Nashbar : Mostly Junk For Sale ??

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I just got the latest Bike Nashbar catalogue. Not only are the prices
uniformly _worse_ than performance bicycle shop, but if you look at
the catalogue, its basically filled with lots of [censored].

Surprising since Performance owns Nashbar.

Quoted message said:

Do we really need a selection of 47 different types of bicycle pumps,
all of them junk?
Do we really need to choose among 27 different types of seat bags, all
all of them junk?

I think you just found which parts have the highest mark ups. 🙂

Quoted message said:

I am wondering when this company decided to stock too many generic
items, rather than the old way of doing things, which was to stock 5
or 7 choices of high quality products, and call it a day. Are Momo
Velo and Harris Cyclery the only mail order houses willing to stock
quality parts any more ??

I'm sure there are others, you just have to look for them.

Quoted message said:

How do I get off of the bike Nashbar
mailing list ??

Ask Nashbar.

-----------
Alex

"Donald Gillies" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I just got the latest Bike Nashbar catalogue. Not only are the prices
uniformly _worse_ than performance bicycle shop, but if you look at
the catalogue, its basically filled with lots of [censored].

Do we really need a selection of 47 different types of bicycle pumps,
all of them junk?

Do we really need to choose among 27 different types of seat bags, all
all of them junk?

I am wondering when this company decided to stock too many generic
items, rather than the old way of doing things, which was to stock 5
or 7 choices of high quality products, and call it a day. Are Momo
Velo and Harris Cyclery the only mail order houses willing to stock
quality parts any more ?? How do I get off of the bike Nashbar
mailing list ??

The mountain bike craze isn't helping, because everything on a
mountain bike has to be a little bit different than on a road bike,
because, well, because, well, because it just has to be !!!

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Welcome to the world of superperfermabar! The same [censored]'s been happening across
the street at Supergo too.

PBS is the 600# gorilla, but they're just not cyclists any more...

Mike

Alex Rodriguez <[email hidden]> aszonygya:
:Surprising since Performance owns Nashbar.

Wow!!! Really? That explains why Performance ships from Ohio [and I have to
pay sales tax].

BTW, I like Nashbar [except for the sales tax]. My order just came in and has
plenty of goodies. E.g., the cheapest Sora STI shifters I found on the
internet.

/Paul

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Alex Rodriguez <[email hidden]> aszonygya:
:Surprising since Performance owns Nashbar.

Wow!!! Really? That explains why Performance ships from Ohio [and I have to
pay sales tax].

Yes, it's true, but I believe they are operated independently.

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

"Donald Gillies" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I just got the latest Bike Nashbar catalogue. Not only are the prices
uniformly _worse_ than performance bicycle shop, but if you look at
the catalogue, its basically filled with lots of [censored].

I like them, some of their stuff is really cheep especially around
Christmas. Yeah, they got a lot of "[censored]" but who doesn't? I do wish they
had a better selection, I like ordering from just one place. I don't think
their stuff is [censored] but that's a relative term ... we have a store around
New England called Benny's that has real [censored] for bikes, stuff that don't
last 30 seconds *literally*. I don't ride a $5000 boutique bike either so I
like it when I can spruce up a yard sale bike with new tires, cables,
saddle, grip tape etc for $80.

C.Q.C.

David Kerber said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Alex Rodriguez <[email hidden]> aszonygya:

Quoted message said:

Surprising since Performance owns Nashbar.

Wow!!! Really? That explains why Performance ships from Ohio [and I
have to pay sales tax].

Yes, it's true, but I believe they are operated independently.

They bought Supergo, too, according to the mechanic I talked to a couple
weeks ago.

On 4 May 2004 11:17:28 -0700, [email hidden] (Donald Gillies) may

have said:

I just got the latest Bike Nashbar catalogue. Not only are the prices
uniformly _worse_ than performance bicycle shop, but if you look at
the catalogue, its basically filled with lots of [censored].

Do we really need a selection of 47 different types of bicycle pumps,
all of them junk?

"We" may not, but apparently Nashbar has found that there is a lot of
partisanship and feature-shopping amongst pump buyers. Personally, I
wouldn't buy a pump that I hadn't had in my hands first, but that's
me.

Quoted message said:

Do we really need to choose among 27 different types of seat bags, all
all of them junk?

One bag buyer's junk is another's treasure, I'd say.

Quoted message said:

I am wondering when this company decided to stock too many generic
items, rather than the old way of doing things, which was to stock 5
or 7 choices of high quality products, and call it a day.

From my experience in the retail world: Inexpensive items outsell
expensive ones by an average factor of 10 to 1. If you want the
customer's money, you must offer what the customer is willing to buy.
When the customers stop buying the junk, the merchants will stop
carrying it. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart's future seems assured.

Quoted message said:

Are Momo
Velo and Harris Cyclery the only mail order houses willing to stock
quality parts any more ??

