burnthesheep

Ever heard of TPS?, and not the reports in that comedy movie.

You don't go to massive car lots in Japan, the originators of the Toyota Production System........aka lean.......aka pull production. Inventory creates more problems than it resolves. American style car dealers and LBS's, inventory. Pickup the books "Machine that Changed the World" or "Lean Thinking" and reassess the ideas being posted about LBS's car dealers and inventory. Inventory automatically introduces the concept you have to sacrifice providing exactly what the consumer wants. Next up, any defects in manufacturing propagate throughout inventory. If you pull builds, you don't have piles of inventory sitting there with defects. Next up, it costs everyone money to carry inventory. Brick and mortar, overhead, storage, depreciation, discounting.

Next up, good luck identifying an issue with your new bike for LBS repair......."oh, just drop it off and we'll put it randomly in the queue and not be able to give you an expected pickup date and it'll probably be a whole month before we adjust your brakes". Zero out of three calls I've ever made to a LBS early in my bike ownership days as an adult resulted in "drop it off Tuesday pick it up Thursday". It was always this nebulous period of time you'd be without a bike.

Especially when we're trying to compare new motor vehicle repairs that are much longer and more complex than a flipping bicycle. Which makes the whole LBS service timing thing even more embarrassing and enraging. As I'm 10/10 getting a dropoff/pickup date for vehicle repairs. Especially if scaling time and complexity between the two, I put money on the vehicle repair situation winning out. Car dealership repairs work on planned schedules, tracked inventory, 'book hours', and so forth. LBS repairs often seem to revolve more around.........witchcraft and "welp, we'll get around to taking a look".

The solution is for LBS's to get in on the Velofix style scheme. That's my last takeaway here. Direct to consumer is the future. Adapt or get left behind. My "LBS as a destination" throws a bone at the traditional brick and mortar "need" by making it somewhere you go for a beer hall and food truck but happens to service bikes and sling a few accessories. You go to a golf course to play golf, not just to buy golf stuff. But if you're there and happen to need something, they have some stuff. Balls you will hit into the water, check. New glove for the one you discovered has a hole in it, check. Snacks for your round, check. Had a memorable round and have room for another golf polo logo shirt, check. It's been like that for ages for that activity. Most clubs these days don't stock full club sets. They stock demo sets then they fit you and order your clubs. Been like this since at least I was in high school around 2000 or so. I remember being around 10 years old the shop at the course stocked a few "for sale now" sets. But got out of it as big box retailers and magazine sales took off.

downhillmaster

FWIW, I don’t mean to come off as crazy, anti Tesla.
I think they are innovative and cool vehicles.
I just think a lot of people appear to be enamored with them for the wrong reasons.
You can get basically the identical buying experience at any luxury dealership in the U.S. without the wait in a normal market.

Bald Paul

To your first statement: no, I wasn't trying to prove Canyon wasn't selling bikes. I was merely stretching the concept of "sales without service" to the extreme. Heck, one of my bikes is a Fezzari, a brand that is DTC only, but I'm pretty handy at adjusting/repairing my own bikes, so the lack of a local dealer didn't really affect my decision to purchase. To me, if Specialized wants to go DTC, they should just do it and stop having Specialized dealers instead of undercutting their own stores.

How about this for a compromise? You look up the Specialized bike model you want online, in the size and color you want. You enter your zip code, and, if there are no Specialized dealers within an X radius of your location, you are allowed to order online and have the bike shipped, partially assembled, to your door. However, if there is a local dealer, the bike MUST be shipped to them for assembly and pickup, and they still get a cut of the sale.

prj71

Allen wrenches can be purchased for cheap. And again...Mounting a water bottle cage is not hard.

I look to Amazon first because 1.) They are usually cheaper. 2.) I can get the item in 2 days or less. 3.) I have an Amazon Visa card that builds up points with every purchase. The 15th of each month I get points to spend that average $20 - $40 each month.

Today I is the 15th. I need some new Shimano brake pads for the front and rear of my mountain bike. I'll end up spending about $10 for new Shimano brake pads today from Amazon after shopping with my points.

prj71

That is nice service. 2 of the bikes in my household were purchased online. The rest from bike shops.

