@DezB:

haha. Great!
Interesting to read this thread – and now the outcome

http://singletrackworld.com/2018/01/maxxis-slashes-tyres-the-price-that-is

In this case with, with the Maxxis ‘DUBAI-pricing’: yes, Maxxis went way too far. Production cost of a Maxxis tyre maybe £10 ?
If they sell them now for £60 : fair enough!
😉

Hopefully this is the start of the end of demand driven pricing. Most stuff,especially hobbies and leisure,seems to have a price point not set by production and distribution but by demand and media driven trends.
In other words prices are what they can be and not what it actually costs.

@crasher50:

what helps us right now: fierce competition in the bike tyre market.
The crazy pricing attracted new (and good) players.

Same happens right now with forks. The new SF18 Auron and new Durolux put a lot of pressure onto Fox…

Or drive train: look at the 2018 YT Jeffsy – they opted for 1×11 e*thirteen 9-46 and not for SRAM 1×12. (but at the same time: lots of media crap going on with YT …)
The YT Jeffsy 2018 is 300 bucks cheaper than the 2017 version!

Too much “DUBAI” attracted new players.
Competition kicks in.
Great for us!
😉

crasher, this is a market economy. If Maxxis is reducing its prices, it is because of its reading of the market (which includes their production costs and manufacturing capacity and their perception of where their competitors will be).

For me, £60 a tyre still seems too much, but maybe if I needed plus sized tyres I would have to bite the bullet.

Also, possibly Maxxis were “skimming“.

Makes perfect sense on the Skimming idea, recoup some machining costs, if the product is selling at the higher price it will certainly sell at a lower one. Make something back for the next production run and if it doesn’t take off then you have at least got something back on the production costs.

The other way with tyres is make something that falls apart and needs replacing way more often or has paper sidewalls.

@greyspoke:
Skimming: nice! Didn’t know this expression.
“Checking what people are willing to pay…”

For me, £60 a tyre still seems too much

I’am not a downhill racer. Same as you: never paid £60 for a (trail bike) tyre.
Additional: love the softer, grippy tyres. Means I need more than one set a year…

Same as Hope have done then?

For me, £60 a tyre still seems too much

Depends on how often you change and how long they last, the £/km figure would be more interesting and useful

And SRAM and Shimano – they are a bit more subtle: Introduce new technology in the top of the range (XTR XO or whatever SRAM call stuff these days) and then trickle it down to the level most people purchase at (XT etc.). (Of course, some of it is just plain expensive to do and so stays for the top end only.)

Same happens right now with forks. The new SF18 Auron and new Durolux put a lot of pressure onto Fox…

I doubt a company who’s forks seem, at best, to have elicited a ‘meh’ from the MTB community have much to do with Fox pricing. The rise of X-Fusion and return of Manitou alongside new-ish, smaller premium brands are far more liekly. List prices for Fox forks are still ‘premium’, it just seems that more grey-market examples have made their way to consumers recently.

Skimming seems a very likely explanation, especially for something as subjective as tyres, where people tend to find one they like and stick with it forever because it’s trusted.

greyspoke – Member
Also, possibly Maxxis were “skimming”.

They were chargint £100 in the UK for tyres that were selling for €70 in Europe. Nothing to do with production costs and everything to do with the UK distributor margin.

A top spec tyre for my gti is around £90.
We are getting ripped off for our bike tyres.
End of.

@warpcow:
O.k. – X-Fusion is even a better example!

Competition for parts and complete bikes got harder.
YT Jeffsy 2018 price drop 300 bucks one (trail bike) example, one other example (for downhill):

Canyon downhill bike:

Canyon Sender AL drops cost of racing DH down(hill) in alloy, adds G5 components

others, FOX:

grey-market examples have made their way to consumers recently

Mmhhh. Don’t know if this was “grey-market”.
In winter sale you got a Fox 700 buck RRP fork for around 200 bucks…
Same fork which is specced in the Whyte T130 SR. A 2.2 k bike…

No matter if Suntour SF18 Auron or X-Fusion: Fox feels the pressure.
And if Fox is able to sell a 700 buck RRP fork for 200 bucks there is a lot of margin to go down!

Good for us!
😉

@granny_ring:

A top spec tyre for my gti is around £90.
We are getting ripped off for our bike tyres.
End of.

Yes.
But from a “strategy view” it wasn’t smart to push for these funny £90 tyre pricing. Or with 800 buck Eagle upgrade kits or similar.

It attracted new players.

getting ripped off

only works for a short time…
😉

A top spec tyre for my gti is around £90.
We are getting ripped off for our bike tyres.
End of.

A top spec standard tyre yes, if you went into speciality tyres in odd tread patterns, it would be comparable again.

