Frustrated by RBW lack of inventory

[Michael Hechmer]

OK, so I'm no longer a big bike spender, but I do own three Riv bikes and feel some loyalty to the company.  At 73 all I need are replacement parts.   I haven't ordered anything from RBW in two years because every time I try to put in an order half of what I need is out of stock.  

It's finally Spring in Vt and this week I pulled all the bikes out of the basement, cleaned & tuned them up.  I made a list of the replacement parts I needed, which was really very short - new HB tape and one tire.  Of course I can always use cleaner and lube so added them in, then threw in a chain guard for the Rambouillet.  Went to the RBW site and discovered that the tire I wanted was out of stock, as was the chain guard.  Not much point in putting in an order for HB tape and two items I can buy anywhere

VO has the tire (650b X 38 skin wall) and HB  tape, so once again no sale for RBW.

Michael

[Deacon Patrick]

I hear ya, Michael. Situational discernment. I view Rivendell as carrying long term, “capital” bike goods. Yes, they have consumable goods (jthey are necessary for bike builds, afterall), but as you point out, those are easily gotten many places. With their recent refocusing after being over extended and needing to work the rosary beads with a Hail Mary (I know Grant things it’s a football term. Grin.), this seems even more the case. Frames? Silver shifter, cranks, and surfers? Best biking bags in the world? Durable goods. If I place an order for durable goods and they have the consumable goods I need too, great, but cables, housing, tires, tubes, et al — if that’s all I need to go LBS because that’s not Rivendell’s focus. WIth a family of six whom we’re outfitting with bikes for their adult lives, we’re still in the durable goods buying stage. Grin.

With abandon,
Patrick

[Daniel Jackson]

But anger and frustration lead to the Dsrk Side.

Your VT companion who is finally enjoying the weather and supporting his local LBS replacement part purchases.

[Pondero]

Me too.

In the last several months I've had to abandon multiple intended orders due to out of stock items, and met my needs in other ways. "Here, take my money! Oh, okay, never mind..."

Chris Johnson
Sanger, Texas

[Kieran J]

I feel like if I actually lived in Walnut Creek, Riv HQ would be my dedicated bike shop and I would also spend a lot of time hanging out there too. From a mail-order company perspective, they just can't compete based on their business model reality.

My old LBS in Toronto (shout-out to Urbane Cyclist!) almost always had the stuff I needed, and it was on my way home from work. That immediate access does a lot to keep the customer-shop relationship alive and healthy.

KJ

[Lum Gim Fong]

Happened ti me b4.
Stuff not available.
But that us the nature of their business, not being a superstore.

Though they are a super store.

I used to have a wishlist. But with the new website design I no longer have access to one. Only dead clicking icon options for it.

But it still shows all previous orders, which is great.

[Cyclofiend Jim]

Hey there Michael - 

I've had this occur for a couple of things recently, as RBW builds inventory back up. 

However, in both cases, I just used the "Email me when this is available" option on the site and curiously, both items popped up as available within a couple days. For me, it's worth waiting for a new set of JB's... 

anyway - I suspect as we get into the volume months and cash flow calms back down, things will be better.

keep on riding!

- Jim

On Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at 5:01:09 PM UTC-7, Michael Hechmer wrote:

[Clayton]

Yeah, me too.

I responded to their request to 'please buy something to save the company'.  Everything (I sorta wanted) was out of stock.  I check weekly, but some stuff has been out of stock forever.  

Bike packing has become huge. I would think that some Rivendell rackless bikepacking bags would sell well, as well as a plus tired Hunqa. Creativity in their stock is needed. Needs a refresh.

