pinerello have devalued their brand by selling through halfords - discuss

[shouldbeinbed]

Pinarello have found a much bigger way to market. It implies that they see the awareness and interest in cycling here now a solid thing good enough for them to want to cash in on a new and largely un-cycle(snob)y customer base emerging now. One that is happy to pay for a name they see on telly but would be unaware of or intimidated to go looking in boutique bike outlets, but not from the big friendly looking well established in the public consciousness supermarket outlets.

Also on the flipside, the campaigners use the 'build it and they will come' mantra a lot. Maybe the cache Boardman has developed and the association with a brand like Pinarello will see Halfords raise their game and assign more importance to the quality of mechanics and bike specific employees they recruit and train, and stuff too.

 

[MarkF]

Why?

Because it affects how I'd feel about it's "value", intrinsic and perceived. I coveted a Rolex for decades and "wanting" something you aspire to but cannot afford is a good part of the pleasure, when the time came I wanted an experienced Rolex dealer to sit down and make me a drink whilst discussing my wants and needs. Once bought, it feels like a special purchase.

Didn't the La Senza guy make millions from just "wrapping up" lingerie? He knew that a woman would feel good wearing them, having had to take time (pleasure) to remove a nice ribbon and unwrap the box, she would not feel the same if the same undies were stuck to some frozen chips at the bottom of her Aldi bag.

 

[Dan B]

I look toward to buying my Colnago from Argos!

That's great, but when can I buy an Argos in Argos?

 

[Learnincurve]

If it's shop floor space that would have gone to Apollo then it can only be a good thing. I think pinerello wants a chunk of the cycle to work scheme money. Bottom of the range is about £1200 which is doable for the every man, however where the money comes in is the rich people, rich people love a bargain, it's how many of them got to be rich in the first place and if they can get £900 off a £2500 bike they are going to go for it and hey are also going to need accessories for that bike as well.

 

[zizou]

When i see someone on a Pinarello these days i assume it is a Chinarello knock off such is the ubiquity of the replica bikes. That has IMO already hurt the Pinarello brand much more than selling in Halfords could

 

[alans]

If this

Halfords raise their game and assign more importance to the quality of mechanics and bike specific employees they recruit and train, and stuff too.

**

occurs then not only will Pinarello's brand image not suffer but then the whole image & perception of Halfords as a "serious" cycle retailer will improve,probably resulting in more sales by them of cycles of all types.
This may well threaten further the existence of independent retailers,particularly those in close proximity to a Halford outlet.

I would agree with those who suggest that Boardman has elevated the reputation of Halfords via a bike of decent quality at various price points throughout the range: despite the knowledge or otherwise of Halford's staff.

** to do this Halfords will certainly have to offer better conditions of employment than they currently do.

 

[John the Monkey]

As for inconsistency of service - it's a received wisdom. The silent majority of successful sales are unheralded. If Halfords are so **** poor why did their sales increase by 6.5% last year, driven mainly by bicycle sales?

My pal bought a Boardman hybrid that was assembled without the top cap on the headset - it was wrecked in slightly less than a year.

I tried to order a bike from my local store, and the staff could not have been less interested, both at the time, and when I tried to follow up. Lucky, in a way, as I ended up getting my Giant SCR2 from a bike shop that actually wanted my business!

Anecdote isn't, of course, data, but I'm wary of the big H, I feel with good reason.

That said, the Boardmans are super bikes, as are the Carerras - I'd just want them checked over after purchase, personally.

So why do Halfrods do well? Probably a combination of keen pricing, and being well known. It's choosing a Travelodge over an independent B&B - the comfort of knowing what you're getting, where to find it &c vs the slightly intimidating, probably more expensive local option.

 

[KneesUp]

That and the fact that their size allows them to stay open longer. My LBS is open the same hours I'm at work, so I don't use it as often as I'd like for spares etc.

 

[Cold]

The Halfords near me has just been redesigned and I would say around 2/3 of the shop is now for bikes they have a bigger range of accessories and I can see this getting bigger and bigger in the future.
I use them sometimes as they are handy, open longer , price match and you get 10% off with a British Cycling membership.

