bargainguy

https://bicycleretailer.com/industry...ecialty-stores

From the press release:

Giant said Dick's has pursued the brand for five years and emphasized it remains "100%" committed to retailers. Giant said its bikes most likely will be available online from those stores' online sites.

We are taking this action to attract non-riders and crossover athletes to see bikes that aren't typically visiting independent bicycle dealers.

100% committed to retailers, yet opening up another revenue stream for Giant that effectively bypasses the dealer network?

Giant says they're going after customers that wouldn't necessarily visit a traditional LBS. But if it's online, we're just talking about which website is being visited, not which brick-and-mortar store is being visited.

Sounds like a thin ploy to gain market share at the cost of the existing dealer network. I don't see how a small / independent shop could compete with the likes of a Dick's-owned specialty retailer.

indyfabz

What a Dick’s move. See what I did there?

TiHabanero

Wonder what Tony Lo has to say about this?

Shadco 

Following Trek, and Cannondale, not surprised.

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ScottCommutes

This reminds me of the film industry, where theaters have movies exclusively for a period of time before the films are sent off to wider distribution.

However, as much as the bike shops might complain, this might actually be good for them. Look up Cabella's. They sell hunting/fishing type stuff on a scale bigger than Dick's by opening massive stores in the middle of nowhere. The more people Cabella's gets into outdoor sports, the more it helps the various local specialty shops.

LesterOfPuppets

Dick's in AZ stopped selling fishing gear in AZ several years ago, except the Prescott location, but even that store might've stopped by now. Too much competition from Cabelas, Bass Pro, and Sportsman's Warehouse.

As for this bike news, there aren't any Public Lands stores within 1000 miles of here, so this Giant deal won't affect me for a while.

Nope I lied, it's only 995 miles to Public Lands in Medford, OR

LesterOfPuppets

I wonder how Pon feels about this. They've pretty much been "THE" bike supplier for DSG for quite a while.

LesterOfPuppets

Cannondale is owned by Pon, which supplies bikes to DSG already.

3alarmer 

...it's not easy being big.

wheelreason

Inevitable, it's a business after all.

veganbikes

Giant hasn't been committed to IBDs in a long time, I think pretty all the shops in my area have either dropped them or gotten dropped by Giant. Nobody wants their crap anyway. The stuff they make fro everyone else fine stuff but their own products aren't really that great except on the higher end and even that isn't going to be as good as Specialized or Cannondale or Trek. However like most major manufacturers they are going to keep going the route of big fat middle finger to all of their dealers while claiming to still support them.

seypat

Wait till they start showing up here:

https://www.goinggoinggone.com/

LesterOfPuppets

Dang I was hoping to find a cheep Nishiki or GT on there. No dice though, here's what I got searching for bicycle, pretty sweet 404 page!

seypat

Around Xmas time I got a couple of Black Diamond headlamps for about 1/2 of any place that was selling them. They also have/had Balega? socks for $6.99 a pair.

Maelochs

Giant agrees to sell kids and mountain bikes at Dick's-owned specialty stores

I am all for selling mountain bikes but I don't think Dick's or Giant should be selling kids before they reach their majority.

nomadmax 

So according to the title, they're selling kids?

PeteHski

Their higher end bikes are every bit as good as all the other competing brands. Similarly their lower end bikes are no worse than lower end Trek, Specialized etc. They just lack a bit of brand kudos, that’s all.

indyfabz

I hope the OP was just kidding,

nomadmax 

I guess the bonus is you can buy a kid AND a mountain bike for them in one location

indyfabz

I put in a lot of effort to avoid acquiring the former.

freeranger

Luckily, there are a number of good bike shops around here. I do almost all of my own work, but would not hesitate to go to the most of the bike shops if I didn't. Don't know that I would care to go to a general sporting goods store if I needed work done. They might have a good mechanic, but my confidence resides with a dedicated bike shop. Might be good for areas not lucky enough to have a bike shop nearby I guess.

veganbikes

The low end is worse. Having sold similar bikes with similar specs at the same time in similar enough quantities the Giant bikes were brought in 2:1 over other stuff and we were mostly dealing Specialized. I remember their higher to mid range stuff having the goofiest stem containing hydraulic fluid so instead of using full cables or going for the early but existing Shimano hydro STI levers they did something on their own which was quite silly and unneeded. Yes I will grant that every brand does silly stuff but usually in regards to comfort and some sort of Cush or mush to make it better.

They do lack brand kudos but they also make a product that isn't quite as good the higher end is better in comparison especially these days but the low end is still quite low.

Garfield Cat

For the Local Bike Shops, it boils down to service. Emphasis is to sell the service and secondarily the bike.

Other thing is the e-bike. The Local Bike Shops are going to be there when the batteries and stuff stop working.

PeteHski

I’ll take your word for it on the low end bikes. Sounds like they just extend their range lower down. On the higher end bikes you seem to have cherry picked a specific feature they did badly at some point in the past. My 2019 Defy Advanced Pro has a slightly quirky box stem design with integrated brake hoses which is not the most elegant solution, but otherwise works fine and the frame is as good as anything else in it’s class. I noticed they redesigned the stem a couple of years later and the revised version looked much neater.

choddo

I can imagine this might blip indie stores sales of these products but it doesn't take long to figure out you need quality service, not just a paypal transaction, for bikes.