to ride their trails and had us meet him at the HQ so we could get a quick tour. Ready for the ride, I was wearing my clipless shoes and was click-clacking my way into the front door - when he saw that my shoes had a big red 'S' on it he actually told me I had to...
This forum topic has 5214 replies.
Pedals Liked a reply to forum topic The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
10/7/2023 8:16pm
Another part of all this that I feel goes underreported was just how WILD the demand was. If you weren't ordering a shit-ton of product retailers/consumers would all but send you death threats. To some extent it didn't even matter if you thought the Covid-Bike-Boom was real - it was real to everyone else so you had to at least try to keep up. It also doesn't help that bike industry pay isn't that great. It's not that there aren't good people - you don't get into bikes if you're not passionate about them - it's just that there are...
This forum topic has 5214 replies.
gibbon Liked a reply to forum topic The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
10/7/2023 8:16pm
"I'm hesitant to paint everyone else in the industry as idiots" I was forced to sit through a multi-hour presentation where the management of a very large bike brand starting with T explained to us that it was'nt a bike boom caused by the virus. It was the result of all THEIR hard work making everything sooo awesome and it was our duty not to let them down. Anyone who voiced anything approaching common sense was roundly chastised for a 'negative attitude'. When the downturn bit and the 50% increased target turnover was consistently missed, it was due to our...
This forum topic has 5214 replies.
Pedals Liked a reply to forum topic The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
10/7/2023 8:15pm
Having been on the inside during this time period I can tell you that where I was the prevailing thought was "this isn't going to last - we need to capitalize now while planning for a soft landing". I don't think it was until we were 18 months in that we started to realize that this wasn't even a 'boom', we were mostly pulling sales out of the future and into the present. I'm hesitant to paint everyone else in the industry as idiots so I'm going to say that they 'got used to the new revenue' and balked when...
This forum topic has 5214 replies.
jeff.brines Liked a reply to forum topic The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
10/7/2023 8:14pm
Slight thread derail, but if anyone wants to read the most impactful paper I've ever read on company moats & value creation, Michael Mauboussin's work from 10 years ago still tops my list. http://csinvesting.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Measuring_the_Moat_Ju… WARNING: IT IS SUPER FINANCE NERD MATERIAL.
This forum topic has 5214 replies.
jeff.brines Liked a reply to forum topic The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
10/7/2023 6:31pm
Without getting really in the weeds on "what is a company", for the purposes of this discussion a bike company is any purveyor of components, accessories, soft goods, frames or complete bicycles for sale to the specialty bicycle market. (IE, not Huffy). As to the decision of how vertically integrated you really are (IE, how much do you do "in house"), its any management team's choice where they want to draw that line. No matter what company you are talking about, there is always going to be some farming out of something to make what they make happen. When we...
This forum topic has 5214 replies.
EvanCantJump Liked a reply to forum topic The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
10/7/2023 6:30pm
Thanks, this thread was incredibly interesting !
This forum topic has 5214 replies.
One Ghost Liked a reply to forum topic The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
10/7/2023 6:30pm
I don't see Forbidden going anywhere in the short term. They seem to be doing okay from my insider eye on them. I do know some larger companies are in a world of hurt and there will be a lot more consolidation in the market. I see a few clothing brands being eaten up by larger component or bike brands, and maybe a shoe line or two becoming part of a larger group also. We've seen QBP consolidate its house brands and I expect that to continue as well. 2024 is going to be rough. Q4 of 23 has already...
This forum topic has 5214 replies.
jeff.brines Liked a reply to forum topic The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
10/7/2023 3:55pm
The best case study in our world (sort of) for this is Peloton. They were the goldenchild of the pandemic, only to realize they literally made enough stationary bikes for the entire market and stopped production (fully). Stock was at $150 at the peak. $5.00 (not a typo) today. Point I'm trying to make, most people in a position of management at any company wants to believe it is their operating ability, not market beta, that is the real cause for success. Add to this bonuses and incentives that keep the gravy train going and its hard to see why...
This forum topic has 5214 replies.
dolface Liked a reply to forum topic The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
10/7/2023 3:55pm
One thing I'm having a hard time understanding is how this "...some people got a little too optimistic in the last 3 years and partied like it was gonna be 2020 forever." happened. What kind of CFO/money person thought the boom was going to continue and was able to convince private investors, people who's whole job is figuring out market cycles, that it was worth taking a chance on? Why/how?
This forum topic has 5214 replies.