I like their shop 😉

Some of you got the gist of teh post, most as expected didnt.

It was regarding CRC as a distributor, not a shop. We have had the whole issue of how good/bad CRC are as a shop before.

However one thing i didnt say was how much of a threat to LBS and other distributors is the fact that they distribute and retail the same products so folk cant compete on price.

Anyhow, the thread was about the size and number of brands they distribute and even own (nuke proof and Brand X are two for example, Nuke Proof sold teh name some 8 years ago – nothing to do with the original product if you were wondering, just their brand name for cheap taiwanese imports like superstar – but they are upfront about the origin of the product)

I think the issue is that folk only see CRC as a retailler with a website and not what goes on behind it

Brant’s role has been to take the Nukeproof brand and turn it into a more design-led product line, rather than a re-badging of Far Eastern merchandise. You do him a disservice. Check out his work on NP prototype frames at http://www.shedfire.com

If you were wondering, this is the CRC family tree, i.e. all these are owned or distributed by them

720 Armour
Airwave
Answer
Azonic
Black Market Bikes
Blackspire
Blur
Brand-X
Brake Authority
Brave
Brunox
Controltech
Creme
Da Bomb
Deity Components
Dirty Dog
Electra
EVS
Fire Eye
Gaerne
Ghost
Goodridge
Hayes
Hurricane Components
IXS
Lapierre
Leatt
Loeka
Lynskey
Manitou
Matrix Concepts
Michelin
NC-17
No Fear
No Flats
NS Bikes
Nuke Proof
Octane One
Point One Racing
Pro-Lite
PZ Racing
Ragley
RockGardn
Royal
Samui
Speed Stuff
Stendec
Straitline
Sun Ringle
Tomac
Urge
Viper
WTB
X-Tools

Looking at that list I do believe I have nothing from any of those manufacturers…..actually I might have an old can of Stendec fork spray I got in the flood sale.

doing well, aren’t they 🙂

However one thing i didnt say was how much of a threat to LBS and other distributors is the fact that they distribute and retail the same products so folk cant compete on price.

Incorrect. They rarely discount their own product to a level that makes it hard for a shop. Namely Lapierre, Lynskey, Ragley etc apart from last years price plummet on the mmmbop but that was an isolated incident.

Hardly any shop would bother with much of the other stuff as it’s just not that great shop stock. For instance, Da Bomb etc. Just plain unlikely to see a shop stocking that at all.

I think you would be suprised with how little they do distribution wise compared to retail level… they need so many brands to drag in a cash flow for a company of that size.

I thought Hayes were part of the SRAM family.

Edit: I stand corrected…

I have Hayes brakes on my bike.

I have Michelin tyres on my car though. Jeebus…a bike parts company distributing Michelin tyres? That must be a good gig for them.

They are only a distributor for most of those brands. Michelin for example can be bought from many other wholesalers, and only cycle related products of course.

Owning and distributing are completely different.

They do eat babies though, right?

Yes they do eat babies mate so watch urs

i do 90% of my bike shoping at crc.
love em to bits
cheap enough
loads of stock
fast delivery
good returns policy

I’ve no issues using them, & like it or not they raised the bar for a lot of other bike shops with their free delivery, & next day in most cases.
My main concern is the effect on the STW second-hand market. 🙂