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Comments - Second Hand Smoke of a Different Kind

October 01, 2010

You talk of consumer service. I was told to send in a broken seat to you instead of going direct to the manufacture. I bought it in Dec with a bike from you. After a few weeks I contacted you support staff and they said they could not get approval to replace it had to go tho the manufacture another three weeks past. Again I contacted support who had no answer. They called back later that day and said wtb was sending a replacement. Had I gone to performance bike nit would have been replaced the day it arrived. Step it up and play like the big boys when it comes to customer service. You should have enough clout with your suppliers to perform like performance.
- Jay, Rochester

September 24, 2010

Ironic, Comp Cyclist wants a consumer day at Interbike and gives a thumbs down to Anaheim, CA. I assume you guys know the demographics out there and that this market is probably the number 1 consumer market for what you sale -- high end bikes, etc... If the industry doesn't hold a consumer day in Anaheim, their collective I.Q. can't be above 75. I'll help u out a little -- the future of Interbike is probably consumer -- leave Eurobike for wholesale. CC could even have a booth in Anaheim.
- Frank, Charlotte,NC

September 23, 2010

Is there any disagreeing with this? Anaheim is disgusting and SD is just as accessible to the orient. "Only one California city has the right a) Convention Center b) hotel rooms c) weather d) badass mountain and road riding in the fall....SAN DIEGO. Between racers and chasers mountain bike races, Fiesta Island time trials and coastal ruising and mountain pass grinding, This is it, baby. Oh, and just in case LA chimes in-PRO FOOTBALL. - Ale-Cessna, SD, CA"
- K, IU

September 23, 2010

Bought a Canyon Ultimate CF framset a couple of months ago. My other bike is a 2002 Ti frame from a well known Mass builder. The Ti bike is a great bike, better than I am talented and it has provided great service and will no doubt outlive me. However, and much as it pains me to say it, the Canyon is simply a better bike. Maybe it won't last as long but given it cost a third of the Ti frame (and that's not indexed), so what? The Canyon is my first carbon frame, so maybe there are even better bikes out there, but I can't imagine why anyone would spend any more (noting that I bought during TdF discounting). I kind of like this about it because its more like buying a tool, less like buying an accessory (although I am occasionally guilty of the sin Loveless found so unforgiveable). This is the kind of thing that will kill all those Italian companies as referred in the WSJ article. Hand made doesn't = better. Europe seems to be full of direct (or near direct) to consumer brands that offer stonking deals - Canyon, Focus, Cube (to name 3 German cos) and On One/Planet X (in the UK - you can buy a (admittedly partially) Red equipped carbon frame from Planet X for just more than £1,000). The big brands in the US seem to have stymied the development of direct to consumer in a way that hasn't happened in Europe. Surely can't be too much longer till someone goes there.
- Nof Landrien, Londres

September 22, 2010

From the WSJ article link in the above piece: "The kind of American who acquires a lot of expensive things so that he can show them off to his peer group and thereby acquire more status is the kind of American that makes me puke," he said in the Sports Illustrated interview. An apt description of the typical CC customer?
- Greg, Knoxvegas

September 21, 2010

Yes I wouldn't expect any customer service at Macys. The owner of Ernst Benz spent 25 minutes talking to me and my wife at Barneys. He knew that we were not going to purchase a $5k chronograph; but he loved his product and by demonstrating that he made two lifelong converts that would go forth and spread the word
- James, Baltimore

September 20, 2010

I own a Loveless knife and I waited 3 yrs o get it in the 80's. It is way to nice to use and I realized that when I received it. But it is a cherished possesion. I understand Mr. Loveless's comments about buying things just because you can afford them and bragging about ownership - but he totally neglects pride of ownership and appreciation of beautiful craftsmanship - this would also apply to hand-made bicycles in my opinion - although I wouldn't buy a bicycle just to put it on the wall to admire. But, if someone gets some kind of gratification from this then so be it - no different than owning any other type of art. By the way, Mr Loveless was well known as a cantankerous old man with not much in the way of social skills or tolerance of others - but I admire his abilities and his life's work.
- Steve, Tucson

September 20, 2010

Yea, bro, that would be Marshal Fields, not Macy, and you walked into one the only HUGE deportment stores left in the country - that thing is a standing, functioning testament to Mad Men - and you thought you were going to get customer service at the $600 plus watch area!?!?!
- Tom, DC

