N+0

[JerrySTL ★]

I've been considering buying a Breezer Doppler Team bike. It's a touring/gravel bike with fatter tires than my touring bike plus disk brakes.

Bike Nashbar's web site says "Extra 20% off Sitewide - Including Bikes.   (Some exclusions apply)

I tried ordering bike, but, alas, it's one of the excluded items in the very small print.

[donkpow]

[donkpow]

Looks like $1799 is the best advertised price.

[ChrisL]

I was at a local PB (one that is closing) and they have a Nashbar branded aluminum CX bike.  105 drivetrain, TRP Spyre brakes $1,300. Wheels were shit but one could end up with a bad ass crosser for not a lot of money.  

Dont think I could get my wife to agree to another bike so soon after my Anthem tho..

[Page Turner]

...I know that Nashbar and Performance are somehow owned by the same faceless corporate hive mind, but I'm uncertain how the bankruptcy is going to affect them, (if at all).  It seems like they mighty want to take Performance back to an exclusively online presence. Which is all Nashbar ever had in the first place.  

 

Nashbar has been a great source of certain specific items for me over the years, like these bottle cage clamps for the bar, that make so much sense for road bikes without braze on mounts, but are not really seen much in the marketplace.  

 

However, I now see that Bontrager is making and selling something similar, that looks like it will fit more bar diameters.  

 

[donkpow]

32 minutes ago, Page Turner said:

a great source of certain specific items for me over the years

Several businesses who pioneered on the internet with hard to find parts have either closed down or narrowed their focus to items with higher volume sales potential.

[ChrisL]

33 minutes ago, Page Turner said:

...I know that Nashbar and Performance are somehow owned by the same faceless corporate hive mind, but I'm uncertain how the bankruptcy is going to affect them, (if at all).  It seems like they mighty want to take Performance back to an exclusively online presence. Which is all Nashbar ever had in the first place.  

 

Nashbar has been a great source of certain specific items for me over the years, like these bottle cage clamps for the bar, that make so much sense for road bikes without braze on mounts, but are not really seen much in the marketplace.  

 

However, I now see that Bontrager is making and selling something similar, that looks like it will fit more bar diameters.  

 

I was told that they are diminishing their brick & mortar presence and not closing all of their retail locations. I have 5 PB's within 40 miles of me and two are closing.

[Razors Edge ★]

2 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

I was told that they are diminishing their brick & mortar presence and not closing all of their retail locations. I have 5 PB's within 40 miles of me and two are closing. 

I  got the idea the opposite - all shops gone and even the web presence is question.  To me, it's a no brainer to drop the bricks and mortar altogether. We'll wait and see, but from what I can tell, the shops are pretty much fully "owned" now by some liquidation group, not really PB anymore.

[Razors Edge ★]

From BRAIN (some more info):

DURHAM, N.C. (BRAIN) — At a bankruptcy auction Wednesday, Head Sport — a European sports company best known for its skis and tennis rackets — agreed to purchase most of the assets of Advanced Sports Enterprises for about $22 million. The agreement is subject to court approval later this month.

Head is an Amsterdam-registered company that manufactures ski, tennis, swim and other sports products and licenses its name to suppliers in other industries. The corporate name of the purchaser is HTM USA HOLDINGS, LLC, a division of HTM Sport GmbH, which is based in Austria. HTM owns HEAD Sport GmbH.

Head dates to 1950, when it was founded by Howard Head, an innovator in the use of metal in skis and tennis rackets. Howard Head sold the company to AMF in the late 1960s and HTM later bought the brand. HTM is owned by Swedish/British billionaire Johan Eliasch.

ASE's Karen Bliss said Head agreed to purchase most of the assets, including some Performance Bicycle stores. "We don't know their intentions for the assets," Bliss, ASE's Chief Marketing Officer, told BRAIN. "It's a big deal."

