What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
atoz
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What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by atoz »

https://goo.gl/images/kXm7Hc

It's the latest Evans promo- "trade the bike you have..for the bike you want". Allowing for the grotty condition of the old bike- you have to say it's a lot more practical for riding to work, shopping, light touring etc.

The BMC bike pictured as the upgrade has no mudguards or carrier or mudguard eyes. OK disc brakes are a significant upgrade, yes. But it's not a regular ride- more for the sportive types, the "weekend warriors". It's an expensive toy- bit like the "Sunday car"

Says it all, really. This type of advertising has about as much credibility as "shrink it and pink it".
Mike Sales
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by Mike Sales »

I imagine Evans have a pretty good idea of the bike their customers aspire too; knowing that is what keeps them in business.
You and I might have our ideas of what sort of bike their customers ought to buy, but trying to sell people what you think they should have, not what they think they want, is a short cut to the bankruptcy court.
Advertising has to go with the grain.
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Tangled Metal
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by Tangled Metal »

A local retailer near me (UK's biggest bike shop apparently) used to do a similar deal. At least the image of the old bike to be traded in as a right wreck, all rusty and unusable. The old bike in that ad looks quite usable to me. It's like they took the front wheel off just for the photo. The photographer's assistant probably put it back on for his ride home I reckon. As a commuter bike I'd be very happy with it.

However what style of bike you choose to commute on or ride is your choice. There's many round here quite happy with the sweaty back from using a rucksack for commuting. Some are riding two grand plus road bikes in full lycra kit at speed too. Others are on expensive fs or hard trail mtbs. I even see someone on a really nasty looking fs bike with a three spoke front wheel and rucksack. He is a bit strange. It's a weird bike for more reasons than the wheel. Plus he's busy bouncing up and down with every pedal stroke. I despair of some people!
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TrevA
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by TrevA »

You don't necessarily trade like for like. You might have an old, hardly used junker at the back of the garage and fancy a new best bike. I have a choice of 3 bikes for my commute or any other ride (tourer, audax or road bike) and choose according to mood, weather and load to be carried.
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brooksby
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by brooksby »

I'm glad someone else noticed this ;-) The 'junker' bike looks perfectly serviceable, and I'd take it off their hands if the alternative is it being scrapped...
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fausto copy
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by fausto copy »

brooksby wrote:I'm glad someone else noticed this ;-) The 'junker' bike looks perfectly serviceable, and I'd take it off their hands if the alternative is it being scrapped...


The ad does say the old bike will be given to charity.
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horizon
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by horizon »

A bit more from Evans:

If you're going to start riding with a bit more pro swagger, then you'll need to look the part. Let's start with the basics – your bib shorts and jersey.


My own theory is that the new bike that will replace the old one is in fact just a loss leader and that the real sale that Evans know will follow the following weekend is in their e-bikes section. As thirdcrank used to say, if you want to ride like a pro, get an e-bike.
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mjr
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by mjr »

horizon wrote:A bit more from Evans:

If you're going to start riding with a bit more pro swagger, then you'll need to look the part. Let's start with the basics – your bib shorts and jersey.

Wearing padded shorts - not so much swagger as waddle?

horizon wrote:My own theory is that the new bike that will replace the old one is in fact just a loss leader and that the real sale that Evans know will follow the following weekend is in their e-bikes section. As thirdcrank used to say, if you want to ride like a pro, get an e-bike.

Are you trying to revive viewtopic.php?f=15&t=116734 ?
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horizon
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by horizon »

mjr wrote:Are you trying to revive viewtopic.php?f=15&t=116734 ?


No, that will be revived in 5 years' time as I said. :wink:

My point about the e-bikes was that wearing a cycling jumper won't make you go faster but I think it was thirdcrank who mentioned this in relation to the Tour de Yorkshire but i cannot find the link. I went into Evans recently for a browse (nice shop) and they have an extensive e-bike section which they promote strongly. I think Evans know that to cycle as fast as a pro you might be better off with a motor than a jumper.
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robgul
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by robgul »

The Evans thing is just the same idea as the "scrappage" deals that all the car manufacturers ran last Autumn (or may still be running) - and the "get up to" is an obvious come-on ..... be interested to know what you have to spend to "save" £250 at Evans - and that's going to be against RRP not shop-floor price.

