# Lack of Models at Dealers



## beecnul8r (May 9, 2005)

Can someone enlighten me? I narrowed my new bike choices to LeMond and Felt. Called authorized dealers in my area (Murrieta, CA) only to find exactly ONE of each bike in stock to test, none of which is on my list to test ride. I am shocked that dealers get $1,200 to $2,400 for bikes that no one can even test ride. At one dealer where I asked to test the Big Sky SLT ($1,450) the dealer shrugged his shoulders, eyeballed me to see my size (some fit process, isn't it!) and went to his computer to "look up" inventory on LeMonds site. Never did order one in although I am a ready buyer if I could ACTUALLY ride the bike!! If these folks were car dealers they would go broke! Why is this? Why doesn't Trek or Greg demand that within say a 25 mile radius, that ALL models be stocked amongst the dealers? I am not business unsavy having been a CFO of a major business, with an MBA and also a CPA. I just don't understand how they ever sell bicycles to anyone.


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## regan (Jun 17, 2004)

beecnul8r said:


> Can someone enlighten me? I narrowed my new bike choices to LeMond and Felt. Called authorized dealers in my area (Murrieta, CA) only to find exactly ONE of each bike in stock to test, none of which is on my list to test ride. I am shocked that dealers get $1,200 to $2,400 for bikes that no one can even test ride. At one dealer where I asked to test the Big Sky SLT ($1,450) the dealer shrugged his shoulders, eyeballed me to see my size (some fit process, isn't it!) and went to his computer to "look up" inventory on LeMonds site. Never did order one in although I am a ready buyer if I could ACTUALLY ride the bike!! If these folks were car dealers they would go broke! Why is this? Why doesn't Trek or Greg demand that within say a 25 mile radius, that ALL models be stocked amongst the dealers? I am not business unsavy having been a CFO of a major business, with an MBA and also a CPA. I just don't understand how they ever sell bicycles to anyone.


 It's simple, they just don't sell that many top-end bikes. To have a $6,000 bike sitting on your showroom floor without any interest isn't something a bikeshop can get away with. Most of these places are very careful about having on hand what they know will sell. On top of that, people looking to buy high-end bikes already know what they want. They know their size and all the nitty-gritty things that someone walking in off the street does not. Those people buy <$1000 bikes and that's what you see on the showroom floor.

I understand that it's not the best situation, but I don't see any other option. Just having one of every Lemond bicycle could probably top $50,000. Your local bike shop isn't set-up to handle that.

But as the consumer, you can ask them to order it in for you to try because you're interested in buying.


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## Anti-gravity (Jul 16, 2004)

*High overhead and low net income*



beecnul8r said:


> Can someone enlighten me? I narrowed my new bike choices to LeMond and Felt. Called authorized dealers in my area (Murrieta, CA) only to find exactly ONE of each bike in stock to test, none of which is on my list to test ride. I am shocked that dealers get $1,200 to $2,400 for bikes that no one can even test ride. At one dealer where I asked to test the Big Sky SLT ($1,450) the dealer shrugged his shoulders, eyeballed me to see my size (some fit process, isn't it!) and went to his computer to "look up" inventory on LeMonds site. Never did order one in although I am a ready buyer if I could ACTUALLY ride the bike!! If these folks were car dealers they would go broke! Why is this? Why doesn't Trek or Greg demand that within say a 25 mile radius, that ALL models be stocked amongst the dealers? I am not business unsavy having been a CFO of a major business, with an MBA and also a CPA. I just don't understand how they ever sell bicycles to anyone.


Two prohibiting factors that make it difficult for even a well-established LBS to stock lots of high-end models. I worked for a shop that was part of a chain, and even then we still had to special order certain models. Shops are often apprehensive to do this because of the fact that it costs more to order a single bike vs. a bulk order of a full size run and also because they are not guaranteed that you'll buy it. You may ride it and decide you don't like it. Sometimes our shop would simply recommend going elsewhere if the specific bike they wanted wasn't in stock at our store. Basically, we can end up losing money or barely break even, even if you did by the bike. It sucks, but that's the way it usually is. Shops don't stay in business because of bike sales. Accessories and labor represent the core profit generators, and even then, most LBSs squeeze by with a 1-2% yearly profit margin after all expenses are paid. 

