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Kit Not Distributed In The Uk


J.KYDD

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So the company I work for (http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/) is looking into getting in trials kit.

So this is a direct question to you guys to ask what stuff you would like to see available that currently isnt.

As an example ZHI/BIONIC stuff is not currently distributed by any UK company.

Post below any companies or equipment you'd like to see brought in

Cheers

Josh

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Tartybikes has it all and no one can beat them. They take onbord what we want and this is why they carry the product range they do. It works, looks good, cheap, doesn't fail. Zhi, Bionic are all sister brands and cheaper market. I got the shop thats done it for years, is world wide known, tests the parts and uses them there self.

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I'm not saying tarty ar'nt great, i always use them. But it can't hurt to have more than just one retailer in the UK supplying to the trials market.

Companies we are already looking to sell are

Try-All

Echo

Onza/Tensile

Zhi/Bionic

And we'll look into any suggestions we get from you guys.

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Definitely, a wider range of stores stocking trials kit can't be bad, even if it is largely the same kit that's already in the UK.

There's a reason that Tarty don't stock certain brands though, so just because you might be able to bring them in doesn't necessarily mean it'd be worthwhile to do so.

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It would be great to have a dealer in the uk that stocked Zhi/Bionic parts... Trials-uk use to do them but there sadly no longer running.

But i quite like zhi/bionic products Yao Zhi the owner of the sister brands originally use to ride for zoo years back... obviously now hes running his own companys hes sort of compeiting against deng products. But zhi stuff seems to be good value.

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Yao Zhi the owner of the sister brands originally use to ride for zoo years back... obviously now hes running his own companys hes sort of compeiting against deng products

This is the reason you won't find Echo and ZHI products together at the same shop usually...

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This is the reason you won't find Echo and ZHI products together at the same shop usually...

Genuine question adam...

Is this generally the shop chosing to stock/not stock competing brands, or the manufacturers refusing to supply to such shops on the basis of them also stocking a competitors product?

If its the latter then surely that makes no sense as in order to compete you need to be in the market and allow people to make a choice to use the product? Obviously in a market as relatively small as cycle trials (where Im guessing most of the supply is through tarty in the uk), finding an alternative distributor may prove difficult, especially one who has majority market share/customer loyalty.

Are you able to shed any light? :)

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manufacturers refusing to supply to such shops on the basis of them also stocking a competitors product?

This - but not quite as you said. I don't know all the ins and outs and history behind the 'conflict', but we once got some ZHI stuff in stock and were told that we wouldn't be getting any more Echo stuff if the ZHI parts didn't disappear off the site...

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This - but not quite as you said. I don't know all the ins and outs and history behind the 'conflict', but we once got some ZHI stuff in stock and were told that we wouldn't be getting any more Echo stuff if the ZHI parts didn't disappear off the site...

That makes sense, although in this case I would have thought it foolish to refuse to supply tarty with deng products simply because of a competitors product also being sold - imho its forcing you (monopolising?) to stock certain products, also seems a bit underhand. Obviously there is some factor other than commercial competetion because I presume you dont have the same issues with other manufacturerers in competition with deng?

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Yeah, but that's the trials business :P

Yao used to work for Deng, but apparently when he left he 'stole' a lot of his business contacts, allowing him to start up the ZHI brand. That's the reason for the problems I guess..

Aye, fully understand the whole industrial espionage thing. Suppose it just puts you in an awkward position and zhi without access to the largest trials retailer in the country (world?), Im sure they would be far more common over here if you did stock them.

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In my experience, you need to be careful with having too many distributors of the same product. The company i work for is the European distributor getting X discount. We then sell to a Partner programme and they all get the same level of discount from us. It is then up to them as to how much they discount a product to gain the sale over their competitors.

As tarty hold the leading share of distribution in the UK, they will get a pretty good discount when purchasing components. If this new company starts up and competes against Tarty and taking their sales, Tarty may lose their level of discount as the value of their spend decreases. This could mean the prices going up on conponents which would be bad for you, the buyer.

The other fact is Tartybikes is now a household name. I know there are other smalled places selling some products (onza for instance), but essentially, Tarty will have the stock and be able to offer the best price.

If this new company does get set up, it will probably be running a smaller margin on products to be competitive and no business likes to do that unless you are box shifting product at a higher value. As you can see from the stress Adam gets, it could be more hassle than it's worth.

All the best to this new company, but think how the pricing could affect the UK market.

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If this new company

What new company? St John Street cycles is a very well established internet retailer with a fantasic reputation that has been around for years.

We are a Rohloff touring and audax specialist and are the manufacturer and owner of Thorn cycles, probably the worlds best touring bike company.

The company is looking to diversify into trials as it is another niche market

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