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Tom, if that’s genuine question rather than a clever bit of trolling, read this:
https://www.marketingweek.com/2008/10/01/ruth-mortimer-the-power-of-brand-association/
Whilst you like to think of yourself as a free thinking independent minded kind of chap, every brand trying to sell you things relies on brand association and even you aren’t immune even if you might not know it or like to admit it.
The Atherton name on the down tube is 100% about brand association. Welcome to the cynical world of sales and marketing! Somewhere in a meeting a conscious decision was taken about the brand name calculated to have the greatest sales and marketing impact. Atherton was the decision, and for me it hasn’t worked. For others it might.
As somebody who was about to buy a Robotbike, that decision has cost them a sale. They now need to hope that somebody who wasn’t going to buy a Robotbike is sufficiently attracted by the name to even maintain the sales line. And I guess they hope that even more people will be attracted by the name.
I would rather not have a downhiller’s name on a trail bike
I get that, though most riders see themselves as more Enduro or DH than XC so I expect some up-rad-ing of a rider's image works OK for them. Buy a trail bike that says I Do DH Too, etc.
So, if you remove/cover the name, where is the brand association?
I’m not saying that they haven’t deliberately chosen their name to sell the bike, but to discount what would be the EXACT SAME BIKE, save for a sticker, seems a little short sighted.
“Branding is a funny thing. I started this thread because I was genuinely about to place an order for a Robotbike.”
Judging by the amount of reviews, PR and so on for Robotbike over the last few years, yet the total dearth of posts from actual owners in that time (let alone ever seeing one in the wild), I suspect you were in a tiny minority.
Hopefully with the weight of the Athertons’ brand behind it they can be successful. A touring demo scheme or arrangement at a suitable bike park with a whole load of different geometry bikes would make a big difference - otherwise how do you know what custom geometry to go for? With DH focused bikes it’s as much about riding style as height and proportions to define what fits and rides best.
And that’s the calculated risk - if everything else is equal will the Atherton name sell more bikes?
I’m not saying that they haven’t deliberately chosen their name to sell the bike, but to discount what would be the EXACT SAME BIKE, save for a sticker, seems a little short sighted.
I haven't eaten a snickers (Marathon) since 1990 though so the name definitely matters 🙂
I always kind of cringe when folk like Hoy, Wiggins and Pendleton try and build brands out of their name. To be fair to Boardman he’s actually done pretty well out of it, but the brand is still a bit naff isn’t it?
Given how passionate Boardman is about getting people out on bikes I reckon he is probably really happy with the direction it's going, not so much naff but aimed at people riding bikes not cyclists.
otherwise how do you know what custom geometry to go for? With DH focused bikes it’s as much about riding style as height and proportions to define what fits and rides best.
For most of the punters a simple set of predefined custom geos would probably do, you could probably call the Small Medium and Large 😉 but you would need a complex program to let people get there on their own.
And that’s the calculated risk – if everything else is equal will the Atherton name sell more bikes?
How many did the original company sell? Given how rare they are in the wild it doesn't sound like a tough proposition.
“For most of the punters a simple set of predefined custom geos would probably do, you could probably call the Small Medium and Large 😉 but you would need a complex program to let people get there on their own.”
They had a thing on their old website that calculated the “right” fit for you but as it only asked height and arm span it was missing the leg, torso and femur length which all matter.
Running a company that designs, manufactures and sells fairly expensive things, I’ve found there’s a big issue when it comes to getting purchasers to commit to something they can’t test or return. Demoing similar bikes would solve that.
There’s one other issue, though it won’t matter with a DH bike - the current seat tube design puts a kink in it quite high up (where the linkage attaches). That’ll stop long dropper posts fitting for smaller riders.
It's funny - every time I go to a post about this news, I see loads of people saying it's ugly. I'm surprised. If you want a swoopy, curvy thing there are a million to choose from. If you happen to like straight tubes (as I do), this looks uniquely appealing!
The way it tracks the ground is incredible,,,,,,, sticks foot out on a lame corner 😁
should stick an apple logo on it.
That's a hell of a good looking bike. Very reminiscent of a Sunday which is no bad thing at all. If I had the money, I'd certainly have one.
Looks good and sounds like a reasonable approach. I wish them luck with it.
It's amazing how the black lugs improve the aesthetics over the Robot bike frames I'd seen (in photos) before.
Regardless of how it looks, seems to ride pretty damn well.
Regardless of how it looks, seems to ride pretty damn well.
*its not about the bike*
Yeah, it loks better and better. The more subtle logo improves it too, and I suspect the shiny silver linkages will be anodised and maybe machined out a bit more for production.
Very keen to see what their Enduro bike looks like. I guess they were forced to develop a DH bike first so that the team have something to ride next season, even though their sales will probably be mainly in shorter travel bikes.
in the video above your post at 2:10 and 3:04 Dan is riding a shorter travel single crown A bike
Cool... hadn't watched that video. Robot did have two bies already, so hopefully they'll be along shortly.
Still like the way it looks.
Seems nice and quiet in that video.
Can't wait for the first WC!
Intersting sort of pressure on Gee and Rachel now, to "prove" the bike is good through results.
Intersting sort of pressure on Gee and Rachel now, to “prove” the bike is good through results.
Isnt that just what they've always had to do for their sponsors?
julians
Isnt that just what they’ve always had to do for their sponsors?
It's similar, but I suspect they're considerably more invested, both financially and emotionally, in their own brand.
Lush bike
I wouldn't worry too much about that George
I'm confident both Gee and Rach would still have gone on to win WCs even if had they not switched from their Muddyfox descents to muddyfox decal'd M1s.
Gee's descent was squint (the back ends on all of them were)
and rach's also bottomed out on itself. (it had a different front triangle that didn't quite work as it should have).
Remec/Muddyfox/Intense/giant/Commencal/GT/Trek/robot
makes no odds
The robot IMO is a better bike than most of the above.
Owning one won't make you, them or I a better rider. but it won't make us a worse rider either.
Bike/s look stunning refreshingly normal aesthetic in a sea of swoopy melted looking bikes 🙂
One thing that may work well for them is the fact they can very quickly tweak the angle, change the size, lenght etc of the whole bike. So not only will they get one that suites them and thier style individually, but you could even do one to suit a certain type of track.
You cant do that with a normal bike, especially a carbon one
Bike/s look stunning refreshingly normal aesthetic in a sea of swoopy melted looking bike
That’s what I was thinking too.
It does look good with the darker lugs - less like scaffolding/keyclamp barriers and more like a bike.
Will be interested to see what sort of price the trail and enduro rig come out at.
Good luck to them, they certainly seem to have the drive and backing to pull this off.
Some great photos and interviews on PinkBike:
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/atherton-dh-bike-prototype-2019.html
Something tells me that unlike some of the methods some racers (and Website Editors) use to try and get in their competitors heads, the bikes ain't gonna be cheap...
Love the look of these. Simple lines.
Also nice & refreshing quotes from Dan in that Bike Check link.
They're putting together a trail bike on their instagram stories today.