Why can't the bike industry operate like others?
kammybear
Posts: 500
I've got into mountain biking over a year ago and one thing that gets me is all the apparent secrecy when it comes to releases especially for the following years. Release dates for bikes are never advertised or openly available, specs, reviews and previews are never timely. My Cube Attention 2012 was never openly reviewed and Bike Radar only reviewed the Acid 2012 4 months before the release of the 2013 model.
Why can't the Bike industry be more like gaming?
Why can't the Bike industry be more like gaming?
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wheres is the fun in that."Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
Parktools :?:SheldonBrown0 -
You can oogle pictures and work out what you want next?
You'd get hyped etc?
That's the theory I suppose!0 -
If the bike industry was like gaming, it would only release one bike per company every 6 months, and then some bikes would take 10 years to get into production.A Flock of Birds
+ some other bikes.0 -
And riders would buy a few bikes a month.I don't do smileys.
There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda
London Calling on Facebook
Parktools0 -
benpinnick wrote:If the bike industry was like gaming, it would only release one bike per company every 6 months, and then some bikes would take 10 years to get into production.
And we'd all be complaining about companies buying positive reviews... oh, wait
And while we're here, how the hell are games comparable to bikes? You might as well ask why the bike industry isn't more like the pharmaceutical industry. That one'd be popular.0 -
I find the bike industry far better than many. In my 'other' hobby products are often announced, shown, and then cancelled, they regularly take years to come to fruition and you can't get a release year, let alone a date!
Games and bikes are so different it's a totally meaningless comparison!0 -
njee20 wrote:I find the bike industry far better than many. In my 'other' hobby products are often announced, shown, and then cancelled, they regularly take years to come to fruition and you can't get a release year, let alone a date!
Games and bikes are so different it's a totally meaningless comparison!
I've been trying to work out what your other hobby is. Child abduction?0 -
Crikey no, it's far more embarrassing than that!0
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njee20 wrote:I find the bike industry far better than many. In my 'other' hobby products are often announced, shown, and then cancelled, they regularly take years to come to fruition and you can't get a release year, let alone a date!
Games and bikes are so different it's a totally meaningless comparison!
Pilot?0 -
Not a million miles off, more nerdy though!
This is not the point dammit!0 -
warpcow wrote:And while we're here, how the hell are games comparable to bikes? You might as well ask why the bike industry isn't more like the pharmaceutical industry. That one'd be popular.
so, just thinking aloud, I guess that would be - buying all your bikes from some guy in a pub in a dodgy part of town, only to find out later it didn't work?njee20 wrote:Not a million miles off, more nerdy though!
This is not the point dammit!
train driver?0 -
Train driver's not so much a hobby as a profession though. You're pretty well there though!
I must say I don't really get the OP's rant, there aren't all that many industries where products are updated on such a regular basis, availability info is pretty good once the manufacturers have it, you may have to phone a real shop rather than rely on the internet though.
Not sure gaming is the greatest comparison either, things are prone to slippage, far more so than in bikes. And when's GTA 5 due? It's been in the offing for years.0 -
:oops: anyway, moving on.0
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I don't do smileys.
There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda
London Calling on Facebook
Parktools0 -
cooldad wrote:And riders would buy a few bikes a month.
Id say this plays a big part, its not like people buy bikes every other month. If you think about if EAsports release say 1 game a month, they are going to want to get rid off all the hype buys for the next month. If they didn't give you a set day, they don't know when you will turn up to buy in turn loses them "buy time" I suppose. Makes sense if you think about it.
Although we do look at new bikes, dribble and fiend. But realistically...it ain't happening. Unless you are one of these Audi types with money coming out your ears.0 -
Plyphon wrote:kammybear wrote:I've got into mountain biking over a year ago and one thing that gets me is all the apparent secrecy when it comes to releases especially for the following years.
May I take this opportunity to introduce you to a company called Apple Inc.
But Apple have a massive conference and shout about their shit from the roof tops and an army of zealots flame all the Windows and Android fanbois.
