Scarcity of large bikes
James Warren
-James
-----Original Message-----
>From: Wheelslucas <wheel...@yahoo.com>
>Sent: May 14, 2008 5:02 PM
>To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com>
>Subject: [RBW] Re: GP Notes on the Bleriot, new & current models and a Quickbeam run
>
>
>The size range is unfortunate. A 63 or 64 cm would make the new
>bicycle models have a wider appeal.
>The main line bicycle companies are all giving up on sizes above 60 cm
>or so because of shipping.
>
>-Bill Lucas
>Santa Cruz, CA
>
>On May 14, 12:29 pm, CycloFiend <cyclofi...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> Grant currently has only indirect access to the list, so he forwarded me an
>> update on some of the recent topics we've been discussing here - everything
>> beyond the line are his words.
>>
>> ---------------
>>
>> Bleriot etc:
>> I got tired of too many dealers de-dignifying it as a loss leader, and so
>> I'm just pulling the plug on the whole Bleriot program. That means that
>> after about late June, no dealer who doesn't have them will be able to get
>> them. We'll then be obligated to buy up QBP's stock, which will give us
>> enough 'riots for a few months, maybe even through winter.
>> They will not go on sale; still $750.
>>
>> The QBP partnership was pleasant, I have only the best things to say about
>> QBP, but it was about a dozen and a half dealers that sealed the Bleriot's
>> fate.
>>
>> We could, I suppose, continue to get them ourselves. But the original deal
>> was created with the help of QBP's trading company, and it wouldn't be fair
>> for us to tie up its time with business that no longer involves QBP. So
>> rather than put them in the position of "handing off" the Bleriot deal to a
>> competitor trading company--after they'd worked so hard on the details--I'm
>> just going to kill the fine bike and start fresh with another trading
>> company and a few more bikes, which--if all goes well which it hardly ever
>> does--will be ready in about January, March, May, and July of 2009.
>>
>> The concepts are: Cheap Quickbeam, cheap A. Homer/Saluki, cheap Atlantis,
>> and cheap Mixte. The plan is four sizes each: 48-52-56-60, all with 6-deg
>> upsloping top tubes (like Bombadil), so each size will fit a wider rage of
>> leglengths/riders.
>>
>> I say "cheap," but the quality will be the same as the Bleriot. Made in
>> Taiwan. Our lugs, crowns, bb shells, tube pick, 'ame & 'phics, all that.
>> Probably they'll be one-color (no cream head tube), and m-m-may retail for
>> $700 or a hair less (not $699.99!).
>>
>> Our minimums per bike are 150. So, four sizes is about 37 each, which will
>> give us good depth and stock for a while.
>>
>> Meanwhile, we are getting in a last run of real Quickbeams---70 of them late
>> this summer, in Silver with blue graphics.
>>
>> Toyo's production is low and slow on the normal bikes, so we're
>> supplementing it with Wford A. Homers and then some Atlantis frames. Toyo
>> sort of expects to catch up in about 9 months, but I'm not optimistic, and
>> that's why we're relying on Wford to fix the slack.
>>
>> Customs: Curt's on his own now, and we're training a new builder (new to
>> us). I know this guy, have for 25 years, he's done repairs for us for 3
>> years, he does NOT have his own brand and says he wants nothing to do with
>> it, and I actually believe him. First he'll build 30 protovelos for us--or
>> however many it takes for him to get his groove and get really comfortable
>> with the particulars of our bikes.
>>
>> I'm tired of frustrations, but overall things are really good. We have a new
>> (second) full-time shipper; Miesha's back and here with her baby (Freddy)
>> and doing well. The site is getting better. We'll soon have instructional
>> youtube videos for various things we get asked about all the time (twine,
>> shellac, mounting racks, and then just fundamentals like fixing flats).
>>
Jim Bronson
I had a stock 66cm Cannondale CAAD3 and even that was a bit small.
Workable, but not quite right.
So I submit, 64cm is not truly large.
66's that are out there include the Soma Smoothie ES and the Calfee Luna.
--
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Ethan
If you don't mind me asking how tall are you and what is your inseam?
I'm 6' 2" with 37"/94cm long legs. Just curious as I recently
purchased a 66cm Atlantis. I find that generally mass produced frames
don't fit me even though I'm not that tall.
Thanks!
Ethan
On May 14, 7:54 pm, "Jim Bronson" <jim.bron...@gmail.com> wrote:
> A 64 wouldn't do me much good without some pretty extreme shims and stem...
>
> I had a stock 66cm Cannondale CAAD3 and even that was a bit small.
> Workable, but not quite right.
