Maybe someday he will figure out he's not very good at satire and stop disgracing Pubes and himself.

I am not in the least surprised. The recent media that Tyler has done talking through his bike, most prominently his GTN pro bike video show must make his bike sponsor want to scream.

Shedding a front brake cover in favor of tons of duct tape.

Setting up his two bottle system with bungee cords and elastic bands.

Openly speaking about you distaste for your brands flagship TT bike.

No doubt he has been dropped.

I have 0 insider info. But i have a few opinions:

1. They must have spent a boat load developing the P-Beam spaceship. And then didnt sell any because at $15,000USD ($20,000CAN HOLY FUCK!!) the market is tooooooo small
2. They sponsor a pro tour team
3. Pro tour team has to pay big $$$ for Cavendish
4. They already own the Kona pier. Law of diminishing returns

I suspect like Cannondale there are more in the pipeline losing sponsorship.

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@rhyspencer

"Lifetime" does mean something different to different groups. Its another example but after my pair of Jaybird headphones died and I called about replacing them they told me the warranty was up. When I told them I was looking at the box that said "lifetime warranty" the CRS response to me was "well the lifetime of the headphones last 24 months, so that's what we mean when we say lifetime, 24 months"...I was blown away.

In regards to what you mentioned about what Trek about sales slipping, its a tough time to be one of those businesses. In this heightened Internet age most people are pretty good at searching around for the best deals. Trek doesn't have the Lance factor anymore to get most Americans to want to ride that brand specifically.

I was in the market for a new road bike this last fall/winter and I spent months looking around. I checked out Trek and was blown away how expensive that brand is. A Madone with Ultegra Di2 is listed at $7,500!!! That does not come with the top end carbon frame either. I was looking into Specialized (and this is no backdoor brag, because I'm nothing special) but with the team I'm riding with this year we get a pretty solid discount on their product. But even with the discount Specialized was still really pricey.

I ended up going with a Canyon Aeroad because A; I thought the bike looked sexy. B; the tests I have seen for it shows its really fast. C; the price was so much better!

I took it to a bike shop around me to have my Quarq put on and the owner was asking me a bunch of questions about the bike and brand. He couldn't believe that I got the top end frame, and new Ultegra shifting for $3,500. He then asked about the Reynolds Strikes, asking if those were pervious wheels I had, and I told him nope that was rolled into the $3,500 price. He couldn't believe it. Said he knows that shops can't compete with that and said that's why he is offering the best service he can for tools/tuneups/etc.

Long story I understand these brands have large expenses and whatnot but the huge list prices I think are scaring away new riders and experienced riders who know what they are looking for.

I would agree with you. If you look at Trek, the new Madone 9.0 and SC 7.5 come at a lower price and have some pretty OK aero wheels. They have cut some corners, like the aluminum bar on the 9.0. but I think you can see that they realize the need to offer bikes that can compete with the online companies. Cervelo has also seemed to eased up on their ban on online sales of their bikes with R&A cycles allowing you to purchase their clearance Cervelos.

I think the R&A situation points to a larger problem though. If you look online you can almost always find shops with 2015 or 2016 Speed Concepts sitting in inventory and discounted about 20-25%. However, they still can't ship these bikes to customers. Why would a shop commit to stocking Trek's high-end bikes, in a range of sizes, if there is a good chance they will be left sitting on these things 2 and 3 years later? These bikes are too specialized for the local markets (if you ask me).

This^^^. I (and most of us on here, I think) have my fair share of expensive bikes, that would certainly make normal people blush at the cost. But with the P5x, you're talking a list price higher than a new Ford Fiesta, Nissan Versa, Mitsubishi Mirage, or Hyundai Accent. I'd love to ride one, but I can't see myself ever being able to justify that kind of expense on a bike, even if I had the discretionary funds.

You don't have to buy the $15,000 P5-X. There is an $11,000 Di2 P5x. A top of the line Felt IA and Trek are close to the P5-X in price. The price argument is getting quite old considering the P5 when it came out was $10,000.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Oh, “only” $11k....let me go roll some pennies

All top of the line bikes have been at the $10,000 price.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

But what do they start at? The p5 wasn't 11k at the lowest end. Neither is the felt , sc, or any of the other super bikes that actually sold in numbers.

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The P5 mechanical was $8500. That was the lowest end. The frame was $7000. The Felt IA FRD was almost $17,000.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

The p5-3 was less, iirc.

What does the frd have to do with it? I'm talking about "how much does it cost to ride a p5x vs a p5 or an IA."

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No one cared about the P5-3. I was listing the high end on each bike. I don’t care that you can get deals cheaper now. When these bikes all came out they were $10,000. The P5-X with Di2 is $11,000. The outrage over price is stupid.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Doesn't matter whether anyone cares about the 3 or not. The fact that it existed had people thinking about the p5 being something they can afford, and then you start thinking "well, the p5-6 is only $x more, I can swing that". It's marketing. Plus, that extra digit in the price tag makes it seem a helluva lot more. And then, none of your existing wheels work with it anymore, etc.

You're the one who brought up where the prices start from, do it's fair to bring up where the p5-3 was in the lineup.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

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Sure, but most people on here never wanted a P5-3.

The reality is we will all be on disc brakes eventually so either get on the train or get left behind.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Why? Will they stop making brake pads? How is anyone getting "left behind" if they don't get on the train soon.

If, for some reason, rim brakes become a thing of the past, I'll switch when I need a new ride sometime after that day comes. No need to switch before then, I have a nice stock of wheels in my garage.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

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Numerous conversations with industry reps, a design engineer, cycling websites, chats with Cervelo when I test rode the P5-X, talks with Specialized reps, etc. disc brakes are coming.

No, rim brakes won’t disappear but companies are putting less money and development into rim brake bikes and wheels. They will continue to support the market until some company decides to stop.

The world won’t end, you will be ok, and eventually you will upgrade to disc brakes.

When I say get on the train or get left behind, I’m saying that if you are looking for a new bike you should probably be looking at disc brakes.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

I'm not anti-disc at all, I just have some nice wheels that are perfectly fine, and I want to continue using them.

I'll be getting something new in the next couple of years, I think, but I'll probably still run 9s mechanical for that reason. I can still get cassettes and chains no problem.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

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Yeah I’m still on 10 Speed Ultegra haha. Sorry If I came across as harsh, I just didn’t want to end up in another anti disc brake debate.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

I am not terribly worried about this. Heck, they could stop all rim brake development today and I think we'd be just fine. The capabilites of rim brakes and rim braked wheels today are pretty astonishing compared to what they were twenty or thirty years ago. I would be happy using this current rim brake tech for the rest of my riding days.

If you look online you can almost always find shops with 2015 or 2016 Speed Concepts sitting in inventory and discounted about 20-25%.


There was a huge glut of bikes made, but were never sold in those model years - this was from the manufactures failing to react to the down-turn in the market. When this happens, it takes a few years for this situation to rectify itself, and the wholesale/retail market to right-size itself.

It's amazing how slowly whole businesses sometime react to what's happening in a market. Here's a typical conversation between a Bike Sales Rep and a Store Buyer from as recently as last year (going into the 2017 selling year):

Rep - "You are going to have to increase your order by 10% for next year"

Buyer - "How can we increase our order with you by 10%, when our sales are down 10% and we still have a whole bunch of bikes unsold from the previous year?"

2017 into 2018 - I'm told we are now getting back to a "normal" situation. However, while it's taken the bike business 2 - 3 years to sort this out, Canyon and other direct-to-consumer options have sprung up and are now a legitimate entity.

Interesting times!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog