Eddy Merckx Bikes Now Shipping Direct to US Consumers, Preferably Through a Bike Shop

What is in it for the LBS exactly… Getting reimbursed for a $29.99 tune-up once every year on a bike that they didn’t sell? That is some serious “Just getting by” karma if I’ve ever heard it.

Bike shop margin? Have you ever owned or worked at a bike shop. The margin is not great. And then lets remember that the owner pays rent, employs people, pays insurance, taxes, etc.

I hate it that the only thing you are concerned with is paying a few less bucks for something. Some day when the local shop goes away and you only have Performance, Sports Chalet, Dicks, etc you will be very sad.

And at $12,000.00 for the top end bike do you think you are saving anything?

Please support your local shop. Do we really want to go the way of the small hardware stores, record stores, etc.

Remember small business is 80% off all businesses in the US and they give us so many things that the internet cannot. It’s called SERVICE.

Hey Robo- Driving a Mercedes just means he has a shitload of debt. It doesn’t mean he has any wealth. Sorta like someone like who buys a $12K bike.

If people keep using IBDs as internet showrooms you are screwed because 95% of you roadies can’t (nor shouldn’t) turn a wrench on your own bikes.

Companies that protect their dealers are where it’s at.

From what I know, having discussed this with a few people involved…. Merckx is basically taking the risk off the IBD by not making them commit to carrying stock half a year in advance when they have no idea what the season will bring. Look at the number of shops sitting on stock from this year.
They essentially will pay the shop a fee, plus the expenses for assembly and no shipping is charged to the dealer.
So, a shop is making money without worrying about selling from their stock and sitting on old bikes.

They aren’t any cheaper than if they went through a LBS, so really its just eddy’s company keeping the markup for themselves.

*slap* lbs *slap*

that’s so much money to avoid a bike shop. At least other direct brands are cheaper. yikes

Goathead, I’m with CXisfun…it really looks like that one whooshed right by.

Shipping Direct to the consumer through a bike shop? THAT ISN’T DIRECT!

Thanks for all the reactions!

I think Topmounter, Dave and goathead raise very important concerns for the bike shop perspective. At the end of the day, no one wins when bike shops have to close down.

At Eddy Merckx, we agree 100%. But, what to do about it? We believe that, rather than to look back and hope things will be like they once were, it’s better to develop a new business model, that favors both the shop, the consumer, and the manufacturer.

How does this work? Well, first of all, we want to make sure that there’s a level playing field for all bike shops to sell a bike. The differentiator to buy an Eddy Merckx in one shop or the other should be service, not price. Otherwise, after a while free riders who just offer a great price, but don’t service the bike afterwards, ruin it for everyone: good local bike shops, consumers, and manufacturers.

That’s why we are limiting our offer of bikes to physical bike shops – who, please note this down, can still order bikes from Eddy Merckx and sell them – and eddymerckx.com. We don’t think there is any value in offering our bikes online through a discount retailer, only to have consumers realize a few months in that they have nowhere to go to get it serviced. So, we prefer to offer them only through us or our trusted bike shops.

Second, for the bikes that are sold trough usa.eddymerckx.com , we’ll make sure we deliver these bikes through a local bike shop, who wins three times: One, he doesn’t have to order tens of bikes in the pre-season, and invest hundreds of thousands of dollars. Two, we will provide him with a fair fee for his work. And three, we make sure there is a solid connection between the owner of a bike and the local bike shop, who will service the bike.

And of course, the consumer wins as well. Unlike when he buys online at a discounter, we’ll actively help him find a local bike shop that can service his bike. And, because there is a direct link to the manufacturer, the consumer also knows where can go to when he has a problem the bike shop cannot solve.

We believe everyone wins in this model. If you want more info, e-mail me at usa@eddymerckx.com

Best
Peter, country manager, Eddy Merckx USA

Can we get some human priced bikes over here? Would love an EM, but not for that price.

