Kona bikes. BOGO sale (yes, 50% off process)

[Velomayniac]

I’m not sure if this is old news, but Specialized is having a sale now, too:

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/c/...ountain&page=1

When I log into my pro program with them, the price of the red Enduro Comps go back up to $5400 from $3899.

I chatted in and they said the best they could do for me is $3780. Same bike was $3400 for me this past summer. I’d like this bike for sure, but I'll have to pass at $3780.

The Spires look so good, but I feel like I want something more linear and couch-like. Reading some reviews makes the bike seem like an all rounder when I'm looking for a race rig.

[Falcon3]

The ChainReaction/Nukeproof implosion is netting some insane deals. I'm almost 100% sure Nukeproof will get purchased and relaunched by somebody or other, so buying one shouldn't be too much of a risk.

Giga 290 (carbon Deore) for $2100 https://planetcyclery.com/sale/12-da...rbon-bike-2022
Mega 297 Elite (carbon GX Transmission, Fox X2/38 Elite) for $3500

Digger also looks interesting, more a drop bar mtb than a gravel bike, which is right up my alley for the kind of riding I'd do on a gravel bike. Half off at $1600 with Rival and a dropper https://planetcyclery.com/sale/12-da...-rs-alloy-bike

[crashidy]

Supergood deals on those Dreadnoughts! I’m 6’2”, but I much prefer Large to XL on most bikes. Seat tube looks way too long for me on them XLs. Darn this bike is sick!

The Transitions look great too. Aluminum is more up my alley and they have Large sizes in stock for both Spire and Patrol.

Commencal has Meta AM V4 in green for $2100, but terrible components. I really enjoyed how this bike rode.

I'm 6'2 and the large dread is perfect. The xl is massive.

[Sandbox]

Really wish the Druid was on fire sale like the dreadnoughts are….


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[robnow]

I'm 6'2 and the large dread is perfect. The xl is massive.

I'm 6'2" as well and find the large too small. XL WAO Arrival in 170 guise is perfect. We'll have to ride next season.

As far as Norco, it's not looking good from what we hear at my shop. Can't remember exactly but the distributor L2P is shutting down.

[smmokan]

Really wish the Druid was on fire sale like the dreadnoughts are….


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FWIW, the GX Fox builds are about $2000 off... pretty solid deal for GX Transmission with Performance Elite suspension and a good overall build.

[Dee Hubbs]

As far as Norco, it's not looking good from what we hear at my shop. Can't remember exactly but the distributor L2P is shutting down.

Where do you see any of this news?
L2P or Live to Play is the biggest Canadian Bike Parts Distributor, and is Norco's parent company and distributor in Canada, as well as International. I dont deal with L2P since moving to USA, but I have not seen any news of them closing down or diminishing their business.
Norco is being distributed by HLC in USA since April 2023.

[XXX-er]

Where do you see any of this news?
L2P or Live to Play is the biggest Canadian Bike Parts Distributor, and is Norco's parent company and distributor in Canada, as well as International. I dont deal with L2P since moving to USA, but I have not seen any news of them closing down or diminishing their business.
Norco is being distributed by HLC in USA since April 2023.

I always wondered how are Norco bikes thot of down that side of the line ?

I ask becuz I had once talked to a trek guy at a trek dealer who had spent time working at trek HQ in the the USA and was suprised at the aceptance of Norco when he came back to vangroovy after 10 yrs

I know in Prince George Norco was strong enough brand to exclusively anchor 1 bike store

[toast2266]

I always wondered how are Norco bikes thot of down that side of the line ?

I ask becuz I had once talked to a trek guy at a trek dealer who had spent time working at trek HQ in the the USA and was suprised at the aceptance of Norco when he came back to vangroovy after 10 yrs

I know in Prince George Norco was strong enough brand to exclusively anchor 1 bike store

I think norco's a lot stronger down here than they were ~10 years ago. The optic and sight were both well recieved and seemed to be pretty popular in the u.s. They're still a long ways from being able to anchor a decent size store though. I'd put them roughly on par with a brand like Ibis. Stronger than a brand like Evil, less strong than a brand like Santa Cruz. Considerably less strong than trek / specialized / giant.

[XXX-er]

I would be talking > 10 yrs ago I talked to this guy but I wanted the recent perspective of a pretty serious gear bro from both sides of the line which is why I asked Dee Hubbs

Way back in the day i remember Norco made the were kids and cheap bikes so i get where trek guy in the shop was coming from but over the last 25-30 yrs I would put Norco at the kona/ Giant/ Cannondale level but in a town where everybody is freeriding Norco seemed to do really well

if it comes down to spend a big wad of cash on High end 5 figure Ibis/ Yeti/ SC/ or a norco I would say Norco isnt quite there

[Dee Hubbs]

My American view if Norco is bias. In my Whistler shop years we sold Norco during their rise in the new 27.5 era. The Sight and Range were big 27.5 sellers in 2013, and then the Carbon versions in 2014 really took off. The Optic filled in a short trail void in the their line up in 2016.
Noro admit their distribution model was a patch work solution for USA, and it took them a long time to develop a a proper system, They figured out a warehouse solution in Utah 3 years ago, and strong distributor through HLC last year. This is why I'm surprised to hear rumors of them being in trouble.
They lost funding to the Factory Racing World Cup projects, which hurt the brand and put some really great athlete in a tough spot at the last minute.

XXX you're right about Norco's history. They started in 1964 in Vancouver and supplied Canadian made bikes to a lot of the National department stores. It was a hard stigma for them to overcome when they started to produce premium brand bikes.

