Business Week article re: Shimano's "Coasting concept"
09-21-07, 06:15 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 45
Bikes: 1994 Trek Multitrak 720, 2005 Cannondale Road Tandem RT2000, 2007 Jamis Aurora
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Business Week article re: Shimano's "Coasting concept"
Read the article here:
https://www.businessweek.com/magazine...8/b4050078.htm
Here's the full text:
----------------------------------------------------
Return Of The Easy Rider
With U.S. cycling in decline, bike parts giant Shimano steered the industry in a new direction
This summer, cyclists in skintight shorts raced through the French countryside in the annual Tour de France. The winner, Alberto Contador, rode to victory on a Trek Madone 6.9 Pro that would cost consumers $8,249.99. Alice Wilkes also bought a Trek bike this summer, but she had a very different experience. Wilkes bought a Trek Lime, which shifts automatically so riders don't have to fuss with gears, stops when cyclists pedal backwards (like in the old days), and has a big, comfy seat. It retails for $589.99.
With her new bike, the first one she has owned in 40 years, Wilkes hits the trails near her Lynchburg (Va.) home. For Wilkes, it's not about speed and performance. "Tight cycling clothes—that's not my world," says the 55-year-old grandmother. "I like to feel free, with the wind flying up my sleeves."
The new "Coasting" bikes are a daring attempt by the bike industry to get some of the 161 million Americans who don't ride back in the saddle. Bike sales in the U.S. have been flat for nearly a decade, hovering between $5.5 billion and $5.9 billion since 1999, according to the National Sporting Goods Assn. Worse, the number of people riding bikes is falling. According to the sporting goods group, 35.6 million Americans over 7 rode a bike at least six times last year, down from 43.1 million in 2005 and 53.3 million in 1996. "We lost a lot more cyclists than we thought," says David Lawrence, senior manager for product development and marketing at Shimano America Corp., the Japanese bike component manufacturer behind the Coasting gambit. "It wasn't sustainable."
The bike industry was blinded by a blip in sales of high-margin, top-end road bikes after Lance Armstrong's remarkable string of seven Tour de France victories. Sales of those expensive, high-tech marvels of modern engineering stabilized revenues, even as unit sales slid.
And that was Shimano's motivation to come up with the Coasting concept and sell the idea to bike makers such as Trek and Giant. For Shimano, Coasting is not just another new product. The company is the Microsoft (MSFT ) of the bike industry. Manufacturers install Shimano's components—gears, derailleurs, crank arms, and the like—on the vast majority of bikes produced. As the bike business goes, so goes Shimano.
To refine the new biking concept, Shimano turned to Palo Alto-based innovation/design consultancy IDEO, which co-hosted a one-day workshop with BusinessWeek this past summer. David Webster, who runs IDEO's San Francisco office, understood that for people such as Wilkes, building a better bike wasn't enough. Shimano needed to build a better biking experience. "We're interested in sitting, not [just] the chair," Webster says. So rather than starting with computer models of great-looking bikes, IDEO sent researchers into the homes of people who don't ride. They met with boomers in Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco to talk about leisure activities.
In the process, Shimano learned why people stopped riding. It wasn't so much that they were out of shape, or too busy or lazy. It was because cycling had become intimidating, something for hard-core athletes who love all the technical minutiae. "Everything had changed in bicycling," says Shimano's Lawrence. "It had gone from fun to being a sport, and no one had noticed."
For boomers, bikes changed from the 10-speed rides on steel frame bikes to 30-speed carbon fiber and titanium machines. Costs rose from a few hundred dollars to thousands. Handlebars, pedals, tires, even seats came in so many varieties that consumers got overwhelmed. And bike shops, filled with workers who fawned over gear, had little time for customers interested in just plain bikes. Yet there was hope for Shimano. "Everyone we talked to, as soon as we talked about bikes, a smile came to their face," Webster says. And that nostalgia gave Shimano an opening.
With IDEO, Shimano developed a concept for a new bike that had a familiar look and was easy and fun to ride. In fact, riders of Coasting bikes never have to shift gears. To keep things simple, the bike uses Shimano's automatic shifting technology. There's a tiny computer on the seat post or tucked under the bottom bracket that triggers a gear change when riders hit 7 mph, and again at 11 mph. The processor is powered by the rotation of the front wheel. In addition to the back-pedaling Coasting brakes, some bikes come with puncture-resistant tires and a chain guard to keep the grease off cyclists' pants.
