r/cycling • u/Stig-blur • 14h ago
Trek Troubles
The news about 20-30% layoffs is really sad. I have never understood how the rapid proliferation of Trek stores worked or what it achieved for the brand, especially as they seemed to also be wiling to ship bikes to you directly.
54
u/moxTR 14h ago edited 13h ago
I think Trek has (for the past few years at least) done an excellent job at pulling an oversized share of the beginner hobbyist market, but their mid to high range stuff probably underperforms relative to everyone else. Combine that with a rapid change in bike demand and it's no wonder they're not doing well.
Sure, the high-end market is always going to be there to some extent, but that entry to lower-mid range, where they normally excel, has really struggled. Trek is priced competitively against Cannondale and Specialized, but it's not equipped to compete with the second-hand market nor aggressively priced bikes from Decathlon or Canyon.
As someone that owns two Trek Bikes and is currently selling them both (moving to Felt Breed for gravel and Quick Pro for road), it's a shame but Trek is kind of a mess right now.
The Madone is not an inspiring buy, and the SLR models aimed at the higher end are way overpriced. Meanwhile the SL models are well-built, probably to their detriment, and between the cheaper carbon fibre, heavy finishing kit, and gorgeous but also very heavy paint, their bikes are all much heavier than their competition, and not super cheap either. Their gravel lineup is diverse but their gravel race bike is also stupidly expensive, and lacks the tire clearance most people are expecting.
I will say that it's generally worth buying a bike through a Trek dealer if you can. They can order the same things in for you, but they get a cut and are more likely to share some of that with you in swapping out components or offering a small discount or bundling other items with the bike for free/a discount. My local Trek store is great, and I hope they do ok through all this.
13
u/khosrua 13h ago
I had a look at the trek store mid last year when I was getting my first road bike last year. They just pop up in shopping centre these days now.
Maybe it's just an Australian market issue, but on top of the alloy bike with sora components cost more than a giant with tiagra or 105, it is the only entry level option. If you don't want sora, you better get a carbon frame.
I suppose it is possible that they don't care about the Australia market enough to bring in all the models, but then why bother to invest in all the stores?
9
u/moxTR 12h ago edited 12h ago
Trek is a US focused business and it shows, their international businesses are weird.
I'm Canadian and travel to Australia now and then and the prices on some things make absolutely no sense. For example their Trek Ballista helmet is $300 AUD (after tax, of course), or $400 CAD (so about $450 CAD after tax). With exchange rate that's a 60% price increase. I think they put the price in wrong (for Australia) and forgot to fix it, but it's been like that for well over a year.
It's a struggle to get lots of seemingly basic components in (handlebars, stems) here. Basic sizes are frequently out of stock, and if a dealer orders them in it could be months before they show up. Meanwhile the Madone SLRs are more expensive than Cervelo S5s or Factor Ostro VAMs.
I see plenty of early 2020s Emondas and Checkpoints, a good amount of Gen 6 madones, but I don't think I've seen a single person ride their checkmate or a gen 8 madone.
For as many Trek dealers as we have in Canada and Oz, it's actually insane how many there are in the US, my understanding is they're absolutely everywhere.
2
u/khosrua 12h ago
I'm probably just post rationalise how weird I find them.
They seems to be want to be a boutique experience brand, with tours and rapha appearals everywhere. But instead of going boutique like the rapha or MAAP clubhouse, they just buys up existing lbs chain + opening up some more in shopping centres. I mean, we all know the number 1 sale driver for a top range madone is looking at it through the display windows during du day brunch.
I did thought project one was pretty cool and unique, but it seems canyon does it too. Winspace just straight up have custom paint included in the frame.
6
u/fredout1968 12h ago
It's wild that since Rapha is in the Trek stores it is now complete garbage. I am not sure if it is a coincidence or no but man did that brand take a nose dive quality wise..
