I’ve noticed over the last while that CRC appear to be doing away with a lot of brands.Chris King, Intense, Turner, Last, Lupine, Light and Motion, all seem to be dead in the water. Renthal, Easton e 13 seem to have no new stock, Troy Lee seems to be hardly anything.

On the other hand it looks like they are awash with their own brands. I can understand if they are trying to follow some of Tesco own brand type strategy but surely they’ll just become synonymous with cheap tat. Sure have the cheap stuff but it’s always nice to see some bling too. Sure you need to appeal to the masses but without established brands how will you retain customers in the long term. Today’s nuke proof rider could well be next years Turner rider, no?

they dont even seem that cheap anymore ESP with service that seems so variable….some items taking well over a week to arrive.

i use wiggle alot more for stuff i need quick since my LBs is 60 miles away

IMO CRC are becoming the DFS of the cycle world – They seem to have permanent sales these days rather than just constantly selling stuff at a good price.

Perhaps some of the manufacturers/distributors are less than happy with their pricing policies so won’t supply them?

and most of the stuff on sale is crap you don’t want…

gloves in an XS, bars that are 600mm wide, cranks that fit 3 frames in the world….etc etc.

There may be other reasons for CRC either having no stock or dropping brands. In the case of Easton for example the distributor has changed in the UK so there may be a delay in supply.

Perhaps some of the manufacturers/distributors are less than happy with their pricing policies so won’t supply them?

This.

Whilst I work for a manufacturer (that doesn’t supply CRC), I have friends who work for distributors. Slowly but surely they are pulling brands out because they don’t want to deal with them any more.

(and most of the stuff on sale is crap you don’t want…) < :(this

Definite trend to downmarket, yeah. Stuff like Renthal lock on grips/direct mount stems have never appaeared. I thought it was just selling off stock ahead of new model year coming in, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.

Will be a shame if they end up as a big online Halfords, they used to be a great place for variety – spent hours browsing high end stuff over the years while I saved up cash.

The fact that they actually own a distributor (Hotlines) is a bit odd when they also selling other distributors competing stock.

since my LBs is 60 miles away

More just a BS than an ‘L’BS then shirley?

Remember that Endura disappeared for a while, then came back but with discounts capped at 5%. Mind you, CRC get around this by then offering these £10 off £75 vouchers. You’d have to ask why any smaller retailer would bother stocking these brands knowing they will simply be undercut by CRC.

I use CRC mainly for parts. I have noticed that they are not as competitive as some other sites. I have once again started to use Wiggle, but I think i’m going to stop again. In comparison with other sites their delivery times have been real poor for me. I have had to wait 18 days for an item (still waiting).

local is subject to the value in the travel.

i would say they are my local bike shop of any value to me – all the other shops ive tried near here i might as well just order off the net for the time taken to sort out what ive ordered via the shop.

local is subject to the value in the travel.

i would say they are my local bike shop of any value to me – all the other shops ive tried near here i might as well just order off the net for the time taken to sort out what ive ordered via the shop.

Use merlin now, next day delivery and cheaper.

They do seem to be short of stuff…I was looking at jersey’s last night and they didn’t seem to dispatch. have many at all.

Their sales and clearance things do seem to be constant these days and not that great. I can’t complain abouttthe actual service that I’ve had recently; it’s been quick and the warranty stuff has been dealt with really quickly.

I’ve had a fair few issues with Wiggle sending me the wrong thing as well as being a bit slow to dispatch.

I’m going more & more often to Tweeks these days – just bought an XT mech from them a few moments ago, seeing as my new direct mount X9 mech doesn’t mount directly to my frame.

and most of the stuff on sale is crap you don’t want

Well dur, why d’you think they’re on sale?

I still use CRC a fair bit and while the different pricing for different sizes of the same item grates a bit (not even XXXXS/L, the price between M and L sometimes) not really noticed that they haven’t had kit that I’ve been after either. Delivery wise they’ve been faultless in 12 years I’ve used them. The one time they had a supply issue on a £6 part, they refunded and gave me a £5 voucher.

annoying that the headline price is often a 130 mm stem in 10 degree rise and the others are all £30 dearer

Bought a 30 mm QR seat clamp for £2.50 this week
if that wont keep them in business then what will

Junkyard – lazarus
annoying that the headline price is often a 130 mm stem in 10 degree rise and the others are all £30 dearer

That’s a common marketing technique though, hardly unique to CRC.

Its quite clear their range has deminished, they hardly stock any mens full sus bikes, lots of stuff is out of stock, and as their retail stores are my LBS I can tell you their staff have developed quite a bad attitude.

Wake up call needed.