Research also showed that people worried about safety riding their bikes, especially about getting sideswiped by a car. This led Shimano to move into an advocacy role to increase the number of bike paths around the country. It built a Web site, coasting.com, where riders could find safe routes in their communities.
And Shimano also moved to improve the shopping experience. Shimano put bike industry executives who have direct contact with bike-shop staff through empathy training. To understand how uncomfortable many customers feel in bikes stores, the male managers were sent to buy cosmetics at Sephora. In addition, every Coasting bike dealer was sent a DVD explaining how customers for Coasting bikes are folks who "just want to ride."
Not everything worked as planned. Research showed that the ideal price for the target market was $300 to $400. "It turns out that was too aggressive," Webster says. The cost of the auto-shifting mechanism pushed the price for even the lowest-cost bikes to $450.
It's unusual for a parts supplier to push its corporate customers to expand their brands into a totally new market. Initially, Shimano didn't wow bikemakers with its Coasting pitch. The first prototype Shimano showed was unlike anything on the market, with rounded chrome hubs on the wheels, a swoopy curved frame, and handlebars with loops in them big enough to set a coffee cup inside. The cushy seat flipped up to reveal a mini-trunk to store a cell phone. "It was kind of like Audi meets Dr. Seuss," says Kyle Casteel, product manager at Raleigh America Inc. in Kent, Wash. "Shimano thought this was the next big thing, and we were like, Is it?'" Casteel recalls.
Executives at Trek, the world's largest bikemaker and builder of Armstrong's rides, were also nonplussed. "To be honest, it was anticlimactic," says Chad Price, Trek's pavement bike product manager. But Price was looking to introduce nonriders to Trek's bikes, and he saw how the Coasting concept could help.
Trek, Raleigh, and Giant did, finally, embrace the Coasting concept, if not all the features of the prototype. Since the spring, when Shimano rolled out a 15-city marketing campaign, the three manufacturers sold out of the roughly 30,000 Coasting bikes produced. They're making more as Shimano moves into other markets in the fall. It plans a media bash in New York's Central Park in mid-September.
In the end, bike riding is always about the experience. Lance Armstrong has his. Now Alice Wilkes has hers.
https://www.businessweek.com/magazine...8/b4050078.htm
Here's the full text:
----------------------------------------------------
Return Of The Easy Rider
With U.S. cycling in decline, bike parts giant Shimano steered the industry in a new direction
This summer, cyclists in skintight shorts raced through the French countryside in the annual Tour de France. The winner, Alberto Contador, rode to victory on a Trek Madone 6.9 Pro that would cost consumers $8,249.99. Alice Wilkes also bought a Trek bike this summer, but she had a very different experience. Wilkes bought a Trek Lime, which shifts automatically so riders don't have to fuss with gears, stops when cyclists pedal backwards (like in the old days), and has a big, comfy seat. It retails for $589.99.
With her new bike, the first one she has owned in 40 years, Wilkes hits the trails near her Lynchburg (Va.) home. For Wilkes, it's not about speed and performance. "Tight cycling clothes—that's not my world," says the 55-year-old grandmother. "I like to feel free, with the wind flying up my sleeves."
The new "Coasting" bikes are a daring attempt by the bike industry to get some of the 161 million Americans who don't ride back in the saddle. Bike sales in the U.S. have been flat for nearly a decade, hovering between $5.5 billion and $5.9 billion since 1999, according to the National Sporting Goods Assn. Worse, the number of people riding bikes is falling. According to the sporting goods group, 35.6 million Americans over 7 rode a bike at least six times last year, down from 43.1 million in 2005 and 53.3 million in 1996. "We lost a lot more cyclists than we thought," says David Lawrence, senior manager for product development and marketing at Shimano America Corp., the Japanese bike component manufacturer behind the Coasting gambit. "It wasn't sustainable."
The bike industry was blinded by a blip in sales of high-margin, top-end road bikes after Lance Armstrong's remarkable string of seven Tour de France victories. Sales of those expensive, high-tech marvels of modern engineering stabilized revenues, even as unit sales slid.
