Thanks all.

Does Trainer Road give suggestions on the frequency of doing the interval sessions? I’m assuming I won’t be doing them every day (3 times a week maybe?)

Ok, i’m not too concerned about weight, i’m hardly a fat biffer, and I don’t want to end up looking malnourished. I’m sure if I start upping the intensity and keep eating the same i’ll naturally lose a bit anyway.

Things like 2 * 20 mins, 4 * 15 or the like are classic sessions for this type of training goal, and potentially doable on a commute. Get yourself a HR monitor and train at those levels that you saw in your test.

Understand, so for doing something like these, how hard should I be going? I have the HR data from the test too. Should doing these be going as hard as I went for the test?

I’ve got a few of the Sufferfest video’s as well, would doing something like downward spiral intervals be beneficial too?

Lastly, how many of these should I be doing a weeK? I commute mostly through urban areas so would like to keep that low intensity (for fear of life) and do most of the nasty stuff on the turbo.

All will have to be on an HRM, don’t have a power meter myself.

Edited to add – thanks for the input so far!

And the Rune doesn’t already have a reputation for being a bit cracky ;)

Ah, I see on Facebook it’s not a British Cycling thing, it’s Steve Parr pushing it as ‘his’ rule for next year.

Well, it’s his ball, and his game, and he’s pretty obtuse at the best of times, so like it or not, it’s happening.

I also disagree with his mentality of one rule for all, blanket policy. Just shows, there hasn’t been a great deal of thought put through it. The Enduro1 races have been run on some of the flattest areas in the south of England. Jesus, 2 years ago they had an Enduro at Swinley forest. So, we should be wearing full faces for events like that? And for the likes of the QECP enduro’s?.

Life isn’t that black and white, not should it be. Part of me hopes the backlash makes him apply SOME common sense to his decision.

this is what happens when small companies “play” at being “internet retailers” and rely on their stockists warehousing, rather than ponying up and purchasing / holding their own goods

Trouble is, even big online operations work with this business model too, and more are asking for a live feed to distributor stock levels.

Why tie up hundreds of thousands in stock when a distributor can drop ship a daily order. It’s not hard to get past a minimum order level with a handful of online web orders each day.

I went into a local shop and asked for the best price for a bike, they told me the supplier didn’t allow them to discount. I pointed out that was illegal, they ran out back and didn’t return.

Ah the classic.

What’s the best price? Well, their best price is probably RRP + XX%. Your best price is no doubt the bike at less than cost, plus the shirt off their back.

Thankfully I don’t work in retail, but we do a lot of buyer habit analysis. Generally the customer who wanders in and comes out with the little gem of “what’s your best price on that mate” comes out fairly low in the target market.

On the subject of price-fixing, have you also noticed that certain Chain Reaction offers never apply to certain clothing makes? Try adding your discount code to a basket full of Endura. Perhaps we should report them to the police? Or accept that if CRC don’t discount them, then neither does the LBS.

There are plenty of brands now adopting that policy – maximum discounts allowed when advertising products. It’s not just about margin protection, it’s about protecting the brand value too. You don’t want to be associated with constant, heavy discounting off retail.

I think some of your numbers are muddled, so it doesn’t make a great deal of sense, but using your examples of the UK margins, even with my limited knowledge of smaller brands/distribution models, there is no way a distributor or retail shop is going to be working to margins that small.

If you work to 30% for the retailer, and not far off that for the distributor, you might start to be in the right ballpark. On the face of it, you may think that’s high, but you also need to factor in sales volumes too (or lack thereof).

Simply put, you’re displaying a lack of understanding of how the distribution model works in the bike trade (whether that be right or wrong).

The Global Brand is responsible for global marketing, sponsorship, PR, brand awareness etc, the regional distribution point is responsible for all of that in their domestic market, and thus the associated costs.

I’m sure in the past, RockShox have had different spec for their OEM forks, depending on where they’re going. So just because some Pike RCs have a decent damper, doesn’t mean they all necessarily will. I have no evidence that they’ve done this for any current forks, though. As with any grey-ish product, it’s reasonable to be cautious.

They have, and they still do – it depends on the size of the order, and the customer.

Part of the fun though, the lottery of not knowing what you’re actually buying, right?

RC is OE only, so they are only about when someone is dumping stock.

The other 30% is getting lost somewhere and it’s not clear where.

30% gross margin then for a distributor?

Out of which they have to pay all of their normal business operating costs, run a demo fleet, UK marketing, PR, sponsored riders, carry a lot of warranty stock (well, we are using Yeti as an example), goodwill, etc etc.

New Yeti? Jesus. I’m not that brave.

Some good ideas in the other post, thanks.

Not a huge amount in this area it would seem.

if its 650b, in carbon, with 160mm up front, and available in frame only, in Turquoise – i will definitely be putting one in the basket and hovering over the confirm button until they’vve sold out.

It’s ok, they will be on CRC heavily discounted in 6 months :p

Will it come pre cracked, to save the uncertainly of “will it, won’t it”?

I broke my bike! Gutted!

Shimano rotors.

can someone explain what’s going on? – because it does sound like Hora wants a bigger bike as it’ll be smaller.

I don’t think even he can explain what’s going on, as usual.

We are talking about the man who is ‘convinced’ at comfortably over 6ft tall, riding a medium Santa Cruz, which is hardly regarded as roomy in the TT/Reach department is a good idea.

FWIW – looking at the geometry of your road bike, and being a whole half an inch taller than you, I would have bought the XL. But hey, breaking the habit of a lifetime and buying a bike the right size for you must be hard ;)

Park in the Walking Bottom car park.

Ask a few riders in the village to show you around, they might show you some stuff better than the trail in question (most of the others).