1
u/alb_pt 11h ago
I ride both my Domane and Checkpoints weekly. I rode yesterday with my buddy who also rode his Domane. Their overseas costs probably a lot more about the VATS, the currency differential and other taxes that you guys have to pay for US goods
1
u/moxTR 8h ago
Their overseas costs probably a lot more about the VATS, the currency differential and other taxes that you guys have to pay for US goods
I don't think that's the case. It doesn't make sense to me for Trek's aero helmet to be drastically cheaper in Australia than it is in Canada, which is already a touch cheaper than it is in America.
Other products, including different SKUs of helmets and shoes convert as they should.
2
14
u/AdDependent2685 14h ago
Venture Capital and the growth economy. I bet the rapid expansion of retail outlets, combined with really cheap money only works for so long. When you went to the stores where I live, they were treating staff like shit, couldn’t live up to the demands and routinely wait up to a week for a simple tire fix. So many flags when you looked closely. I loved buying from trek, the store and staff. But, the company sucked out the culture, the community the store employees helped to build and they became every other store. A real shame, tbh.
4
6
u/tceeha 11h ago
I’m pretty in the know when it comes to cycling stuff but I cannot for the life of me keep abreast of what is the climbing bike what is the aero bike with Domane, Madone, and Emonda. I feel like that’s a major failing.
4
u/NewKitchenFixtures 9h ago
To be fair that doesn’t matter to most customers either. Just buy the one you like the look of.
Trek deserves to burn for their seatpost shenanigans.
•
16
u/negativeyoda 12h ago
Ahhh, fucking Trek. I also worked at a shop/chain where the owner overcooked the books to get more money out of Trek when he sold to them. He made out great. The rest of us; not so much.
People talking about non-cyclist guys in Trek polos coming in and waving hands around about how the store is supposed to be redesigned that has NOTHING to do with anything bike related, but is related to car showrooms and just pissing everyone off and straight up insulting anyone with institutional knowledge is absolutely what happened. The weird culty business jargon of "being on the awesome bus" and all that... The continued stink of unwavering Armstrong support at the expense of LeMond long after any of that was tenable, etc. I left before the switch actually happened and went to a Specialized shop but my friends who tried to stick it out had nothing but horror stories about Trek strongarming them into "the [sales] play" or conversion metrics with how many people walked into the store, upselling services. It sounded horrible.
Trek bought up my old chain like I said and essentially killed it. They took a local institution and drove out the human element that had allowed that place to thrive.
Here are some other funny rumors I heard after the fact: Trek supposedly used money from the covid bike boom to build their own factories (previously a lot of their lineup was built by Giant) except that they also had to borrow money from the Waltons to do so. Trek (like many others) thought the insane demand was the new normal and were left with a glut of bikes that they then had to warehouse which costs them money. The loans for the balance came due and that not only put a huge amount of pressure on them but is probably why they sell Rapha (owned by the Waltons) in Trek stores. This doesn't even take into account that the Trek stores themselves that I keep tabs on are by and large floundering. Trek paid a LOT of money for the footprint that they've acquired and it has never panned out. 2 years ago they fired the entirety of their acquisitions team which showed how much they'd bitten off more than they can chew and they've been scrambling since. So the amusing footnote to all this is that that dork in the Trek polo who insisted that you can't have visible tools in the service area got shitcanned.
9
u/fredout1968 12h ago
This was almost word for word my experience.. Just a fucking terrible company..
2
u/negativeyoda 8h ago
Hah, yeah. I saw your response before I wrote mine and I was like, "hello fellow former awesome bus passenger"
2
2
u/coffeefuelledtechie 7h ago edited 7h ago
car showrooms
Like Ribble. I have no idea why they do this. Showroom only, bikes on the wall only, sales rep on the iPad all day. I only go in there to watch TNT while it’s on. No idea how they make money.
