Originally Posted by
bahula03
Off into the wilds we go
Particularly on the second point, WhyFi gets it right. Relevant to this conversation, the only way you'd get to a favorable margin while keeping a "low" price for the consumer with molded plastics/composites (ie the pedal body or cleat) is volume...which loops back to the demand part of the relationship I mentioned.
That level of demand just doesn't seem to exist for the factory Speedplay stuff, and the demand for knock-off or clone pedals/cleats, even if it were magically 60-70% of the cost, would be less.
This is likely due to Speedplay's history of monopolistic behavior. Before they were bought out they barred any and all sales below MAP. Many storefronts chose to stop doing business with them as they got more and more strict in their distribution/sales rules. They really dug their own grave.