I installed my own bottle cages and accessories though.

prj71

Someone has to help fund that rocket ship ride!!!!



I get that. But ultimately I'm trying to keep more dollars in my pocket vs. someone else's pocket. So I learn or figure out how to do some things myself.

prj71

Happening with cars now also.

https://www.vroom.com/?utm_source=go...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.carvana.com/?utm_source=...SAAEgJnOPD_BwE

70sSanO

There is a bicycle garage in our area. Been there a few times for things I didn’t want to do. They have done good work at reasonable prices.

The owner conducts Park classes and sells their tools. Has a few consignment bikes.

I guess he is doing well enough as he has been there for a while. Has a couple of people working for him. Since his business is service, there is probably more focus on not hiring idiots.

Not sure where this fits into the DTC model. I mean we are talking about a bike and no mfg’s produces their own brakes, cranks, bottom brackets, etc.

John

prj71

I use my bike shop for some repair stuff either because I don't have the correct tools or because I don't have the time. Most recent visit was for them to install a crown race on carbon fork I purchased because I don't have a crown race tool. So they installed the crown race, switched over the fork and transferred the brakes. I gave them $15 for everything and everyone was happy.

I cut my grass...It takes me 30 minutes. I wash my vehicles and do all maintenance and repairs around my home unless it's speciality stuff like HVAC. However I no longer wrench on cars. Those days are over for me. I pay people to work on my cars and change the oil

Mojo31

Those are like Pro's Closet - used cars only.

prj71

Yes. The poster never specified new or used. Just said "car dealerships"

I'm sure if I googled hard enough I can find a place that sells new cars online.

Darth Lefty 

You guys have really taken this on a tangent. It's not just that Specialized is selling online. It's that they are cutting shops out completely from the process, direct mail order retail. Carvana still has car lots, and used cars need plenty of local business to keep running.

gpburdell

Not sure I follow? They offer Ship-to-Home yes, but also offer Specialized-Delivery and Pickup-In-Store options. All are the same price to the consumer, and all appear to be more expensive than just buying the bike from the Specialized dealer LBS due to the $50 destination fee.

What is the consumer's incentive to use the Ship-to-Home option if they have a dealer nearby?

70sSanO

Convenience. Food delivery companies are quite popular getting paid for deliveries that the customer could easily do him/herself. Especially from the same fast food location that the person drove past on the way home from work… lol.

If it is only a $50 difference on a $3k bike it is basically zero.

John

Mojo31

Tesla is the only manufacturer in the US that sells direct to consumer. You can order online or walk into a Tesla store and order.

There may be new car dealers of other brands that advertise and sell in some form of electronically, but no manufacturers do.

As for Specialized, I don't see anything wrong with offering a DTC sales method. Customers just need to know that they will either have to address problems themselves or find someone to pay to fix them. Just like others do - Canyon, Ribble, etc. If the LBS doesn't like it, they don't have to sell or service the brand. That's pretty much the essence of a free market.

livedarklions

I think the problem with that is that by keeping the price the same for DTC and ship to store, they aren't actually undercutting the dealer, so the people in the dealer's zip code are actively making a choice not to do business with them when doing so would literally cost them nothing. To me, turning down free service is a rather conspicuous strong choice. That certainly suggests that for a significant number of such people making that choice, the lack of dealer involvement and not having to pick up the bike from a third-party location is a feature, not a bug. If Specialized did not offer the DTC option to them, they would probably just go to a brand that did instead.

You're assuming that the DTC option is a zero sum game between Specialized and the dealers when the reality may be that eliminating it for zip codes with a LBS may actually be a losing proposition for Specialized with no actual gain for the dealers.