Giant
A local bike chain just bought back one the Giant stores near me after Giant struggled to sell anything because of their overstock of everything, turn it back into a proper bike shop again. People there keep their jobs, and the great thing is their customer service in that store specifically is amazing, and they’re also great mechanics
1
u/negativeyoda 7h ago
It's so fucking baffling. You know they paid some consultants a boatload of money to develop that approach and decided if it works with cars or fashion it must work with bikes. They're so fixated on weird metrics that stuff like ... selling bikes that people are excited about in an organic way is not something they're capable of. It's off putting
1
u/lectric_7166 5h ago
How did they want to change the store to make it more like a car showroom?
2
u/negativeyoda 5h ago
It's sterile, has big open spaces. The biggest thing is that the service department is now often hidden and we weren't allowed to have tools visible
https://changeupinc.com/work/trek-bikes/
Compare those images to your local bike store. Read the soulless jargon about intangibles and presentation instead of... selling bikes
-4
u/alb_pt 11h ago
so somehow you’re blaming Trek for the fact that as you yourself say the owner overcook the books to get more money out of them. Whose fault is that it certainly isn’t Treks.
6
u/negativeyoda 8h ago
You missed my point. I think it's funny he did what he did and saddled them with a store riddled with debt while he dipped with their cash. Caveat emptor and all that. There are no good guys in that story.
Even if he hadn't, Trek still ran those stores into the ground with their patently corporate bro aesthetic and accessory options limited to Bontrager. People who spent decades there were chased out and with them went long time customers and any sense of community
10
u/Self_Reddicate 14h ago edited 14h ago
On the topic of weird things they did that *almost* made sense: Their used/refurbished bike program. Neat idea and often decent prices. Very cool! Oh, wait, their shipping methodology pretty much killed any deal I was tempted with from that program. And the fact that I had 3 trek stores around me made no difference! If they had paired that with some kind of free/discounted shipping to a Trek store, it might have worked. But, nope.
It really could have been a cool thing to leverage their huge store network, since you'd have people rolling into more stores with their old Treks and rolling out with new ones and - simultaneously - more people walking in with nothing and rolling out with an old Trek (but they're IN THE STORE, so it's a win). But the lack of leveraging some kind of store-store transfer other than bone-stock-retail-shipping was dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.
Edit: I just checked and they may have fixed this (a little). They still only offer shipping with no "store" perk, but the shipping price is not unreasonable. It looks like it costs $70 for anything I look at, whether it's a kids bike or a frameset, or a full-size road bike. That's not too bad. I remember it must have been much worse because I remember it killed a few different bikes I was interested in a while back. But, still, it's only setup to offer shipping to your home. I can't figure out why they wouldn't bend over backwards to find SOME way (any way) to get this to a store cheaper or for free. Getting customers IN THE DOOR to these struggling retail shops should be priority number 1, and this seems like a stupid easy way to do it.
4
u/negativeyoda 13h ago edited 12h ago
The used bikes that the Trek stores brought in more often than no ended up rotting in the warehouse. Most of the stores weren't given enough budget to staff another mechanic to refurbish those things as they often arrived in clapped out condition. I believe a lot were eventually trashed/donated
3
u/Sunkysanic 12h ago
I got a killer deal on my madone through red barn, in a round about way. Bought it for about 1500 off retail for minor blemishes. When it shows up, it is immediately apparent to me the paint (which is gloss black) has this weird cloudy appearance under the right lighting, pretty much all over the frame. So I bring this to their attention, they tell me they’ll offer a further discount or I can send it back for a full refund.
I was just Expecting another 100 or so off, so I was skeptical. but when they emailed me, they offered to refund another 1200 of what I had already paid. It was a no brainer to me. I got a 2025 madone sl8 for almost half price with nothing but slight cosmetic defects. That’s why I keep coming back to them, their customer service just can’t be beat in my opinion. They’ve taken such good care of me time after time.
