What's the catch?

[Tankengine]

Saving up the £ (very early days just enjoying doing the homework! ) and looking at sub 1500 road bikes. Keener on carbon then alu and aside bianchi,giant and cube have also had a look at Planet X and ribble.my question - what is the catch? How can these guys afford to make bikes with these components? Carbon frame with ultegra for £900????really? How reliable are the frames? Tbh I would be nervous about buying online due to sizing and not riding first but the specs seem too good to be true...

 

[vickster]

No specific catch, generic open mould carbon frame from the far east, cheap wheels, tyres, other components (is it full Ultegra?), minimal warranty, no 6 week service, economies of scale, lower overheads, less profit per unit, no money spent on R&D in house, little marketing, no pro team to support. Limited offer on small number of bikes to clear some stock I expect. Slow time of year for sales of carbon road bikes

If you want one, I'd take a trip to one of their shops

What do you expect from a low end carbon frame versus a higher end alu/carbon one?

 

[ianrauk]

See a heck of a lot of both Planet X and Ribble bikes. So they must be doing something right.
Planet X have a 2 year carbon frame warranty, don't know about Ribble.

 

[vickster]

See a heck of a lot of both Planet X and Ribble bikes. So they must be doing something right.
.

Carbon bike under the C2W threshold, probably popular with commuters as well as weekend warriors around London

 

[Cubist]

Direct sales model and an ethos of keeping cycling affordable. Innit.

 

[Trembler49]

I have 2 on one bikes (the mtb arm of Planet X). No catch good bikes!

 

[Tankengine]

No specific catch, generic open mould carbon frame from the far east, cheap wheels, tyres, other components (is it full Ultegra?), minimal warranty, no 6 week service, economies of scale, lower overheads, less profit per unit, no money spent on R&D in house, little marketing, no pro team to support. Limited offer on small number of bikes to clear some stock I expect. Slow time of year for sales of carbon road bikes

If you want one, I'd take a trip to one of their shops

What do you expect from a low end carbon frame versus a higher end alu/carbon one?

I guess expecting the low end carbon to be lighter and something I can have some fun on and hit the hills with. I know around that price range alu bikes tend to have higher quality components then low end carbon frames but I already have an alu bike and keen to try something different.

Yeh good point actually, I hadn't thought about other factors like marketing, lower overheadsetc as less cost for them. Hm. The lack of warranty/after sales support is one thing that is a little off putting in terms of buying from the net. I might try and get up to the sheffield branch and check out if I can at least have a test ride so I can compare.

 

[vickster]

The bike's 8kg, it's not that light depending on what you have at the moment. Decent wheels on your existing bike would also make a difference...however, there's nowt wrong with N+1

 

[youngoldbloke]

FULL ultegra on the latest PX offer - even the cassette, impressive at that price.

 

[Mobytek]

What ever you pay, the mark up is around 100% for a complete bike.

So you £1500 is 50% profit, so they bought for £750 - complete. Take off their supplier / distributors mark up and thats what the imported cost is. Them take off the factory profit margin and costs and you've got the cost of parts ......

Hmm - full carbon kit over a metal brased / wealded frame .....

you're almost better buying the frame you want, then making yours from your prefered groupset, wheels ya de ya.

Seen 3 that have bought Pirinello Dogma / P8 from internet far east and all had cracked frame, scrapes etc - you try returning that for a warranty issue!

Would only be looking at a full carbon frameset if it was either a) marked at £4k plus (with homework to ensure top materials used), or b) a guarenteed made in Europe / USA jobbie.

 

[vickster]

Planet X aren't in the far East and selling 'fake' Chinarello frames

 

[400bhp]

What ever you pay, the mark up is around 100% for a complete bike.

So you £1500 is 50% profit,

I really don't think that is right.

I was looking at buying a bike business a few years ago and the margins are pretty poor.

 

[wajc]

minimal warranty, no 6 week service

I'm not sure the minimal warranty and no 6 week check up is right.
They certainly offered me a free check up when I picked up my bike a few weeks ago. I've also had friends who have needed bits replacing and they have had no problem with that as well under warranty.

Saying that, if you are not close to one of their stores it might be a bit of a pain.

 

[vickster]

2 years on a frame is minimal warranty to me John Lewis give more on an iPad, and it's not a piece of equipment ridden at speed on roads and down hills

 

[screenman]

Mobytec, could you supply something to back up your figures, as they are way different to why I know.

Also do you know the big difference between profit and margins.