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Cugel
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by Cugel »

Mike Sales wrote:.........
You and I might have our ideas of what sort of bike their customers ought to buy, but trying to sell people what you think they should have, not what they think they want, is a short cut to the bankruptcy court.
Advertising has to go with the grain.


Ha ha - very droll. In fact, the grain is created by the advertising, as any fule no.

And it's advertising that keeps purveyors of this & that in business. Their purpose is precisely to tell customers what they ought to buy, including all the expensive paraphernalia required to achieve a purported desirable fashionable image. As we know, image has long triumphed over substance, except in those domains where the sceptic tribe live, treating those adverts with the distain they deserve and instead relying on the evolution of traditions with their preference for the gradual enhancement of functional abilities designed for specific practical purposes.

Mind, the landfillers will continue to see a brisk business - and they don't even have to advertise!

Of course, many post-modern folk do like to promenade in their latest frock, including the bike-shaped frock but also the jerseys and tights with the adverts written on them. So pro! Tee hee hee. :-)

Cugel, often a-titter at the fashion cycle.
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Mike Sales
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by Mike Sales »

Cugel, I am as sceptical as anyone about the silly vagaries of fashion. I see the latest "new" old idea is marketed as gravel bikes. We used to have rough stuff, and then mountain bikes.
But I think you attribute too much power to Evans's advertising, and perhaps to the coordination between the various commercial interests. It is surely a symbiotic relationship between the fickle desire of the public for novelty and the desire of the trade to make money out of it.
Look at the vogue, fading now I think, for "fixies". I don't detect that this was instigated by the manufacturers, though they hurried to cash in.
I don't think the public is quite as sheep like, nor the advertisers so powerful that we can be led around so easily.
The public likes novelties, and I am sure you can give us a time line. I used to sell bikes, and I can assure you that it is nigh on impossible to make money trying to sell against the trend of fashion.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by PH »

robgul wrote: be interested to know what you have to spend to "save" £250 at Evans - and that's going to be against RRP not shop-floor price.

Rob

Details weren't hard to find - £2,500 for £250, so the 10% you could probably have negotiated anyway or received via some club membership, or found cheaper elsewhere.... though it does seem to apply to bikes already on offer
https://www.evanscycles.com/bikes/road-bikes_c

I was reading about the charities that benefited last time they ran this, but can't find the link, looked like some good came from it.
atoz
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by atoz »

I posted this because it's a classic example of bike as "boy toy" rather than as practical sustainable transport. If you go into an Evans shop, the road bikes are invariably of this ilk. And it's a common trend. Even Tifosi have ditched some of their eminently practical mudguarded options. This also goes hand in hand with poor colour choice- a lot of the bikes in black, few colourful ones- unless you count the hideous flo green and brain damage orange. A few years ago I could have had the choice of the Tifosi CK7 in giro pink, or the sportive carbon offering (albeit in black) with full mudguards. And the CK7 was produced in quite a few colours- now I think you only get grey.

I know I have irritated people with this post, but I see no reason why a road bike has to be impractical. It didn't use to be like this. And such a pity, since equipment eg groupsets etc have improved out of all recognition. Bikes such as the BMC pictured are only suitable for racing, and nothing much else.

I think a lot of people out there would appreciate practical performance bikes that can do a variety of jobs- commuting, a bit of racing/competitive stuff, light touring, or doubling up as a shopping trolley. Old bikes from some years ago could do all this. I still have a Holdsworth era CB that can more than hold it's own on a run, but i can call in and do some shopping on the way back home. You can't do that on that BMC.
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Re: What does this ad say about the cycling trade..

Post by Tangled Metal »

My local Evans has a downstairs with the first bikes you got as you go in (ahead of you) are hybrids. Very practical bikes. To the right are so called endurance road bikes, to the left are kids bikes and used to be gravel / adventure / all road bikes but they changed it and I can't remember what to. Behind the block of hybrids and into the back room are mtb bikes. Upstairs are the main road bike collection with a handful of tourers.

Basically the most prominent bikes are probably the most useful to ppl new to cycling or who want a commuter / utility bike. Certainly not a boy toy product.
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