been looking at a rail 9.5

[nobbyq]

and found some shops with pre orders ....... wait for it 29/12/2023 ...... seriously who's going to wait that long ?

 

[folmonty]

A local Trek shop just received 4 of them. Hard to tell when or where these show up. This is in No. CA.

 

[markloch]

and found some shops with pre orders ....... wait for it 29/12/2023 ...... seriously who's going to wait that long ?

I relentlessly searched for inventory on trek‘s site - like twice a day or more for months - until an XL showed up last May and bought it instantly from a shop two hours away. I wouldn’t be surprised if it‘s the same LBS that @folmonty referenced - place is Santa Cruz seems to get a lot of them

 

[folmonty]

Was at the Trek Livermore shop yesterday and they had just received 5 Rail 9.9 bikes. Trek has 3 company owned stores all within 10 miles of each other plus couple other independent shops as well. Don't really understand that from a marketing standpoint? Anyway, seems store personnel don't really know what will show up or when? Rail 5's and 7's seem to be the hard ones to come by now. At least around here. Something else that happened I just heard yesterday is that a 12 store chain close their doors. All that inventory is flowing to other dealers. Can't confirm that but was told by another dealer, so wouldn't want to spread a rumor like this until known for certain.

 

[markloch]

I’m in Marin and according to google maps I’m 4.1, 8.4, 10.3, 13.7, miles away from four corporate Trek stores. Another five Trek dealers in the same range. That said, I see a lot more Levos on the mountain - maybe 10:1 to Rail. Santa Cruz and Trek emtbs around the same in number. I don’t see many Cannondale emtbs, and Marin Bikes are just starting to get serious about emtbs.

Wow the only 12-store chain I can think of was bought up in August, I can’t imagine they’re folding, maybe consolidating? Rebranding?

 

[folmonty]

Wow the only 12-store chain I can think of was bought up in August, I can’t imagine they’re folding, maybe consolidating? Rebranding?

Had read the same but that's what the independent shop told me. Just listened. Looks like they took some of the Levo inventory.

Not sure company owned stores are a great idea but looks like that's the game plan. Over here Livermore Cyclery had a great reputation for sales and service. The owner went OAB for me couple of times. They had a crack mechanic group as well. They've all left and gone to other shops in the area. Kind of sad. Now it feels like a very different place.

We can wave at each other from across the lake while up on the mountain top!

 

[Doug Stampfer]

Excuse my thickness but you mean that Trek have their own shops selling only their bikes? Are the prices cheaper & availibilty better?I'd be pissed off if I owned a independent shop trying to compete with them

 

[folmonty]

Excuse my thickness but you mean that Trek have their own shops selling only their bikes? Are the prices cheaper & availibilty better?I'd be pissed off if I owned a independent shop trying to compete with them

Yup, they do. I've not seen them discount their bikes but would be hard pressed if being a loyal independent dealer to think they don't get some preferential supply considerations. They (Trek) purchased a popular local bike shop couple years ago which gave them immediate market impact. From my past motorcycle marketing experience the bicycle business has many similarities. Neither one is as big as people might think. Doesn't take much to really upset the marketplace and that's not taking into consideration non-brick and mortar business.

 

[Third-Reef]

I just looked locally and found this for a 2021 9.7 large. The TREK web site does a good job of finding inventory.