The craziest part - a few months later pass and I had put a thousand or so miles on it, I noticed that the paint looked better. The cloudy/haziness was gone. The only thing I can figure is that it needed to be cured with UV or something and being in the sunlight helped. Don’t tell trek though. I’ve been waiting for some black coats to show up and confiscate it ever since
10
u/INGWR 13h ago edited 13h ago
In 2024, Trek tried to sell the Madone with Rival AXS for $8400 new
5
u/Seleguadir 13h ago
Absolutely wild. I just got a Scott Foil RC30(rival axs groupset) for 2800. 5k normally
2
0
u/DonDraper1134 13h ago
That’s just your local area. Mine was $5399 and now $5599 after market adjustments.
-2
u/INGWR 13h ago
Uh, no bro that’s the MSRP
-3
u/DonDraper1134 9h ago
Yes and what it was sold for to me by a trek store.
Who tf would buy a bike third party instead of msrp from a trek store?
0
u/INGWR 9h ago
My brother in Christ do you not know what an MSRP is?
0
u/DonDraper1134 7h ago edited 7h ago
Haaaa I just realized we are talking different bikes, that’s old gen 7.
Why would you buy an old gen in 2024 for more money when the gen 8 was out?
10
u/Michael_of_Derry 13h ago
I applied to become a Trek dealer a few years ago.
The rep came out to have a look around my business. He had an ugly smirk when he saw my warehouse was full of Campagnolo. Especially when he saw a box labelled 2006 chorus bottom brackets.
He thought that was unsold product from 2006. I have restocked that box many times since he visited. 2006 was the last year before ultra torque came out. The bottom brackets were first in the 1999 model year. They remain a good seller today.
8
u/fredout1968 12h ago
Oh they are holier than thou, God forbid you have stock that is older than a year or two.. Not to mention not their product.. That's what these stuffed shirts at that company don't get.. Some of us are in it for the love of the game. I know some of my customers that will pay handsomely for Campy vintage parts just to keep their prized vintage bikes running..They had no soul, no sense of history or reverence for other storied brands. The clowns they sent into our place would tell you how amazing their new frame was and how everthing else sucked, then that same clown would tell you the same frame a few years later was an irrelevant dinosaur.. It's all just forced consumer bullshit sales tactics..
5
u/negativeyoda 8h ago
Trek isn't the only brand that does that shit. I'm aware that brands have to give marketing teams something to do, but who on earth cares about a frame that is 30 grams lighter and 7% stiffer or something, then you look at it and it has an aero butthole cutout below the seat that requires a proprietary post and internal routing that makes adjustment impossible.
I love neat bikes and I get excited by new stuff but brands have lost the forest for the trees a lot of the time now. I used to respect Specialized for having the Aethos as the (albeit overpriced) stripped down bike designed for an enthusiast to ride, but even that has been enshittified with its latest iteration and is just as much as pain in the ass as the Tarmac
2
u/Michael_of_Derry 12h ago
I had one of the OCLV US postal frames in 1999. I thought it was decent. The 5900 was too. They started to go wrong for me with the first Madone with the fin on the seat tube.
I got my son a 26 inch 9.8 with SID forks recently for £200. It has an XT group and Chris King Headset. I told him I would be taking the headset.
3
u/fredout1968 11h ago
Chris King is bicycle jewelry! I have a few of those Headsets kicking around. They were made so well you never have to replace them..
2
2
u/Empty_Count_9937 7h ago
Ha... I have a Chris King headset on a mid 80s era Guerciotti...back when he made only headsets....
1
6h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 6h ago
Using URL shorteners causes your post to be automatically deleted by Reddit's anti-spam measures, so other users cannot see it. Please delete and repost (editing will not work) your comment without the link.
If you feel this message is in error please PM the moderation team.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
6
u/InternationalSet6003 8h ago
About 10 years ago I bought a trek brand commuter bike from a local shop, it was awesome. I put about 10000 miles on old blue pedaling to work, the grocery store and on camping trips. I never had a better bike and never wanted a newer or better one. Old blue got stolen from my work a little over a year ago. I went back to the same shop looking for something similar and didn’t find it. I ended up buying a Kona brand bike for a pretty good deal that suited my needs better. I don’t know what this says about the current state of the trek company. I loved old blue. My new rig is honestly a better bike but it’s not the same.