Clayton

#DirtDanceDesigns

[Grant @ Rivendell]

Profligate inventory buying slims up our cushion of safety when an unexpected blast hits, and our usual monthly $30,000 to $40,000 inventory spending was cut back to $5,000 for the three months leading up to the recent near-fall (even here I seemed cheap at that). It still wasn't enough, but it made it better. But when the money's not coming in, the only thing we can do is keep it from going out, just huddle and say, "we gotta sell the stuff on the shelves."
And in some cases, things we've stocked are getting harder to impossible to buy. Our 18-year supplier of Aussie wool things has closed. Our Norweigian supplier of wool stocks almost nothing, so for us to get it we have to commit to like 6 months of underwear that trickles out. So we're not doing much of that anymore
This is no different from any other business, but I absolutely know the frustration. I've stocked up on XL knickers, a size way too big, b/c I don't see us ever getting in my beloved L's again. I bought two of the blue MUSA shirts and one Green, same reason.
We're still recovering and are being extra careful....but there are still gaps. Not a lot, though. Do we need to stock 10 varieties of bells, to indulge the bell-particularists? I think 3 is enough. The focus is on duplication elimination now...and stopping trying to stock things we think are groovy (or, in some cases "I" think are groovy) that nobody else seems to like.
Here's some stuff going on to maybe look forward to and to end this on an upnote: We're slowly ramping up MUSA wool, starting in the Fall, but it's still gonna be a matter of get it if u want it when we have it.
More and more it's going to be (as DP...) bikes, bags, essential hardware, and of course a smattering of quirky groovy fun essential things that have no parallel in the real world but still make sense. Splats-like things.
Anyway, i feel yourzhallzis's pain, and we're doing better now than then, so please please please keep giving us a shot...inventory levels are excellent right now and have been for a month and should be ongoing...but the scope may be smaller.

G

On Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at 5:01:09 PM UTC-7, Michael Hechmer wrote:

[Joe Bernard]

I just bought a Banana Sax in olive and want to give a shoutout 'cause Oh Mercy is it pretty and useful and mysteriously way better than other banana bags. Like, you can see where it would be an improvement, but it's hard to explain to your I've-seen-a-dozen-bananas eyes why it's so much better. It's so much better! In stock now!

Joe Bernard

[Deacon Patrick]

I’ll celebrate the back-a-bike bags’ radical and power simplicity and being so much more for being so much less in a different thread at a later date, but to piggyback on Joe’s comment — the bags are brilliant and unsurpassed in the cycling industry for hearty simplicity and doing the job singularly and better than any other and being life-long quality even if you use them like I do.

With abandon,
Patrick

[hugh flynn]

It’s a bit of a catch 22 I would imagine. 

Inventory requires capital, and capital is generated by moving inventory. What's a small business to do? 

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[Pondero]

I greatly appreciate Grant's feedback on this, and will say that I'm personally very comfortable with less items and choices in exchange for greater reliability of availability.  I love the unique and specialty products, and I enjoy returning to the website to "see what they have now".

Chris Johnson

Sanger, Texas

[Paul Choi]

Rivendell is not Amazon. We don't want them to be. Grant, please continue to do what you need to do. 

On Wednesday, April 25, 2018 at 5:01:09 PM UTC-7, Michael Hechmer wrote:

[Joe Bernard]

Apologies if that seemed a little OT. The idea was to promote an in stock product on a thread about stuff being out of stock. Awkwardly.

[phil k]

Not at all Joe, I  just bought one myself thanks to your post. 

[Eric]

What's wrong with Amazon? I actually would like them to be profitable and growing like Amzn.

I viewed another cycling forum that discussed all things Riv during the Hail Mary including business fundamentals such as overhead, inventory, overlap of frames, number of employees, expensive Bay Area real estate, etc

Interesting discussion to say the least.

[John Hawrylak]

Grant's theme of "duplication" was stated about 5 to 6 years ago, but I did not notice a large reduction.

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

[Grant Petersen]

If at first you don't succeed, etc. It's an ongoing challenge, no doubt, but always a worthy one.

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[hugh flynn]

In an age of instant gratification fed by  federated clearing houses of on-line retail excess, i think it’s perfectly fine wait for things from time to time.

