Which brand would you like more access to?

jam1e

My boss wants to expand his outdoor retail business (no more info I'm afraid ) to include 1 mtb brand. Ideally one which is under represented in the UK/north and has a range between £600 - £2k.

The only disclaimer is no Trek, Giant etc - not because they're not good etc but they're freely available and we wouldn't want to compete directly with local retailers - think niche market people...

This aint a quick buck thing either, he's lining up training, test track and all sorts.

I'm like a kid picking his sweetshop

So who wants what?

supersonic

Wow! For me it would be Genesis - British brand and design, well thought out specs but a bugger to get hold off. Unfortunately the range is somewhat limited, and no full sussers.

Could go for one of the Euro brands like Cube or Canyon. Getting lots of fans, and are quite rare.

jam1e

This is meant to be in the buyers section - i messed up the beginners/buyers reading test! Can anyone either move it or tell me how to? I'm off for a brew to try and wake up...

Good call with Genesis by the way, I tried to have a look at them but couldn't find the model I wanted!

[Admin] Moved to General, Not really Buyers section worthy![/Admin]

supersonic

"Don't worry, one of the God like people with the POWER will be along to move it! ;-)"

Lol, who edited that?!

And now like a berk Ive deleted he rest of my post.

I was saying are you limited to one brand?

Chaka Ping

Those Lapierre bikes look really tasty, but I bet they don't have a lot of distributors yet.

ride_whenever

On-one would be quite cool if they don't have one nearby.

Actually, we need a decent retailer/importer for Transition in the uk, the current one isn't fantastic. There'd be huge demand, both locally and for mail order.

BlackSpur

Is is possible to stock Focus? If so you would get a load of business - so many people like the bikes but don't have the option of trying them out.

jam1e

Supersonic - Yeah just the one brand at the minute to test the water... We've loads of experience in related areas but not bike hardware.

supersonic

One reason why OnOne and Focus are so cheap as the middle man is cut out - less overheads. I don't think a specialist shop open to the public could compete price wise - but certainly offer more customerwise.

ride_whenever

Are you planning on doing mail order?

jam1e

There is the possibility of acting as a "showroom" for a brand with few or no UK dealer facilities - test rides, sizing etc etc. Not exactly sure of the finances behind this idea but it seems to be a good idea for focus and the like... Plus this idea lets us test the water for our area in terms of level to aim at, type of bike etc etc.

If we did do the retail (not "showroom") side there would be a mail order side added to our existing system but we're trying to establish a place where a manufacturer with a low UK footprint could show off their product in the flesh to those who have heard about but never seen the brand. We're not trying be a wiggle or CRC really.

The Big Cheese

Another vote for Transition bikes

zero303

Another vote for Lapierre. If I'd been more of aware of them I'd have certainly included them in the buying process...

Pkomor

I'd say Transition bikes too!

Quirky

Marin - Only one store that stocks this within 100 miles of me!

Tony06

transition!! Love them bikes but it seems from what ive heard the UK importer are "cowboys"

lachoman

TRANSITION

saintadolf

Da Bomb maybe?

supersonic

I have to say, as nice as the Transition bikes are, it will be a bad choice. Whatever the brand is, it needs a good range of types accross a broad price range - the Transition are too 1D for a venture like this.

saintadolf

actually kona are pretty small in comparison to the big uns like spesh and trek and they fit the 600 - 2k bill fairly well. and their uk dealers arent exactly that common (only one that i know of within 50 miles of me)

BlackSpur

I think that for an outdoor retail company, a brand that is more XC-focused would fit better with the rest of the store.

supersonic

Completetly agree, more 'MOR', XC/trail based, maybe with a few alternatives. It seems a awful lot of money to spend to stock just DH/freeride bikes, and expensive ones at that which have a much smaller market and therefore customers will be scarce.

z000m

more access to small british manufacturers would be nice. less import and more export.

norco forever

what about .243 and brands like that.

jam1e

i agree that xc/trail is prob the way to go - anything else would be to specialised.marin and kona are available elsewhere an prob for less than we could manage to sell em for. We dont want people checkin out the bikes an then buying online to save a fiver! On the other hand .243 poss dont have the pullin powerwe'd need... Its harder than i thought this!

nicklouse

a very confused thread.

What are you actually wanting to do. stock bikes from a UK distributor or Import bikes that do not currently have an importer?

BlackSpur

Also, are you planning to have a workshop in the store as well? If people have any problems with bikes they buy you will need to sort it out. Or are you just going to sell boxed bikes and not offer any aftersale support?

jam1e

the plan is to have a small workshop just for the bikes we sell. We prob won't offer servicin etc for bikes bought elsewhere. I think we're likely to get a uk brand as opposed to importing but thats just an initial impression.