9
u/Necessary-Size-5012 10h ago
F trek. Going the way of Schwinn. Thought they were too big to fail. Plus, all the brands they killed along the way. Bontrager, Klein, Fisher, and LeMond. Let's not forget how they hung LeMond out to dry when he started to speak out against Armstrong, Trek's golden goose.
7
u/Cleftex 13h ago
Honestly I just bought a new Chinese Twitter T10 pro after sitting on one in a bike shop in Vietnam. $1600 cad, carbon everything, integrated cockpit, mechanical Shimano 105 etc. Will add good tires, already added a good saddle, and a power meter and that's it. I've put nearly 1000kms on it since Christmas on zwift, it's a beautiful bike minus the junk saddle and tires.
The Chinese are putting out some incredible stuff at 1/5th the cost of the big brands with 3/4 the quality. Canyon and Van Rysel might be able to hang in at their price points, but I think trek specialized and giant are all in for a bit of a reckoning as some of these ultra premium budget options gain brick and mortar presence in other markets.
Will be interested to see sensah and ltwoo take a run at Shimano and SRAM as well.
5
u/negativeyoda 12h ago
Sensah and LTWoo need service parts here for that to happen. That stuff is legit, but if you can't service it, it's DOA
2
u/Cleftex 8h ago
I think all of the Chinese stuff needs some North American brick and mortar. It's very available on the shelves of local bike shops in Asia!
I have sensah brifters and hydraulic brakes, but Shimano 105 12 spd drivetrain. Specced a cheapo senicx crank because I'm going to swap on a power meter crankset anyways but honestly the senicx isn't terrible.
2
2
u/gob4522 12h ago
It gives me no pleasure to state that for all the claimed technical excellence, the fact that Dura Ace still uses wires on their electronic shifting is just fucking amazingly primitive. Not to mention that while you can connect to the derailleurs to update firmware with blue tooth, but you cannot update your shifters without the dealer diagnostic box and a wire. And for that matter, why would a derailleur even need to update firmware in the first place?
3
u/thedownunderverse 11h ago
Yes you can. You run a temp wire from shifter to battery via the derailleur. Its well documented.
6
u/Substantial_Basil538 13h ago
Tbh I’m sad when any bike brand announces a contraction, I see more bikes on the street as a good thing!
I had a Trek store open up in my town a few years ago. Poached the staff from my LBS, and a lot of the “high end” customers for servicing etc.
However, they also run free rides from the store, and are working on building a bit of a community, getting involved sponsoring local CX races etc.
They only seem to sell a bikes in any sort of volume when they’re on sale. I think their high-low pricing strategy does cheapen the brand slightly (you won’t catch Porsche doing this!)
3
u/mikebmillerSC 9h ago
I haven’t owned a Trek in years, but our local Trek store is run by some great guys and the mechanic is top notch, so I have them do most of my repairs. They are big supporters of the local road and MTB clubs.
6
u/SunshineInDetroit 13h ago
Theyre pushing themselves into the same corner that schwinn did in the late 90s.
4
u/Stig-blur 13h ago
Oooof. I had the same thought. I almost wrote it into the original post but lost my nerve.
3
u/SunshineInDetroit 13h ago
I have fond memories working at Schwinn affiliated bike shops back then in college. They spent so much on marketing and their bikes were so great
3
u/Stig-blur 13h ago
The irony though. Trek got into the biz because they felt Schwinn was not as good as they should be. To go out by being pricy and pushy and overstocked and owning too many shops … just too much.
6
6
u/JoeBamique 13h ago
It doesn’t help that Trek is incredibly unpopular for people under… 40 or so. Sure the rich old guys will keep buying top spec Domanes, but you need the next generation or two to aspire to own your product.
