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not an awful margin and dont seem to be discounted anywhere either...
best out of em i'd say
I think the pros seen wearing them will be getting them free, and if they're free and everyone else is trying them, they've got nothing to lose.
Elf, how did you find that Amazon link. It's the funniest thing I've read for ages
You should get some of these in instead
http://skepticbros.com/2010/10/06/placebo-band/
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At the end of the day shops offer a service and sell what the customer wants to buy.
No one is forcing you to buy a power balance band so if someone wants to buy one it is entirely up to them.
I have tried one briefly and it seemed to do absolutely nothing for me as expected but there will always be people who believe in it.
It's just mind tricks working in exactly the same way as people like Derren Brown can get people to do things and pick things with out them even knowing they are doing it.
I tried one on today while out for dinner with a friend. She wore an extra small though, so it cut off the circulation to my hand after a minute or so. It didn't give me extraordinary chopstick skills, and did little to prevent my swaying after a fair few bottles of Asahi 😉
I like the idea of those Placebo bands!
apparently if you put one on your nob (extra small of course) it feels like your w***ing someone else
Chipps was told to put one against his glass of wine for 8 seconds.. It would apparently 'open up' the wine and is especially effective with young wines.
FFS!
At the end of the day shops offer a service and sell what the customer wants to buy.No one is forcing you to buy a power balance band so if someone wants to buy one it is entirely up to them.
And that is absolutely fine so long as there are no fraudulent tricks plied on the customer to TRICK them into believing in the product. If Derren Brown applied his tricks on innocent people in the street as he does for entertainment but instead of just walking away managed to make them believe enough for them to part with £30 then it would be a whole different situation.
Cycleworlduk.... Good to hear you won't be selling them. I hear the margins are very good.. In fact that's what one supplier said to me when he tried to flog some to us. I said, 'What's so good about them?'.. he said,'The margins are bloody fantastic!'
Anyway... contact me directly and if you like you can have a month's worth of advertising in the Classified slot in the right hand column over there -> for free 🙂
well done cycleworlduk - hopefully you can convince these customers that mad skillz are really best acquired through purchase of XTR 😉
.....well done OP. It's not as if there is not a million and one ways to deprive a MTB'er and their cash via the subtle art of shaving a gram off and anodising it.
Australian Choice Magazine Shonky awards 2010
http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/money/shopping-and-legal/shopping/the-2010-shonky-awards/page/the-shonkiest-products.aspx
Its a plastic band and they are selling them for thirty quid, im not surprised the margins are good.
They must cost about tuppence to make.
Now that they have (in several independent studies) been shown to be a placebo at best can those that still think they work step up and continue to argue their case please?
I think it's good that we can all now agree that if you feel any benefit it's all in your head. Fair enough?
Now it could be argued 'so what?' if you gain a benefit from one. But for me the fact there's a company hiding 'behind the bushes' looking and pointing at you while giggling and counting your money is what really boils my piss.
look guys, how are they going to sell these stupid things to the idiots who are stupid enough to buy them now?
All they have to do is Google it and read this thread.
Company profits - down.
I've ordered a couple of the placebo bands (link on first page of this thread) to wear as a control group/statement, in the distant hope that I will have a giggle when someone wearing a 'real' one greets me as a fellow power-band buddy. If this could happen at a race in the middle of a long climb, from someone riding in expert/elite, that would also be extra funny please.
By the way, the skepticbros shop is selling them at 2 australian dollars (about £1.22) each on a not-for-profit basis. If that is what the powerband factory also charge wholesale for a couple of holograms in a silicon band, who gets what share of the other £28.77? 👿
i bought one and i would say no
You must be an unbelievably spectacular braindead muppet to even consider buying one. I cannot even comprehend how retarded someone must be for making such a purchase.
I suppose it might be a good "marker" for normal people to spot the special needs folk amongst us? 😉
I suppose it might be a good "marker" for normal people to spot the special needs folk amongst us?
You mean like an england flag thingy on your car window?
I'm going to buy 2 dozen of them and enter the Tour de France.
toys19 - Member
You mean like an england flag thingy on your car window?
What's wrong with an Englishman being proud of his country? The other parts of the UK are proud of their countries.
Cubemeup probably got scammed and bought one of the fake ones that don't work.
[url] http://www.powerbalanceuk.com/counterfeit-power-balance.html [/url]
What's wrong with an Englishman being proud of his country? The other parts of the UK are proud of their countries.
Oh look it works! 😆
My mate had a powerband on his RD350LC and that flaming well worked I can tell you!
My mate had a powerband on his RD350LC and that flaming well worked I can tell you!
Hard to get replacement powerbands for 350lc's nowadays though, wonder if these ones would work?
My mate had a powerband on his RD350LC and that flaming well worked I can tell you!
Those powerbands worked OK but were a bit narrow for my taste.
yay for ethical retailers. Well done CycleWorldUK
toys19 - Member
'What's wrong with an Englishman being proud of his country? The other parts of the UK are proud of their countries.'
Oh look it works!
Nah, haven't got them yet for those special effects.
