An opinion on the buisness practices of Rivendell, or "I just don't get it"

[robcycle]

So, in browsing today, I came across dave's "Hatchetjob" thread over in feedback. It got me interested in looking up Rivendell, and I found this (http://http://www.biztactics.com/bullet-rivendell-bikes.php). I know nothing about marketing, but it seems that, in considering technological improvements to make something "better", the guy completely missed the point. OK, so they only sell 600 units a year, that's why they make a bunch of money? If I sold ONLY 600 lbs of dog sh!t a year, would I get rich, too? I have no experience with Rivendell, but if I had to guess why they can charge $1300 for a bike, I would have to say that it would be because they do quality work, cater to the individual, and offer something that can't easily be found somewhere else. Anyway, that's my rant. :o

Oh, and if you're still looking for the SS connection, the bike at the top of the article has only one gear :p

-ROb.

[Opie]

there was an extra http// in your link (http://www.biztactics.com/bullet-rivendell-bikes.php)...

[Mister Chow]

Quote from the link:

# Rivendell bikes sell bikes made with old technology for $1,300 each.
# How? They decrease the supply while increasing the demand.

------------------------------------------------

Well they certainly are geniuses over at Rivendell. I mean I never thought of increasing demand. Geeze the guys at GM should look at this. Do you want to sell more cars? Just INCREASE DEMAND! :confused::confused::confused:

Everybody should do this. I was thinking of selling my old worn out cycling shoes but I probably won't get much for them so I'll just increase demand and sell them for more! :confused:

Wow what an informative article. :rolleyes:

[rockyrider]

A page out of the DeBeers "How to make diamonds expensive" book.

[2dumb4gears]

Phase 1: Steal underpants.
Phase 2: Hmmmmm?:confused:
Phase 3: Big profits!

[Spalls]

There are lots of ways to make any business successful, and one of them is to give people what they want at a price they can afford. For all of the grousing you hear from some folks about Rivendell, they do just that. They have dialed into a combination of high quality, and through clever marketing, exclusivity. That usually works pretty well. Whether some enlightened consumers get it or not, there is a market for lugged steel frames, and they don't come cheap from anybody. Before you toss around the anti-technology rant too much, realize that the gear they sell will last a long time with little to no significant service. What's not to like? Seems to me that a lot of the diehard SSers on this forum have an appreciation for that. As for Grant Peterson, what's wrong with questioning "conventional" wisdom? The guy has a personal Surly Pugsley, by the way.

[PlatyPius]

Well, whoever wrote that little article isn't very bright. Production is limited to 600 bikes per year because they are all hand-made. How long you reckon it takes to build a frame? I'd say that 3 frame builders would be doing good to crank out 600 frames/year. Just guessing on the number of frame builders, but I figured 3 would be reasonable.

Outdated technology? Huh? When was the last time you saw a bike using Mavic's electronic shifting crap, or a "real" bike with automatic shifting? I don't really consider "manual shifting" to be outdated.

[Mauriceman]

This is crazy talk. The people at Rivendell are not holding back bikes to increase demand. That's not what kind of people they are.
They make two kinds of bikes. Full custom (Like any full custom, you have to wait for the custom guy to make the bike) which runs $2700 (frame, fork, headset). My bike, the Atlantis, is a production bike made in a small family frame making shop in (shit I forget, Japan?). They currently run $1400 frame or $2800 whole bike.
I consider my Atlantis an extremely excellent value. A bike that is versatile, comfortable and servicable is all I need. If I could have only one bike It would be this one.
I could go on, but have a personal word limit in these forums.:)

[rockyrider]

That business marketing article is typical of the sort of inverted thinking marketing people can have. Cause and effect has often been lost on marketing professionals. Marketing types can't tell the difference between the DeBeers/OPEC tactic of actually limiting or decreasing availability to control pricing and having limited production because that's all you want to build, or all you can build.

What makes any unique craftsman/artist built item valuable is the uniqueness, whether that's custom bikes, custom furniture, custom hot rods, short run art prints or anything else that isn't mass produced.

By keeping the production methods unique rather than switching to a higher volume approach, or farming the work out to someone else, the product value remains high in the mind of the buyers. But that's not the same as decreasing or limiting availability to control pricing.

People who want unique rather than low price driven production items will always seek out their favourite flavour of unique. And the real brilliance of the Rivendell approach is offering as many items as they do for people to associate with their flavour of unique.

[davkatreb]

Whatever f*cked-up retarded assclown that wrote that article, the dipshit OBVIOUSLY is no cyclist.

1-$1300 is NOT a lot of money for a decent road bike. It's barely above entry level. Hell, that's not even Ultegra. 105 if you're lucky.

2-I'm pretty sure the price quoted in the "article" was for a production frame, or maybe a complete Quickbeam (the SS pictured in the "article"). There are THOUSANDS of complete singlespeeds being sold at that price. But whatever. Custom Rivendell framesets start at
$2700. And you could easily pay that much or more from at least a dozen other framebuilders.

3-Ever hear of Bruce Gordon? Or Sacha White? Or Johnny Kndez-I mean Kendezeer-Oh, screw it!-Johnny Cycles? I absolutely GUARANTEE these fine builders could not keep up with demand for their frames if there were SIX of them. All part of an elaborate scheme by a secret society of custom framebuilders, I suppose.

4-The Reader has cycling and (sometimes) related articles and charges you money for a subscription. So does the Rag. Your point?

5-What's this "manual shifting" bullschitte? Don't the vast majority of geared bikes have manual shifting? God, f*cker, buy a vowel! Grant likes friction shifting, as in barcons or (GASP!:eek:) downtube shifters. Guess what? So do I, and so do a lot of other riders who, if they are even AWARE of Rivendell, probably go for weeks, months, even, without giving them a thought. Why? Because the stuff WORKS! And hell, if you absolutely, positively MUST have ten speed and STI, they're more than happy to build it that way for a modest upcharge.

Jeez, I'll bet whoever wrote that "article" even gets paid to churn out that crap. Unbelieveable.

[robcycle]

...And hell, if you absolutely, positively MUST have ten speed and STI, they're more than happy to build it that way for a modest upcharge.
LOL, in looking on the web site, on of my favorite parts was that they reserve the right to veto any decision that they do not agree with, on YOUR bike :eek:

I suppose there is not point in telling an artist what color to paint the clouds, even if you're paying for it :p

-Rob.

[davkatreb]

LOL, in looking on the web site, on of my favorite parts was that they reserve the right to veto any decision that they do not agree with, on YOUR bike :eek:


I could envision many a scenario in which that might be a good thing.