And that was Shimano's motivation to come up with the Coasting concept and sell the idea to bike makers such as Trek and Giant. For Shimano, Coasting is not just another new product. The company is the Microsoft (MSFT ) of the bike industry. Manufacturers install Shimano's components—gears, derailleurs, crank arms, and the like—on the vast majority of bikes produced. As the bike business goes, so goes Shimano.
To refine the new biking concept, Shimano turned to Palo Alto-based innovation/design consultancy IDEO, which co-hosted a one-day workshop with BusinessWeek this past summer. David Webster, who runs IDEO's San Francisco office, understood that for people such as Wilkes, building a better bike wasn't enough. Shimano needed to build a better biking experience. "We're interested in sitting, not [just] the chair," Webster says. So rather than starting with computer models of great-looking bikes, IDEO sent researchers into the homes of people who don't ride. They met with boomers in Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco to talk about leisure activities.
In the process, Shimano learned why people stopped riding. It wasn't so much that they were out of shape, or too busy or lazy. It was because cycling had become intimidating, something for hard-core athletes who love all the technical minutiae. "Everything had changed in bicycling," says Shimano's Lawrence. "It had gone from fun to being a sport, and no one had noticed."
For boomers, bikes changed from the 10-speed rides on steel frame bikes to 30-speed carbon fiber and titanium machines. Costs rose from a few hundred dollars to thousands. Handlebars, pedals, tires, even seats came in so many varieties that consumers got overwhelmed. And bike shops, filled with workers who fawned over gear, had little time for customers interested in just plain bikes. Yet there was hope for Shimano. "Everyone we talked to, as soon as we talked about bikes, a smile came to their face," Webster says. And that nostalgia gave Shimano an opening.
With IDEO, Shimano developed a concept for a new bike that had a familiar look and was easy and fun to ride. In fact, riders of Coasting bikes never have to shift gears. To keep things simple, the bike uses Shimano's automatic shifting technology. There's a tiny computer on the seat post or tucked under the bottom bracket that triggers a gear change when riders hit 7 mph, and again at 11 mph. The processor is powered by the rotation of the front wheel. In addition to the back-pedaling Coasting brakes, some bikes come with puncture-resistant tires and a chain guard to keep the grease off cyclists' pants.
Research also showed that people worried about safety riding their bikes, especially about getting sideswiped by a car. This led Shimano to move into an advocacy role to increase the number of bike paths around the country. It built a Web site, coasting.com, where riders could find safe routes in their communities.
And Shimano also moved to improve the shopping experience. Shimano put bike industry executives who have direct contact with bike-shop staff through empathy training. To understand how uncomfortable many customers feel in bikes stores, the male managers were sent to buy cosmetics at Sephora. In addition, every Coasting bike dealer was sent a DVD explaining how customers for Coasting bikes are folks who "just want to ride."
Not everything worked as planned. Research showed that the ideal price for the target market was $300 to $400. "It turns out that was too aggressive," Webster says. The cost of the auto-shifting mechanism pushed the price for even the lowest-cost bikes to $450.
It's unusual for a parts supplier to push its corporate customers to expand their brands into a totally new market. Initially, Shimano didn't wow bikemakers with its Coasting pitch. The first prototype Shimano showed was unlike anything on the market, with rounded chrome hubs on the wheels, a swoopy curved frame, and handlebars with loops in them big enough to set a coffee cup inside. The cushy seat flipped up to reveal a mini-trunk to store a cell phone. "It was kind of like Audi meets Dr. Seuss," says Kyle Casteel, product manager at Raleigh America Inc. in Kent, Wash. "Shimano thought this was the next big thing, and we were like, Is it?'" Casteel recalls.
Executives at Trek, the world's largest bikemaker and builder of Armstrong's rides, were also nonplussed. "To be honest, it was anticlimactic," says Chad Price, Trek's pavement bike product manager. But Price was looking to introduce nonriders to Trek's bikes, and he saw how the Coasting concept could help.
Trek, Raleigh, and Giant did, finally, embrace the Coasting concept, if not all the features of the prototype. Since the spring, when Shimano rolled out a 15-city marketing campaign, the three manufacturers sold out of the roughly 30,000 Coasting bikes produced. They're making more as Shimano moves into other markets in the fall. It plans a media bash in New York's Central Park in mid-September.
In the end, bike riding is always about the experience. Lance Armstrong has his. Now Alice Wilkes has hers.
09-21-07, 07:03 PM
#2
.
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 526
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Very interesting. I totally agree with the 'intimidation by LBS' notion. I know a fair bit about bikes, and I still prefer to shop online because of the crap attitude I get at the LBS.
09-21-07, 07:41 PM
#3
nashcommguy
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: nashville, tn
Posts: 2,499
Bikes: Commuters: Fuji Delray road, Fuji Discovery mtb...Touring: Softride Traveler...Road: C-dale SR300
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Love this article. It's about time major players got involved in utility/commuter bikes. Isn't it funny how the selected designs are all so similar to the Raleigh 3 speeds?
09-21-07, 07:44 PM
#4
Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Posts: 42
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Anything that puts more people on bikes is a good thing! I just don't understand why they couldn't put a regular 3-speed on the bikes, that would have made them cheaper, and accessible to even more people. I don't really believe that a 3-speed would be any more difficult than an automatic.
09-21-07, 07:47 PM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 1,300
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Research also showed that people worried about safety riding their bikes, especially about getting sideswiped by a car. This led Shimano to move into an advocacy role to increase the number of bike paths around the country.
I was prepped to read: "This led Shimano to.....add sideview reflectors....(or)....add an advanced lighting system.....(or).....fund education programs".
But instead Shimano's solution is to get those damn cyclists off the street for the streets are the cars domain; silly cyclists.
09-21-07, 10:04 PM
#6
put our Heads Together
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: southeast pennsylvania
Posts: 3,155
Bikes: a mountain bike with a cargo box on the back and aero bars on the front. an old well-worn dahon folding bike
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
dwoloz, I think that shimano considers the problem to be people's perception of cycling as unsafe rather than the lack of actual cycling safety.
I think bike lanes give cyclists a perception of safety.
I think they also provide a safety advantage relative to riding along the gutter or on the sidewalk, which is what many newbie cyclists are inclined to do.
I think bike lanes give cyclists a perception of safety.
I think they also provide a safety advantage relative to riding along the gutter or on the sidewalk, which is what many newbie cyclists are inclined to do.
09-21-07, 10:32 PM
#7
J3L 2404
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 1,075
Bikes: 2007 Jamis Nova
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Not sure they're talking about bike lanes. The article mentions "bike paths," which suggests MUPs to me. I do agree with cerewa that Shimano is dealing with perceptions -- as I see it, that's the whole point of the campaign. I think it's a good thing... anything to remove psychological obstacles to getting on a bike is a step in the right direction.
__________________
09-21-07, 11:13 PM
#8
The wrong side of normal
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 115
Bikes: '98 GT Agressor/ just gifted Iron Horse Maverick/ Cannondale Synapse Sport (FAST)
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
sweet, I think anything getting more cyclists is AWESOME...
and i like these coasters too...
and i like these coasters too...
09-22-07, 12:15 AM
#9
Senior Member
I think I'll try one if my LBS carries it. I just don't like the coaster brake set up. ' would be nice if they offer it with regular hand operated brake as an option.
09-22-07, 06:50 AM
#10
Perineal Pressurized
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: In Ebritated
Posts: 6,555
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
The recreational cyclist wants to go out and have a good time. Ride around, get a little exercise. Not worry about whether they should be taking the lane or who has the right of way.
__________________
This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
09-22-07, 07:04 AM
#11
Infamous Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Ohio
Posts: 24,360
Bikes: Surly Big Dummy, Fuji World, 80ish Bianchi
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times
in
3 Posts
__________________
"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey
"Let us hope our weapons are never needed --but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny. If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government -- and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws" - Edward Abbey
09-22-07, 07:51 AM
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 121
Bikes: Trek XO1 (Commuter), Trek Madone 6.5, older Trek 850 hardtail MTB, crashed Kestrel 200SCi I can't toss
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I guess I'm lucky. There are at least 2 LBS's in my area that aren't all about the techie stuff. To them, it's about riding. Folks at both shops ride, the closer one is a family-owned shop that's been around for more than 50 years. Both shops are helpful and focus on having fun riding. Don't get me wrong, both shops have some extremely serious riders in their clubs and, at least the closer one, the owner is a big rider too.
09-22-07, 07:55 AM
#13
put our Heads Together
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: southeast pennsylvania
Posts: 3,155
Bikes: a mountain bike with a cargo box on the back and aero bars on the front. an old well-worn dahon folding bike
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I think the problem is not that bike shop owners and workers aren't "all about riding", it's that they are enthusiastic about a types of riding that appeal to too few people (such as levels of road or MTB racing that require more than 15 hours/week on the bike to attain)
09-22-07, 08:22 AM
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 7,143
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 261 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times
in
10 Posts
Was anyone else sad to read this remark??
I was prepped to read: "This led Shimano to.....add sideview reflectors....(or)....add an advanced lighting system.....(or).....fund education programs".
But instead Shimano's solution is to get those damn cyclists off the street for the streets are the cars domain; silly cyclists.
I was prepped to read: "This led Shimano to.....add sideview reflectors....(or)....add an advanced lighting system.....(or).....fund education programs".
But instead Shimano's solution is to get those damn cyclists off the street for the streets are the cars domain; silly cyclists.
09-22-07, 08:35 AM
#15
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 7,143
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 261 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 11 Times
in
10 Posts
From the article:
>>>Not everything worked as planned. Research showed that the ideal price for the target market was $300 to $400. "It turns out that was too aggressive," Webster says. The cost of the auto-shifting mechanism pushed the price for even the lowest-cost bikes to $450.<<<
If the Trek Lime was to make ANY impact in the market, the bike would have to sell for $89.00 dollars. The fact they considered $300 - $400 dollars, "Aggressive" is insane! I have yet to see any Trek Lime's on the streets because it's overpriced.
I don't know why Trek gets interviews in major magazine when it's the department store bikes that have a much greater impact when it comes to introducing bikes to the low end consumer. There will be 1000 more Next department store bike sold for each Trek Lime.
What I would like is an article asking Pacific bikes why they are building such a crapy bike. Maybe if we put the spotlight on them, they might change their ways and sell reliable 3 speeds hub bikes or light single speed coasters for $99.00 dollars. This would be far more productive then spending time interviewing Trek on how they are going to impact the market with an overpriced $500.00 dollar beach crusier.
>>>Not everything worked as planned. Research showed that the ideal price for the target market was $300 to $400. "It turns out that was too aggressive," Webster says. The cost of the auto-shifting mechanism pushed the price for even the lowest-cost bikes to $450.<<<
If the Trek Lime was to make ANY impact in the market, the bike would have to sell for $89.00 dollars. The fact they considered $300 - $400 dollars, "Aggressive" is insane! I have yet to see any Trek Lime's on the streets because it's overpriced.
I don't know why Trek gets interviews in major magazine when it's the department store bikes that have a much greater impact when it comes to introducing bikes to the low end consumer. There will be 1000 more Next department store bike sold for each Trek Lime.
What I would like is an article asking Pacific bikes why they are building such a crapy bike. Maybe if we put the spotlight on them, they might change their ways and sell reliable 3 speeds hub bikes or light single speed coasters for $99.00 dollars. This would be far more productive then spending time interviewing Trek on how they are going to impact the market with an overpriced $500.00 dollar beach crusier.
09-22-07, 09:05 AM
#16
Membership Not Required
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: On the road-USA
Posts: 16,855
Bikes: Giant Excursion, Raleigh Sports, Raleigh R.S.W. Compact, Motobecane? and about 20 more! OMG
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 70 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 15 Times
in
14 Posts
From the article:
>>>Not everything worked as planned. Research showed that the ideal price for the target market was $300 to $400. "It turns out that was too aggressive," Webster says. The cost of the auto-shifting mechanism pushed the price for even the lowest-cost bikes to $450.<<<
If the Trek Lime was to make ANY impact in the market, the bike would have to sell for $89.00 dollars. The fact they considered $300 - $400 dollars, "Aggressive" is insane! I have yet to see any Trek Lime's on the streets because it's overpriced.
I don't know why Trek gets interviews in major magazine when it's the department store bikes that have a much greater impact when it comes to introducing bikes to the low end consumer. There will be 1000 more Next department store bike sold for each Trek Lime.
What I would like is an article asking Pacific bikes why they are building such a crapy bike. Maybe if we put the spotlight on them, they might change their ways and sell reliable 3 speeds hub bikes or light single speed coasters for $99.00 dollars. This would be far more productive then spending time interviewing Trek on how they are going to impact the market with an overpriced $500.00 dollar beach crusier.