Sure, I love being able to get what I want when I want it - but that’s an unreasonable and unsustainable expectation for ALL things at ALL times. There are 1000 sellers able to provide cables, housing, and derailers through Amazon (and now Walmart on-line sales) - but those are commodity goods that can be provided by a countless number of sellers. I never know if Seller A is out of something I want, because sellers B through Z are always there to provide what I want when A can’t. That’s great, but it’s a model that only works for readily available, mass-produced, commodities. 

Once you step out of the high volume  commodity market, expectations of instant gratification must contend with the realities of small batch production, raw material availability, suppliers who freak out and run away to Cabo when a big order is due, and the never ending small-business cash flow/inventory dance of the macabre. 

Expectations must be adjusted when one wants what Amazon doesn’t provide. 

Hugh “delayed gratification ain’t all bad” Flynn 

On Thu, Apr 26, 2018 at 6:49 PM Grant Petersen <gran...@gmail.com> wrote:

If at first you don't succeed, etc. It's an ongoing challenge, no doubt, but always a worthy one.

On Thu, Apr 26, 2018 at 2:43 PM, John Hawrylak <John.H...@verizon.net> wrote:

Grant's theme of "duplication" was stated about 5 to 6 years ago, but I did not notice a large reduction.

John Hawrylak

Woodstown NJ

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Hugh Flynn
Newburyport, MA

[Mark in Beacon]

On Wednesday, April 25, 2018, Michael Hechmer wrote: At 73 all I need are replacement parts. 

Yikes, yeah.  I could use some replacement parts myself, and I'm only 58.

Yes, I've had a case or two of the Out of Stock Blues. But, life goes on. And as Hugh says, anticipation--give it a try some time! Unless, of course, you are facing a true life or death bicycle build emergency. Even in those cases, I choose not to use Amazon; just not a healthy business model in any way, shape, or form. In, of course, my own little opinion. 

And I will add to the praise of the back o bike bags. I've extolled them here and elsewhere before. I have two sets, one in gray and one in blue. A huge indulgence for me. So great. So fun to use every day. Just the best bags ever for around town usage. 

[Ray Varella]

Here’s my take on the subject: I try to spend the majority of my discretionary dollars with small businesses, artisans, farmers and artisans.
I do my banking with my local credit union.
Community is critical and having a real person remember your name and thank you for your support is how we prevent the further encroachment of big box retail from gobbling up the last remaining small businesses.

I would much rather deal with limited runs and out of stock items than to see the unique and good become extinct.

Ray

[Chris Birkenmaier]

+1 on what Ray said!

[REC (Roberta)]

I've placed smaller-than-anticipated orders with them when some of the items that I wanted were out of stock, so I could get the items that were in stock sent to me before they became out of stock.  For small items, they only charge $4 for shipping, so I don't mind the multiple shipping costs.  If they had a higher shipping charges, that wouldn't be the case.  It's the least I could do for a company whose products have brought me such joy. Roberta

[Leif Eckstrom]

I was glad to see the heavier crane bell spring was back in stock. I know some people were waiting for that. I ordered a pair, along with 4 rolls of newbaums in teal. For those interested, there are new colors of newbaums in stock.
Best,
Leif
Chicago

[George Schick]

An issue that has not come up in this thread - but is definitely one that places any retailer's back up against the wall - is manufacturer discontinued stock.  For example, I've noticed that certain higher-end companies have stopped making 36 hole rims - because there has been a dwindling demand for them in recent years.  However, that leaves those who have invested a decent amount of cash in 36 hole hubs are now up the proverbial creek without a paddle if their rims wear out or get taco'd and they want to replace it with the same kind (no need for fooling around with different length spokes, etc).  And there's nothing the retailer can do about it unless he's willing to invest even more money in stock piling products like this, betting on the future demand for NOS.  It's somewhat of a loose-loose situation for both the retailer and customers like us.