SSU insolvency and the bike industry generally

[toast2266]

Heard some rumblings about Lapierre being in trouble too.

[bennymac]

That 4 part podcast on the bike industry during covid was fascinating - thanks for linking that.

[Meconium]

Will bikes direct keep plugging away? Remember when you could get a flyteem titanium hardtail for cheaper then an XTR group set? Love or hate em, kind of the OG of direct to consumer. Lots of hate back in the day from bike shops. Was it suppergo or nashbar that had crazy deals before internet? Like get a catalog in the mail and send a check in the mail?

[MarsB]

Completely forgot about SuperGo. That takes me back.

[singlesline]

Will bikes direct keep plugging away? Remember when you could get a flyteem titanium hardtail for cheaper then an XTR group set? Love or hate em, kind of the OG of direct to consumer. Lots of hate back in the day from bike shops. Was it suppergo or nashbar that had crazy deals before internet? Like get a catalog in the mail and send a check in the mail?

Used to freaking love getting the performance and nashbar catalogs as a kid.

[evasive_MT]

Used to freaking love getting the performance and nashbar catalogs as a kid.

Same. My friends and I would drive 40 minutes to a Performance to ogle the real bikes and get things we couldn’t get in our local strip mall bikes shops that carried mostly cruisers and BMX bikes.

[Meconium]

Same. My friends and I would drive 40 minutes to a Performance to ogle the real bikes and get things we couldn’t get in our local strip mall bikes shops that carried mostly cruisers and BMX bikes.

Like longer stems, narrower bars and skinnier rims and buying smaller cassettes.

[SJG]

Irvine Bike Source was a biggie in the late 90s too. Got my first Rocky Mountain there.

[rippling over canyons]

Irvine Bike Source was a biggie in the late 90s too. Got my first Rocky Mountain there.

I bought a Santa Cruz Heckler there in '98.

[Shredhead]

I’m down in Cabarete windsurfing with Marcus, owner of a sailing shop.
Same shits hitting the wind sports industry.

[XXX-er]

I read a blurb that the same thing is happening with RV's

[LeeLau]

I read a blurb that the same thing is happening with RV's

Same with OHVs, sleds. Recreational equipment hard goods is not doing well

[yeahman]

Read recently that REI lost 300 million last year.

[stealurface831]

Fly fishing is certainly feeling it. Some companies recognized the demand was unsustainable, others were blinded by it. My former employer fell into the latter and I had to cut bait on a job I thought I would do the rest of my life. Thankful I made the decision when I did.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[XXX-er]

in 1999 companies went thru the whole Y2K prep thing with their computers/ data and then in october put everything on hold to wait for the big nothing that was Y2K

so 2000 was a shitty year cuz eveything had shut down completely and companies didn't just start spending money again like nothing happened

The post covid hangover is kind of the same big worldwide catastrophic event IMO

[MarsB]

Covid was different though, because the sugar rush frenzy experienced by the outdoor industry fooled may into thinking it was the new normal, instead of the peak of a boom.

[XXX-er]

Ya but I think its ^^ more than just outdoor stuff beign affected ?

a lot of money got spent on computers and data pre Y2K to make them compliant but I think it was the disruption of bringing the world to a halt that made 2000 a shitty year for the computer indsutry

[sfotex]

YOUR FAVORITE BIKE COMPANY IS STRUGGLING

https://cyclingindependent.com/your-...is-struggling/

[joetron]

Ya but I think its ^^ more than just outdoor stuff beign affected ?

a lot of money got spent on computers and data pre Y2K to make them compliant but I think it was the disruption of bringing the world to a halt that made 2000 a shitty year for the computer indsutry

Nothing happened with y2k though. Nothing stopped.
There was the web bubble starting to burst. That certainly fucked things up a bit in tech.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[stealurface831]

Covid was different though, because the sugar rush frenzy experienced by the outdoor industry fooled may into thinking it was the new normal, instead of the peak of a boom.

what i don't fully understand is the breadth of the kool aid drinking. how are so many companies getting caught with their dicks out?

[Skistack]

That’s a classic bubble mentality.

Even if you recognize you’re in a bubble, you’ll still try to make as much money as you can while you can.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[frorider]

This is not the Bitcoin thread is it?

[sfotex]

what i don't fully understand is the breadth of the kool aid drinking. how are so many companies getting caught with their dicks out?

But even if you are a smaller company and played it safe, you still need to sell your bikes - and now you are competing against these big companies that made bad choices and are having fire sales on everything, and the customers are looking for deals...

[John_B]

what i don't fully understand is the breadth of the kool aid drinking. how are so many companies getting caught with their dicks out?

Or as a small company you only want 5k frames but then get told the minimum order from your frame builder in Taiwan is 10k frames.

[Eluder]

But even if you are a smaller company and played it safe, you still need to sell your bikes - and now you are competing against these big companies that made bad choices and are having fire sales on everything, and the customers are looking for deals...

Lots of this. Even if you played it right, many didn't. Bikes have been on 20-40% discount for like 16 months now.