The auction began at 10 a.m. Wednesday and didn't end until about 2 a.m. Thursday. Those present said that representatives from Ideal Bike, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Walmart's Moosejaw division were at the auction, although it's not clear if any of those companies made bids. 

Head licenses its trademark for use on bikes and many other items. Licensees include NOVUS BIKE S.r.o. of the Czech Republic, which sells Head-branded bikes in several markets. Cycle Force Group, based in Iowa, has the U.S. license for Head bikes. 

Nyle Nims, the president of Cycle Force Group, told BRAIN he has been licensing the Head name for more than five years and has found the company a pleasure to work with. He said he was unaware until Thursday that Head had bought the assets. 

"My impression is they will keep this intact," Nims said. "They are very loyal to the independent retailer: that is the core of their business (with tennis and ski products) ... I think this will be a great move for the employees of ASE and the whole Fuji dealer network."

ASE is the parent company of Performance and brands including Fuji, SE Bikes, Kestrel, and Breezer. It filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 16, listing debts of more than $100 million. It has been running liquidation sales at Performance stores since soon after the filing. Last week, Specialized Bicycle agreed to buy the Roubaix bike trademark for the U.S. from ASE for $700,000.

The court will consider the asset purchase agreements from Head and Specialized at a hearing on Jan. 22, and if approved the sales will be closed immediately after that hearing. The deadline for objections to the sale is Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. ET.

[Page Turner]

...so I won't be able to say "Roubaix" online any more without getting a cease and desist letter.  

[ChrisL]

3 minutes ago, Page Turner said:

...so I won't be able to say "Roubaix" online any more without getting a cease and desist letter.  

Right, you know that city in France??? Screwed!  Bike race is gonna have to change it ms name too.  

How dare they mess with Specialized!

seriously though, I wonder if they come back after that shop assuming it's still in business.

[ChrisL]

On 1/19/2019 at 11:15 AM, Razors Edge said:

From BRAIN (some more info):

DURHAM, N.C. (BRAIN) — At a bankruptcy auction Wednesday, Head Sport — a European sports company best known for its skis and tennis rackets — agreed to purchase most of the assets of Advanced Sports Enterprises for about $22 million. The agreement is subject to court approval later this month.

Head is an Amsterdam-registered company that manufactures ski, tennis, swim and other sports products and licenses its name to suppliers in other industries. The corporate name of the purchaser is HTM USA HOLDINGS, LLC, a division of HTM Sport GmbH, which is based in Austria. HTM owns HEAD Sport GmbH.

Head dates to 1950, when it was founded by Howard Head, an innovator in the use of metal in skis and tennis rackets. Howard Head sold the company to AMF in the late 1960s and HTM later bought the brand. HTM is owned by Swedish/British billionaire Johan Eliasch.

ASE's Karen Bliss said Head agreed to purchase most of the assets, including some Performance Bicycle stores. "We don't know their intentions for the assets," Bliss, ASE's Chief Marketing Officer, told BRAIN. "It's a big deal."

The auction began at 10 a.m. Wednesday and didn't end until about 2 a.m. Thursday. Those present said that representatives from Ideal Bike, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Walmart's Moosejaw division were at the auction, although it's not clear if any of those companies made bids. 

Head licenses its trademark for use on bikes and many other items. Licensees include NOVUS BIKE S.r.o. of the Czech Republic, which sells Head-branded bikes in several markets. Cycle Force Group, based in Iowa, has the U.S. license for Head bikes. 

Nyle Nims, the president of Cycle Force Group, told BRAIN he has been licensing the Head name for more than five years and has found the company a pleasure to work with. He said he was unaware until Thursday that Head had bought the assets. 

"My impression is they will keep this intact," Nims said. "They are very loyal to the independent retailer: that is the core of their business (with tennis and ski products) ... I think this will be a great move for the employees of ASE and the whole Fuji dealer network."

