All he had to do was not get crazy, just let it play out. The economy was going along pretty well, aside from some actions to sabotage it. All he had to do was just be sane and not all ‘trump’. But he’s a pro at bankruptcies and destroying investor value. Proof you can fail and succeed? My accountant was paranoid that my company was losing to much money towards the end and would draw attention, but apparently I just needed to lose more money?
a missed shot or lost point (as in tennis) that is entirely a result of the player’s own blunder and not because of the opponent’s skill or effort
other non-bike industry big names raising prices. Nike recently increased prices on shoes by $5 or $10 depending on the model. This really looks like another pandemic, this is coming at the worst time possible for the bike industry
If it was just like another pandemic, the bike companies would be happy since it turned out to be a demand spike for them. But yeah, I get what you are saying. While it’s far from being the worst time for the bike industry, the tariffs aren’t going to help with the headwinds they were already fighting (which are largely a result of being overly optimistic after the pandemic demand spike).
As touched upon several times in this thread, the tariff stuff is a risky game of chicken and most of the statements being thrown around by government officials shouldn’t be taken at face value. It’s all about trying to create urgency and forcing countries to the table who would otherwise be happy to drag along with the status quo. I’m not saying the approach is right or wrong, just that I’m personally not going to freak out until we see how it plays out over the next year or so. Might turn out OK and might tank the entire world economy and put a bunch of people out of work. Bike stuff is the last thing I’m concerned about as it applies to tariffs.
This tariff stuff is not the best idea for the US to bring back leading industrial businesses. We need to remember it’s a big world. The US is not the one and only market for goods as some may think. Here are some stats on the bike industry as a whole;
I should have finished my thought when I wrote the message, I mentioned to say that prices are gonna go up and not gonna be back despite changes in the tariffs. Specialized still charging the $500 extra due to tariffs even during the 90 days tax break we are currently under.
Only some of the tariff increases were paused. My understanding is the across the board increases announced on the so called Liberation Day were left in place. In general, it’s only been the later increases that have been paused.
Reminds me of a bunch of years ago when fuel prices raised and the airlines bumped up their prices to account for the dollar/barrel costs. They never retracted them when costs fell. Bastards.
The truth is, bike prices have gone up (to outer space) while components and what you get have gone down. It is hard to sell an expensive bike. Yes, everything is more expensive now and bikes are way better than they were just 5+ years ago… but 15k for the top spec’d bike is pretty wild and people have a really hard time spending that much money on anything, let alone a bike. Unless you have money to burn you’d be better off getting a 3k bike and upgrade as stuff wears out.
I’ve never understood how the companies (especially Specialized) transitioned to charging more for a complete bike than the components. When I started with road bikes, a complete bike was always cheaper than piecing it together yourself and that seemed true for decades up until recent times.
Specialized turns a $5000 frameset, $2500 groupset and $2000 wheels into a $15000 bike plus they manufactured the frameset, wheels, bars, stem at their cost and bought the groupset at the best wholesale price.
The comments are funny. I agree with some of them. The motorcycle comparison always makes me think. Somehow Ducati can make a motorcycle with very advanced suspension, an engine with hundreds of moving parts, and sell it for what a high end bicycle costs.
When I heard that I was sad. I’d LOVE to get a Ducati Monster. To think that it would be cheaper than a ‘good’ bicycle is rather amazing. So is the car my in-laws bought before my wife was born. It was a ‘loaded’ Mustang, and it cost somewhere less that 5 grand. That price seems so wrong. Now it would cost somewhere north of what, $60,000? $70,000? $80,000?
I looked at the prices. Sure, they make expensive models but also less expensive models in the ballpark of a high end road bike. Substitute Honda if Ducati is too exotic.
