Dewey
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Arlington, Virginia
Reported by Micah Toll and Taylor Soper. The changes include laying off 100 Rad Mobile mechanics, while hiring 125 new staff for 5 new stores
Rad Mobile van service is dropped, replaced by Velofix & Beeline Connect, more stores
- Thread starter Dewey
- Start date
JRA
Well-Known Member
RAD is the #1 selling eBike distributor in the USA and has had massive infusions of capitol over the last few years so I would imagine that every move they make is to improve their bottom line going forwards. Because their bikes are on the lower end of the scale cost wise their profit margins are not as high as Trek/Specialized etc. but they also don't have to play the component game to achieve the higher pricing those companies can command.
Their core has always been online sales from the start but their move to the mobile shop concept obviously didn't pencil out for them. One would hope that they were able to sell their fleet of vans to the other companies and can be rebadged and kept in the game because at its core the mobile concept can be viable, think SnapOn tools/Schwanns etc..
Their move to brick and mortar is a bit surprising and it seems like it would have made more sense to attract IBD's to sell their line giving them an opportunity for a relatively inexpensive brand that iis backed by a dependable flow of product. As it is IBD's that are not Trek/Specialized etc. dealers in lower income sales areas are left to research and sell low end bikes to compete with RAD that will probably have little or no factory support or end up burning their place down like the recent one in So. Fla..
Their core has always been online sales from the start but their move to the mobile shop concept obviously didn't pencil out for them. One would hope that they were able to sell their fleet of vans to the other companies and can be rebadged and kept in the game because at its core the mobile concept can be viable, think SnapOn tools/Schwanns etc..
Their move to brick and mortar is a bit surprising and it seems like it would have made more sense to attract IBD's to sell their line giving them an opportunity for a relatively inexpensive brand that iis backed by a dependable flow of product. As it is IBD's that are not Trek/Specialized etc. dealers in lower income sales areas are left to research and sell low end bikes to compete with RAD that will probably have little or no factory support or end up burning their place down like the recent one in So. Fla..
scottsdalecommuter
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Interesting move, we used the mobile bike van for a test ride and it was the deciding factor for my wife to buy the bike. Maybe others are more comfortable buying a bike without a test ride, but dropping thousands on a new product we sure wanted to test ride it first. I bought mine from lbs and she got hers from rad after test ride. We haven’t had issues with servicing from lbs on her rad but that could be a concern if you buy one and can’t get it serviced. Doesn’t seem like they are hurting as I see the bikes all over the place. We have loved the rad mission we got! Great value ebike and rides really nice. She gets compliments everywhere she goes and a lot of the other school moms want to get one too! Sad for the mobile bike guys we met in Mesa if they got laid off because they were super friendly and passionate bike guys, hope they land on their feet and sure they will!
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