pinerello have devalued their brand by selling through halfords - discuss

[mustang1]

Yeah, devalued the brand but their business team must have seen an opportunity. Maybe the snobby buyers of more expensive pinarellos will distinguish halfords pinarellos from proper pinarellos. But what's a proper pinarello anyway?

But answering the question, yup, devalued.but I'm not sure how much panache pinarello (and colnago etc) had when they sold at Evans either.

 

[John the Monkey]

Pff. Once they moved away from chromed fork legs and chainstays, it was the beginning of the end...

 

[Smokin Joe]

by way of an example of how a brand can evolve; claud butler was the pinerello of its day in the 1950s, was still a good brand when bankrupcy saw it acquired by holdsworth in '57,

That's a myth. Claud Butler was a much better marketeer than he was a framebuilder and the bikes were never regarded as anything out of the ordinary by the people involved in the sport. It's the non cycling public who believed them to be something special. Dig out a few pictures of cycle racing from the fifties and sixties and you'll be lucky to find any rider on a Claud Butler.

 

[400bhp]

Utterly ridiculous assumption that Boardman have suffered.

They are the #1 seller in the UK because of Halfords sales.

Hence why Halfords has now bought out Boardman.

WGAF anyway - really snobby attutude. Just ride yer ferkin bike.

 

[400bhp]

People said the same about Porsche when they brought out the Boxster. But it saved the manufacturer from ruin.

Only nobbers who think they have money wouldn't buy a product because someone had a cheaper version.

 

[ayceejay]

What used to make Pinarello exceptional was that they were exceptional bikes. Now that the only difference between a Pinarello and any other is the paint job and marketing it is right for Halfords to sell them based on price rather than perceived value.

 

[Stormbringer]

Ferrari is owned by Fiat ,its done them no harm.
Who cares who sells them as long as its the best price ,you don't have to go back, get it serviced else ware or by yourself .
Remember Raleigh once where a top bike, winning the tour ,then fell from grace but are now on the way back .Ribble seem a good brand at great prices .

 

[vernon]

brands such as carrera and boardman have suffered from being halfords exclusives not because there's anything wrong with the bikes themselves, but because of snobbery about halfords or, more pointedly, at the inconstancy of service provided, as even a good bike, set up poorly, is no fun to ride.

The Boardman brand suffered so much that Halfords bought it for a bargain £20,000,000.

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

Carrera have not suffered from being a Halfords exclusive. It is an in house brand owned by Halfords just like Apollo. In the past Carerra frames were made by Merida. The Carerra range are excellent value and I've yet to read a poor review of any of them. You might be confusing them with an Italian brand of expensive road bikes which has no connection whatsoever with Halfords or Porsche for that matter.

As for brand cache I'm sure that Pinarello will not lose sleep over the potential global loss of market through them being sold by Halfords and losing an element of their exclusivity. At the end of the day the Pinarello is a mass produced bike just like the the Carerras and Boardmans. It's cache depends more upon marketing, sponsorship and received wisdom about superiority than through retail outlets.

A minority of cycling snobs might care about them Halfords but the average person in the high street will still see them as an unaffordable brand and go ahead and buy Apollo, Carrera and Boardman bikes that share the showroom with the Pinarellos.

 

[Globalti]

Step into the Pinarello boutique in Manchester and you'll discover that they've got a massive number of different models at all costs, not just the exotic carbon models you see in cycle racing. It could be that the brand is suffering almost from a reversed effect of perceived value and failing to sell in the numbers it could thanks to this upmarket exotic boutique image.

 

[bpsmith]

The devalued brand effect comes in when the same models are sold at knock down prices, rather than a lower specced model being sold for an obviously lower price.

The aforementioned Porsche Boxster certainly didn't hinder sales of the 911 for example.

Apple are another example. They never officially discount their products aside from a small number of one day specials each year. Only recently did they keep older models on sale at a lower price, when newer models got released. It's hardly hurting their sales, or brand image.

Pinarello will do well from the Halfords link, but let's not expect a Dogma for £299 in there...

 

[MarkF]

Uber cyclists who covet a Pinarello will probably change their target and I don't blame them. I would not feel the same about my Rolex if it had come from Watchhut. Agree with many though, it will probably be a good thing for Pinarello.

 

[yello]

No problems with Halfords selling Pinarello, and Pinarello's reputation needn't necessarily suffer, BUT I personally would be uncertain about buying one from there.

Did people think the same of Bianchi when they started appearing in Evans?

I dunno, I see this coming dangerously close to dovetailing into the 'snob' debate.

These days, all manner of unlikely partnerships are forged in the name of revenue generation and image etc. Halfords are maybe trying to recast themselves as a 'serious' bike store by association.

I look toward to buying my Colnago from Argos!

 

[KneesUp]

I would not feel the same about my Rolex if it had come from Watchhut.

Why?

 

[KneesUp]

You could get a Bianci in Halfords in the late80s I'm sure.

 

[Globalti]

Both Boardman and Pinarello are names that are well known to Joe Public thanks to TV exposure. If I was a Halfords marketing exec I would want them both as aspirational brands to bring in the punters. Can you see Halfords selling lesser-known brands like Felt or Orbea?

For me the biggest disappointment on visiting a Halfords is the shonky range of spares and accessories and aftermarket bits for sale - there are no decent wheels, stems, saddles, brakes, cables etc. and the stock is always in a mess.