The 2016 YT Capra AL Aims for Wallet Friendly Shredding

Boohoo about PF30. Put a Praxis BB in there, problem solved.

I hope YT continues to grow and starts offering shorter travel bikes in the future. What they give you on the Capra 1 for the price is amazing and i’d like to see that translate to some XC and Trail bikes.

@satisFACTORYrider, with an aluminum frame you can just thread the BB to the new T47 standard, problem solved.

I think in XL they should offer the same builds they do on the carbon bikes. at least until they FINALLY bring out larger carbon bikes… Even their XL isn’t that XL considering today’s geo numbers.

I didn’t read the article, just the comments. (deleted). By selling direct at nearly typical dealer cost they are hurting the local bike shop. Not only are they theoretically taking a sale but they are setting the customer up for a difficult experience and putting us in a tricky situation. Say your Reverb fails and you bring it to me, I have no profit or gain for taking care of the warranty. If I charge you, you are pissed because it is warranty. If I don’t charge you I am waisting my time and loosing money. If you had purchased the bike from me, I have already made money and part of the moneys is generally going to cover my time.
Lastly PF30 is a fine system, every bike with a Praxis I have ever worked on came in with a complaint of a squeak. I threw out the stupid frame stressing praxis crap and the problem was solved with proper BB installation on SRAM BB or using a wheels manufacturing conversion when needed.

I have a friend who own a bike shop and he mostly stop selling new bike and bling parts. He is just only well organised to repair bike with a small competent and well equipped team. There are so many people out there needing to repair their bikes. For sure he charge for everything he does. If ppl want they bike repaired they pay end of story. If they don’t want to be charged for a repair on their online/canyon bike then they deal with the online service.

About the capra i’m not impressed, decent bike but the price is nothing near interesting. Buying a giant with a little end of season discount is much more interesting.

Valid points on the LBS, however I present a different take: Yes, people DO care about the shop. We have customers all the time that say they can get it online for cheaper (and it’s true) but spend with us anyway, because when they need us down the road, we’ll still be in business for them. So it’s not *only* the best deal they are interested in. Customers also feel like they aren’t just supporting a generic retailer, they are supporting a ‘scene’: all the promotion, advocacy, and trail work that shop employees often participate in doesn’t go unnoticed. If you have arrogant, unhelpful people at your LBS, that is a reflection on that shop, not the industry as a whole.
As it pertains to this direct-to-customer model that some manufacturers are using, I have no issue with it. I see benefits and flaws to such a model, but at the end of the day, if you need warranty work on something that I didn’t sell, it’s not my problem. @Gillis says above in one line “I wish the IBD well in business, but for the most part they offer little for me personally” and turns around later and states “What if I just moved or started working nearby, and you’re the closest shop? You’re potentially losing a new customer with that attitude.” You just said that the LBS offers little to you, so… what am I supposed to offer that person to make them a regular customer? They already buy online and see no value in my shop, except when they have a problem that they want fixed for free. “Would you like to try on some new shoes?” “Nah I buy them online for cheaper”. If as @Retailer states a shopper is “ONLY interested in the best deal”, why would I waste my time on this person?

I don’t feel that the customer owes me anything. That same customer should also understand that I don’t owe THEM anything. If they can see a benefit in doing business with me, I’ll gladly provide them with goods or services in exchange for currency, you know, because that’s how business works. If they don’t support me and then want a problem fixed for free, I reserve the right to tell them to pound sand.

If you buy something from a shop and it requires warranty, then there should be no service charge. At the end of the year the shop will add the number of warranty items to the list of things to discuss with the affected brand and get a rebate or better pricing for future orders.

If you buy from elsewhere and try to warranty through a different retailer, then it seems logical that there will be a processing fee applied. How else would that shop make money to pay the staff that process the item? This is typically $20-$30, not including shipping and tax. If explained calmly to a customer, it shouldn’t be an issue. If the customer balks, then he has the right to shop elsewhere.