No.

Quoted message said:

How do I get off of the bike Nashbar
mailing list ??

Have you tried asking them?

Quoted message said:

The mountain bike craze isn't helping, because everything on a
mountain bike has to be a little bit different than on a road bike,
because, well, because, well, because it just has to be !!!

MTB stuff is different from road in many places because the roadies
demand light weight more than bulletproof strength, while the mtb
riders are more concerned with making sure the bike doesn't fold up
when landing a jump. In other places, the differences derive from the
unshared ancestry; the road bikes descend from the road bikes of old,
while the mtb has old 40-pound Schwinns in the family tree. It might
be possible to achieve a greater commonality of components for a few
minutes, but shortly the differing demands would cause the products to
be customized to the market again. One size does not fit all.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Tue, 04 May 2004 20:21:36 GMT, "HardwareLust" <[email hidden]>

may have said:

David Kerber said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Alex Rodriguez <[email hidden]> aszonygya:
> Surprising since Performance owns Nashbar.

Wow!!! Really? That explains why Performance ships from Ohio [and I
have to pay sales tax].

Yes, it's true, but I believe they are operated independently.

They bought Supergo, too, according to the mechanic I talked to a couple
weeks ago.

That explains why I get catalogs from places I've never ordered from,
then. It's not like I have subscriptions to magazines that they could
be trolling, or like I ever fill out those deceptively-labelled
information-mining "warranty registration cards" that go straight to
the marketing firms and never get recorded for warranty records.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How do I get off of the bike Nashbar
mailing list ??

Have you tried asking them?

Try this one on: Years ago I somehow got dropped from their list, and I can't
get back on! I WANT to buy stuff from them now & then. I call and give them
my customer # and ask for a catalog -- no catalog. I actually ORDERED tires
over the phone and asked for a catalog. Received the tires, no catalogue.

Go figure.

Joe

In addition to their 'quality products' (or lack their of) the customer
service (for a return) didn't exactly impress the heck out of me. (That
last point should be saved for another thread though).

--

[email hidden] (Donald Gillies) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I just got the latest Bike Nashbar catalogue. Not only are the prices
uniformly _worse_ than performance bicycle shop, but if you look at
the catalogue, its basically filled with lots of [censored].

Do we really need a selection of 47 different types of bicycle pumps,
all of them junk?

Do we really need to choose among 27 different types of seat bags, all
all of them junk?

I am wondering when this company decided to stock too many generic
items, rather than the old way of doing things, which was to stock 5
or 7 choices of high quality products, and call it a day. Are Momo
Velo and Harris Cyclery the only mail order houses willing to stock
quality parts any more ?? How do I get off of the bike Nashbar
mailing list ??

The mountain bike craze isn't helping, because everything on a
mountain bike has to be a little bit different than on a road bike,
because, well, because, well, because it just has to be !!!

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

Hi, I think for the most part, Nashbar caters to the lower end of the
market and to people just getting started. You could say that
Performance covers the middle of the market, with Excel and Colorado
Cyclist the upper end.
They all have their place and they all cross over. Nashbar has some
good deals, on their website. I just ordered a Dura-Ace front hub for
$49.95. They were one of the few to offer the 28 hole. Performance
will price match, but they don't carry the 28 hole.

To me, one of the best deals is Team Performance and price matching.
Recently they were giving 20% in points and I got them to match
Nashbars $99.95 price for a DA freehub. By the way, Nashbar still has
the DA freehub in 28,32,36 hole for $99.95.

So, I don't agrre that they have mostly junk, or that their prices are
all higher.

Life is Good!
Jeff

[email hidden] (Donald Gillies) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I just got the latest Bike Nashbar catalogue. Not only are the prices
uniformly _worse_ than performance bicycle shop, but if you look at
the catalogue, its basically filled with lots of [censored].

Strange, it seemed to me that Nashbar had better prices than
Performance and a wider selection of components within a particular
category. Not a scientific study, just an impression.

Quoted message said:

Do we really need a selection of 47 different types of bicycle pumps,
all of them junk?

There is a limited amount of variety at both Nashbar and Performance.

Quoted message said:

Do we really need to choose among 27 different types of seat bags, all
all of them junk?

No.

Quoted message said:

I am wondering when this company decided to stock too many generic
items, rather than the old way of doing things, which was to stock 5
or 7 choices of high quality products, and call it a day.

My impression is that Performance does the latter, Nashbar the former.
I like the former for some things, cheap Shimano clone mtb pedals, for
instance, cheaper at Nashbar.

Quoted message said:

Are Momo
Velo and Harris Cyclery the only mail order houses willing to stock
quality parts any more ??

I like GiroPoste myself.

Quoted message said:

How do I get off of the bike Nashbar
mailing list ??

