Performance Bicycle Bankruptcy
#52
I am potato.
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Pacific Northwest
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Bikes: Only precision built, custom high performance elitist machines of the highest caliber. 🍆
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I like Performance Bike. They have almost always done me right. I bought my first roadbike there in the beginning of 2015 after too many years off. It was a 2013 close out model in the wrong size (but really close), so they exchanged it for free, no questions asked. The exchange had a substitute rear wheel. They located the right wheel and swapped it free of charge. I rode the dickens out of that bike and still have it. The manager who always knew my name always did me right if ever there was any issue.
The only thing I think was their down fall was parts. I tried to locate a square taper bottom bracket. Nada. I tried to buy some chainring bolts. Only for single speed. I tried to buy rim tape. Only in super skinny or too wide for my rim. I tried to buy replacement RockShox. Only tapered head tube in stock. I tried to buy chain rings. Only 4 different sizes, all FSA 5 bolt 110BCD. I tried to buy tubes. 1 exploded, I exchanged it, the exchange had a hole in it straight outta the box. I tried to buy upgrade shifters to Ultegra. Outta-luck. I was going to buy a Ridley...unavailable in 58...Got a better bike, (a brand they don't carry) at a different shop.
I hate to say it, but even for a shop that in my eye has done everything right from a customer service perspective, the writing has been on the wall for some time. They ran their inventory too lean to be a one stop, full service bike shop and what they did have was produced too cheap and their service was too expensive. They had 1 good mechanic. When he left because corporate wouldn't pay a wage he could live on, so did I. I followed him to Greggs Cycles.
Sorry, I'll take non-punctured tubes, Showers Pass rain gear, Ortleib Panniers, and a wall of various chain ring selections any day. So I shop at shops that those products are an option.
If they need to order a part, then so can I. I feel sorry for Performance, but when I need a thing, I frequent bike shops that don't need to order parts with a 1 week turn around for basic things like bottom brackets or brake calipers.
The only thing I think was their down fall was parts. I tried to locate a square taper bottom bracket. Nada. I tried to buy some chainring bolts. Only for single speed. I tried to buy rim tape. Only in super skinny or too wide for my rim. I tried to buy replacement RockShox. Only tapered head tube in stock. I tried to buy chain rings. Only 4 different sizes, all FSA 5 bolt 110BCD. I tried to buy tubes. 1 exploded, I exchanged it, the exchange had a hole in it straight outta the box. I tried to buy upgrade shifters to Ultegra. Outta-luck. I was going to buy a Ridley...unavailable in 58...Got a better bike, (a brand they don't carry) at a different shop.
I hate to say it, but even for a shop that in my eye has done everything right from a customer service perspective, the writing has been on the wall for some time. They ran their inventory too lean to be a one stop, full service bike shop and what they did have was produced too cheap and their service was too expensive. They had 1 good mechanic. When he left because corporate wouldn't pay a wage he could live on, so did I. I followed him to Greggs Cycles.
Sorry, I'll take non-punctured tubes, Showers Pass rain gear, Ortleib Panniers, and a wall of various chain ring selections any day. So I shop at shops that those products are an option.
If they need to order a part, then so can I. I feel sorry for Performance, but when I need a thing, I frequent bike shops that don't need to order parts with a 1 week turn around for basic things like bottom brackets or brake calipers.
Last edited by base2; 11-21-18 at 10:47 AM.
#53
Senior Member
Global economy is at tail end of 10 year debt binge and many are leveraged to the hilt. Rising rates/borrowing costs are going to wipe out a lot more than just Performance/Nashbar.
#54
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I disagree. Every adult on planet Earth knows rates go up as well as down. It isn't the normal cycles of change that caused Performance to fail. It was poor management that hurt Performance, and Sears, and GM, and many others. No one wins every race... or any other competition. And business IS a competition.
#55
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BTW... I stopped in the Dayton store this morning. They said 40 (of the 104) stores are closing.