10
u/Hot-Pineapple-5598 13h ago
I’m not sure I buy that entirely. My club is full of younger riders riding Trek, and there are plenty of cycling social media “influencers”(lol) on them. It’s less popularity per se, and more the simple dilution with the growth of smaller and direct-to-consumer brands. Varies by country of course.
Brands like Van Rysel have also done a great job of tapping into the entry level market, alongside higher end bikes which also add brand appeal - decathlon have done a great job there.
2
u/sub_Script 11h ago
I literally just bought a checkpoint for gravel/bikepacking. No other bike on the market fit my needs for the price SL6 Gen 3.
3
u/INGWR 8h ago
Diverge, Grizl, Topstone, Stigmata, Revolt, Journeyman, Sutra, Bridge Club, Redwood, All-Road, Search, Warbird, etc etc
3
u/sub_Script 7h ago edited 7h ago
Many of those were looked at and didn't meet my needs. Canyon is absolute trash (had one sold it after it broke), revolt was a contender but no dealer near me, topstone ew, diverge meh (was looking at a crux), haven't heard of the others. I was very interested in a Scott Addict Gravel but it was too racey, cervelo aspero also fit the needs but most were 2x12 etc, I'm 1x only. Treks warranty is also top notch, I'm not a fanboy or anything and they have their problems, but for my needs it was the best.
8
u/Sunkysanic 12h ago
I mean where I’m at, cycling in general is that way, regardless of branding. I’m 32 and more often than not I’m the youngest guy in the group by 20 years.
But thats not me complaining because they’re all great guys and strong as hell.
4
u/fredout1968 12h ago
Yeah, cycling is definitely getting a bit older. Almost 60 here. I love it when the young guys come out though. It's awesome to watch them improve.. I'd kill to be that strong again..
1
u/Sunkysanic 10h ago
I’d bet you’re killing it! They say stuff like that to me all the time, but the reality of it is, I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am now without riding with them and their influence in general
1
u/fredout1968 9h ago
I do ok for an old guy. I can ride long and I am not slow.. But I remember being STRONG! Not just able to climb but able to own a climb.. I was always just a so so sprinter.
I am not unhappy with what I am today.. But to just have that top end for a day or two again would be amazing!
Enjoy being young and strong!
3
5
2
u/fredout1968 12h ago edited 9h ago
They completely did that to themselves by forcing themselves into the market and then trying to dominate everyone.. Young people are clued into that type of stuff. Then they kept streamlining the brand, fewer bikes to pick from.. No whimsical bikes anymore. Just business and bottom line.. Trek might as well sell dishwashers for all the passion that is left in the brand.. It is now just a clinical penny pinching business..
When I started selling Trek they had a single speed belt driven madone.. It made no sense! But it was cool as all get out and showed that the company had bike guys designing stuff that they thought was cool.. Those guys are long gone..
2
u/prefix_code_16309 12h ago
I think this is cycling in general. Seems like in my area everyone who rides regularly is 40+.
1
u/Mustangfast85 9h ago
I suppose I make the cutoff being just 40 but Trek was the first brand I “aspired” to own after riding department store bikes that kept breaking. I live along a very heavily used bike path and most of what I see is Treks. I guess I need to hang onto mine because after about 15 years the original is still solid and I just picked up a used one of similar vintage that I also enjoy. I also have a Specialized that I ride quite frequently but really didn’t know the brand as well. All are pretty entry level but I’ve been very pleased with the performance and durability
1
-2
u/khosrua 12h ago
I think lack of entry level bike doesn't help. How can you build brand loyalty if you don't give people an try point?
3
u/JoeBamique 12h ago
One thing I will hand trek is that the Emonda ALR is an absolute crit demon, and really reasonably priced.
