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How about new Cobb website?
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What did John do finally give up some money? How do you open 8 bike shops at the same time? Pretty cool new website though. Let's see if he keeps it up.
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [litespeed] [ In reply to ]
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what site?
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [Gary in SD] [ In reply to ]
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [cerveloguy] [ In reply to ]
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Hello everyone,

Another new guy here. I've been saving up for a new Tri bike for about six months but $9999.00 for some of those Tri/TT bikes is definitely out of the budget! They're pretty heavy too. I guess they still have some bugs to work out. Check out the "Complete Tri/TT bikes" section and you'll see what I mean.


EZ

PS. Ive learned a lot about this sport in a short time thanks to all of you.


E-Z

--It ain't a good idea to swim near MY bubbles! Tongue
Last edited by: E-Z: Jan 18, 03 18:19
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [E-Z] [ In reply to ]
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"Check out the "Complete Tri/TT bikes" section and you'll see what I mean. "

Yupper. Didn't realize that those Kestrels weight 45 lbs. Dyathink that John's site has a few bugs in it?
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [litespeed] [ In reply to ]
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He "hooked-up" with a partner, guy by the name of Cody, who made his money, and a decent amount at that, in the internet boom years. He sold him a piece of the business (something like 50%) and he is the one that has gotten the ball rolling in terms of opening more stores and creating a decent website. There was even talk of creating a Bicycle Sports Racing Team. They were talking to a few pros and actually a print ad came out with Barb Lindquist and Conrad Stoltz a few times in Triathlete Magazine. Seems like the idea has been put on hold for now though.
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [Bearis] [ In reply to ]
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For a guy with insider guru status, who hangs with the biggest names on two wheels, he sure doesn't show much business acumen by putting the new pages on the web when there are SO MANY errors. I hope that he is beating his web guy about the head and shoulders continuously until the site is fixed. Anytime a new site is launched we expect a FEW bugs, but this thing is unreadable. You can't even get to the best parts of the old site. Very amateur. Hope his new swanky aero bars don't come with errors when they're launched! C'mon JC....
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [TriBriGuy] [ In reply to ]
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I agree.

John knows how to fit people on bikes. Period. He knows little else. Not that it's not a talent - he is the best at what he does which is darn hard these days at anything.

Since I've known him, which is going on four years, he has rarely if ever shown much business smarts. Now with opening up all over the place and the webiste getting bigger, I have my doubts about whether John will be able to handle it. Looks like this whole "expansion" thing could really backfire on him. Sometimes good things come in small packages.
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [TriBriGuy] [ In reply to ]
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After waiting for around 3 months with the message a message to check back soon for our new improved website, then seeing a page unavailable message for a few days I certainly expected a lot more. A few of the menu selections have nothing to display and I agree that 10 grand is plenty to pay for a 45 pound bike. Maybe the Kestrel has some new heavy components designed to improve your power and hill climbing :)
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [Allan] [ In reply to ]
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What's that expression? "Train heavy, race light?" Wink


E-Z

--It ain't a good idea to swim near MY bubbles! Tongue
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [E-Z] [ In reply to ]
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The mistakes are unprofessional and you would have thought someone would catch them but they did'nt and the only person that reflects upon is BS's, so thats no skin off my nose. I've never heard a single bad comment about them and they obviously know there stuff but I've never lived in a location to take advantage of them.

none of that bothers me but:

What came as a bit of a shock to me however was all of these store openings and the "comming soon" logo's. I wonder how soon, the Chicago one was about 3-6 months from the initial rumor to fruition so are they planning on opening another 8 stores over the next 6 months? without knowing their financial situation that seems a little risky? any thoughts?

I am not sure that Denver / Boulder needs or can support another high quality store without somethings suffering. We have Excel, Pro-peleton and Louisville cyclery as well as a hosts of others within ten minutes, if they open in Denver are they expecting the Boulder crowd to schlep the 25 miles to Denver? Is it worth that? I dont know about the other markets but if they are going to be that aggressive about opening it in one sense only be good for the consumer but what are they going to sell you on? their professionalism? fittings? price? Between the first 2 stores I mentioned I think they are right up there with the best............
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [litespeed] [ In reply to ]
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the bugs are not too bad. i went to bikeman.coms new site last yaer and found mavic comete's listed for 184.99. too bad they would not sell them to me at that price. i would have bought 10.
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [litespeed] [ In reply to ]
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I don't like that the website lists only 3 items per page. And they are not split by manufacturer. There are for example several pages with wheels. You have to go trough all to find your desired product, if it is on the last page.
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [litespeed] [ In reply to ]
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In John's defence I have to say how difficult it is (and how much work) to get a decent site up and runnning, especially with e-commerce. Huge project. I think he is on the right track. Give him some time.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [litespeed] [ In reply to ]
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Hey - here's one where I can actually be an expert! Maybe JC got some investment money or something. If I can think of one valid use of some VC money, building out his eComm and overall business would seem very sensible (and justifiable vis-a-vis return on investment) given his "brand credibility." But the results...ouch.

As a person who has personally built a lot of very well-known and very powerful eComm sites (and who now sells the same) I can tell you that (as Tom notes) it is a *very* intensive endeavour. And to be blunt, you really need to spend the cash to do it right or what you get is what we're seeing. That ends up turning off customers, esp. if you "hard launch" it (i.e. ads in big trade mags) like they did. Working out bugs post-facto is okay, but it is better to launch 1 month late and with 100% certainty and extensive QA than to launch early or on-time and potentially lose all interest in the site right off the bat due to site issues. This site is certainly much better than the old site, vut speaking from experience could have been done MUCH better than it is. Hopefully they can get the problems worked out quickly.





"To give less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Pre

MattMizenko.com
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Re: How about new Cobb website? [litespeed] [ In reply to ]
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From Bicyclesports.com

In launching the new site, we received several comments about the navigation of the site, etc. In order to make your Bicycle Sports shopping experience more enjoyable, we have taken the site down for the next 48-72 hours in order to take your comments into consideration and make modifications based on them.
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