Originally Posted by
quicktrigger
... the type of shopper their internet sales will attract are almost certainly expect a price break for their troubles as is typical in internet sales.
Maybe, after all there are a great many buyers that joined Amazon's Prime membership and they don't generally get the best price when they shop products that qualify for prime shipping.
I don't think there will be troubles, either. The bike shop is there to assemble the bike and go over how it works. Where's the inconvenience? I see the convenience of shopping from your arm chair but not in the delivery option.
Originally Posted by
quicktrigger
Beyond that, Trek does have allot of their own branded and spec'ed parts etc. That falls under proprietary components if carried too far, and proprietary components (if too many) drive away sales.
A very narrow portion of bike riders (though, admittedly, the vast majority of BikeForum members) are frustrated with confusing bottom bracket standards. Other than that, the bikes I'm familiar with adhere pretty closely to Shimano, FSA, and Sram conventions where it comes to replacement parts.
The article in Bicycle Retailer supports the idea that people want a different model for bike buying. If it doesn't work, Trek will be guilty of trying which isn't so bad. If it works (I'm certain they have researched the subject using the usual marketing tools), they stand to get a jump on the competition. This could be a very good thing for the company.