I think one of the things that most bothers me is the extreme price mark-up by companies like Rapha, whose products are made in China. A example which I've seen are some recent bags now being marketed by Brooks (which are labeled as "Made in China"). The "Cornwall" handlebar bag lists at $369.99 from Milwaukee Bicycle, each of the "Devon" rear panniers are listed at $349.99 (the drive and non-drive bags are individually priced). You can drop a cool $1,069.97 for the set. My LBS has a complete set of these bags on display, I found the pricing quite amusing. Each to his/her own, but this seems ridiculous to me for products made in China.
Jim Cloud Tucson, AZ > > Rivendell's philosophy and marketing seem to me to be broad based. If > > you're reading their stuff, you are definitely "good enough" to be using > > their products. Rapha, on the other hand, what with all that "hard-man, > > epic" stuff is all about exclusivity. If you can't average 18 mph on a > > hilly ride you are not only not fit to be a cyclist, you certainly > > aren't fit for (or going to fit!) Rapha stuff. > > Frankly, I have never been able to pay close attention to marketing > blurbs, no matter the medium. I have looked at Rapha price, > components and manufacture domicile. I cannot see how their approach > is similar to Rivendell's. > > On May 26, 4:51 pm, Steve Palincsar <palin...@his.com> wrote: > > > On Wed, 2010-05-26 at 14:19 -0700, JoelMatthews wrote: > > > > Rivendell's approach is inclusive, Rapha's is exclusive. > > > > The difference I see between Riv nd Rapha is the mark up. > > > > Riv bikes made in Taiwan use components and design close to their U.S. > > > and Japanese made products. Labor costs less, so Riv charges less. > > > > There are several companies that make products similar to Rapha using > > > U.S.,U.K. and even Swiss labor. Rapha makes almost all of its product > > > in China but nevertheless charges a premium. > > > I'm not talking about prices or markups, or even where the products are > > made. I'm talking about marketing and philosophy. > > > Rivendell's philosophy and marketing seem to me to be broad based. If > > you're reading their stuff, you are definitely "good enough" to be using > > their products. Rapha, on the other hand, what with all that "hard-man, > > epic" stuff is all about exclusivity. If you can't average 18 mph on a > > hilly ride you are not only not fit to be a cyclist, you certainly > > aren't fit for (or going to fit!) Rapha stuff. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
