Iron Horse Pulls Line From IBD

[Too Tall]

HOLBROOK, NY (BRAIN)?Iron Horse Bicycle Company announced Tuesday that it will discontinue sales of its middle and lower priced bicycles through independent bicycle dealers and will sell its high-end bikes exclusively through Randall Scott Cycle Company in Boulder, Colorado.

Cliff Weidberg, chief executive officer of World Wide Cycle Supply and Iron Horse Bicycle Company, said Iron Horse made the changes ?to protect its market share from tough competition from companies like Trek and Specialized, who are asking their dealers to make these brands the number one or two brands sold in their stores.?

As of September 1, low- and mid-priced Iron Horse bicycles will be available in chains such as Dick?s Sporting Goods, The Sports Authority, REI, LL Bean, Toy?s R Us, Wal-Mart, Performance Bicycles and the Forzani Group in Canada.

Additionally, Iron Horse will be the number one brand in Randall Scott?s retail store in Boulder giving it the ability to control the customer experience and offer better service, pricing and overall value to the consumer, Weidberg said.

Iron Horse will be the first major brand to allow bicycle sales both in store and online, recognizing the importance that on line bicycle sales will play in the future of the industry, he said.

Because Iron Horse has long been a leader in racing technology, the company intends to maintain this high end racing focus through its partnership with Randall Scott Cycle.

Tani Walling, owner of The Path Bike Shop in Tustin, California, has been carrying Iron Horse bikes since 2004 and said the brand made up about 20 percent of the shop?s complete bike sales.

Walling has pulled his remaining Iron Horse stock from the sales floor and will liquidate the product.

?It?s a big disappointment for us. We have a lot invested in the brand and we have for a number of years supported the brand in terms of how we represented it in the shop and how our sales staff sold the brand,? Walling said.

Iron Horse has been an IBD brand throughout its 20-year history and Weidberg thanked its customers for their support.

?In these difficult economic times, Iron Horse and World Wide Cycle are taking the lead in creating a new business model that will secure the continued success of its many brands,? according to a press release issued by World Wide. World Wide?s other brands include Jeep, K-2 and Columbia.

For more on this story, be sure to read the August 1 issue of Bicycle Retailer & Industry News.

?Nicole Formosa

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[taylorj]

It's a pity. The Path Bike Shop and Tani Walling is the last store I would pull my brand from. I've worked with Tani (he's also cool a dude to surf and roll with), and his shop is one of the best IBD's I've had the pleasure of working with. The industry is in for some turmoil---along with the rest of the country.

[Dave Kirk]

I think we'll be seeing much more of this as the big boy manufacturers pressure your LBS harder and harder for more and more floor space and to limit the competing brands in the store. The little guys will be squeezed out and need to find alternative means of distribution. I think we'll see more arrangements like the Iron Horse deal and we'll even see some companies go customer direct.

The temptation to go customer direct is strong as they can sell 1/2 the number of bikes at the same profit. The downside is that they will need to deal with hundreds or thousands of customers instead of 50ish dealers. Those that make the transition well will print money and those that don't will fill eBay with NOS.

It's going to be interesting.

Dave

[Archibald]

Iron Horse is bailing water backwards. First they dropped the DW Link, which is a mistake for them as it was the #1 selling point for their dually MTB's, and now this. I have to wonder if they're just going the "Mongoose" route as the new Huffy because they're certainly doing every thing they can to limit their appeal to avid MTB'ers.

[davids]

Iron Horse is bailing water backwards. First they dropped the DW Link, which is a mistake for them as it was the #1 selling point for their dually MTB's, and now this. I have to wonder if they're just going the "Mongoose" route as the new Huffy because they're certainly doing every thing they can to limit their appeal to avid MTB'ers.

I didn't realize they dropped the DW Link. That was the only thing that distinguished them from any number of other second-tier (size-wise) companies.

Who is actually making DW Link bikes right now? Ibis? Pivot? IF isn't actually making their version...

[Archibald]

I didn't realize they dropped the DW Link. That was the only thing that distinguished them from any number of other second-tier (size-wise) companies.

Who is actually making DW Link bikes right now? Ibis? Pivot? IF isn't actually making their version...

Yeah, dumb phacking move of the year, but maybe not worth the fees if they're just going to market to the cobweb crowd.

As far as who's using the DW link, what you said...