Comments on: Quick Survey… 29ers at your LBS?

By: Southern California: Best Mountain Biking Locale in the World? | Mountain Bike Riders

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:46:15 +0000

[...] choices are good then having a ton of choices is even better right? A few weeks ago, I visited 4 different bikes shops to check out there 29er collections. These four shops were within 5 miles of each other, not [...]

By: Kevin B

Kevin B — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:25:49 +0000

the 29′er thing has definitely caught on here in central Pennsylvania. As far as the trek 69′er thing, I dont thing the silly high end single speed ones did very well but the top fuel FS ones are back ordered all over the place. Im really thinking hard about one if/when my santa cruz blur finally breaks.

By: Lance

Lance — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:33:12 +0000

Didn’t they have a Maverick fork on that one? The look of the bike certainly is strange.

The guy that repeatedly grabs the #1 pro plate at Southridge
XC rides a Titus Racer-X custom 69er. They look wierd but apparently they perform well.

By: Moe

Moe — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:31:38 +0000

Ghost, those 69ers did not sell very well. I believe an LBS has had one in stock for over a year! Even at cost, those bikes don’t seem to attract buyers. I wouldn’t buy one, I would rather get a FS 29er instead.

By: Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:41:58 +0000

Since when was the 69er a “trainwreck”? Travis Brown, Trek team rider and WINNER would certainly not agree!

By: RL

RL — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:54:35 +0000

You can look at this situation in two ways.

One would be the demand. If the store doesn’t have enough people asking for the product, then they have no need to carry it.

Then there’s also the credit terms that some shops have with mfgs. Let’s say Redline has a 30 day term with a shop, so that means they have to pay back RL the cost of the bike, plus shipping within 30 days of receipt of the bike. But what happens sometimes is the lack of general interest from customers to move these bikes out the door.

I know if a dealer that has two of those train wrecks that Trek called the “69er” in that gawdawful color, “rootbeer”. These bikes were listed over 2k and are still sitting at the store. The shop has discounted the bikes so many times that its now listed at their cost.

The other situation is the area. SoCal has a HUGE 29er community. I see those things everywhere. Maybe SoCal is just better groomed for the 29er movement than most places. I had heard that Ga. has a weak 29er market because the terrain there is mostly woods and 29ers have a harder time dealing with tight single track that require the rider to maneuver quickly through trees….