Frames and Wheels met a rider at the Tour of the Catskills bike race over the weekend and learned a lot about why consumers buy these frames on line. This rider was an experienced racer, but he was entering the one day "Assault on Devil's Kitchen" stage; he did not enter the entire race because he knew his fitness was not high enough. He was I think entering the Category Five (35 plus) race or had done so in the past. He was very pleasant and more than happy to talk, which is generally the case for most cyclists when it comes to discussing their bikes. His first name is Ad and I think he is from Scandanavia (but residing in New Jersey).
Ad said that he had heard of Motobecane, but it was not the brand he set out to obtain. It sounded like he was looking for value. He read reviews about the brand and the bike on line and learned that reviews were generally favorable (although Frames and Wheels had heard less favourable reviews from bike stores, and read some pretty awful reviews on line. But perhaps they are improving their game). He was aware of the background of the company: a business man from Texas had acquired the rights to the brand and others and retained Kinesis, a Taiwanese manufacturer, to make the bikes; he did not seem to have a problem with this. The bikes are assembled in Taiwan and sold directly to consumers on line for pretty competitive prices (no overhead, labor or rent factored into the price). I think Ad had the Motobecane Immortal Ice. I am not sure about components, but I think it was Ultegra; he had a carbon Zipp wheel on the back and a carbon American Classic on the front. Ad had done a lot of customization to the bike. This bike retails for $3,400 when built up with Simano Ultegra 6700 and Mavic wheels.
Ad mentioned that the pricing on the bike was very good; he described a sentiment that Frames and Wheels has heard before: he could order the bike, take all the components off the bike and sell them on eBay and then build up the remaining carbon frame with his own components. Assuming that he could get about $800 for the unused groupset and $400 for the wheels, his cost for the frame would be lowered to $2,200. Frames and Wheels thinks that this is a bit high for 2.7 pound frameset with a somewhat tainted brand, but it is clear that consumers are willing unbundle bikes to save money and get what they want. Frames and Wheels has also heard of people ordering a Motobecane bike, taking off all the components and then selling the frame on ebay. There are only two Motobecane frames on ebay at the moment and they are offered at about $500 each.
Ad mentioned that he does all of his maintenance himself. He knows how to do it and he also noted that he lives in a rural part of New Jersey; this makes trips to his local bike store difficult. He had never brought his Motobecane to a store for service so he was not sure how they would react if he did. This makes Ad an exceptional consumer: most riders at some point will need some help on something. Nevertheless, Ad is a good example of the type of consumer that is out there. Frames and Wheels also overhead a rider explaining how he had bought his Cervelo R3 on line from another individual. The rider was lamenting the recall for the fork, but I think he was satisfied overall with the purchase (I seem to recall that the frame ahd the new 3T front fork). Anyway, this exchange also supports the conclusion that cyclists are very much at ease buying their frames on line. It also occured to Frames and Wheels that consumers will forgo warranties and crash replacement programs in exhcange for a deep discount on an established and popular brand (such as Cervelo); this suggests that consumers consider carbon frames to be commodities and what they really want is to be seen as having obtained that "great deal" on that really light carbon frame. "Who cares if the thing cracks after one year; the discount was great, the ride was fast and I can get another one on line any time". That is the thinking of the new consumer
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