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Vendor Discussion & Reviews / Re: Catalog Cycles (completes)
« on: Today at 04:32:42 AM »
The transparency is appreciated. Some initial pointers.
1) I think you'll struggle at the price point. The Wheeltop groups will definitely hold you back - I doubt there's a single person in Australia willing to drop $12k on a bike with a Wheeltop groupset. I can walk into a 99 Bikes shop in my town and buy a Merida Reacto with Dura Ace Di2 for $10,000 - and that's a name brand WorldTour bike with a top-tier groupset and a power meter (yes - an absolute dog of a power meter, but anyway). For a cheaper brand, I could buy a Polygon Helios with Dura Ace Di2 for $7,000. If you're aiming at that price end of the market, you really have to able to supply Shimano or SRAM.
2) I can see that you're trying to go low volume, low risk (because you're building to order, so not taking any risk of stock on hand) but that means you can't make the profits at low margins that make cheaper Chinese products so appealing. It's hard to see this as anything more than buying a bunch of parts at retail prices and then assembling them - so what's the value proposition here? Why wouldn't I go to PandaPodium and order all these parts separately from a well-established and trusted business?
3) Make sure you fill out the template stuff on your website (e.g. terms of service) - when there's placeholders in there it leaves big red flags as to legitimacy. There's also no address listed - also a big red flag.
4) You've listened to the Nero Show so ask yourself this - would Chris or Jessie buy these products? Remember how long the L-Twoo eRX on his Tavelo lasted. There's some odd listings in the specs - the climbing bike specs a 10-51t MTB cassette (??), and 21mm internal width rims (come on, this is 2025!). The gravel bike (Tavelo Wild) also lists a 21mm internal width rim - way narrower than anyone wants in this day and age. Lastly - and sadly, a giveaway that you haven't had your hands on it, is that you're speccing 2.1" tyres when the frame spec is listed at 50mm clearance.
5) No power meter options seems silly given the great options available from China (Sigeyi Easton spider to pair with the Cybrei cranks).
6) Inconsistencies / typos in spec sheet. For example, looking at Tavelo Arow, description talks about a waxed KMC chain, specs mention a Shimano chain. The gravel bike lists a Dura Ace cassette when the render shows an XTR.
7) Lastly, you're probably preaching to the wrong audience here - while you as a business have to make sure that you're doing everything properly with tax on importing, GST etc., a regular punter doesn't. I can import all of my products without having to attract GST/duty (because the sellers will mark them as low value) - this means that I can build a bike for myself much cheaper than I can as a business without volume. That's obviously not your fault, but that's something you have to contend with.
It's a tough space to play in - the best way to make a small fortune in the bike industry is to start with a big one. Best of luck and it's good to be ambitious. Just keep asking yourself "what value am I adding here?" and let that be a guiding principle.
1) I think you'll struggle at the price point. The Wheeltop groups will definitely hold you back - I doubt there's a single person in Australia willing to drop $12k on a bike with a Wheeltop groupset. I can walk into a 99 Bikes shop in my town and buy a Merida Reacto with Dura Ace Di2 for $10,000 - and that's a name brand WorldTour bike with a top-tier groupset and a power meter (yes - an absolute dog of a power meter, but anyway). For a cheaper brand, I could buy a Polygon Helios with Dura Ace Di2 for $7,000. If you're aiming at that price end of the market, you really have to able to supply Shimano or SRAM.
2) I can see that you're trying to go low volume, low risk (because you're building to order, so not taking any risk of stock on hand) but that means you can't make the profits at low margins that make cheaper Chinese products so appealing. It's hard to see this as anything more than buying a bunch of parts at retail prices and then assembling them - so what's the value proposition here? Why wouldn't I go to PandaPodium and order all these parts separately from a well-established and trusted business?
3) Make sure you fill out the template stuff on your website (e.g. terms of service) - when there's placeholders in there it leaves big red flags as to legitimacy. There's also no address listed - also a big red flag.
4) You've listened to the Nero Show so ask yourself this - would Chris or Jessie buy these products? Remember how long the L-Twoo eRX on his Tavelo lasted. There's some odd listings in the specs - the climbing bike specs a 10-51t MTB cassette (??), and 21mm internal width rims (come on, this is 2025!). The gravel bike (Tavelo Wild) also lists a 21mm internal width rim - way narrower than anyone wants in this day and age. Lastly - and sadly, a giveaway that you haven't had your hands on it, is that you're speccing 2.1" tyres when the frame spec is listed at 50mm clearance.
5) No power meter options seems silly given the great options available from China (Sigeyi Easton spider to pair with the Cybrei cranks).
6) Inconsistencies / typos in spec sheet. For example, looking at Tavelo Arow, description talks about a waxed KMC chain, specs mention a Shimano chain. The gravel bike lists a Dura Ace cassette when the render shows an XTR.
7) Lastly, you're probably preaching to the wrong audience here - while you as a business have to make sure that you're doing everything properly with tax on importing, GST etc., a regular punter doesn't. I can import all of my products without having to attract GST/duty (because the sellers will mark them as low value) - this means that I can build a bike for myself much cheaper than I can as a business without volume. That's obviously not your fault, but that's something you have to contend with.
It's a tough space to play in - the best way to make a small fortune in the bike industry is to start with a big one. Best of luck and it's good to be ambitious. Just keep asking yourself "what value am I adding here?" and let that be a guiding principle.
