[Closed] Collecting a Trek bike

Yep in breach of dealer agreement if they do that, Trek have closed some very good dealers in the US over it, so I don't think there's an easy way. Hop on the train/in the car and go and get it!

...looks like it - store have said they'd transfer it to another store that's a bit nearer which is kind - whole policy is a bit bonkers in my opinion!

...looks like it - store have said they'd transfer it to another store that's a bit nearer which is kind - whole policy is a bit bonkers in my opinion!

it's a policy that is a double edged sword, it can be a right bummer but serves to protect the company and it's distributors from mass discounters like crc etc

I would imagine in the States it is also to try to prevent "engineers" putting together bikes at home and then suing Trek when they fall to bits.

According to Trek at least it's to stop someone going into their LBS in Cornwall and saying 'X dealer in Midlothian have this bike for 15% less'. The dealer in Cornwall is in a much stronger position as the customer has to go into the shop and pick the bike up. Basically it's a policy which benefits the retailer not the consumer, for better or worse.

It means that when a customer takes charge of their Trek, Marin, Wilier or whatever the bike is in good condition and ready to be ridden safely. It does also protect the dealer base from discounters and stops mail-order bikes being taken for warranty issues at shops that did not supply the bike in the first place.

You may think it a bit bonkers but Trek make the rules on this one and industry whispers suggest that, in time, more and more brands will follow suit.

personally i think it's a brave and beneficial policy and i hope more manufacturers do take it up.

not a fan of Trek bikes but they do seem to be a fairly sorted business.

It also means that you don't get vast swathes of heavily discounted bikes/frames from last years stock suddenly appearing (i bought my Demo 9 half price) and stifling sales of newer models.

It also means that you don't get vast swathes of heavily discounted bikes/frames from last years stock suddenly appearing

Why?

i can't remember the exact reasons, i think i'd had a few pints when i was told

It's a thinly disguised price fixing/market manipulation policy conveniently justified as a health & safety measure

It's a thinly disguised price fixing/market manipulation policy conveniently justified as a health & safety measure

+1

So buy something else?

So buy something else?

I've already bought it!

So buy something else?

I usually do
But I do have a Trek road bike [delivered via mail order] from a place at Charnock Richard

I presume that the road bike in question was bought 2 years ago or delivered by the shop and a qualified mechanic?

Don't shout the name, folk from Trek are on here, their account may go bye bye!

I presume that the road bike in question was bought 2 years ago or delivered by the shop and a qualified mechanic?

yeah, something like that

That sounds like a reserved 'no' to me.

Wheelbase do a 'home delivery service' on treks, with the mechanic fitting/checking set up with you at your home, but you have to pay for it!

Marin pioneered this years ago...mainly protecting teritories and margins I reckon although some dealers are less strict about it than others. Pretty pointless IMO as you could buy one and move home, work away, go to uni soon after so you'd need another dealer to sort Wtee issues anyway.

Get Alpin to deliver it. He can show you how to [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-dont-know-what-surprised-me-more-just-saw-a-brand-new-trek-remedy-8 ]trackstand[/url] once its built up.

This is precisely why I'll never own one. Well that and the Bontrager kit.
mrmichaelwright,

It also means that you don't get vast swathes of heavily discounted bikes/frames from last years stock suddenly appearing (i bought my Demo 9 half price) and stifling sales of newer models.

it doesn't directly but by helping keep bike manufacturers and shops in profit it helps us have a choice of bikes to buy and places to buy shiny things.

it's all just a business at the end of the day.

if someone had told Tesco not to discount massively/use loss leaders/pressure suppliers don't you think the high street would be a far more pleasant place

Sounds to me like Trek are looking after their dealer network. I would presume that they have already sold the bikes to the dealer so trek have made thier money. All they are doing is letting their dealers have a fair fight for business. No one is telling the dealers how much to charge, just that they cant do it by postal service.

Dealer A wants to charge X
Dealer B wants to charge Y

Its the customers choice who he buys it off. Whats the problem?