#56
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#58
feros ferio
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Bikes: 1959 Capo Modell Campagnolo; 1960 Capo Sieger (2); 1962 Carlton Franco Suisse; 1970 Peugeot UO-8; 1982 Bianchi Campione d'Italia; 1988 Schwinn Project KOM-10;
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I detest the entire consolidation of all sorts of business areas into virtual monopolies. Where is Teddy "Trust Buster" Roosevelt when we need him?
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
#59
Senior Member
The parent company has been on a buying binge that is now bust as debt servicing rises, typical in low rate debt cycle that has reversed. That game works so long as rates keep falling and the leverage can be constantly added to or refinanced. 2019 will see many bankruptcies not just in retail.
#60
Senior Member
The few times I walked around in the stores several years ago I found that they were amazingly spacious. In that way where a normal person is thinking "wait, does anyone need so much space?" I also found that the product offerings from Nashbar were becoming more elitist. Fewer 26" or 27" tires, no more threaded headsets or quill stems, not so many older parts. I remember buying ball bearings there in high qualities, various sizes. Not possible today. That was only about ten years ago.
#62
Senior Member
The parent company has been on a buying binge that is now bust as debt servicing rises, typical in low rate debt cycle that has reversed. That game works so long as rates keep falling and the leverage can be constantly added to or refinanced. 2019 will see many bankruptcies not just in retail.
#63
Senior Member
#64
Senior Member
This may require a thread in P&R.
#65
Banned
One of many threads on this, here, BF, and elsewhere..
They were already under water, .. in a debt for equality trades..
So, they were already owned by the vendors they could not pay
so they traded them the company to pay the debt ..
So, they were already owned by the vendors they could not pay
so they traded them the company to pay the debt ..
#66
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Bummer. My local performance bike is closing down. It's the Novi Michigan location. As I stated above, I cleared out their shelves of Strada SL tires, and a few packs of bar tape. Sucks to see them close down. Good people that work there.
#67
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I'd say this best fits the old adage... that you can't spent yourself wealthy. Making profit.... no matter big or small your business is NEVER a given... or even an easy task. Making money is a competitive venture that poses real risks. Yes, performance made mistakes, management was not perfect, but profits are never guaranteed. Eventually all businesses fail.
#68
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So.... it is going under? Or is it that only some of the brick and mortar stores are closing? Will I still be able to buy my new favorite bar tape (Forte Griptec 2) and the so-comfy Ultra Bib Shorts?
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#69
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Bikes: Merz x 5 + Specialized Merz Allez x 2, Strawberry/Newlands/DiNucci/Ti x3, Gordon, Fuso/Moulton x2, Bornstein, Paisley,1958-74 Paramounts x3, 3rensho, 74 Moto TC, 73-78 Raleigh Pro's x5, Marinoni x2, 1960 Cinelli SC, 1980 Bianchi SC, PX-10 X 2
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#70
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My crystal ball says: It is certain. No... wait... that's my Magic Eight Ball. In real life... rarely is the future a certainty.
#71
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#72
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The comment was dated. Eight Balls... were a kids toy... which predicted the future. Adults realize... we can NOT know the future.
The store is in a death spiral. They might survive.... there will be damages. How much of a product line will survive? I don't know... and I'd bet no one does.
The store is in a death spiral. They might survive.... there will be damages. How much of a product line will survive? I don't know... and I'd bet no one does.
Last edited by Dave Cutter; 11-25-18 at 07:24 PM.
#73
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The comment was dated. Eight Balls... were a kids toy... which predicted the future. Adults realize... we can NOT know the future.
The store is in a death spiral. They might survive.... there will be damages. How much of a product line will survive? I don't know... and I'd bet no one does.
The store is in a death spiral. They might survive.... there will be damages. How much of a product line will survive? I don't know... and I'd bet no one does.
#74
Senior Member
The USA is insane. We spend millions of dollars erecting steel and pouring millions of cubic yards of concrete into work places and retail stores that nobody wants to go to. Then, we go home to miserable stick frame homes in the suburbs built on top of mud that are falling apart. Soon, we will all realize what a bunch of dumbass decisions we have made over the last few decades. People in France, Italy and, Switzerland are laughing at us. I would move to Italy if I could actually escape the gravitational pull of the USA.