The mountain bike craze isn't helping, because everything on a
mountain bike has to be a little bit different than on a road bike,
because, well, because, well, because it just has to be !!!

My experience just happens to be the opposite- I discovered that mtb
pedals are much more practical for my daily rides on my roadbike.

JP

On 4 May 2004 11:17:28 -0700, [email hidden] (Donald Gillies)

Quoted message said:

Are Momo Velo and Harris Cyclery the only mail order houses willing to stock
quality parts any more ??

I thought I had a pretty extensive list of mail order sources in my
bookmarks, but have never heard of Momo Velo. A google search turns up
four references, but no web site. Who are these guys?

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

Quoted message said:

Hi, I think for the most part, Nashbar caters to the lower end of the
market and to people just getting started. You could say that
Performance covers the middle of the market, with Excel and Colorado
Cyclist the upper end.
They all have their place and they all cross over. Nashbar has some
good deals, on their website. I just ordered a Dura-Ace front hub for
$49.95.

Yes. Someone else who considers Dura Ace low end. I picked up some
low end Centaur, Chorus parts from Nashbar recently. During one of
their 20% off sales. Nashbar carries Centaur, Veloce, Chorus in the
Campagnolo line. Performance carries Record only. Colorado Cyclist
carries Record and Chorus. Excel carries Record, Chorus, Centaur, and
Veloce. I suppose they all carry some Shimano stuff too.

Quoted message said:

To me, one of the best deals is Team Performance and price matching.
Recently they were giving 20% in points and I got them to match
Nashbars $99.95 price for a DA freehub. By the way, Nashbar still has
the DA freehub in 28,32,36 hole for $99.95.

I also used a Performance 20% off coupon, and Team Performance, and
sales prices to get some low end Dura Ace shifters and cassette.
Shifters were $195 before the 20% and 10% reductions. Net about $140.
Not bad for low end. And of course the 20% and 10% sales prices
forced me to buy lots of extra things I have no need for.

I think Performance and Nashbar are two of the best mail order places
for the cyclist who cares about money. Each has 20% off sales about
once a year or so. Each has very good stuff on sale fairly often. If
you catch things right, you will save at least 25%-50% off other mail
order places. Some people might not think much of saving money. But
I prefer saving a few hundred dollars a year on bike components or
clothing. Its better in my pocket than in a retailer's pocket. Of
course all of these sales do force me to buy things I don't need.
Whereas the local bike shop prices and other mail order places don't
induce me to part with anything but what is absolutely required.

John Everett said:

I thought I had a pretty extensive list of mail order sources in my
bookmarks, but have never heard of Momo Velo. A google search turns up
four references, but no web site. Who are these guys?

have you not learned the fine art of top-level domain searching? it's
better than google.

http://www.momovelo.com
--
david reuteler
[email hidden]

Donald Gillies said:

I am wondering when this company decided to stock too many generic
items, rather than the old way of doing things, which was to stock 5
or 7 choices of high quality products, and call it a day. Are Momo
Velo and Harris Cyclery the only mail order houses willing to stock
quality parts any more ??

You might try Rivendell - http://www.rivbike.com/ - certainly some of
their obsessions are a little odd, but there's plenty of good stuff in
their catalogue even if you are not so retrogrouchy as some...
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> Distortion Field!

From my experience in the retail world: Inexpensive items outsell

Quoted message said:

expensive ones by an average factor of 10 to 1. If you want the
customer's money, you must offer what the customer is willing to buy.
When the customers stop buying the junk, the merchants will stop
carrying it. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart's future seems assured.

I order from both Performance and Nasbar because I'm tired of going to
2 or three shops to find what I need. I don't save money with the
shipping charges but I save on aggravation. Recently I needed a set of
7 speed shifters and special ordered them IN a performance shop. I was
told 2-3 days till they arrive, it took 6 weeks and got the wrong
part.

Last weekend I went to LBS for a shock pump, NONE in stock, special
order only. Went straight to Performance shop (I'm a glutton for
punishment)and they just ran out of stock! They offered to let me "red
phone order it". I went home and ordered it online.

Seem that shops tend to "specialize" in what they sell. Some shops I
go to for clothes, others for parts, others for accessories and still
others to actually purchase a bike brand I prefer. Royal pain in the
rear if you ask me.

David Reuteler said:

John Everett said:

I thought I had a pretty extensive list of mail order sources in my
bookmarks, but have never heard of Momo Velo. A google search turns up
four references, but no web site. Who are these guys?

have you not learned the fine art of top-level domain searching? it's
better than google.

http://www.momovelo.com

The fine art of Google searching works when you know that it's
"momovelo", not "momo velo". :-|

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

My Nashbar order came. Includes a used saddle [sold as new] and some missing
parts. Nashbar says: send it back and will replace it + they will pay for
postage. It is still a pain in the butt but I am willing to live with it in
return for the cheap prices. Best regards, Paul