# EVO framesest at the click of a mouse



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

Like the Thread title says, you to can order Cannondale's from the comfort of your own home.

Mail order Dales, I don't know what to think.
Makes me think of the huge push back that all the IBD's were giving to Cervelo when Competitive Cyclist was selling Cervelos on line. I believe that Competitive Cyclist was selling 'complete' Cervelo bikes and shipping them.

The shop doing it is Infinite Cycles in Utah. The same Infinite cycles that is all over flea-Bay selling Hollowgrams. They state that DOREL is fully aware and approves of what they are doing. 

Like to hear back from the first guy / gal who got their mail order EVO. You may be the first in the country. The site only has pics right now, but they stated the frames would be for sale very soon.

Frames - CannondaleExperts.com

Infinite Cycles Bicycle Shop - Utah's Cannondale Experts - Riverton, Utah


----------



## ph0enix (Aug 12, 2009)

It doesn't look like you can actually order it.


----------



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

ph0enix said:


> It doesn't look like you can actually order it.


right; that's what I said in my post:

The site only has pics right now, but they stated the frames would be for sale very soon.


----------



## Switchblade906 (Mar 4, 2012)

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to order them online, you can order almost anything else in the world online. Groceries, pizza, Chinese food, clothes, computers, furniture, and even vehicles. So i really don't see what the problem is.....


----------



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

Switchblade906 said:


> I don't see why you shouldn't be able to order them online, you can order almost anything else in the world online. Groceries, pizza, Chinese food, clothes, computers, furniture, and even vehicles. So i really don't see what the problem is.....


Ya sure, why not right.
I posted because this is a HUGE change in policy for Cannondale. Up until, well I guess up until right now, Cannondale would pull accounts from IBD's if they caught them shipping Cannondale bikes or frames. Same for flea-Bay, if a Cannondale dealer was selling and shipping on e-Bay then their account with Cannondale was shut down. Currently you can find Cannondale shops selling on e-Bay, but they won't ship the bikes. It is for local pick-up only.

The argument AGAINST shipping & mail order is that it can begin to erode the product's position in the marketplace. And the BIG problem is it puts IBD's in competition with these mail order / on-line retail guys.


----------



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

Switchblade906 said:


> I don't see why you shouldn't be able to order them online, you can order almost anything else in the world online. Groceries, pizza, Chinese food, clothes, computers, furniture, and even vehicles. So i really don't see what the problem is.....


Ya sure, why not right.
I posted because this is a HUGE change in policy for Cannondale. Up until, well I guess up until right now, Cannondale would pull accounts from IBD's if they caught them shipping Cannondale bikes or frames. Same for flea-Bay, if a Cannondale dealer was selling and shipping on e-Bay then their account with Cannondale was shut down. Currently you can find Cannondale shops selling on e-Bay, but they won't ship the bikes. It is for local pick-up only.

The argument AGAINST shipping & mail order is that it can begin to erode the product's position in the marketplace. And the BIG problem is it puts IBD's in competition with these mail order / on-line retail guys.


----------



## Switchblade906 (Mar 4, 2012)

So basically cannondale thinks their to good to be sold online? 

Or is it that they don't want to be responsible for repairs to something that was shipped? 

If its the second i would understand.


----------



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

Switchblade906 said:


> So basically cannondale thinks their to good to be sold online?
> 
> Or is it that they don't want to be responsible for repairs to something that was shipped?
> 
> If its the second i would understand.


No, no, no..........it's not about being too good or about repairs. 
It is about product image and its position in the marketplace. On-line retail items quickly loose that sense of exclusivity. If the market is flooded with a product and it is sold at really low margins then the image begins to erode. Its NOT special anymore.

And if anyone can get it by clicking a mouse, why would a bike shop want to compete with the Inter web? It becomes a race to the bottom and the local guy selling (30) Cannondales a year can never compete if the profits (margins) are sucked out of a product.

Have you ever seen a Mom / Pop bike shop selling DengFu, Chinese 'no name' framesets in their shop? No, and you never will. There is no perceived up-market image associated with a DengFu. The consumer who wants the Chinese bike buys a Chinese bike directly from China. The consumer who wants a name brand bike buys the name brand bike. And along with that name, they are paying for Ivan Basso and Nibali, and all the water bottles thrown away during a race, and marketing videos, and demo shows, and magazine ads and the list just goes on and on. 

The largest U.S bike companies in order of sales;
Trek
Specialized (half owned by a Taiwanese company)
Cannondale

and the first (2) won't ship you a bike to your door.


----------



## Switchblade906 (Mar 4, 2012)

Ok i understand now, they don't want to be classified as the "Walmart" brand of bikes. 

Why is cannondale number 3?


----------



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

Switchblade906 said:


> Ok i understand now, they don't want to be classified as the "Walmart" brand of bikes.
> 
> Why is cannondale number 3?


Exactly, Cannondale is supposed to be the flagship, top notch brand offered by DOREL. In fact Cannondale (DOREL) is trying their best to drag (2) of their bike lines, GT and Schwinn up and out of the Walmart Image. A previous owner of GT and Schwinn ran them into the ditch a decade ago. 

My ordering; 1,2,3 is based on sales.

Trek put their bikes under the winningest Tour de France champion of all time. 

Cannondale began pro sponsorship years before Specialized but, it seems that Specialized has been much more aggressive and they put more bikes under more pros than Cannondale. And it has paid off in sales.