Dealers need to determine whether they're going to make money under the new regime, going back to the old arrangements is not an option, and I guess I don't see how Specialized would be doing them any favors by cutting them out completely.

cyclezen

I had that same misconception for some time...
The 'invisible' part of all this is that the bike business is build around a multi-tier model. Meaning it's not exclusively manufacturer to retailer. A large portion of the business goes thru 'distributors', and many 2ndary bike brands are also dealt thru distributors...
so, they also had to react to DTC/D2C
I made an effort, quite some time back, to see how the local shop/shops might react to a quick need. Surprisingly they said "no problem", part I ordered was in their hands in a day !
happened again and again.
Their distributor network had also adjusted to quick turn-around, al the way up their chain to the initial stock point in the US.
sure you can't always get the Asian goods as quickly, but then you have a chance of not having to wait for delivery by Bejing pigeon from china...
I don;t do amazon prime, so often the local dealer can delivery 4-5 days faster.
just sayin, give the dealer a chance - if a dollar or 2 difference is OK.
ANd they never charge me a freight fee, at least until now - not sure how this whole 'gas/petrol' thing is gonna affect the local costs. The dealer near me (which I like) does daily orders from their distributor.
Ride On
Yuri

gpburdell

Each to their own opinion but I'm not sure there's a big convenience benefit to a bike you have to do the final assembly on yourself rather than picking up the fully assembled bike from the LBS or having it delivered from the LBS fully assembled.

Sure, I get it if you're a long ways from the LBS and are moderately skilled in wrenching, but that person may well be buying elsewhere anyway.

70sSanO

I believe Specialized is also offering a wrench to come to your house to do the assembly and adjustments.

I personally would rather go to a brick and mortar to buy a new bike and foresee a time in the not too distant future that I may opt for a little e-assist. I know I’ll have to open the wallet and spend whatever, so I personally want to talk to experts on that purchase.

However, I’ve built a number of bikes and do 99% of my own mods and maintenance, so hopefully I can cut through what I’m told pretty easily.

John

prj71

The convenience is not having to take time out of your day to make a round trip to the bike shop and wear and tear on the car.

Round trip for me to the Specialized dealer is 60 miles..That's gas, wear and tear on brakes, tires and engine and time out of my day. Time = money.

If I were to buy a Specialized bike, I'd pay the $50 fee and have it delivered to my house.

gpburdell

Well, sure, that's what I referred to in my 2nd paragraph: "I get it if you're a long ways from the LBS and are moderately skilled in wrenching"

I watched one of their assembly videos and it's fairly straightforward.

Might not be an option.

Where I am today, the nearest Specialized dealer is a similar distance, 58mi round trip. Next two nearest are 60 mi and 85 mi round trip. When I mocking an order it says there are no participating dealers for Specialized Delivery. Sorta makes sense in a way given the costs the shop would incur.

gpburdell

Interestingly, Specialized doesn't offer Ship to Home for their ebikes. Only options are Specialized Delivery and Pick Up In-Store, and per my prior post it seems there's a limit to how far from a dealer you can be for Specialized Delivery.

SpeedyBlueBiker

Personally, I would prefer to take the DTC bike to a Specialized dealer to have them assemble it and possibly for any warranty work. I understand that isn't feasible for some who might live far from a Specialized dealer. In that case perhaps a certified bike mechanic that Specilized would endorse to carry out that type of work.

gpburdell

If you were going to do that then you may as well choose the Pick-Up-In-Store option since it's the same cost as Ship-to-Home.

Edit - the Ship-to-Home bikes are largely assembled before being shipped to your house. Final assembly is fairly straightforward. See https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ho...mble-your-bike

PeteHski

Yeah well my experience of local dealerships hasn't been quite so glowing. But Tesla service has been great for me over the last 4 years. So there's nothing fundamentally wrong with a direct sales model if done properly. I get all the same perks you mentioned above directly from Tesla and servicing costs have been literally zero over 50k miles. Porsche totally shaft their customers on servicing, which is how the franchised dealerships survive. Margins on new car sales are cut right to the bone, so it's all about upselling added extras, finance and servicing. None of which are in the best interests of the customer. I'm only using Tesla as an example because a) I've owned 3 of them and b) they are a perfect example of how a direct sales model can work.

Canyon have proven that a direct sales model can work well in the bike world too and it's much simpler than dealing with cars i.e. you don't need a dedicated factory service network. Savings on a Canyon are typically in the thousands, so having to find an indy shop to service it is not a big deal. There are plenty of bike shops around that focus more on service than selling new bikes.