ASE is the parent company of Performance and brands including Fuji, SE Bikes, Kestrel, and Breezer. It filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 16, listing debts of more than $100 million. It has been running liquidation sales at Performance stores since soon after the filing. Last week, Specialized Bicycle agreed to buy the Roubaix bike trademark for the U.S. from ASE for $700,000.

The court will consider the asset purchase agreements from Head and Specialized at a hearing on Jan. 22, and if approved the sales will be closed immediately after that hearing. The deadline for objections to the sale is Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. ET.

Bumping this post.

So I went to the largest PB in my area on my lunch and big Store Closing signs posted.  So far every PB in my area is closing.  ☹️

Looks like an online presence only for me.

[Longjohn ★]

On 1/19/2019 at 1:32 PM, Page Turner said:

Which is all Nashbar ever had in the first place.  

Nashbar had a store over in the Youngstown, Ohio area (I think Canfield). A lot of their stuff still ships from there.

[ChrisL]

2 hours ago, Longjohn said:

Nashbar had a store over in the Youngstown, Ohio area (I think Canfield). A lot of their stuff still ships from there.

They had one in LA too.  

[maddmaxx ★]

Over the years I've done business with 

Supergo.......closed and bought out by PB's group

Price Point....closed

Performance Bikes......closed maybe

Nashbar.............Unknown

Cambria may become the source for NOS and hard to get stuff but they've been thinning out a bit.

IMO the rapid change from 8sp to 9sp to 10sp to 11sp to electric has damaged the infrastructure of the large bike stores who have trouble investing in inventory that the manufacturers make obsolete every other week.  It's a trend I've seen in other sport/hobbies where the latest greatest foretold the beginning of the end for merchants and users alike.

[dinneR ★]

On 1/19/2019 at 2:32 PM, Page Turner said:

...so I won't be able to say "Roubaix" online any more without getting a cease and desist letter.  

Same goes for Epic.

3 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Over the years I've done business with 

Supergo.......closed and bought out by PB's group

Price Point....closed

Performance Bikes......closed maybe

Nashbar.............Unknown

Cambria may become the source for NOS and hard to get stuff but they've been thinning out a bit.

IMO the rapid change from 8sp to 9sp to 10sp to 11sp to electric has damaged the infrastructure of the large bike stores who have trouble investing in inventory that the manufacturers make obsolete every other week.  It's a trend I've seen in other sport/hobbies where the latest greatest foretold the beginning of the end for merchants and users alike.

Seriously? They list $100mil in debt. You don't rack up debt like that from selling fewer 8 spd cassettes. 

This company is more than PB and Nashbar. They bought Breezer and other bike brands for big dollars. How much debt they take on, how did they structure it? Did those brands continue to grow or were sales flat? Competition for B&M stores as well as online retailers make retail challenging. Amazon and ebay cut into your sales. Other online retailers cut some more. IBS cut into it too. You see sales drop as you are taking on debt. Before you know it you are upside down. 

[Razors Edge ★]

3 minutes ago, dennis said:

Same goes for Epic.

Seriously? They list $100mil in debt. You don't rack up debt like that from selling fewer 8 spd cassettes.  

This company is more than PB and Nashbar. They bought Breezer and other bike brands for big dollars. How much debt they take on, how did they structure it? Did those brands continue to grow or were sales flat? Competition for B&M stores as well as online retailers make retail challenging. Amazon and ebay cut into your sales. Other online retailers cut some more. IBS cut into it too. You see sales drop as you are taking on debt. Before you know it you are upside down.  

Yeah - a lot of what matters is WHO the "owner" is and if they were playing a game with moving debt around.  A creative person can take a lot of debt off their original company's books by buying other companies and transferring that debt to them. Then, disengage, and leave the debt with the patsy (and smaller shareholders).

Or, they hoped they could grow out of their debt, but didn't and now can't pay the interest on the loans.

[Page Turner]

6 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Over the years I've done business with 

Supergo.......closed and bought out by PB's group

Price Point....closed

Performance Bikes......closed maybe

Nashbar.............Unknown

Cambria may become the source for NOS and hard to get stuff but they've been thinning out a bit.