[XXX-er]

Norco DO sell very well in a free ridey kind of place like BC where Feeride was invented on the North Shore so an LBS in BC does very well selling bikes if they can pickup the Norco line, it is a license to print money

The Northern hardware in Prince George did really well selling ONLY Norco yes a hardware store selling norco/ buggy tack/ or a part for that 90 yr old handpump on your grandfather's farm, the Northern closed after 100 years having to compete with big box stores

Norco makes some good bikes for sure but I dunno about the term " premium " to me that would be the SC/ Yeti/ Ibis thing, its an idea that maybe you don't really get until you have had one and so IMO you can't really just hang expensive parts on a frame and call it premium cuz there is just something " intangible ? " about those dentist brands

I know shop bro was averaging 2 " premium " bikes a year in a 7 month season so he dumped his 5 figure Norco pretty quick and went back to the SC and he could ride whatever he wanted

I don't think i would ride a norco but maybe thats also a bias ?

[singlesline]

A really good investigative reporter could probably wade through the rumor and speculation to find a legit story, but those people don't end up working at Pinkbike.

I caught the tail end of a segment on NPR Marketplace yesterday where they were talking about this and specifically mentioned the Kona BOGO deal.

Wish I could have heard the rest of it, whoever they were interviewing wrapped up the segment by saying he thought that most of the industry still had 12 months of clearing out inventory before things would be back to normal.

[SKIP IN7RO]

I caught the tail end of a segment on NPR Marketplace yesterday where they were talking about this and specifically mentioned the Kona BOGO deal.

Wish I could have heard the rest of it, whoever they were interviewing wrapped up the segment by saying he thought that most of the industry still had 12 months of clearing out inventory before things would be back to normal.

That was Jeff Cayley CEO of WorldWideCyclery, and 12 months seems optimistic unless there are some warehouse fires.

[LeeLau]

That was Jeff Cayley CEO of WorldWideCyclery, and 12 months seems optimistic unless there are some warehouse fires.

That's interesting. I had wild-ass guessed a season but he's more pessimistic. See the PSA I posted about the bk auction of Eminent Cycles and their inventory. My bet is there'll be many more bk auctions like this.

[toast2266]

That's interesting. I had wild-ass guessed a season but he's more pessimistic. See the PSA I posted about the bk auction of Eminent Cycles and their inventory. My bet is there'll be many more bk auctions like this.

Eminent declared bankruptcy back in 2021 though. I'd imagine any new bk's would take a while to shake out before they started auctioning off inventory (as opposed to just selling at a discount like kona and plenty of others are doing).

[LeeLau]

Eminent declared bankruptcy back in 2021 though. I'd imagine any new bk's would take a while to shake out before they started auctioning off inventory (as opposed to just selling at a discount like kona and plenty of others are doing).

That may well be the case but I think that may have been ch 11. If there's some Ch 7s or Canadian equivalents, creditors can seize and auction in a month or so depending on how organized the target companies are. Eg Black Spire.

[toast2266]

That may well be the case but I think that may have been ch 11. If there's some Ch 7s or Canadian equivalents, creditors can seize and auction in a month or so depending on how organized the target companies are. Eg Black Spire.

True.

I think the recent orange and wiggle/crc bk's were the uk equivalent of ch 11?

Either way, the next year will be interesting (and not in a good way).

[LeeLau]

True.

I think the recent orange and wiggle/crc bk's were the uk equivalent of ch 11?

Either way, the next year will be interesting (and not in a good way).

Yah all those SSU subsidiaries, Orange, were the UK Ch11 equivalents. I believe GG is also ch11. Still messy but not yet completely throwing in the towel. Although sadly the outcome will likely be ch 7 equivalents.

[mntlion]

anyone got a link to the NPR talk?

[evdog]

anyone got a link to the NPR talk?

Should be one of these, it's a daily show that's a pretty good listen. https://www.marketplace.org/

[Eluder]

I believe GG is also ch11. Still messy but not yet completely throwing in the towel. Although sadly the outcome will likely be ch 7 equivalents.

All the Revved and GG stuff, including molds, were auctioned off last month for what it's worth. I would say the towel is thrown.

[Tailwind]

It’s interesting… but my hunch is that anyone who holds off on launching new models might end up in a worse situation.

Kona for example - liquidates inventory because it hasn’t kept with the current trends and therefore didn’t sell well. This damages your brand image and in turn might make it harder to sell your new stuff (if you ever launch anything new).

For example - if Ibis does a little update to the Ripmo that makes it look fresh and new… but Pivot and Santa Cruz hold off on updating the Hightower and Switchblade. Ibis would likely sell more bikes at closer to MSRP.

I get that you don’t want to get caught with a lot of inventory for an old model and that new products take time and money… but bikes feel like fickle enough purchases that some brands may still grab some momentum.

Launch a new bike. Intentionally keep the supply scarce so they sell at MSRP. Get good reviews. Build public perception that “the new Ripmo is sweet but impossible to find”. Sell more bikes at MSRP.

[rideit]

Pretty sure Rocky is doing exactly this with the revamped Altitude. It appears to be in the chute and ready to ship, but a lot of target customers are burned out from the Pandemic frenzy, and just won’t pay exorbitant MSRP right now.
(Just my observations)..
Unless the new bike whitens my teeth and freshens my breath, ‘21-‘23’s are absolutely just fine.

[toast2266]

^^^ to that point, I think the current reckoning is about more than just an adjustment after the pandemic insanity. The rate of bike sales during the pandemic was nuts, but I'd argue that it was inflated before the pandemic too.

Since ~2015, lots of people were buying bikes far more often because bikes were becoming obsolete so quickly. But that's mostly done now - there's not nearly as much incentive to upgrade a 2-3 year old bike.

Companies don't need to look back to 2020 to figure out what realistic sales figures look like. They need to look back to 2013 or 2014.