 

[KneesUp]

[QUOTE 3168561, member: 45"]I was about to say, that I think Halfords should either separate the bike and car parts of their empire, or at least focus on bikes with a little nod to car parts, the business of which has changed dramatically over recent years.[/QUOTE]

I think this is where they are heading - I remember the Halfords part desk where you could buy alternators and clutch kits. Now it's rather simpler to fit 'parts' like wiper blades and air filters (although they've always sold those too) and car accessories. I don't see it becoming a bike shop per se as that is where Evans and Edinburgh Co-Op et al are - but more of a 'things you might keep in the garage and accessories for them' shop

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 3168211, member: 45"]Seeing as Boardman are exclusive to Halfords I don't think there's a comparison that can be made.
[/QUOTE]

Not true. The more expensive and much better specced Boardman Elite range are sold through independent retailers and have never been and won't be stocked by Halfords.

 

[John the Monkey]

That's great, but when can I buy an Argos in Argos?

You never know, couple that with globalisation, and you might be able to buy an Argos, in Argos, in Argos.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Because it affects how I'd feel about it's "value", intrinsic and perceived. I coveted a Rolex for decades and "wanting" something you aspire to but cannot afford is a good part of the pleasure, when the time came I wanted an experienced Rolex dealer to sit down and make me a drink whilst discussing my wants and needs. Once bought, it feels like a special purchase.

Didn't the La Senza guy make millions from just "wrapping up" lingerie? He knew that a woman would feel good wearing them, having had to take time (pleasure) to remove a nice ribbon and unwrap the box, she would not feel the same if the same undies were stuck to some frozen chips at the bottom of her Aldi bag.

that's pretty much what i'm getting at.

when i had £1400 to spend on a bike i really wanted it to be an informed choice, and getting the best bike i could for the money. i went for a ribble as i could spec the entire bike, and it's one of the few places you can get a full campag groupset. All the italian manufacturers were offing bikes at around £1200, but usually with nothing better than tiagra or, worse, a mix of groupsets (using the '105 equipped' marketing technique where you stick a 105 front mech on and kit the rest out in sub-tiagra or non-shimano bits). there's nowt wrong with any of the shimano groupsets, but i do prefer to see italian frames with italian groupsets.

when i bought a carrera from halfords for £250, i didn't have any illusions that i wasn't buying a pretty ordinary bike for a decent price. i got lucky that, at the time, my local halfords had a really good mechanic on the books, who set it up brilliantly.

call it snobbery, but for years i was about the only person in my club that rode a carrera in the summer, and it never let me down. boardmans are also very rare on the club run, although there are a lot of planet x bikes, probably because you used to be able to buy them locally.

 

[jdtate101]

You can't go into any old Halfords and buy a Pinarello, they are only available at a few flagship stores, and then in a very limited model range (3 I think). If you want anything outside of these models you will still need to go to a stockist or online dealer. I can't see this being an issue at all. That being said, I'm moving from Pinarello to Canyon this year. I had considered upgrading the frame on my current ride (keeping the groupo and bits), but really I can get far better value from Canyon. A brand new bike with full DA groupo and Mavic wheels for the same price and just a new frame. This way I stand a better chance of selling the old bike as a complete item.

 

[400bhp]

[QUOTE 3168211, member: 45"]Seeing as Boardman are exclusive to Halfords I don't think there's a comparison that can be made.

But saying that, most people go to Halfords when looking for a bike. Boardman took the £400+ slot in Halfords so your average public wanting to spend that amount would buy one. Cyclists who know what's what pretty quickly realised that Boardman were good bikes, so that's another bunch of customers. Add in Halfords' explosion into cycle to work and Boardman being right at the price for that and you can see how it has only been a good thing for Boardman and for Halfords.[/QUOTE]

They are not exclusive to Halfords. Just like Pinarello, the top end bikes aren't sold by Halfords.