Canyon’s entry into the U.S. market is imminent. If you haven’t been paying attention to Canyon, here are the facts:
-Canyon is a German manufacturer of high end performance bikes (road, triathlon/TT, MTB) – it is one of the popular bike brands in Europe – and will soon sell bikes in the United States
-Canyon arguably has more experience than any other performance bike company on earth selling directly to the consumer, which is how they will sell product in the U.S.
-Canyon makes the sexiest bikes, per popular opinion (ST polls) and common aesthetic sense – just look at them…they are HAWT
-Canyon sponsors some of the fastest athletes, who might be slow if they did not ride Canyons (Jan Frodeno, Patrick Lange, Nairo Quintana, Tiffany Cromwell)
-Canyon threatens to offer the most bike for the least amount of money, with an $8500 offering that includes Dura Ace 91xx Di2 and Zipp 808 NSWs
Despite all of this, Canyon isn’t actually all that popular among the leadership in our sport. At the 2016 Kona bike count, they slot in between Dimond (47) and Fuji (27) with a downright awful count of 39. Considering Dimond slides in to (barely) reap seven figures in revenue, Canyon’s performance is embarrassing. And Fuji. Fuji!
If such figures are indicative of corporate health, Canyon may need to generate ancillary revenue like Dimond/Ruster Sports does. But I suspect strongly that the only thing stopping Canyon is availability stateside.
Assuming that Canyon launches in the U.S. this year, I expect them to jump ahead in the Kona bike count by a factor of two in 2018 tally; reach 5% market share of new triathlon bike sales in the U.S. in year 2018; and earn 10% market share “” by 2019.
Am I crazy off base? What do you think? How quickly will these guys reach double digit market penetration?
Hmmmm, is 5 minutes too quick? I think it is going to depend on how many triathletes are comfortable with buying direct from manufacturer. What will this do to the LBS’s though? You come in with a new super bike and have them put it together and roughly fit you (or just line up your measurements - they’ll still charge you). Sure, they’ll do it but they aren’t going to be happy about it compared to if you bought a bike from them. Will the prices come close to being even in that case? How much would a LBS charge to set up a new Canyon Speedmax CF SLX? If the Canyon is $1-$1.5k cheaper than a comparable bike you can buy from a LBS, would the shipping and cost for setup bring them close? On top of that, most LBS’s will offer discounted service on bikes they sell.
Someone is going to say “Oh, well I can just put it together myself”. I’d beg to differ, but you’re the one riding it. I wouldn’t trust myself putting one together for a long time.
Hmmmm, is 5 minutes too quick? I think it is going to depend on how many triathletes are comfortable with buying direct from manufacturer. What will this do to the LBS’s though? You come in with a new super bike and have them put it together and roughly fit you (or just line up your measurements - they’ll still charge you). Sure, they’ll do it but they aren’t going to be happy about it compared to if you bought a bike from them. Will the prices come close to being even in that case? How much would a LBS charge to set up a new Canyon Speedmax CF SLX? If the Canyon is $1-$1.5k cheaper than a comparable bike you can buy from a LBS, would the shipping and cost for setup bring them close? On top of that, most LBS’s will offer discounted service on bikes they sell.
Someone is going to say “Oh, well I can just put it together myself”. I’d beg to differ, but you’re the one riding it. I wouldn’t trust myself putting one together for a long time.
I am sure the rise of Velofix and others will fix the service gap.
It entirely depends on the supply of bikes, how the bikes are priced and what their delivery is like.
Maybe Canyon can sell every bike on the shelf at $X000, but 95% that many bikes at $X000+$500. They may choose a higher price point for economic reasons.
Conversely, Canyon has a poor track record of unreliable delivery and if the customers don’t get their bikes, there isn’t any way to make a sale.
I dig the entire line of Canyons but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.
As someone that sells high end bikes for a living, its going to be very slow going for Canyon. From all the bikes I’ve seen from them, they make a quality product. The problem is, so does everyone else.
I don’t know what the market is like in Europe, but at least in my shop, 90% of highend sales involve some sort of “deal”. Whether this is simply shoes or pedals thrown in, or some other arrangement, the customer wants to know they have saved some kind of money. Almost all of our current model year bikes barely move, but stuff that we have bought on clearout from our dealers move very quickly (as they are on “sale”) and are our bread and butter. Canyon may have lower prices than standard MSRP equivalent (ultegra bike to ultegra bike), but unless the customer feels they are saving some or getting some kind of deal, its going to be slow going.
Another thing I have noticed in my 6 years selling high end bikes is that people are extremely brand conscious. For the most part they want to know someone personally who has ridden that brand or speaks highly of it. When a customer asks about a Cervelo, it becomes almost impossible to switch their focus to a Colnago or Felt, even if it may be a better value for their dollar.
Canyon makes a great bike, but I don’t think they will have such a significant impact as you’ve assumed.
I think their bikes are going to do well across the board…not just on the high end. This of course assuming that their pricing will remain the same if all you’re doing is currency conversion and adding on reasonable shipping costs.
I am buying a Canyon the second they are available in the US. I know 2 other people (roadies) who are as well. I have a hunch this isnt unique among STers.
I’ve even waited – I am riding Eagleman and IMLP on my road bike to save up for Canyon’s US landfall.
It’s gonna take time for them to build the brand awareness here in the States. Your average American is usually a little bit behind times. But eventually they will push most brands to sell direct I think.
Let me think:
sexiestmight be slow if they did not ride this brandmost bike for the least amount of money
Is this from the marketing department? No warranty or if there is a problem where do you get help? Not interested until further information and product arrives in 2018.
I have a Canyon Ultimate CF. It’s probably my favorite bike I’ve owned. I’d by their TT bike if it weren’t so similar to my already great SpeedConcept.
I will be buying more Canyon when it isn’t so much work to get it here in the US.
Yes, I agree that Velofix is bound to fail because the cost to set it up is way too high.
One of my neighbors has a mechanic show up in front of his house in a regular pickup truck every couple months. Probably only cost a few thousand investment.
I think their bikes are going to do well across the board…not just on the high end. This of course assuming that their pricing will remain the same if all you’re doing is currency conversion and adding on reasonable shipping costs.
The shipping in Australia is $200 which isn’t that bad, i’d imagine USA would be cheaper.
As for the price of the bikes, I don’t think they’re cheap at all (In Australia), base model SLX 8.0 is $8,400 AUD running up to $13,200 for the 9.0 with Zipp wheels. That’s about 7-8k more than a Giant which is a similar spec apart from wheels. The CF range of bikes is pretty well priced though until you get to the Di2 models which are a 2k premium over mech.