----------



## Switchblade906 (Mar 4, 2012)

Also specialized bikes do have more of an eye catching appeal, at least to me. But i know that Cannondale has a great reputation and i already had a C'dale MTB so i decided on a C'dale road bike as well.


----------



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

Switchblade906 said:


> Also specialized bikes do have more of an eye catching appeal, at least to me.


Watch out there Switchie! This is the Cannondale Forum.


----------



## Switchblade906 (Mar 4, 2012)

Switchblade906 said:


> But i know that Cannondale has a great reputation and i already had a C'dale MTB so i decided on a C'dale road bike as well.


yeah i know lol, But i also said this.


----------



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

Switchblade906 said:


> But i know that Cannondale has a great reputation and i already had a C'dale MTB so i decided on a C'dale road bike as well.


Oh I know what you said, but as soon as you said you enjoy looking at Specialized bikes in your room with the lights turned down low, no one read the rest of it. 

Just messing with ya, I think the 'bow backed' Tarmac's look like a dog humped up taking a crap. Other than that, they look great.

I test rode one once. Because of that sloped top tube there was a mile of seat post sticking out. And that post was swaying every time I made a pedal revolution. Back and forth, back and forth.
It was of course due to the crap seat post and not the Tarmac. However the post was a Specialized branded, O.E. seat post. 

And no I'm NOT a Clydesdale.


----------



## Switchblade906 (Mar 4, 2012)

What do you mean Clydesdale?


----------



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

Clydesdale is the politically correct way to indicate an athlete is a LARGE athlete. 
I'm sayin that seat post was flexing due to poor quality.


----------



## Switchblade906 (Mar 4, 2012)

Oh like me lol 6'1" 260 ish lbs.

I just bought a carbon seat post from nashbar so i hope it will work for my big self.


----------



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

I have caused my Threads own demise...............this is Thread drift in a HUGE way.

Back on topic!!!! 

How does everyone feel about these on-line Cannondale sales???


----------



## Switchblade906 (Mar 4, 2012)

Lol sorry about that.

Now that you explained it to me, i DONT like it.


----------



## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

metoou2 said:


> Watch out there Switchie! This is the Cannondale Forum.


Yep, he is banned and has to buy beer for a month.


----------



## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

metoou2 said:


> I have caused my Threads own demise...............this is Thread drift in a HUGE way.
> 
> Back on topic!!!!
> 
> How does everyone feel about these on-line Cannondale sales???


Just frames???
I could see that. I can put together my own bike. This might be something to consider if I wanted to replace my frame. I think I'm in the minority in general enthusiast road bike realm. I have seen people walk in to an LBS with there $3000 bikes to have a brake adjusted.


----------



## Switchblade906 (Mar 4, 2012)

ziscwg said:


> Just frames???
> I have seen people walk in to an LBS with there $3000 bikes to have a brake adjusted.


I think that would be me lol

I just got into road bikes and don't know how to do anything just yet. But i also don't have a 3k dollar bike.


----------



## Cyclin Dan (Sep 24, 2011)

This bike shop is right by my house (there new location). I've never been impressed the few times I've gone in.


----------



## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

The official reason Cannondale (and many other companies) dont want their bikes sold online is because they want to make sure they are assembled by people who actually know how to assemble and tune bikes so the consumer will be safe (you can read it as wont sue the company because the bike broke due to poor assembly) and happy. That, in many cases, means having professionals size, assemble, adjust and fit the bike to the consumer and provide service after the delivery. Nothing to do with the perceived value of stuff sold online.

Now a frame alone... the reason above doesn't make as much sense...


----------



## metoou2 (Mar 18, 2009)

Dan Gerous said:


> The official reason Cannondale (and many other companies) dont want their bikes sold online is because they want to make sure they are assembled by people who actually know how to assemble and tune bikes so the consumer will be safe (you can read it as wont sue the company because the bike broke due to poor assembly) and happy. That, in many cases, means having professionals size, assemble, adjust and fit the bike to the consumer and provide service after the delivery. Nothing to do with the perceived value of stuff sold online.
> 
> Now a frame alone... the reason above doesn't make as much sense...


I have a total of (3) frames purchased new from Cannondale dealers. All built into complete bikes by me.
Each and every time I started the build I called Lars in the 'Dale tech dept. to ask if I would void my warranty by building it myself. The answer was and always has been that I can build it myself with no worries of voiding anything. 
I called (3) times because the builds were spread over (3) yrs and I wanted to check that the policy hadn't changed.

*"Now a frame alone... the reason above doesn't make as much sense."*

Not quite sure what you are saying here.

So the same co. that has told me I can build my own bikes at the same time is worried about people performing the final tuning on a complete bike. Final tune meaning, you pull the thing out of a box, slap on the handlebars and pedals. Then tune the brakes and shifters. 
Maybe they assume anyone buying a bare frame has the skills to build it up and people buying a complete bike in a box probably does'nt???

*The official reason Cannondale*
To make 'official statements' wouldn't you have to be on the payroll? Do you have a co. memo or maybe a link to a page stating this?
I'm sure you comment has merit, I would just like to see where it was put in print. 

Call a Cervelo shop and ask them how they felt when Competitive Cyclist was shipping bikes mail order. The Cervelo shops were closing their accounts because of the damage that was being done to the Cervelo name (perceived value). That and the fact they didn't want to compete with a mail order house.


----------