Furthermore, the more expensive the bike, the lower the margin in general. Though a sale on a $6,000 bike will bring in a good amount of cash flow for the shop, it has already lost a lot on purchasing, shipping, building, displaying, etc. the bike (not to mention every second the bike sits on the sales floor, the shop it basically losing money).

It depends on the shop. Some are willing to go out of their way to take a hit and special order something for you so you can simply try it. Others may be more apprehensive and look after their financial well-being over your satisfaction. It can be a tricky balancing act, running an LBS is not easy (and not at all analogous to a car dealership!).

-R


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## Indyfan (Mar 30, 2004)

*The same as above and a bit more.*

The same holds true with even low to mid-priced bikes. As said above, shops order what they think will sell to their customer base. Both the regular and the "average" walk-in for their area. Even after years of experience, you can order bikes that don't sell, doesn't matter if they're in the right price range and/or design. Remember when beach-cruisers were hot? We've got several $200 cruisers that nobody wants - at 40% off (a loss by any accounting). 

If we were to stock every model in all available sizes, we'd be out of business in 1-2 years. And we're a big store with other business (especially snow skis) to support us in lean years. 

Now to another part of the reality. It's not even possible to stock all sizes of every bike. Due to a number of situations, sometimes you don't get everything you ordered for the first of the year (never mind in-season). If a part MFR has a new design (Ultegra 10 for example), they might not make enough of those parts to keep up with demand. Besides pre-built bikes they have to consider replacement parts too. Also bikes are manufactured like cars. Right now (mid May '05) they're already making next year's models ('06). Sometimes they will retool back to the "current" year's models to make a run, if a model is particularly hot. The first year of the WSD Zurich Spine bike in 49cm is an example. They sold out of those before April, and retooled - once. Something like the WSD Versailles this year. If you want one of those, you'll have to wait for next year's models.

If you can't find the model you want to try in your size, you might try to find another dealer a reasonable distance from you.

I'm sorry for the realities of the business. It'd be nice to check out any bike we want to. Shop employees would benefit from that, but not everybody in a shop gets to go to Interbike or the MFR's national sales meetings.

Good luck
Bob


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## greenjp (May 8, 2005)

I had pretty much the same problem during my recent shopping. I'm 6'3", and most shops either had 1 bike in a large enough size for me, or they didn't have any at all. And that 1 bike they did have was usually way above my price range (~$1,500). I went to 6 different shops I think. 

I ended up getting a great price on a leftover Buenos Aires, with the downside that I bought it from a shop that I wasn't really wild about. 

So, not sure what I'm adding to the discussion  other than that I feel your pain. But, as these other guys have said, there are loads of good business reasons for the problems we encountered.

jeff


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## 02Deuce (Apr 14, 2005)

I drove 100 miles to a larger city with a dealer that had pre-ordered a lot of sizes in different models. I figure that they had at least $ 500,000 tied up in inventory in their two stores in that city. It costs a lot of money to have that kind of inventory sitting around. I actually hated not buying through my local dealer, but they were very limited in models and sizes. The local market just isn't strong enough to support that kind of inventory. But I've been going to them for years and will be for my future maintenance and parts.


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## beecnul8r (May 9, 2005)

Indyfan said:


> The same holds true with even low to mid-priced bikes. As said above, shops order what they think will sell to their customer base. Both the regular and the "average" walk-in for their area. Even after years of experience, you can order bikes that don't sell, doesn't matter if they're in the right price range and/or design. Remember when beach-cruisers were hot? We've got several $200 cruisers that nobody wants - at 40% off (a loss by any accounting).
> 
> If we were to stock every model in all available sizes, we'd be out of business in 1-2 years. And we're a big store with other business (especially snow skis) to support us in lean years.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the input Bob. However, as I said, if LeMond, Felt and other apparently "low volume sellers" either floor planned models or as I suggested, spread the models out by agreement among dealers in, say a 25 or 50 mile radius, everyone would benefit. By my being able to at least test ride a specific model I can then decide which one to purchase and do so at my local dealer. Everyone wins. The dealers will "even out" and sell more bikes that suit the buyer's requirements and companies such as LeMond (who must move very little inventory based on my observations) and Felt will expand sales volumes. If car dealers acted like bike dealers they would all be out of business. 
Dave


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## beecnul8r (May 9, 2005)

02Deuce said:


> I drove 100 miles to a larger city with a dealer that had pre-ordered a lot of sizes in different models. I figure that they had at least $ 500,000 tied up in inventory in their two stores in that city. It costs a lot of money to have that kind of inventory sitting around. I actually hated not buying through my local dealer, but they were very limited in models and sizes. The local market just isn't strong enough to support that kind of inventory. But I've been going to them for years and will be for my future maintenance and parts.