>>>Not everything worked as planned. Research showed that the ideal price for the target market was $300 to $400. "It turns out that was too aggressive," Webster says. The cost of the auto-shifting mechanism pushed the price for even the lowest-cost bikes to $450.<<<
If the Trek Lime was to make ANY impact in the market, the bike would have to sell for $89.00 dollars. The fact they considered $300 - $400 dollars, "Aggressive" is insane! I have yet to see any Trek Lime's on the streets because it's overpriced.
I don't know why Trek gets interviews in major magazine when it's the department store bikes that have a much greater impact when it comes to introducing bikes to the low end consumer. There will be 1000 more Next department store bike sold for each Trek Lime.
What I would like is an article asking Pacific bikes why they are building such a crapy bike. Maybe if we put the spotlight on them, they might change their ways and sell reliable 3 speeds hub bikes or light single speed coasters for $99.00 dollars. This would be far more productive then spending time interviewing Trek on how they are going to impact the market with an overpriced $500.00 dollar beach crusier.
You can get a basic 3 speed cruiser from Wallymart for $119, single speed fat tire is around $90. The 3 speed is sans fenders the single speed has them, both are aluminum frames. I haven't ridden one but the components and the finish quality scare me. One I looked at had hair line cracks in one of the welds. Everybody likes to hold up the Raleigh Sports as the poster child of 3 speeds and for good reason. But they forget about inflation and the lack of the dollars unfavorable position in the world market at the moment, as well as the fact that it was not an inexpensive bicycle it's day. A 1970's Raleigh Sport in today's market would sell for around $300. I believe there are a few quality bikes hitting close to that today. The KHS Green appears to be one. Breezer Freedom is another but the prices seemed to have jumped a bit for 2008.I also think that as people's perceptions of cycling change and fuel prices continue to escalate we will see a resurgence of the more comfortable bike become available. As far as pricing...who knows. Some raw materials have doubled in the past year, stainless being one of the ones that I am most familiar with, as well as increased energy costs associated with manufacturing and transportation.
Aaron
__________________
Webshots is bailing out, if you find any of my posts with corrupt picture files and want to see them corrected please let me know. :(
ISO: A late 1980's Giant Iguana MTB frameset (or complete bike) 23" Red with yellow graphics.
"Cycling should be a way of life, not a hobby.
RIDE, YOU FOOL, RIDE!"_Nicodemus
"Steel: nearly a thousand years of metallurgical development
Aluminum: barely a hundred
Which one would you rather have under your butt at 30mph?"_krazygluon
Webshots is bailing out, if you find any of my posts with corrupt picture files and want to see them corrected please let me know. :(
ISO: A late 1980's Giant Iguana MTB frameset (or complete bike) 23" Red with yellow graphics.
"Cycling should be a way of life, not a hobby.
RIDE, YOU FOOL, RIDE!"_Nicodemus
"Steel: nearly a thousand years of metallurgical development
Aluminum: barely a hundred
Which one would you rather have under your butt at 30mph?"_krazygluon
09-22-07, 09:47 AM
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 255
Bikes: Burley Runabout 7 and Specialized Allez Elite
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I want to get a Lime for my mom. She's got really, really bad allergies right now though and can't go outside without coughing her brains out, so it might not happen for awhile. I was telling her about the bike and how she doesn't have to shift and how she could put a basket on the front to carry her little dog around in it and she loved the idea. She asked how much it costs and I said, "Well, it's unfortunately kind of expensive. It's like $600." And she said, "That's not bad at all! I would spend that much."
I think, like the article said, that people who are totally detached from the biking world have this perception of bikes being incredibly expensive and intimidating. It seems like what they're doing is working, and I think it's great. Eventually, the cost will go down, but for now they seem to be piquing the interest of the market that they were shooting for.
I think, like the article said, that people who are totally detached from the biking world have this perception of bikes being incredibly expensive and intimidating. It seems like what they're doing is working, and I think it's great. Eventually, the cost will go down, but for now they seem to be piquing the interest of the market that they were shooting for.
09-22-07, 10:42 AM
#18
tired
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 5,651
Bikes: Breezer Uptown 8, U frame
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Look at the Raleigh, too. IMO, it's a much prettier bike and it seems sturdier to me than the Trek.
