Cannondale closes their US office and merges the sales into one office

[PedalUma]

Mike's bikes is owned by PON and are all about selling the most expensive thing. Although most of their bikes are PON and they don't mention to a customer that they are really comparing bikes from the same company, they just brought in Aventon. They have put down throttle bikes for over 15-years. But Mike's has retained some autonomy over what they present in local markets based on demand. Most Americans want a throttle.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Wait until Gazelle remains the only brand of PON.bike

 

[Brendon@OEB]

Wait until Gazelle remains the only brand of PON.bike

I wouldn't hold my breath

 

[PedalUma]

PON owns a bunch of brands that are not necessarily high end from when they purchased Dorel. GT was sold in Dick's Sproting goods, a big box 24-speed 'mountain bike' the Aggressor Pro sold for $299 a few years ago. Now they are trying to redeem that brand. The also own the brand name of Schwinn, Huffy, Mongoose which sell thousands of bikes at places such as Walmart. They have them produced for $65 and they retail adult bikes mostly at about the $350 price point. The retail markup is 50%. $350/2= $175. $175-65= $110 profit. But that is multiplied by many thousands of bikes from the largest retailer. That market is not going away. They also have made in Asia Public Bikes and own the entire retail side for those bikes. That also is not going away. A bike that costs them maybe $120 to produce sells for $750. So they make $630 a pop on those.

 

[gromike]

That's sad, but I guess they were bought out awhile ago.
I have a couple of them, dated from twenty years-ago:

One is a R700 that I put upright bars on, the other a Badboy that I put a front hub motor in. Both great bikes.

 

[PedalUma]

That's sad, but I guess they were bought out awhile ago.
I have a couple of them, dated from twenty years-ago:
View attachment 216887 View attachment 216889
One is a R700 that I put upright bars on, the other a Badboy that I put a front hub motor in. Both great bikes.

I like the toys on the first bike. I have made some bikes with toys but mostly kids' cargo bike cockpits. Having fun is fun for its own sake. For many a 250 W front hub's assistance is all they need to leave the car behind when going less than four miles round-trip around town to drop off some library books or to pick up some last minute things at a grocery store. For me the micro-transportation aspect is most important. Still, for many North Americans bikes are toys for only fair weather weekends. For others it requires data networks and lycra tights. It is more like going competitive skiing that going to the bank and the bookshop for practical purpose and intrinsic joy.