>
> So I submit, 64cm is not truly large.
>
> 66's that are out there include the Soma Smoothie ES and the Calfee Luna.
>
Tim McNamara
> Sent: May 14, 2008 5:02 PM
> To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: [RBW] Re: GP Notes on the Bleriot, new & current models
> and a Quickbeam run
>
>
> The size range is unfortunate. A 63 or 64 cm would make the new
> bicycle models have a wider appeal.
> The main line bicycle companies are all giving up on sizes above 60 cm
> or so because of shipping.
And sales. If Specialized, Cannondale, Trek et al sold 25,000 or so
64 cm bikes a year, they'd make the shipping work. Assuming $400
profit that'd be a million bucks a year. But that end of the bell
curve is a tiny minority of the population, and just a few percent of
those are buying bikes, and it's probably just not very profitable.
It boils down to the numbers. Bummer for those of us 6'4" and taller.
But I have the same problem with office furniture, cars and
clothing. It's hard to find things well-designed for someone my
size. At 6'4" I'm not immensely tall, I meet a lot of people my
height or taller, but products in the consumerist world is aimed at
the most numerous segments of the market and that's people within one
standard deviation of average height- which is about 68% of the
population between 5'6" and 5'11". Roughly 2% of American men are
over 6'3".
Jim Bronson
that's pretty square from a ST/TT perspective. My 68 custom has a TT
that is fully 2.5 inches longer than the TT on the 68 Rambouillet.
Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery
56 cm bikes. Armed with that mindset, a 62 or 63 cm bike seems so
abnormally huge.
Of course, whenever we've had 64, 66, or 68 Riv frames in stock,
they've sold quickly.
On May 14, 10:15 pm, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote:
> > From: Wheelslucas <wheelslu...@yahoo.com>
b hamon
make the new
bicycle models have a wider appeal.
The main line bicycle companies are all giving up on
sizes above 60 cm
or so because of shipping.
****
Our shop gets asked to ship bikes less frequently now
because UPS has raised its rates AND gotten much
firmer about size restrictions. They've now gone to
re-measuring our boxes at the depot -- after bikes may
settle a bit, causing the sides to bow out perhaps
another half-inch -- and slapping on a 50-dollar "fuel
surcharge" for the now "oversize" box. This means that
shipping a complete bike across the country now costs
125 to 140 bucks instead of the 60 to 80 it used to
cost. I am now suggesting that customers who are
travelling cross-country take their bikes with them,
by rail or bus (with appropriate insurance, of
course). They'll pay less and the bikes will arrive in
good condition.
(That's been my experience, anyway -- On a
cross-country trip to Philadelphia, I gently declined
the Red Kap's offer of assistance; then he watched in
admiration as I quickly re-assembled my bike, handed
off the box to another grateful bicyclist heading
west, and rode away. The bike rode fine, no problems.
Amtrak has been the same way for me.)
So shipping any bike taller than, say, 62cm is simply
going to be much more expensive than it used to be.
And the manufacturers are paying attention.
Beth Hamon
http://bikelovejones.livejournal.com
http://veloquent.blogspot.com
Bill Connell
> (That's been my experience, anyway -- On a
> cross-country trip to Philadelphia, I gently declined
> the Red Kap's offer of assistance; then he watched in
> admiration as I quickly re-assembled my bike, handed
> off the box to another grateful bicyclist heading
> west, and rode away. The bike rode fine, no problems.
> Amtrak has been the same way for me.)
My limited experience with Amtrak is that they'll treat the bike box
like any other piece of luggage. On a trip last year, the handlers
proceeded to stack our bike boxes, laid on their sides, on the roof of
an electric baggage tram. We asked to get them down before they
started off, visions of bikes falling from 10' to the asphalt with no
padding whatsoever. On the flip side, they were very accommodating in
letting us take the boxes right there and re-assemble bikes trackside.
Imagine an airline doing that.
> So shipping any bike taller than, say, 62cm is simply
> going to be much more expensive than it used to be.
> And the manufacturers are paying attention.
I see a future with many S&S couplers on larger bikes.
--
Bill Connell
St. Paul, MN
Sarah Gibson
first thanks ever so much
for the buckets
we'll make it right by ya
my partner nancy
her daughter annie(20)
and i are coming to your town on wed may 21
for a longish memorial day wkend
nancy can ride one of coutrney's bikes
but annie needs a bike
shes my size
so she needs like a 55c or so
can ya help us out?
rent us a bike?
let me know if ya will
looking forward to seeing you
peace
** __@
** = \<._
*** (_)/ (_)
well behaved women rarely make history
_ride yr friggin bicycle_