__________________
"Real wars of words are harder to win. They require thought, insight, precision, articulation, knowledge, and experience. They require the humility to admit when you are wrong. They recognize that the dialectic is not about making us look at you, but about us all looking together for the truth."
"Real wars of words are harder to win. They require thought, insight, precision, articulation, knowledge, and experience. They require the humility to admit when you are wrong. They recognize that the dialectic is not about making us look at you, but about us all looking together for the truth."
09-22-07, 12:35 PM
#19
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 68
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Automatic Shifting? Really?
I love that more folks might be biking, but I'm surprised that automatic shifting is worth the extra cost for these newbies. I mean internal hubs are pretty darn simple to use.
I hope it's a "that's neat" factor rather than yet another sign that we're becoming the "Dumbest Place on Earth" (tm) ...
I hope it's a "that's neat" factor rather than yet another sign that we're becoming the "Dumbest Place on Earth" (tm) ...
09-22-07, 12:40 PM
#20
tired
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 5,651
Bikes: Breezer Uptown 8, U frame
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Um, there are plenty of older people out there who got overwhelmed and stopped riding when single speed adult sized bikes became less available for purchase. There are also people with health issues such that taking hands off the handlebars for anything is dicey. I think this bike could be good for them.
__________________
"Real wars of words are harder to win. They require thought, insight, precision, articulation, knowledge, and experience. They require the humility to admit when you are wrong. They recognize that the dialectic is not about making us look at you, but about us all looking together for the truth."
"Real wars of words are harder to win. They require thought, insight, precision, articulation, knowledge, and experience. They require the humility to admit when you are wrong. They recognize that the dialectic is not about making us look at you, but about us all looking together for the truth."
09-22-07, 01:33 PM
#21
Palmer
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 8,617
Bikes: Mike Melton custom, Alex Moulton AM, Dahon Curl
Mentioned: 37 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1663 Post(s)
Liked 1,817 Times
in
1,057 Posts
Actually, the industry learned in the 1930s that the building of a local "bike" trail caused an uptick in local bike sales. It doesn't matter to the industry if the path is actually a good place to ride any more than it matters to industry if a Costing bike is actually a good bike for the customers - never mind the steak, it's the sizzle that sells. Coasting buzz will get non-riders in an LBS in ways that a KHS Green or Breezeer Freedom never could; a new multi-million dollar path will do the same in ways a $300 cross light switch won't either.
TCS
Last edited by tcs; 09-22-07 at 01:42 PM.
09-22-07, 01:37 PM
#22
Palmer
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 8,617
Bikes: Mike Melton custom, Alex Moulton AM, Dahon Curl
Mentioned: 37 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1663 Post(s)
Liked 1,817 Times
in
1,057 Posts
I think this is the fifth time I've read this rewrite of Shimano's press kit in various magazines.
+1 on anything that get more folks out having a joyous time on a bike. Still, the Coasting bikes are for folks that can ballance, steer, pedal and brake but not shift a three speed hub - and who is that?
TCS
+1 on anything that get more folks out having a joyous time on a bike. Still, the Coasting bikes are for folks that can ballance, steer, pedal and brake but not shift a three speed hub - and who is that?
TCS
09-22-07, 03:29 PM
#24
.
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 526
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Yeah, this is somewhat the case at the LBS nearest to me. They cater to mostly hardcore road riders (they stock a $6000 Independent Fab bike w/ full Campy Carbon Record, fer crissakes...). What's funny is that in all of their print ads, they tout their commitment to "all types of riders." Rriiight. I ride a SS with fenders, etc...last time I was there, an employee made a 'when you get a real bike' crack. I'm never going back.
09-22-07, 05:23 PM
#25
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 121
Bikes: Trek XO1 (Commuter), Trek Madone 6.5, older Trek 850 hardtail MTB, crashed Kestrel 200SCi I can't toss
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Yeah, this is somewhat the case at the LBS nearest to me. They cater to mostly hardcore road riders (they stock a $6000 Independent Fab bike w/ full Campy Carbon Record, fer crissakes...). What's funny is that in all of their print ads, they tout their commitment to "all types of riders." Rriiight. I ride a SS with fenders, etc...last time I was there, an employee made a 'when you get a real bike' crack. I'm never going back.