Most bike companies quietly update their website but with no concrete release dates etc0 -
I wish all industries would stop with the bullsh*t yearly release pattern, and just release when they have a significant reason to replace their product with something more modern and/or better.0
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The most annoying thing about the industry is the constant down grading of spec on the bikes year on year, then they sell them as the same model!0
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With a higher price tag.YorkshireLad wrote:The most annoying thing about the industry is the constant down grading of spec on the bikes year on year, then they sell them as the same model!0 -
Used to be the other way round. for 10-15 years we enjoyed better specs year on year and lower prices.A Flock of Birds
+ some other bikes.0 -
Lets make a simple comparison
DVD based game, cost to make one unit about £1, sell for £40-50, so if you have a stack left at launch of the new one and sell at half price, you still make a stack of profit.
Bike, Cost to make (to factory gate) is about 1/2 the final selling price (then you have costs etc of transport), so if you have a stack left you sell them at a loss.
That is why the bike industry with annual upgrades (don't get them in gaming) is much like the car industry which also has similar frequant upgrades and also a similar build cost to sell price ratio.
Of course if kammybear is willing to pay about 2.5 times as much for his bikes so the bike industry can afford the losses then I'm sure they'll be happy to listen to his daft ideas!
YHMcG - you'll notice Boardman and Carrera are generally on 2 yearly upgrades, helps Halfords keep the cost base down and as you say means an 'facelift' is more obvious as it will contain twice the changes!
Apple have what 6 or 8 product lines Spesh have........ maybe a hundred? (it's 14 in MTB without road, dirt/jump, multi-use, kids and globe) and each product line such as Rockhopper has more changes than just apples 3 different RAM levels in an ipod!
Kammybear, fair to say you made no effort to think about it before ranting off really!Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
It's not quite that simple. The cost to produce one single disc, as a standalone object is in that kind of ballpark (I could ask exactly, but the guy who does our DVDs isn't in yet).The Beginner wrote:Lets make a simple comparison
DVD based game, cost to make one unit about £1, sell for £40-50,
However, the costs involved in actually creating the content that goes ON the DVD are immense. Computer games these days aren't made by one or two people any more, they involve hundreds of people of various disciplines, along with some hefty research and technology investments.0 -
YeehaaMcgee wrote:However, the costs involved in actually creating the content that goes ON the DVD are immense. Computer games these days aren't made by one or two people any more, they involve hundreds of people of various disciplines, along with some hefty research and technology investments.
The upfront cost is now comparable to the film business, measured in millions.
Both industries have similar business model, I think.
Films will release with lots of hype and cinema showings, then later is mainstream dvd release, then collectors editions, and licensing to networks for broadcast.
Games release with lots of hype and big sales (=cinema), later come the upgrades & expansions (=collectors editions). Some games (e.g. WoW's) have ongoing monthly subs for online services.0 -
benpinnick wrote:If the bike industry was like gaming, it would only release one bike per company every 6 months, and then some bikes would take 10 years to get into production.
And you'd have to put up with random crashes, they'd promise to fix this in the next patch but it would get even worse.0 -
Guys, I wasn't ranting about every aspect of the industry, just the way reviews and PR is handled.
Someone mentioned Interbike etc but unless it's a 5k bike you can forget finding much info on it online months before it releases.0 -
But why do you care about knowing about a bike months before its release - unless it is cocked locked and ready to ride then anythign you hear about it will be marketing bullshit - until someone can swing a leg over it and ride it you cannot judge a product at all.
You see things like a prototype carbon DH bike ridden by Peaty or whoever and you know a) it will be released sometime soon b) it rides well since you can see him riding it and c) its in development. A trail bike might be in test in the desert in the US somewhere and but until its in its production (maybe pre-production) form you never know what its going to be like.
Ultimately if I am in the market for a new bike I want to know what is available when I want the bike - am I going to wait on the off chance that the new Trek BingBangBong Flipperty widget 23.9inch wheel bike is going to arrive 4 months after I want to buy and wont be reviewed for another 3 months and gets good reviews - probably not.
I am hopefully going to be in market for new bike in May so I am lookign at reviews for 2013 bikes, and 2012s that might still be around on discounts. I am not interested in what will be out in August next year and I only care about what comes out between now and May if I need to pre order.Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0 -
Why would you want to though? Same goes for games or anything. Have we as a species lost the ability to enjoy what we have right now, or something?kammybear wrote:Guys, I wasn't ranting about every aspect of the industry, just the way reviews and PR is handled.
Someone mentioned Interbike etc but unless it's a 5k bike you can forget finding much info on it online months before it releases.0