Maxxis is a bit all over the place as a company, so I wouldn’t be surprised if these were just ad-hoc changes to try and sell more. They’ve been marketing Wide Trail for well over a year now, despite having very little stock in the market. Schwalbe or any of the others release new tyres and have stock ready within a month or 2 max, in good depth. Like how long have we been waiting on Wide Trail Aggressors.

It was hard to get any Maxxis tyres in any great depth over the summer because production all over the place.

They do seem a bit crap at actually making their products available to buy, agreed.

Like how long have we been waiting on Wide Trail Aggressors.

I was told it was being dropped as a concept/name as it was just confusing people (basically same stuff no WT markings) but that was in September so not sure what’s going on now

And if Fox is able to sell a 700 buck RRP fork for 200 bucks there is a lot of margin to go down!

I agree it’s maybe good for us, but it’s not fox selling them for 200, it’s retailers. The prices bike-components were selling Fox forks for recently were far below what retailers will pay for the aftermarket forks from local distributors (and those b-c forks were openly grey-market). I’m not saying you’re wrong that a lot of extra costs are added to products between production and end-consumer, but it’s a far more complex chain than you’re allowing for. For a good example go look at the old PSA thread for Mojo selling off their Fox stock. Sometimes retailers just need cash.

@warpcow:

yes. Agree.
The LBS is not making the money / doesn’t get this Fox 700 buck RRP fork for 200 bucks.
That’s the strange part of the business.
😐

It’s a business model, 1 person at fox deals with 1 person at the bike maker and sells 5,000/10,000/20,000 units
Where are the prices you are quoting, in fact what currency are you in? and WTAF is DUBAI about?

mikewsmith – Member

For me, £60 a tyre still seems too much

Depends on how often you change and how long they last, the £/km figure would be more interesting and useful

Are you sure that’d be interesting.

Came on the bike but if I picked them up for £60 my 3″ Plus Bontrager Chupacabracadabras are pretty much worn out on the back at 3p per km.

Similar cost per km on 29″ 2.3 Bontrager XR2/3s but getting half the km out of them before they don’t work very well.

Road bike get’s down to 1p per km.

I did warn you :0)

Glad I waited until this year to replace the 29+ tyres.

More that shouting about unit price with no idea of life span is a red herring, I’d rather buy 1 70 quid tyre than 2 45 quid ones. Same as looking at purchase prices of cassettes and ignoring how long they last.

Same as looking at purchase prices of cassettes and ignoring how long they last

Love the idea of 1×12.
But I’am not ignoring how long they last…

Sadly, 1×12, at this development stage: one downhill run?

@tomlevell:
neat!

Road bike get’s down to 1p per km.

that’s a good goal.

and WTAF is DUBAI about?

haha.
DUBAI… – how should I translate this…

mmmhhh: “bling”?
😯
And guess we are all happy that the MAXXIS dropped from £100 to £60?

Don’t get the point if a biker is NOT happy about that…
😥

Same as Hope have done then?

Yes, Maxxis are refunding the difference to those who overpaid last year.

Not.

Someone who bought one needs to get on their FB page and suggest that, citing Hope’s classy move.

However anyone who could afford the plus rubber previously is probably too loaded to care.

PO / DezB:

our hero!
Smart thread.
The right question. Maxxis tyres – what are they made of? …
Just great.
8)

PO? 😆 (and where’s my “bloke” suffix?)

Uuups.
Sorry!!!!

Dear PO / dear DezB –

bloke

:

You are our hero!
Smart thread.
The right question. Maxxis tyres – what are they made of? …
Just great.

Thaaaaaaaanks!!!
🙄

Bad news for the tyre companies 😀 I’ve set my personal limit on bicycle tyres at 35 quid and have come in under this about 98% of the time. I average between 18-25 and have one tyre that cost the maximum!

The race toward the 80 quid norm (last year it was 60 quid) can **** right off as far as I’m concerned. I set arbitrary price limits on all components I buy, otherwise it gets out of hand/silly for what is only a hobby.

I currently use Maxxis, Conti, Specialized, Michelin and Bonty tyres, yes I mix brands front and rear! As the big players try to out do each other with laughable prices, knocking out tyres in cheap labour markets, using 100 year old processes. I will switch to Kenda, Vee, CST, Vredstein, Choayang or who ever does reasonable enough tyres at the drop of a hat.

BTW thought they were mainly Nylon thread and Butyl.

maybe Maxxis-bloke will rub your shoulders…?
😯

Just emailed the Maxxis bloke. He confirmed he will not rub my shoulders even if I turn up at his office, at a convenient time of his choosing, with cake.

haha
That’s great.

All’s well that ends well

Cheers
😉