Thanks to Merckx for having the stones to step into the $h!tstorm of Bike Rumor comments. Before everybody flies off the handle, consider that, according to the NBDA, if a bike shop sold nothing but bike – no service, parts, accessories, clothing, nutritionals, etc. – they would go out of business. Economically, a bike shop cannot survive selling only bikes. So… Why is it a bad thing if they don’t have to sell the bike? They have a customer in their shop who’s stoked on a new ride. They’re making money from Merckx and (I’m assuming) if the fee from Merkcx isn’t sufficient are free to charge additionally, so they don’t lose out on service. And they’re still going to sell all the parts, accessories, nutritionals, etc. that go along with the service. I don’t see the downside. And yes, I’ve owned a shop or two.

PS.
Seems like Competitive Cyclist recently picked up some stock of Merckx
– blowout from Gita?

Worth a look if Merckx is your thing, but the wallet is running lean…

ABW nailed it. The worse thing a bike shop can sell is bikes. No joke. Every shop I worked in made more money selling socks and inner tubes than selling bikes. Whining about the Internet isn’t going to accomplish anything. Honestly, I have little sympathy for any LBS that goes under. Shops don’t fail because of the Internet. Shops fail because they don’t have well thought out business models and fail to provide something of value to their customers. As for hardware stores, record stores, etc. I don’t know where you live but here in Seattle I have 5 stellar hardware stores, 3 great bookstores, 6 coffee shops and 4 amazing record stores within 2 miles of my front door and all of this in the city home to Amazon and Starbucks! These places survive because they’ve found a way to do something other than whine about the Internet. Reality is too many bike shops are run by people who are cyclists first and businessmen second. Your passion for cycling doesn’t count for much if you can’t stay in business.

Also kudos to Peter for directly addressing people in the comments section. I love your new model though I’d love it more if you offered a traditional all steel Merckx such as the 753 model I rode back in the 80s! 😉

I would be all over a steel Merckx with the classic “bubbly” logo.

The death of the local bike shop.

Cry me a river. I could not care less. I’m going to get the best deal for me. I support me. I don’t support you. And I don’t give a crap about this or that bike shop complaining about all the mail order bike shops forcing them to go out of business.

Price is the most important determining factor for me. I don’t need some local bike shop to change a tube for me, or make repairs, or chase threads. I have youtube and countless webpages for reference if I need it.

@ Chris – The businesses you have mentioned having within two miles of your front door are all RETAIL outlets. They don’t have products that need to be serviced and that changes everything. As you said at the beginning of your post… the worst thing a bike shop can do is sell bikes. Service and accessories are a huge part of paying the bills.

@Peter from EM – I work in a shop and have for DECADES. A warranty is a warranty. The customer shouldn’t have to prove where he bought the bike or if he has had it serviced. If it hasn’t been abused but it has suffered a frame failure or cracked rim…. it gets warrantied. PERIOD. That is the meaning of service (at the shop level AND the manufacturers level).

@ AJAX – You’re a real piece of work buddy. I can only hope that you were speaking tongue in cheek. And that frame or wheels you have?…. pray they don’t fail… otherwise you’ll be fixing them with duct tape and JB WELD because your LBS will be gone.

A Trek Madone 7.7 with 11 speed dura-ace that is handbuilt in Wisconsin is LESS than the dura-ace version of this Taiwan built frame with Merckx’s name on it that probably comes from the same factory as a Scantante?

They forgot about the part where consumer direct is supposed to be cheaper…

Peter, thanks for the explanation. It does sound like EM is trying to blaze a “middle road” of sorts. I can support anything that actively attempts to get some variety of bike brands flowing through LBS’s and into the hands of consumers.

Just as concerning to me as the “direct-to-consumer” model for bikes and its impact on LBS’s is the trend toward “company store” LBS’s that are not permitted to offer much (if any) choice beyond “Pick-a-Trek” or “Pick-a-Specialized” shopping. Certainly price is a big part of the “direct-to-consumer” appeal, but so is owning and riding a bike that isn’t just like every other bike on your local trails.