IMO the rapid change from 8sp to 9sp to 10sp to 11sp to electric has damaged the infrastructure of the large bike stores who have trouble investing in inventory that the manufacturers make obsolete every other week.  It's a trend I've seen in other sport/hobbies where the latest greatest foretold the beginning of the end for merchants and users alike.

...if my impression is correct, the Advanced Sports group that bought Performance back in 2016 got the opportunity to do so when Performance, still in an expansion frenzy of their own and a little over-borrowed and underweight in cash reserves, decided to buy Easton for their baseball and softball products.  It was speculated at the time that they overpaid, then gradually gort into more and more trouble carrying the debt load and figuring out how to monetize their new purchase.

 

Anyway, that's what I heard at the time. Hard to tell this far along how Performance got into so much trouble, but certainly expanding your brick and mortar footprint in the age of internet shopping didn't help.

[JerrySTL ★]

Update: I ordered the Breezer Doppler Team from Bike Nashbar. It was 10% off.

Looks like BN is closing down. I also tried to buy some water bottle cages but the web site doesn't list them or much of anything else except for a few bikes.

[Dirtyhip]

It has an older school headset and those Tektro brakes have never been a winner for me.  We have them on the pump bikes.  Luckily, I don't need the brakes so much on that bike. 

[Dirtyhip]

On ‎1‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 3:50 AM, maddmaxx said:

Over the years I've done business with 

Supergo.......closed and bought out by PB's group

Price Point....closed

Performance Bikes......closed maybe

Nashbar.............Unknown

Cambria may become the source for NOS and hard to get stuff but they've been thinning out a bit.

IMO the rapid change from 8sp to 9sp to 10sp to 11sp to electric has damaged the infrastructure of the large bike stores who have trouble investing in inventory that the manufacturers make obsolete every other week.  It's a trend I've seen in other sport/hobbies where the latest greatest foretold the beginning of the end for merchants and users alike.

When I worked at a shop (now closed) our parts bins were C.R.A.Z.Y.  Too many options.  ?

The bike industry is screwing themselves not playing along with each other.  Not partnering their strengths.

[Dirtyhip]

My bikes are all so old now.  Luckily, they are carbon everything, or I would have to pull an N+1-1

[Dirtyhip]

Love the chrome fenders.

[JerrySTL ★]

1 hour ago, Dirtyhip said:

It has an older school headset and those Tektro brakes have never been a winner for me.  We have them on the pump bikes.  Luckily, I don't need the brakes so much on that bike. 

That's the Pro version. I got the Team version that has Shimano Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes and a carbon fork plus better shifters. It's $800 more than the Pro, but as you mentioned, I've never had much luck with Tektro brakes either.

[Dirtyhip]

1 minute ago, JerrySTL said:

That's the Pro version. I got the Team version that has Shimano Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes and a carbon fork plus better shifters. It's $800 more than the Pro, but as you mentioned, I've never had much luck with Tektro brakes either.

Very nice. Bene.

[Dirtyhip]

3 minutes ago, JerrySTL said:

That's the Pro version. I got the Team version that has Shimano Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes and a carbon fork plus better shifters. It's $800 more than the Pro, but as you mentioned, I've never had much luck with Tektro brakes either.

Tektro are great if you don't reallllly need to stop. 

[maddmaxx ★]

2 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

When I worked at a shop (now closed) our parts bins were C.R.A.Z.Y.  Too many options.  ?

The bike industry is screwing themselves not playing along with each other.  Not partnering their strengths.

The same thing is ripping the RC industry apart.  Too many brands.  New stuff every week that doesn't share parts with last weeks stuff.  Much of this is because they are selling stuff created by Chinese designers who pay no attention to industry standard.  Prices are rising as basics are abandoned and new more expensive stuff is put on the market.  It's going to be a game of musical chairs in the end but like hula hoops and slot cars, the boom will bust.