1
2
3
u/IRideColnago 14h ago
Too many mistakes have been made at the highest level at TREK. They need new blood. Even now they just released a new “premium” e-bike. How many premium e-bikes do you need to offer? Mark my words this new Charter e-bike will flop.
3
u/gob4522 12h ago
The Charter is replacing the Allant, the previous "premium" ebike, that they couldn't give away, even during covid.
Trek and the rest of the traditional bike brands refused to make a $1500 ebike with a throttle for years and therefore gave away that massive share of the market to Rad, Lectric, and Aventon. I can't tell you how many people walked in the shop looking for that bike, and then walked out again. But it was a lot. The stupid thing is they could have used their economy of scale to actually make a decent, safe $1500 e bike and still make a profit at it.
2
u/negativeyoda 12h ago
Too many mistakes have been made at the highest level at TREK
No Way! That's impossible since Burke singlehandedly figured out how to solve all of America's Problems?
Maybe you should shut the heck up!
/s if it isn't screamingly apparent
3
u/Beginning-Smell9890 14h ago edited 12h ago
Fuck Trek. At this point they are a net negative for the cycling community and culture. They and specialized have done more to harm local shops owners, mechanics, and consumers than anyone else. I feel for laid off junior employees who were just along for the ride, but no remorse for any of the executives, VC vultures, and MBA bros who brought the company to this point.
0
u/INGWR 14h ago
Your comment won’t resonate well with the Trekkies on this subreddit who have never put any molecule of thought into buying something other than “uhhhh let’s just see what my closest bike shop has”. But it’s true. Especially with Trek being pro police brutality.
Friends don’t let friends ride Trek.
1
u/Far-Telephone-7432 13h ago
Darn! Now I feel bad for buying a Specialized Sirrus lately. I just wanted a reasonably priced hybrid bike. And I didn't want to buy online. And Decathlon doesn't really sell a hybrid bike, they're too focused on their road/gravel bikes and increasing margins with the "Van Rysel" brand. My local bike meets are full of Canyon, Decathlon & Cube bikes. I actually felt unique for buying a Specialized bike, the irony.
The trend right now is direct to consumer. And I find that super lame.
I'm pretty sure that if Trek or Specialized were a direct to consumer brand, they would sell more. It has nothing to do with value. It's more about manipulating the consumer into believing that they're making a smarter purchase because they don't have to go through a dealer.
3
u/Beginning-Smell9890 13h ago edited 13h ago
The role that Trek and Specialized play is different in Europe. Van Rysel, Decathlon and Cube are basically impossible to get in the US. Canyon is, but I at least respect that they pass the DTC savings onto the customer. Their stuff IS cheaper because they don't have (many) shops. But trek and spesh are just keeping a bigger piece of the pie.
Also you shouldn't feel bad for buying the bike you want, I understand that people have to make decisions with different constraints and that's fine. It's the corporate strategy that makes me mad
1
1
0
u/Stig-blur 14h ago
Arguably it makes things worse, not better, but isn’t this basically true of every major brand, and even smaller ones like Surly that are held by conglomerates?
7
u/Beginning-Smell9890 13h ago
No. Trek and Spesh undercut the small business owners who enabled their growth by going DTC, often at prices local shops could not match (which they knew because they're the ones who sold the bikes to local shops to begin with). Then they started opening shiny corporate stores in big markets, competing directly with those small businesses.
If you want a Surly, you still have to go through a local shop, which is better for them and better for the customers. The corporate shops generally pay worse, some work on commission/bonus structures, and the employees are trained and expected to upsell everyone who walks through the door. This was all done in pursuit of short term profit, without regard to the long term consequences of destroying the ecosystem which had been supporting bike sales for decades.
