[wardinside]

About a month or so ago, someone posted question on top ten brands of road bikes.

Last year's figures have just been reported - with no surprises - except Raleigh being knocked out by Cervelo and Felt

companies are
AMERICAN BICYCLE (LITGHTSPEED/MERLIN/ETC)
BIANCHI
CANNONDALE
CERVELO
FELT
FUJI
GIANT
MOTOBECANE
SPECIALIZED
TREK (TREK/LEMOND/ETC)


people can guess about the volume order; but at this level - it does not matter much
is my guess

 

[Dave Hickey]

About a month or so ago, someone posted question on top ten brands of road bikes.

Last year's figures have just been reported - with no surprises - except Raleigh being knocked out by Cervelo and Felt

companies are
AMERICAN BICYCLE (LITGHTSPEED/MERLIN/ETC)
BIANCHI
CANNONDALE
CERVELO
FELT
FUJI
GIANT
MOTOBECANE
SPECIALIZED
TREK (TREK/LEMOND/ETC)


people can guess about the volume order; but at this level - it does not matter much
is my guess

Source of this info? No offense but whenever these type of posts come up, the source is never given. Your posts have always been very informative but where did this information come from?

 

[wardinside]

source

Source of this info? No offense but whenever these type of posts come up, the source is never given. Your posts have always been very informative but where did this information come from?

bicycle suppilers group
annual reporting meeting

as you may know, exact firgures can not be given out
but relative rankings are ok

 

[divve]

He's just upset Look isn't listed

 

[Dave_Stohler]

Or, if you went by total sales, it would be:

Huffy
Schwinn
Magna
(Wal-Mart) Mongoose
Free Spirit
.............
........

etc.

 

[wardinside]

ROAD BIKES only - and just in USA

Or, if you went by total sales, it would be:

Huffy
Schwinn
Magna
(Wal-Mart) Mongoose
Free Spirit
.............
........

etc.

The post is just on road bike sales -- but you are correct, in that, if Road Bikes become real popular again - WalMart will start selling them, and they would outsell Trek and everyone else with no trouble (after all WalMart sells more bikes than every dealer in the USA added together)

I normally do not post opinions - but I do think it will be several years until the Road market gets large enough to attract much attention from WalMart, Target, and ToysRUs (the big 3 bike sellers in the USA)

 

[Dave Hickey]

bicycle suppilers group
annual reporting meeting

as you may know, exact firgures can not be given out
but relative rankings are ok

Thanks for the info and another question for you. With the flood of carbon products coming out of Asia, do you think we'll see big price drops on carbon stems,bars, wheels, etc....?

 

[Dave Hickey]

He's just upset Look isn't listed

If LOOK made the list, I'd probably switch to TIME. As much as I love LOOK frames, I don't want to see the under every butt on road

 

[wardinside]

Carbon Fiber

Thanks for the info and another question for you. With the flood of carbon products coming out of Asia, do you think we'll see big price drops on carbon stems,bars, wheels, etc....?

YES - there will be price drops every year - even with the falling US Dollar
main area of reduction, will be frames with Carbon Rear Stays
(some have posted here or on bicycling - that carbon rear stays reduces the price of Aluminum frames - This is of course wrong -- I wish posters would post only what they know for sure when stating it as a fact --- ANYWAY frames with carbon rear seat stays now get a $60 FOB upcharge or so - that will drop to $30 very soon)

super light stems and bars in carbon and in Aluminum are dropping in price now
you will be able to get 100gr stems at $99 RETAIL! - so much less when discounted

also, road bikes that are very light - like 15lbs, will soon be way under $2000

it is a great time to be into bike technology - best ever and prices are great (my opinion)

 

[nonutin]

Is your list in order of magnitude of sales with...

AMERICAN BICYCLE being #1 and Trek being 10th?

About a month or so ago, someone posted question on top ten brands of road bikes.

Last year's figures have just been reported - with no surprises - except Raleigh being knocked out by Cervelo and Felt

companies are
AMERICAN BICYCLE (LITGHTSPEED/MERLIN/ETC)
BIANCHI
CANNONDALE
CERVELO
FELT
FUJI
GIANT
MOTOBECANE
SPECIALIZED
TREK (TREK/LEMOND/ETC)


people can guess about the volume order; but at this level - it does not matter much
is my guess

 

[Tower]

AMERICAN BICYCLE being #1 and Trek being 10th?