I like the free market principle.
Whoever will sell me what I want cheapest (all other things being equal) will get the sale. Do we really want the manufacturers to effectively abolish the end of season sale?
Companies like CRC and Merlin are business' too.

but what if they were the only businesses selling bicycles and components, that wouldn't be such a pretty picture would it

No one is telling the dealers how much to charge

not as such [AFAIK]

But by putting in conditions that make the dealers have a high st presence you could argue that they are throttling the legitimate use of virtual shops with their low over-heads & resulting lower prices etc.

It's just as easy to buy something else though

Do we really want the manufacturers to effectively abolish the end of season sale?

Bit dramatic no? See my example on about the 3rd post for why they do it:

it's to stop someone going into their LBS in Cornwall and saying 'X dealer in Midlothian have this bike for 15% less'. The dealer in Cornwall is in a much stronger position as the customer has to go into the shop and pick the bike up

It's nothing to do with price. The Scottish dealer can sell it for 15% off if they want, but if someone in Cornwall wants it they have to drive to Scotland to get it. Again, as I said before, it just means that favour falls with the dealer, not the customer. People really are making this out to be a really underhand tactic, but it's not at all!

Try and buy a Specialized product from the US store, it's exactly the same thing.

they are throttling the legitimate use of virtual shops with their low over-heads & resulting lower prices

I'm struggling to think of ANY shop which sells main bike brands solely online. Although companies like PedalOn do a lot of online stuff they have a big shop and trade a lot through said shop.

Try Swinnertons for hand delivery-

[i]Due to restrictions on Trek Bikes, Gary Fisher Bikes & Mirraco Bikes it is no longer possible to post these bikes with a courier to your door. It is still possible to purchase these bikes through the website but must be collected from the store in Stoke-on-Trent, or we can arrange hand delivery of the bicycle fully built and ready to ride.

Delivery Charges: Will be calculated on mileage from the shop so please contact us for an estimate.
[/i]

[url= http://www.swinnertoncycles.co.uk/ ]http://www.swinnertoncycles.co.uk/[/url]

I think he's already bought the bike and now needs to work out how to get it from Glasgow!

You could get a lovely Weegiestanni resident from STW to pick it up, box it and post it to you using senditnow.com?

Can't say I've ever visited enough to really say

I'm sure there are a good few that make do with industrial estate type properties & rents rather than high st & live primarily on internet sales

Wiggle?

Paul's Cycles are in a lock up somewhere in deepest Norfolk I think

Have you seen how some people assemble bikes on here? have you then heard how the manufacturer is at fault. Companies have reputations, ever heard of Crack-n-fale? or how Commencals seem to have had a few issues. If you leave everything to "engineers" you are asking for even more problems, Leave it to bike shops to assemble bikes. Notice how Trek don't really supply frames anymore.

At least this way you know who screwed up.

Wiggle don't do any of the mainstream bike brands, sell their equipment, but not the bikes.

Pauls sell Trek, ergo they must have a shop presence somewhere.

Notice how Trek don't really supply frames anymore

I'd hate to get to the stage where you can't buy a frame

Re Uplinks point ATB Sales were telling dealers what to charge. discounting was pretty much banned on Marins circa 8yrs ago as was selling them mail order,both on threat of losing the Marin franchise! I used to source shedloads of them as insurance replacements and they were a proper pain at the time. Now to an inexperienced owner I can see the benefits of getting sized up properly, making sure you know how to drop your wheels out etc that a good bike shop should show you, but for more experienced riders saving a grand via Rutland, Pauls etc makes a lot of sense!

edit: double posted. oops.

Trek do still sell frames in the US, there's just not the market in the UK.

They do the Elite 9.9SSL and the Fuel Ex 9.9, just not the Top Fuel 9.9. I'd have thought there was more call for the race bike as a frame than the trail bike personally. But there we go!