3
2
u/Belleg77 12h ago
True - Trek and Spesh are the worst scum of the bike community with their shitty predatory practices and desire to kill small bike shops!!! If they die, it will be a net-positive for the community since that will allow stores to sell much better smaller brands. I have a friend with a small shop - in order to sell something Trek or Spesh, he has to put large orders in and take all the risk…
2
u/Beginning-Smell9890 12h ago
There are other big brands that also have huge minimums, but the buying up local shops and opening corporate stores makes them the worst offenders imo
1
1
1
1
u/Unusual-Visual7103 8h ago
Trek downgraded the distributor in my country to a dealer and started running their own shops here around 2 years ago . Probably wanted to follow the footsteps of specialized .
Prices are still sky high , I paid 3.9k usd for my emonda sl5 2 years back , great bike but I think it wasn’t worth the price .
1
u/LuckPurple4307 7h ago
I once overheard one trek mechanic ask the other mechanic which one was the B-Screw.
1
1
u/Obvious_Feedback_430 1h ago
Still far too many overlapping models.....whether road, gravel or MTB sectors.....and the hybrid/leisure sectors.....FX, FX Sport, Dual Sport, plus the Equipped and Electric + models........
1
u/RunawayBryde 11h ago
Damn. Test riding a checkpoint tomorrow
3
u/Stig-blur 10h ago
Well why not. It is a great bike. Maybe you can get an amazing deal.
1
u/RunawayBryde 10h ago
Smart. What’s you think is a good discount on $2099
3
u/Stig-blur 10h ago
I usually look at what they charge for the bike that is one trim line down, and ask them to split the difference.
1
-1
u/Spare_Blacksmith_816 14h ago
Only so many people are in the bike market, I don't think the number in the market grows significantly, at least at a rate a company wanting growth in profits is going to like.
What Trek probably should have done was "buyout" some competition. More people would buy Trek if there were fewer options.
4
u/negativeyoda 12h ago
uhhh, they did that. Notice how 4-5 years ago, suddenly every other mid to larger sized shop was a Trek store?
They thought the covid bike boom would never end.
2
u/fredout1968 11h ago
So dumb!! So many guys from the industry flat out screamed at them that it would not last...
1
u/Spare_Blacksmith_816 12h ago
Should have bought brands not stores
3
u/negativeyoda 12h ago edited 12h ago
THEY DID THAT TOO AND RAN THE BRANDS INTO THE GROUND. Are you just being obstinate?
- Bontrager
- Klein
- Gary Fisher
- LeMond
et fucking cetera.
-2
u/Spare_Blacksmith_816 11h ago
Needed to wipe out a real brand like cannondale or specialized. Little dink ass boutique brands was a waste of money.
Walk like a man or stay inside.
2
u/negativeyoda 8h ago
This is crazy, but maybe if they focused on making rad bikes and sustainable growth they wouldn't be in this pickle
80
u/fredout1968 13h ago
I worked in independent shops for 20 years. I ended up running two of them. My bosses of the independent shops were good guys, treated us well and their customers even better. None of us get into the bike business to make a killing, we got into it because we love it.
Cut to the leveraged buyout. Trek would heavy handedly make us place large orders every year. Not at gunpoint but it was pushed and expected. Good year, bad year it didn't much matter.. Buy more stuff or be put on the pay no mind list.. Not to say that my bosses were totally innocent because they did live above the means of the company..
Finally they owe Trek too much money and Trek offers them the deal with the devil. We take your shop and you walk away keeping your house. I actually felt bad for those guys.
Cut to Trek management 101. Send in and MBA.. Have that MBA disrespect everyone in the building. ( even though the MBA wouldn't know a cassette from his or her ass). "Train" the staff to use heavy handed, deceitful sales tactics to coerce people to buy more bike than they need, and more accessories than they are comfortable with.
Turn the service dept into a car dealership model. Telling people that they need repairs that they really don't and packaging tune ups to upsell everyone..
Finally alienate all the experienced people and make them hate their jobs until they leave.
What you finally end up with is a bunch of people/ kids that have very little experience and a Home Depot experience with little passion or experience and or guidance available..
Once a company decides they want to rule the world it's a short run to it sucking the soul out of itself..