September 17, 2010

Mechanic from certain pro team said that Lightweight carbon too soft and they have had lots of problems. More maintenance than regular race wheels. Had to send at least 20 back to factory. Lots of options more aero, stronger, repairable, cheaper. You better be pro tour or continental level riding these babies or it screams wanker!
- Steve, NY

September 17, 2010

Excellent critique! I always said the industry was like the mafia with its protectionist attitude of local shops. My local shop is the bomb and would be standing regardless of what means of delivery is offered out in the market. Why? The same friendly service the first year or the ninth year walking through the door. It should be a free market place and may the best still be standing!
- Steve, NY

September 16, 2010

I bought a Tag online almost 13 years ago. Works great, still love it. Screw the warning - get the watch!
- Mark, Coralville

September 15, 2010

Well, Orange County is not the bastion of right-wing nutbags it used to be. Now it is a multi-cultural bastion of right-wing nutbags. Somehow, with Interbike returning, it ironically fits together.
- Lindsey, Arcata

September 15, 2010

Only one California city has the right a) Convention Center b) hotel rooms c) weather d) badass mountain and road riding in the fall....SAN DIEGO. Between racers and chasers mountain bike races, Fiesta Island time trials and coastal ruising and mountain pass grinding, This is it, baby. Oh, and just in case LA chimes in-PRO FOOTBALL.
- Ale-Cessna, SD, CA

September 15, 2010

"where did Anaheim come from?" Where did Louisville, KY come from for the World Cyclocross Championships? A city once denounced as "A tin horn city on the corner of a half assed state" by the owner of a major league sports franchise, little has changed. Yet somehow a city founded on gambling, bourbon and tobacco hijacked Masters Nationals for 3 consecutive years and scored the Cyclocross Worlds. This achieved despite even the executive director for the Louisville Sports Commission assessment that the grounds for the intended race site "appeared unremarkable". Who can really say how events end up where they do, but practicality seems rarely a consideration.
- Greg, Chapel Hill, NC

September 14, 2010

I'll be sitting out InterBike in '11...& probably the foreseeable future... Couldn't be scheduled much worse for my needs. For all the bitching & moaning about Vegas, it was cheap to get to, convenient as hell once there, didn't need a car... hell, even hotel have been cheap for the last number of years. I didn't miss Anaheim when it was ditched in the late '90's...You can count me as alienated. I think you hit the nail on the head with your observations.
- Mick, Big Sky

September 14, 2010

I know you like to talk about the eminent demise of brick and mortar bike retail, but comparing a shopping experience at Macy's to a shopping experience at a decent brick and mortar bike shop is absurd. Going to Macy's to buy a watch (BTW, Tag Heuer? Really?) is like going to Target to buy a bike. If you are looking to buy a nice watch and customer service is important to you, go to a jewelry store, not a department store.
- Cru Doggy Dogg, Jonesboro, AR

September 14, 2010

Come on...2x-3x? EB is at least 6x bigger than IB.
- Robb, Madison

September 14, 2010

I always thought Vegas made sense, just add a day or two open to the public. You think people wouldnt pay say $5 to get in? Anywho, they never wanted to listen to me. Another reason Im happier out of the industry. I'd rather ride. Oh and I can't wait till the 2012 models come out in March, then I can show up my riding buddies!!
- Hung Low, Philly

September 14, 2010

Great post. I thought the NYT link was going to be this story: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/world/europe/13prato.html?src=me&ref=homepage I love my made in Asia frame.
- adam, hamilton

September 14, 2010

In my biz big-ass Vegas trade shows are dying fast: now it's all regional shows or directional ('fashion' or segmented marketplace) shows - there's not a lot of prospecting for new customers (retailers) anymore - the big existing accounts can come to regional showrooms or head office... I think, especially in Bikes, direct consumer contact (painful as it seems) will do way more for your brand - especially in such a porous model as bicycle retailing: if I was a brand, I'd be looking to protect my margins by going consumer-direct ASAP, and I'd use a show to find out the best way, from the consumer...
- Roadent, Toronto

September 14, 2010

Read the piece on Loveless, twice. He was a knife maker and now that he has passed, has also become a surrogate for the thoughts of others. The great quote the obit ends with surely alienated about 95% of WSJ readers, and should make at least half of CC's customers feel not a little uncomfortable (if they're honest). I suppose in the business that is buying and selling one cannot say things too directly! The quote: "the kind of American who acquires a lot of expensive things so that he can show them off to his peer group and thereby acquire more status is the kind of American that makes me puke."
- Oliver, Carrboro

September 14, 2010

I'm so glad you're back. The notion that Lightweights are going to get more expensive is going to get me through the week.
- steve, miami