[CR]Bike Nashbar catalogue - old and new

(Example: Framebuilders)

To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Bianca Pratorius" <biankita@earthlink.net>
Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 18:27:29 -0500
Subject: [CR]Bike Nashbar catalogue - old and new

I just received the latest issue of Nashbar's catalogue, and just flashed back to the ones I received back in 1981 when it was just a humble newsprint, two color catalogue. How does Nashbar today, sell you a $200 styrofoam helmet alongside a $29 one? Well Nashbar has figured out just how to do it. You sell them both with copy which doesn't discriminate nor provide any value judgments whatsoever. The $29 helmet "will get you out and rolling to the front of the pack", but the $200 catalogue "gulps air to keep your cool as you lead the pack". (all quotes canote the spirit of the catalogue without actually referring to any particular piece of copy). The old newsprint catalogue used to direct you to the best buy, or the best of its type, relying on informative copy to let you know how to install, service, or utilize any particular product. I used to look forward to every issue, as it taught as well as tantalized. If I recall Cycology did the same, and you felt as if you were in good hands as you carefully chose each component on your steed.

I guess the Nashbar philosophy of bike sales has become one with the manufacturers that make the items. No item should be priced nor designed solely on the basis of actual cost to produce, nor on value to the customer. All items should be made and sold to track moving fashion trends, and maximize profit as we move up the chic ladder. To a certain extent, this must have always been true as Dura-Ace was only minimally more expensive to produce than Ultegra, but brought more than a fair share of dollar penalty for its purchase. The same was true of Super Record and Record and so on.

Where are the mail order houses which specialize in directing the customer toward the items which staff most believes in? Well...Rivendell, Peter White and a few more. To add insult to injury, the local bike shops often are guilty of the same craziness, although most will admit that Shimano 105 is functionally nearly identical to Ultegra, and that a cyclist should depend less on his equipment to excel or enjoy the sport than on proper set up and appropriate choices.

More griping and complaining from Miami Fl. by Garth Libre