Is Cobb Cycling still alive?

Triathlon Forum
25

Lame?

Have you built or help build a new Business or Start-up from the ground up?

I am done with Slowtwitch today. Nothing but Shallows…

Out.
.

Yes, your arguments are lame. Why, because they are defensive and are attempts to rationalize a, frankly, indefensible position. I’ve been a part of several startups, and am all too familiar with how people come to rationalize behavior that is completely contradictory to the customer’s needs and the business’s success.

Can you tell me with a straight face that if I, as a customer, am interested in a Cobb saddle and take the time to do a google search to learn more about Cobb’s current offerings and find it odd that I can’t find any hint of a current website, I’m being pretentious? Hell, this whole thread started because someone else did exactly that and came to the conclusion that the company was dead. Good luck building a new business when your customers think you’ve gone belly up. Spare me the “starting a business is hard” schtick. I know it is. As a customer, I don’t care. If you’ve started up a business from the ground up, you know all too well that your customers don’t want to hear about that. If you think that makes them unreasonable or pretentious, your competitors are going to eat your lunch.

There seem to be a few ads for Cobb Saddles (by others), so the Google adwords route is probably not a good option as the cost likely isn’t insignificant to pop-up as an ad. The other thing I noticed is that they sell direct on Amazon, and Amazon has a paid ad for Cobb saddles, so maybe they’re getting what they want out of their search results.

Lastly, I’ve been getting their “Speed And Comfort is now the supplier of all Cobb Products” display ad on ST quite often, with new phone number and new website, which does redirect you to their new website.

I’m not saying you’re wrong… there’s got to be a reason, maybe has to do with the re-brand, and how things have been prioritized, but yeah, maybe some growing/changing pains.

26

Google is a finicky little thing. Search engine results pages are more customized than ever, and will factor in your browsing history, search queries, etc. to give you results that are more likely than not to best serve you. Speed and comfort shows up on the 5th page on my searches this morning, but that doesn’t mean that it will always serve in that position.

It’s also incredibly difficult to rank for the Cobb Cycling term, especially if you don’t have the ability to write a whole bunch of content there around it, gain backlinks to the domain, and drive a whole bunch of new engagement to send signals to Google that this site is worth ranking for. Shopify sites are a bitch to drive up organic search-wise.

It would theoretically be easier to run an AdWords campaign on this - alongside the Speed and Comfort skins that have been running here on Slowtwitch (although those may be set to display only to industry members, rather than public at large). That being said, you’re competing against every e-commerce person known to man on that front. As Andres noted, they’re also running some Amazon listing ads (which should cross-pollinate over to some Bing results), which if you’re looking for bang for your buck, is probably the way to go. Drive enough engagement there and you should be OK eventually.

I’d also throw some Facebook Dynamic Shopping ads into the mix, while uploading offline conversion files, but that’s probably getting ahead of the game a bit. Marketing budget is probably exhausted by Amazon, and you’d need to maintain at least the current conversion rate to make it profitable.

TL;DR–it’s early. I don’t know why there isn’t a re-direct, and there’s probably a reason why the saddles are all just labeled “Cobb” and not “Cobb Cycling,” but you can find the new site and the products via a few sources.

27

I found this thread after I had a support email go unanswered. After doing some digging I found a few links that indicate that the loss of the “Cobb Cycling” brand may have been collateral damage from a breach of contract suit and/or bankruptcy. Sad to see but glad John is still producing quality products under another label. I can understand the loss of the cobbcycling.com domain and the inability to forward it but I would think that the links on slowtwitch and emails could be easily corrected.

For those as confused as I was:
Bok v. Cobb Sports Designs, Inc. et al: https://dockets.justia.com/docket/texas/txedce/6:2017cv00165/174836

Colorado Bankruptcy Court Case 1:17-bk-21113 - Kimatek LLC.: https://www.inforuptcy.com/filings/cobke_467019-1-17-bk-21113-kimatek-llc

28

Yeah, the ST Link at the bottom of this page is still broken…

29

Does anyone know how to reach Cobb Saddles? I’m trying to track down a SHC DRT Black saddle and its so difficult. They are sold out online at all online retailers. I messaged Cobb’s Facebook page and got nothing. Anyone know what is going on with them? Thanks, Wes

30

Their new website is www.speedandcomfort.com. The SHC DRT has been discontinued for a while now. If they don’t have one, I think I do.

31

Dude, you would be a life saver if you do. Where can I send you my money? I’m looking for the SHC DRT in black. I called them and they have one sample and I’m not sure what it looks like. If you have a new one I will buy it from you today. Thanks, Wes

32

I’ll take a look when I get to the studio tonight and will PM you a picture to make sure it’s the one you want, as well as my contact info. Thank you!

33

Tom writes for The Aviationist and has a very active presence on Facebook. Multiple posts per day every day. He seldom posts about cycling or triathlon but when does, he’s usually critical of the sport, particularly the retail side. Except the Tour de France. He loves the TdF.