Hey Slowman, with all the interest right now in the wheelset group buy, is there a possibility to approach Hed/Zipp for a direct group buy? I was going to approach them myself but then realized I’m just joe-schmuck and maybe you would have better luck with your connections. Could this work without jeopardizing ad revenue? Could this model work for other gear too (e.g.: Fleck for wetsuits)?
Interesting thought, but I'd think Dan runs a line between doing good things for the athletes in the community, and not reducing margins for the retailers
…or he might just have better things to do with his time than serve us…nah, what better use of one’s time could there be? 
The companies themselves generally don’t like to do things like that publicly as it screws over their retailers…
Or just a thought but you could call HED/Zipp direct and see if they would do a group buy for their wheels like WTFracing did and organize it yourself. See if you can get enough interest and work with the vendor direct.
I seriously doubt that they would do anything due to their size and the way the distribute their products.
There is a big difference between the way Zipp/HED conduct their business and the way say Taiwan Cycles (current group buy) conduct their business.
i don’t have anything against you guys organizing a group buy, but i’ll leave that to those of you in this community to do it. it’s not that i have anything against doing it, just that i have other things that impinge on my schedule.
There is a big difference between the way Zipp/HED conduct their business and the way say Taiwan Cycles (current group buy) conduct their business.
Try typing this again…
This is the key statement, Zipp and others have to protect their retail dealer base, if they start selling thru discounted group buys they’d have a ton of PO’d dealers beating down the door. Taiwain mfgs have no dealer base (usually) in the USA to protect so they can do these group buys without harming anyone.
Now, it’s not to say Zipp or any of the others would NEVER do a group buy (you never know unless you ask), but I highly doubt they would. The best thing to do is find one of the Asian manufactures that have no dealer base in the USA and wortk with them (just like WTFRacing did).
My $.02 worth
Michael
The companies themselves generally don’t like to do things like that publicly as it screws over their retailers…
See, like other more elder forums on the internet - ST now is getting enough members and new members to think that the “gang of hyenias” mentality would possibly prevail. On fringe websites and with some OE Mgs’s of other niche items a “group” of 20 maybe special (like, if I needed a 6" riser kit for my F150 for muddin). Fact of the matter is a group of 20 wheelsets is not a drop in the bucket for Zipp, Hed, Campagnolo, and on and on and on…certainly not worth pissing off their retailers…certainly wont stop the newbies from thinking they are not only special - but deserve a special deal.
Team Clydesdale figured out some way to structure a Zipp deal…I assume they got the deal straight from Zipp. You could get 404s for around $1,400 and 808s for around $1,600.
don’t let all the old haters on the forum discourage you…these companies offer buy-ins like this all the time for clubs, small teams…it needs to be reasonable, but if you approach them you could very much do something like this…
The bigger established companies will most likely not do this but smaller companies will.
Cycle Taiway did for the wheels but HED/ZIPP might not.
Pedal Force does but Cannondale, Specialized and Giant most likely will not.
If they do it would only be a little bit of a discount and not like a niche company would do.
Last time I saw a “group buy” from a MFG (who I wont name) on wheels…the “Group buy” cost was higher than the “Good guy discount” at the LBS…just sayin.
Why would Hed/Zipp jump at the idea of selling 50 wheelsets at 75% when they can sell 40 or more wheelsets at retail price? I use these numbers because I firmly believe that more than 80% of people willing to spend $1500 on a wheelset could easily justify paying $2000 for said wheelset. Even if it was a break even deal, it’s more of a hassle for them to deal customer-direct than through an established retailer.
Why would Hed/Zipp jump at the idea of selling 50 wheelsets at 75% when they can sell 40 or more wheelsets at retail price? I use these numbers because I firmly believe that more than 80% of people willing to spend $1500 on a wheelset could easily justify paying $2000 for said wheelset. Even if it was a break even deal, it’s more of a hassle for them to deal customer-direct than through an established retailer.
Who says they’re all going to buy one brand? The point of them doing something like this would be that all of the group buys that brand and promotes the brand, i.e. advertises for them.
I think you have a point.
These group buys draw a lot of attention in cycling forums and you should see how many threads and posts have been done before, during and after the Pedal Force group buys. Then you have everyone posting pictures of their rides after they are built. It is free advertising with a very limited lose of profits. I bet they would have to pay a lot more to advertise in a mag or online than they lost on the discounts.
Cycle Taiwan and the wheel group buy now have drawn almost 10,000 view and 225 posts. That is free advertising. Does Zipp or Hed get 10,000 views to a target audience in the mags. (I have no idea how many subscribers the mags have)The thread is only going to get bigger and once we get the wheels, I can see this thread hitting 30,000 - 50,000 views. What is that work to a company?
You also get your target audience viewing your website and other products that you sell. I know that I have looked at Pedal Force and Cycle Taiwan’s websites when looking for other items now. Why not. Pedal Force has been great to deal with.
Well Pedalforce seems to encourage people to spam forums for their “group buys” rather than purchase advertising on them like legit companies. Plus with the same frames (different stcikers) showing up on Ebay, often at cheaper prices why bother? Just click but it now and get it. Seems like the group buy thing is used to fool people into thinking they are getting a better deal than they really are.
This was really just a fishing expedition – you never know unless you ask. There is the off chance that a manufacturer would go for this (especially the relatively smaller ones such as Hed, Reynolds, Edge Composites, etc. or even the Sram/Zipp sub-brands) since there is the opportunity to sell to us at or higher than what they sell to the distributor/retailer, but at less than the retailer would sell for (more in their pockets). And the more of those stickers on deep rims there are in the transition areas across the massive range of races we participate in is great exposure. But ya, it would set a bad precedent for X manufacturer and their rep with distributors/retailers.
I would not say that Pedal Force encourages people at all. It is a good deal and with their group buy pricing and warranty, you can not get that on Ebay. It is the nature of the net to post about a good buy when you see them. Same thing happens when Bonktown posts a good price on a bike and someone creates a PSA thread about it. Free advertising.
That is completely unaccurate, specially these days. A road club/team I ride with has a great deal with 3 high end wheel manuf. one being Lightweight and the other one of those being mentioned by the OP. They get a very sizable discount versus MSRP, and I mean sizable but there are certain conditions to the order like shipping to just one address, etc. This is not via a bike shop, its directly with the manuf. I think also the orders has to be minimum of 5 or 10 wheelsets. You are still not down to $500 like the group buy here but thats another story. For instance a set of the standar LW is around $2000
Peace
You know who would organize this? Tom Demerly.
sure…