Yes..................alphabetically............look closer....

 

[Kram]

Yep, me too. They are already getting a bit more popular around here. Got to start saying "they s$ck" so that others won't buy more

 

[collectorvelo]

too bad about Raleigh

it is too bad Raleigh has fallen so far; they used to be the best in production road bikes and then went thru all types of trouble. I have two old Raleighs from the 70s and early 80s - they are both real nice
now they seem to not only have really low image bikes; but also falling from number 1 in road to off the list of top ten
it is just a little sad

 

[ferrantee]

I wonder about Aluminum vs Steel - sales on road

It is funny, most shop owners and seasoned riders seem to love steel road bikes - but shops are full of aluminum bikes
And on this list - only LeMond, Bianchi, Fuji, and Motobecane seem to have any high grade steel
Is it just the look? or what? to me it is so clear that steel rides better -- just my opinion of course

 

[CFBlue]

I'm not seasoned, or a bike shop owner but...

for road racing, I can't imagine riding anything other than steel, ever. Especially while I'm footing the bill... for the track I might get an aerodynamic carbon or Al frame.

I think the reason that Al and carbon are so popular is that numbers are easy to sell. "Less than 1kg etc" The ride quality, durability, and stiffness of a nice steel frame is difficult to convey. It's unfortunate also that people buy bikes that just don't suit them, but that's what you get when you combine affluence and ignorance.

Anyway, back to a positive note, steel kicks ass!

 

[BikinBrian]

What kind of wheels are those?

I have never seen those before,..

 

[asterisk]

I'm just speculating but I believe it also has to do with the fact that producing mass quantities of alum frames has gotten progressively cheaper versus steel frames in the last few years. I know waaay back when I purchased my mountain bike, a Fisher, most of the line was steel and the catolog touted the wonders of steel. Now you look through and Trek or Trek owned catolog and you'll see all alum frames.

But I agree, chromo rules!

I think the reason that Al and carbon are so popular is that numbers are easy to sell. "Less than 1kg etc" The ride quality, durability, and stiffness of a nice steel frame is difficult to convey.

 

[CycloPathic]

It is funny, most shop owners and seasoned riders seem to love steel road bikes - but shops are full of aluminum bikes
And on this list - only LeMond, Bianchi, Fuji, and Motobecane seem to have any high grade steel
Is it just the look? or what? to me it is so clear that steel rides better -- just my opinion of course

if you check LeMond dropped alot mid-level steel frames, low end models are all Al now, and the same happen to other brands like Fuji, KHS, etc. I guess they were not selling that well and were more expensive. 520 Reynolds frames are extinct

 

[dante]

if you check LeMond dropped alot mid-level steel frames, low end models are all Al now, and the same happen to other brands like Fuji, KHS, etc. I guess they were not selling that well and were more expensive. 520 Reynolds frames are extinct

GF bought a Jamis Ventura last year b/c it was steel (520), and rode better than the alu cannondale she tried. Now the Ventura is alu... Glad she got hers when she did, the extra pound/pound and a half is well worth the ride...

dante

 

[Coolhand]

Steel is real-ly going away in the general market

With the rise of Carbon forks and carbon stays in the mid range and lower range road & hybrid bikes, the ride quality of steel is not as important to most buyers as is the weight, stiffness (certain lightweight steel frames), rust and other issues. With steel being squeezed out by Ti and CF on the higher end, and carbon forked, carbon stayed Al Bikes on the lower end- steel is becoming more of a speciality item on road bikes, limited to the "steel is real" devoted fans, small custom builders without the capacity to work in Ti, and retro classic lines (mmm Waterford!).

Eventually it is hard to imagine many steel bikes will be built for the general market at all. Rather it will become more of a custom item. Nothing looks as nice as a properly done steel lugged frame. But when it's their wallet, most buyers do not seem to be buying or even looking for steel bikes on average. Even alot of traditionally steel bike builders now crank out more CF, Ti and AL/CF models to steel models.

Coolhand