Repping in the bike industry is a tough gig these days, Im not jealous of the guys out on the road for the company I work for. They have quite an easy experience, as we’re a large manufacturer, and a great support network, but it’s still a lonely life, targets are hard & you are at the mercy of many factors way out of your control which can make or break you in record time.

It’s fairly obvious who you work for, and being blunt, there is no way I would be considering repping for a P&A distributor over a potential life changing experience of moving to Vancouver.

No contest. Get it done.

Love it. 24% net margin is all of a sudden a ‘load of shyte’ and a ‘good old fashioned rip off’..

In answer to your slightly cryptic question, on the facts I would say neither are a rip off. One is apparently happy to cut his throat for your business. The other, is prepared to work at a more sensible margin.

However, if I had the misfortune of a retail shop & you in all your cantankerous glory came in, i’d probably quote you double. Just to watch you go pop :)

I don’t work for SRAM, I work for a bike manufacturer that specs both Rockshox and Fox, and even some own brand product.

Butterbean you obviously have extensively tested forks to a professional degree yourself? Then be quiet.

As a product manager for a large manufacturer, you could say yes, I have.

So, again, how much time have you spent on the new Pikes?

Who needs to be right, we just quote ‘hora fact’ round here?

I honestly dont know why people rate Rockshox. Its ok but damping is waaay better on Fox or Mazz.

Is that little gem from your extensive testing of the new Pike Vs. the competition?

There is easier ways to make the money. Dealing with whole sellers & distro’s UK based isn’t going to get you very far.

The big boys have buying teams for this reason, they go directly to and are approached from the Far East, but you need huge capital reserves to buy in the quantities they sell at.

The margins are good, but can you buy in quantities of thousands?

The reason the Merckxs can currently be found heavily discounted is that I believe they are currently without a UK importer

More to do with them being an unpopular brand in the UK.

Butterbean, how many independent shops are going to sell lots of Expert carbon 29? It does not hurt to try,the one I rode last week was a lot under the rrp.

Very few, as it’s not really a target bike for your average IBD. Specialized have brought just a handfull of the Enduro 29″ into the UK, and the drops have been staggered throughout the year. Most of those are in the SCS outlets.

All it takes is some unexpected/unplanned good press & it throws a big spanner in the lead times. People have orders in, waiting literally for months, for bikes to show up. If there are shops discounting those particular key lines, it just sums up the stupidity of some IBD’s.

That doesn’t apply to demo bikes generally, shops tend to do as they please, and there are no trading restrictions imposed.

Stupid double post.

My bike is so stupidly expensive for what? A Specialized Hardrock is pretty light, simple, cheap to replace and works. My bike at a guess would be a bit lighter, blah blah. Am I right?

Yes, that’s exactly it.

So what is so different with XX1 to my Deore 10 speed clutch mech, Race Face thick thin on an XT crank and a x9 shifter? That sure is some expensive retail therapy.

What’s the difference between your bike and a BSO from Tesco?

I mean, they both do the same thing, right?

Haggle on an Enduro.

Good luck with that. Considering the lack of availability.

Beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder, but funk me, that Ghost is literally gopping.

IMO the Spec’ and the BMC are probably the 2 best looking bigger 29″ on the market. The Stumpy Expert is a nice looking bike too, and, dare I say it, the Meta 29 is quite pleasing on the eye :)

My riding buddy had a 2013 66C.

He loved the way it rode, hated the way it fell apart. It was fine for the first 3 months or so, then the fun started.

It went through bearings at a frightening rate. He only kept it for 9 or so months, but went through multiple sets. We got one of the mechanics at work to strip it down, because I jokingly suggested it was his ham fisted skills causing excessive wear. It was appalling, so many issues. Bearing seat tolerances all over the place (if you tipped it on it’s side, the Switch Link bearings would just fall out of the frame!

It got warrantied, and sold on.

Completely bog standard S-Works Enduro 29 :)

You can run a Revelation RCT3 at that too.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jvfefDdWSDg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DjvfefDdWSDg

Whilst it shoes some nice, basic routines to encourage peoples hand-eye-ball co-ordination, for someone wearing a T-shirt that says ‘squash pro’ on it, his technique is appalling, and will give you nothing but bad habits.

Worth considering racquetball too. Bouncier ball makes for longer rallies and more ‘fun’ IMHO.

That’s for people too old & fat to play squash any more.

I started playing again a few years ago. As a junior I played for England in various age catagories, then gave it up.

I’m playing for fun mainly now, but it’s great winter interval training. I play for my county again, which is fun, and still competitive.

It’s a hard game to play, and to learn. Don’t kid yourself into using a slower, smaller ball – you need to learn to structure rallies and how to play the game. You won’t get that if you jump straight in to a double yellow, as you can’t & won’t be able to hit the ball consistently hard enough to keep it warm, and your rallies will be 2 or 3 shots long at best.

A couple of lessons is no bad thing, to teach you the basics of moving around the court & how to swing properly. There can be nothing more scary than a couple of newbies on court, taking wild swings & not having a clue where, or how to stand, or where their opponent is.

Seems like probably the most balanced article i’ve read on the whole thing.

Indeed, profiting quite nicely from his own naiveity/stupidity, whodathunk it?

have I just lost my LBS and gained a high-end showroom with sofas, giant wall-art and polo-necked staff prancing about?

Pretty much, which is what the vast majority of the ‘buying public’ want.

Not to go into a dingy old shop that smells a bit funny, to be served by someone who looks like he plays too much world of warcraft & is covered in grease & oil from bleeding brakes and fixing bikes.

Those shops exist for STW customers. Who then go & buy everything from CRC, or whoever is doing the latest PSA deal…