Just puzzled as to why an Englishman shouldn't be proud of his country. (As a Scot, I know lots of reasons why they shouldn't be proud 🙂 )
FFS!
Swear filter evasion? Naughty naughty... 😉
Well played to Cycleworld for not stocking them. Any other retailers; take note.
I'd quite happy to see these shysters put out of business really. But then, more fool people who buy them. £30??? Cheeze... 🙄
There is no reason, it was a joke on my part, possibly not a very good one.
Might just be my shonky laptop, but on a search for 'power balance' on CRC, no ratings stars show up on the results page:
[url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Brands.aspx?BrandID=1212 ]http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Brands.aspx?BrandID=1212[/url]
Struggling to believe that nobody's left a review on any one of these 14 products...
By the way, if you have bought a PowerBand, I have some mine detection gear going at a bargain price.
Im going to buy ten of them and put them on one arm, and ten placebo ones and put them on the other arm. If they work I should look like i've had a stroke 😀
nar i bought a proper one from my golf shop cost me £30!!
Bradley Wiggins
2009 no powerbands, 4th in the tour de france
2010 black powerbands 28th in the tour de france
I bought 250 of them from China, sold them on E-bay with a 400% mark up, did my inner calm the world of good with a 10 day holiday to Cyprus on the profit. Thanks very much Powerbalance!!
Cubemeup; you seriously mean to tell us you paid [i]thirty pounds[/i] for one of those silly things?? 😯
For why, pray tell; for why?
How to report a fakeIf you have any doubt, or [b]wish to report a suspect seller[/b], please call the Power Balance Head Office on 0844 770 4099 or email legal@powerbalanceuk.com. This is a confidential email address that is only accessed by the Power Balance legal representatives. Unfortunately due to people abusing the system we are can no longer offer a free product for reporting a counterfeit.
Temptation to report their own website to them is massive.
Had no idea CRC were selling them.
Just emailed this to CRC, FWIW...
-------------
Dear CRC,
I am disgusted and horrified to discover that you are willingly retailing the range of PowerBand products marketed by PBUK.
These products have been consistently and repeatedly shown by medical and sports researchers to be no more than a placebo. Selling these products through your website clearly indicates the seriousness with which you take cycling and sports technology and your willingness to relieve your customers of money for precisely nil benefit.
Your retailing of these products will clearly guide my choice of online cycling retailers.
Yours sincerely.
Chris Palmer
Temptation to report their own website to them is massive.
It's got to be done. Sorry.
Andituk; well done for thinking of that. Brilliant. 😀
Nothing wrong with selling snake oil to idiots- an awful lot of bike shops will have overpriced tat after all. But I wouldn't accept a word of advice from any shop that sold these things, it says in big letters "Don't trust me, I'll sell rubbish to any idiot that'll buy it if they'll let me".
It would appear they certainly don't bring you good luck
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(I wonder if they monitor their site traffic and check out who's hotlinking 😈 )
Mark - Resident GrumpyAnd that is absolutely fine so long as there are no fraudulent tricks plied on the customer to TRICK them into believing in the product. If Derren Brown applied his tricks on innocent people in the street as he does for entertainment but instead of just walking away managed to make them believe enough for them to part with £30 then it would be a whole different situation.
Cycleworlduk.... Good to hear you won't be selling them. I hear the margins are very good.. In fact that's what one supplier said to me when he tried to flog some to us. I said, 'What's so good about them?'.. he said,'The margins are bloody fantastic!'
That's a fine moral stand you're taking there. I assume you'd never accept any advertising revenue from a company that sold them with claims like the following.....
???What is Power Balance? Power Balance is Performance Technology designed to work with your body’s natural energy field. Founded by athletes, Power Balance is a favourite among elite athletes for whom balance, strength and flexibility are important.How Does the Hologram Work? Power Balance is based on the idea of optimizing the body’s natural energy flow, similar to concepts behind many Eastern philosophies. The hologram in Power Balance is designed to resonate with and respond to the natural energy field of the body.
I'd feel horrid selling these to someone.
Shop guys feel guilt too.
In fairness, Onion; those companies have been advertising on STW for longer than they've been selling these silly things. Plus I wouldn't imagine STW would be too willing to give up the revenue the likes of CRC provide. Although it would be interesting to find out how many STW advertisers sell them.
On the other hand, would CRC want to lose out on being able to advertise on one of the most popular cycling websites on Earth?
It's an interesting conundrum. I can't see as there's any simple answers. Tis a fair and valid point you make, however.
Pressure on companies like CRC, through email and even total boycott, would work.
But then, if they've got X product at a lower price than anyone else, will your principles remain so firm?
Maybe it's products like Powerband, that bring lots of profit, that enables the sale of other stuff at lower prices?
Innertubes cost what, a quid, even including VAT? And they sell for a fiver? Why? Because bike shops can, pure and simple. Because they know we'll need them.
The difference with Powerband is that it's just a bit of plastic and rubber, that offers no benefits whatsoever. It's the spurious claims that are unethical, not the selling of the things.
Still wish I'd thought something like that up though....