Specialized Bikes Ireland

beauf

ronoc wrote: »

Not the most cycle friendly location to get to!

Have to say I rarely cycle to a bicycle shop.

TBH the traffic being so bad around shopping centres might not be a bad idea to be out it.

magicbastarder

it's possible they put it there as a compromise between somewhere dublin dwellers can get to, and someone coming up from the country can also get to. but buying a new bike, how many people who live that far from dublin would choose to buy a bike from a shop that far away? you may as well buy online.

siochain

Perfect location for a brand outlet given the target market and massive catchment area.

Wanderer78

terrydel wrote:

I'd tend to agree with you on this. Perhaps they think that no longer giving a margin to the lbs's (which I'd guessing is sod all these days) makes it worthwhile, and having one shop is affordable and makes them not far off being an online, direct to consumer manufacturer? Who knows. Big thing with this particular one for me is its a shocking location and has been a graveyard for any business thats set up there so far.

Depends, but sometimes there's decent mark up in lbs, probably are increasingly under pressure though

rushfan

beauf wrote:

Its an alternative for Golf for many.

In my own case, I'm not old enough to play golf!!!

MB Lacey

magicbastarder wrote: »

it's possible they put it there as a compromise between somewhere dublin dwellers can get to, and someone coming up from the country can also get to. but buying a new bike, how many people who live that far from dublin would choose to buy a bike from a shop that far away? you may as well buy online.

It's only 6km away from Cycle Superstore?
It's not really that far out.
People on this forum have driven up to Decathlon in Belfast just to buy a Btwin bike.

The Specialized store in Harrogate is actually quite small, I imagine this one in Citywest will be Cycle Superstore scale and make it worth the visit.

Matt Bianco

I was in there on Saturday and it very much has the feel of a car showroom rather than a typical LBS. I would imagine that they are coming from the angle of showcasing their bikes and giving punters the opportunity to see in the flesh where otherwise they may drift to another brand online so therefore offering an interim business model between LBS and online. The main hall is a showroom with a bike fit service in a mezzanine studio above. There is a large workshop along one side with a "clean" workshop for suspension work. There's an enclosed courtyard area within the walls and parking for maybe sixty cars outside.

Have to say that Paddy and Robert who I have dealt with were very nice to deal with and the points of contact are for me a big factor in where I shop.

Claude Burgundy

Grand openig July 20 at 19:00, from the Facebook page.

TychoCaine

Matt Bianco wrote: »

I was in there on Saturday....

Are they open to the public yet?

nak

TychoCaine wrote: »

Are they open to the public yet?

Not yet, will be by end of the month.

niallo32

They had a soft opening today. Some lovely gear up there.

KFed

Are there any launch specials? Discounting?

niallo32

KFed wrote: »

Are there any launch specials? Discounting?

Most of the stuff is out on the shelves but there didn't seem to be any specials.

Work is still ongoing - both owners came out to chat and seemed very sound.

ted1

niallo32 wrote: »

KFed wrote: »

Are there any launch specials? Discounting?

Most of the stuff is out on the shelves but there didn't seem to be any specials.

Work is still ongoing - both owners came out to chat and seemed very sound.

So it’s s franchise ? Or owned by Specialised?

niallo32

ted1 wrote: »

So it’s s franchise ? Or owned by Specialised?

I assume it's a franchise

magicbastarder

niallo32 wrote: »

there didn't seem to be any specials.

not very
SPECIALIZED
so.
wha?

nak

ted1 wrote: »

So it’s s franchise ? Or owned by Specialised?

It's a brand store owned by Specialized.

BuckleJazz

I bought a new S-Works frame and got itsent over from their concept store in Harrogate with a view to getting it built here (I'm getting all the components di2 groupset, wheels, etc. myself)
I got in contact with this new Brownsbarn Specialized and they quoted me €200 for the build.
Bit steep I thought...
Cycleways ( who have good mechanics in my experience ) then quoted me ~ €120 for build.
No brainer - till I looked at the box containing the frame : "Warranty void unless assembled by an Authorized dealer."
This new place is now the only authorised Specliazed dealer in Ireland according to Cycleways.

Don't like being ripped off unnecessarily and I'd normally just go with Cycleways, but I have this nagging doubt that 
the frame warranty would be voided, so I'll have to stump up the extra €80

Also enquired about the bike fit and they quoted me - €250!
I know it's Retul and all - but that's ridiculous compared to other similar top end bike fits available

So much for opening goodwill discounts..

magicbastarder

BuckleJazz wrote: »

No brainer - till I looked at the box containing the frame : "Warranty void unless assembled by an Authorized dealer."

i would love to know the legal status of this.
if they sell you a component, they are legally required to provide support, unless misuse is in play.

nak

The long term Cycleways mechanics no longer work there BTW.

Plastik

Some of the Cycleways mechanics, to the best of my knowledge, have moved to the Concept store.

nak

Plastik wrote: »

Some of the Cycleways mechanics, to the best of my knowledge, have moved to the Concept store.

It isn't a concept store, it's brand owned.

BuckleJazz

Plastik wrote: »

Some of the Cycleways mechanics, to the best of my knowledge, have moved to the Concept store.

Ok thanks for the tip.

BuckleJazz

magicbastarder wrote: »

i would love to know the legal status of this.
if they sell you a component, they are legally required to provide support, unless misuse is in play.

yeah I would have thought so.
I'm going to look into it a bit more, but the statements on all lengths of warranty ( 2 years, 5 years & lifetime) all have that stipulation.
www<dot>specializedconceptstore<dot>co<dot>uk/warranty/

magicbastarder

legally, any good you buy must last what would be considered a reasonable length of time for that item. warranties may add to this protection, but no warranty can take away from it.
the protection does not apply if goods are specifically sold as shop soiled, etc.

for example, if you bought a cooker with a one year warranty and it broke after two years, you would still reasonably expect the cooker be repaired or replaced, as two years is an unreasonably short period of time for one to last.

Weepsie

magicbastarder wrote: »

i would love to know the legal status of this.
if they sell you a component, they are legally required to provide support, unless misuse is in play.

Yup, plus there's a whole load of EU consumer laws which would come into play.

Won't ever buy a specialized product as they as a horrible company as far as I'm concerned. Anyone that litigious deserves no business

Reminds me of dealing with Microsoft support and them telling me an Xbox Controller had a 90 day warranty. I quickly reminded them I was based in Ireland and not the US where they could get away with that kind of nonsense.

I'll never buy a specialised bike either but then I'll likely never be able to afford one of them

n1ey

magicbastarder wrote: »

i can't get my head around a business model based on a bike manufacturer selling bikes through a single shop, which is not madly easy to get to unless you live nearby. the whole idea of an LBS is that it's L. is this a case of too many people in the marketing department brainstorming after a little too much colombian marching powder* and deciding their brand is so strong they'll be able to survive making it difficult for people to buy?

not actually suggesting this is what happened, just that it seems a little arrogant to operate this way.

Indeed it seems crazy. However, Fuji is far ahead of Spec. Fuji actually owns 100+ stores and their own online ordering brand. They are now vertically integrated.

For years, Specialized and Trek have been trying to become vertically integrated. However, in the U.S. it would face challenges about market domination. I think that Specialized faces the most resistance from the pre-existing channels. They would be able to make a push for it and the FTC would approve it. Specialized doesn't actually sell more than 2% of the bicycle market in the US.

Just think about that statement when you consider buying a Specialized.

I remember tons of promising engineering and many failures in actual build quality. Everyone around me used to race Cannondale. Cannondale is coming back. Right now, fuji makes a great bike for a lot less money. They are the value play from Philly.

Bill