Specialized stopped doing frames last year, but have reintroduced some for 2010. I think generally now complete bikes are such good value and so many bikes have proprietary forks/chainsets/shocks etc it's a lot harder to justify selling frames only.

just my two pence worth...

as a consumer, buying mail order leaves you completely high and dry should you have any warranty problems. Far better to support your local bike shop, safe in the knowledge that IF something goes wrong you've not got to worry about getting the bike back to where you bought the bike from. For me, that's worth paying RRP for.

as a bike shop, the benefits are massive. A more loyal customerbase less driven by price. Their margins are no longer threatened by constantly striving to price-match the mail-order big boys with big buying power; thus ensuring they're still in business years down the line when you want to nip down you lbs to grab some tubes, or just mooch about and look at shiney things while the missus is looking at shoes

yes, but rutland is a bike shop (several actualy), you can walk in and buy stuff at web prices, and the workshop is top notch too, even if there is a week long waiting list for them to fix punctures and fix bike shaped objects form ASDA.

Whether we like it or not, the internet has revolutionised the way we shop. The free market to which we abide encourages entrepreneurship(sp?!) and rightly so. If a bike shop needs the custom enough to cut his margins, then he should be free to. Alternatively, he may wish to operate the quantity of sales opposed to the quality (profit). LBS will always do business for repairs, spares etc. I work hard for my money and want to keep as much for me as I can. Theres no chance in hell I would buy a trek at full RRP when I could get a Specialized at a discount online getting more for my money. That would be daft.

I havn't read the whole thread so please excuse me if this has already been said.

I have maintained for many years that there is blantant price fixing in the UK on the sale of big brand bikes. I was almost told as much when I asked a large bike shop in Edinburgh (have a guess) if £1500 was the most competitive price they could do on my Stumpy, I was told that the distibutor will 'go mad' if they sell it for any less. A quick google at the time showed prices across the UK varied by about £1.

I don't fully understand Treks rationale behind their collection only policy, but I'm sure it has more to do with uniform pricing than anything else. I can't see for a second how it benefits the consumer.

I don't believe anyone actually buys the health & safety tosh as a reason for not supplying them mail order - not without crossing their fingers behind their back anyway

wrote a rather lengthy reply but basically you lot have price blinkers on

I used to work outwith a trek stocking bike shop and recieved alot of bikes with warrenty issues supplied mailorder from the likes of scott scales supplied mail order( the customer openly admits this) and things have broken both through them and through genuine warrenty issues) So being a scott dealer i was obliged to sort these problems - one of the reasons i stopped dealing with scott - i recieved no back up for this work at all and it wasnt chargeable to the customer.

I now work for a trek dealer and surprise surprise i dont have to deal with shite assembled by hamfisted monkeys who strip nuts , put forks on backwards , have there brakes set up badly and whos stop screws are all to pot then use the excuse ..."all i had to do accordign to the website was turn the bars and put the front wheel and pedals on". VERY FEW if not none of the companys ive ever had the pleasure of assembling mail order bikes from - including amongst others pauls , all terrain , crc and evans come in boxes that have been opened since they left the supplier and no bike comes ready to ride from the supplier with just the bars to turn and the wheel and pedals to fit ....

Good move from trek - and i have no money invested in any bike shop and i have no commission to be gained from selling any brand at all. Other than merida cause they are great and ensured my own personal race bike was tip top 😉

as for having killed the end of season sale - load of tosh . I currently have and have had alot of stock on end of season clearance - with hefty discounts. All it does is stops price shagging , i realise your all out to get deals but if the shops making no money cause you are screwing them to the ground then they wont be there for long and any warrenty you want dealing with by a REAL person wont be availible.

Be careful what you wish for thats all im saying

Although i agree trade prices are very high compared to other industries .... outdoor clothing for example - too many middle men. Cut the uk distributor and just have one central europe hub for europe - the states manage to mostly have just 1 !

....I've decided to go to scotland to collect it - interesting conversation though..

What Terry said, he's spot on. Too many people out there whinging because Trek have done something to protect their dealers. Smart move I reckon.

"Other than merida cause they are great and ensured my own personal race bike was tip top "

Wasn't it bent?

😉

1 central hub for all european sales.... like cannondale.... you sure that is a good idea?

What Terry said, he's spot on. Too many people out there whinging because Trek have done something to protect their dealers. Smart move I reckon.

