Bike Switzerland had been 100% BMC almost from the beginning.
But around this time last year, we began feeling the winds of change !
We wanted to move into sales, but there were already too many shops selling BMC, and so we were forced to find other partners: Felt, Kona and Price.
These are good brands and their bikes served us well. Still, we missed being a “one-brand” shop and so I sent a mail to John Burke (Trek’s president) and he answered back !
Trek ?!! The more I looked, the more sense it made:
– When you buy from one supplier, margins are very good.
– Trek has 90% of what we need: Race, Mountain, Touring
– Excellent distribution (they don’t run out of bikes)
– Best warranty in the business & easy returns
There are lots of good brands out there and most of them make good bikes.
So how do bike brands differentiate themselves ? Mostly it’s advertising: companies sponsor teams, athletes, events, etc..
Few companies are big and confident enough to actually spend time and money on research and technology.
Trek is one of these leaders and here are just a few recent innovations:
– Integrated seatposts and Isospeed technology
– Integrated computers
– Integrated brakes
– The best carbon fiber technology in the industry
– The lightest factory built roadbike ever.
And there’s more:
Ladies don’t generally have a lot of choice, but TREK has at least 18 different WSD road bikes in 2015.
…not to mention WSD mountain bikes and tri-bikes.
Or perhaps you want something different ? A slightly different transmission, crank arm, color or bar tape ? Take a look at Trek’s Project One.
But we are living in the era of micro-brews & independent films. We’re all rooting for the underdog and so Trek’s success can also be a disadvantage.
Not everyone wants integrated brakes or needs the lightest carbon available.
And so, we’ll be continuing to work with Price Bikes to make our in-house “Bike Switzerland” brand available in 2015.