Thanks Deuce. What city are you referring to? And how did you know that the dealer had ordered a lot of different sizes and models? 

Dave


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## 3465mike (Dec 7, 2004)

I manage a shop that is the number 1 Trek dealer in our state......we have 4 stores, but they aren't large wharehouse type shops.....the bottom line is we stock as many models as we can in as many sizes in order to be reputed as the dealer where you can get what you want....in other words we invest in product to gain business.....it's what make a business successful, albeit risky at times....as far as creating an agreement amongst competing Trek dealers to stock different size runs...sorry, and no offense, but your MBA doesn't give you enough insight into the bike business.....enforcing this policy, deciding what dealers stock what sizes (shop A may stock the popular 56 and 58 sizes....who get's stuck with the 50 and 63's?) and what models is a virtually impossible...the bottom line is if you have serious customer you take the chance and order the size most appropriate for that person....or you size them with existing inventory that is similar and go from there...








beecnul8r said:


> Thanks for the input Bob. However, as I said, if LeMond, Felt and other apparently "low volume sellers" either floor planned models or as I suggested, spread the models out by agreement among dealers in, say a 25 or 50 mile radius, everyone would benefit. By my being able to at least test ride a specific model I can then decide which one to purchase and do so at my local dealer. Everyone wins. The dealers will "even out" and sell more bikes that suit the buyer's requirements and companies such as LeMond (who must move very little inventory based on my observations) and Felt will expand sales volumes. If car dealers acted like bike dealers they would all be out of business.
> Dave


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## 633 (Feb 10, 2004)

beecnul8r said:


> Can someone enlighten me? I narrowed my new bike choices to LeMond and Felt. Called authorized dealers in my area (Murrieta, CA) only to find exactly ONE of each bike in stock to test, none of which is on my list to test ride. I am shocked that dealers get $1,200 to $2,400 for bikes that no one can even test ride. At one dealer where I asked to test the Big Sky SLT ($1,450) the dealer shrugged his shoulders, eyeballed me to see my size (some fit process, isn't it!) and went to his computer to "look up" inventory on LeMonds site. Never did order one in although I am a ready buyer if I could ACTUALLY ride the bike!! If these folks were car dealers they would go broke! Why is this? Why doesn't Trek or Greg demand that within say a 25 mile radius, that ALL models be stocked amongst the dealers? I am not business unsavy having been a CFO of a major business, with an MBA and also a CPA. I just don't understand how they ever sell bicycles to anyone.


Trek is doing a demo days tour. http://www.ridethebesttour.com/ Maybe there's one near you, but the Zurich looks like the only Lemond model that's included in the tour. Felt may do something similar - didn't look.


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## johngfoster (Jan 14, 2005)

*I agree*



3465mike said:


> The bottom line is if you have a serious customer you take the chance and order the size most appropriate for that person....or you size them with existing inventory that is similar and go from there...


This is what my LBS did. They didn't have any Madone 5.2's in my size (60cm), so trial fitted me to a Trek 1000--the only 60cm frame they had in stock. Once we knew that 60cm was the right size, they contacted the Trek sales rep who checked inventory of other Trek dealers and found another store in the area with a 60cm Madone 5.2. This dealer fortunately was willing to give up the bike and it was shipped to my LBS. The bike was custom fitted to me and I was on my way. Unfortunately I wasn't able to test-ride the bike before I shelled out the cash, but fortunately I am very happy with it. Not an ideal situation though. Would be nice if you could make an appointment with the Trek rep at your LBS to test ride a few bikes that he would bring in different models and sizes. That way the LBS would not be responsible for carrying the risk of inventory.


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## Trek_envy (Jun 15, 2004)

*Funny thing is......*

More people are ordering than they can keep up with!!!

Its insane. I rode a 60cm Madone in Feb, and decided that I needed a 62. Ordered it right away, and I'm still waiting.

I'm only hearing more and more about people waiting, is anyone recieving their bikes?

I havent even seen anyone in my city riding one. The models that I looked at are still at the dealers. What is going on?


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