That's fine as far as I'm concerned but why don't Trek come out & say that instead of wrapping it up in all that "it's for your own good" " we're saving you from yourself" health & safety BS?

It OK to buy a chainsaw mail order but according to Trek a push bike is a step too far

njee20 - Member
Wiggle don't do any of the mainstream bike brands, sell their equipment, but not the bikes.

VERY FEW if not none of the companys ive ever had the pleasure of assembling mail order bikes from - including amongst others pauls , all terrain , crc and evans come in boxes that have been opened since they left the supplier and no bike comes ready to ride from the supplier with just the bars to turn and the wheel and pedals to fit ....

I can confirm that bikes from wiggle have been assembled and out of the original box.

It OK to buy a chainsaw mail order but according to Trek a push bike is a step too far

last time i looked chainsaws didn't come as a kit of parts.

last time i looked chainsaws didn't come as a kit of parts.

No & the last Trek I got didn't either
Front wheel on, handle bars on & that was me riding a death trap 😉

Anyway, Trek have banned the dealer from sending them in any state via a courier [even built up] the big dealers have simply started using their own vans so the smaller ones are even less likely to be able to compete now

As I say, they can do what they want - but it would be nice if they were publicly honest about their motives.

i have no money invested in any bike shop and i have no commission to be gained from selling any brand at all

I currently have and have had alot of stock on end of season clearance

Have I missed something? Do you have a bike shop or not?
This warranty/H&S angle is total total crap. It's price fixing.
Trek are protecting their dealers [i]profits[/i]. Nothing wrong with that, but be honest about it. The only loser in this will be the consumer. Does anyone disagree with that?
Good job you edited that lengthy reply, eh Trail rat? 😀

I work hard for my money and want to keep as much for me as I can.

Juan, why???? What is your problem?
When entering into a commercial agreement with another party who is attempting to make as much profit as possible, I will endeavor to get the best deal. What could possibly be wrong with that?

To be honest, it doesn't really matter, because (speaking as a trek dealer) they're ludicrously overpriced compared to a lot of their competition next year anyway.

What could possibly be wrong with that?

More generaly your attitude is pure capitalism. And I just despise that. Next time you are sick go to a private institute rather than the NHS and check how much is going to cost you. Now if everyone do like you 'my money is mine and only mine and I refuse to pay taxes for the NHS/school/firebrigade etc etc with it' do you really think you are going to be better off...

Juan, yesterday

[img] [/img]

😉

Bit early to be drinking, isn't it Juan? 😆
WTF has this got to do with buying commercial products? Do you think that LBS' are charities? Your political opinions are yours but we are not socialists and we are capitalists. That is life I'm afraid, however there are still some demi-socialist countries around which you are welcome to inhabit. Edit; may I recommend North Korea?

There's no official mention of price barriers so it sounds just like a move to protect dealers to me, and I'm all for it.

There doesn't seem to be any reason why 2 dealers can't compete on price, does there? Of course, they might have to be located near each other to make that viable.

Have I missed something? Do you have a bike shop or not?
This warranty/H&S angle is total total crap. It's price fixing.

Actually it's not, if I say, for example, I correctly assemble a mail order bike and it has a problem, say a part failure, I can be held responsible for it, even for the cost of replacing parts I did not supply. That is FACT as they say.

I now point blank refuse to work on new mail order bikes, the vast majority I see are BSO's anyhow. I'm not sure I agree with the policy of collection only though, if you wish to buy a bike mail order you should be free to do so. Some people are more than capable of assembling their own bike so should be given the choice of how they want to buy.

I see your point ziggy, but I know that some shops will look at a bike that they've supplied gone wrong and say "you've messed with this mate, it didn't leave here like that".
What would people think if nothing was available to buy on tinterwebnet, no flights, no clothes, no cars, no bikes or parts etc. We would all be paying full RRP for the same items and be slaves to our LBS' again. Would this be welcomed? I suppose it depends how good/fair your LBS is.

It's a thinly disguised price fixing/market manipulation policy conveniently justified as a health & safety measure

Some people are more than capable of assembling their own bike so should be given the choice of how they want to buy.