I’m certainly not trying to imply that you are. I assume I’ve voided the warranty on my Jeep by doing all the service myself since I was, at one time, a master certified technician for 2 different German luxury brands. I also know that I can score all parts for my Jeep super cheap and the labor is free so the whole warranty aspect is somewhat of a moot point, for me, specifically.

The 2 points on the matter are, first, the cost of that lifetime frame warranty is built in to the cost of the bike so you’ve basically already paid for it so you might as well just bite the bullet and have the service done to keep it valid. Second, from a manufacturers standpoint, they have to be able to verify that it was the frame itself and not mechanic-error that caused whatever failure we’d be talking about, otherwise they’d be on the hook for god knows how many frames with no ability to defend themselves from getting hosed.

If, in the end, it makes no difference to you either way, as is the case with me and my car, then by all means, knock yourself out. But to have the option there to keep the bike under the lifetime warranty, essentially forever, I just don’t think it’s that big a deal to pay a small yearly fee.

Yawn.

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There are many great brands that cannot get a foothold in a shop. Shops have to seriously commit to big lines like Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, Giant…and that doesn’t leave many dollars or focus for the smaller brands. So, a new business model is needed. What’s wrong with what EM is proposing?

Idk how many of you have actually worked in a shop, or truly know what the margins on bikes are, but it’s not a lot. Having worked At my LBS, and the big fancy Nordstrom at different times, I can tell you for a fact that there are discrepancies on both sides of what a normal retail margin is (50% of MSRP or keystone) the margin on bikes is significantly lower than keystone, meanwhile the big N makes nearly 130-150% on your purchase (wow I wish I could do that!). Your LBS who cares about you and your well being, and time on your bike is making far less than half that margin on the bike you’ll enjoy for years. Sure it’ll come back with a typical margin on accessories, clothing, tubes, etc. but not at all on group sets, wheels, frames, and other on bike hardware. If you break that down most of their products cannot make them a 100% return (keystone). Most retailers wouldn’t even consider opening if they couldn’t get a minimum margin like that. Please support the LBS. They aren’t trying to screw you.

Go big, or go under is the model of the day for bike shops, hardware stores, printing companies, you name it. Countless many shops complain endlessly about the Internet undercutting their business. I give a shout out to Peter for addressing the real issue here, the ultimate demise of the bike shop model in the USA.

There are bike shop models out there that understand what the public wants, how to service their needs with enthusiasm and with fair pricing. Eddy Merckx has decided to go out and find those shops and support them.

So, when you buy a bike direct from Merckx and they ask you kindly to have it checked out each year, they have chosen bike shops who are not in business to squeeze you for your dollars, but who understand and care about the integrity of the whole of the cycling community you ride in, your well being and the bike Eddy so proudly made for you.

Yes, if you are confident you can fix it yourself, welcome to the new state of the American belief in the individual choice of empowerment. Hey man, if you can fix it go ahead. Just like your car, house, or relationship. Don’t expect when things don’t go quite as planned that the shop, discount retailer, or counseling expert is all that eager to bail you and you infinite wisdom out of the jam you created for yourself for nothing. Come on, we have all decided at some point, we can fix it, just to find, no we broke it, or we made the problem worse. When that time comes, and it will many times over, what do you do, refer to U tube, the Internet, a buddy, etc., to bail you out of your embarrassment of your lack understanding and lack of execution? Get real people, bike shop owners are rarely in business to make lots of money. If you get the sense they are, then find another shop. Margins are well below the standard retail model, really good mechanics are hard to find, retail space rents are high, but yet bike shops owners make the choice to venture out and support the cycling community.

I applaud Eddy Merckx for creating a model that both the consumer and the bike shop get the best deal, ride the best bikes, and ultimately raise the bar for a better way of doing business in the bicycle industry in the USA. The new bike shop model is here, there, and soon to be everywhere. Find it, embrace it, and you will benefit from it, as surly as you all can be sometimes.