TREK buys Electra

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I think Rat Rod is spot on. Electra has been around for 20 years, did a lot of glossy advertising which has all but disappeared. They dropped a tandem line, they scaled down the Amsterdam line. They abandoned the neat Balloon tired Amsterdam models along with others. They have a bunch of Cruiser and Townie options. It seems they increased the wild color theme bike as step trough models. The Ticino line has been reduced. They had the big parts closeout sale last year. Might want to hunt up a theme bike while they are still around to be had. Bought not built though.
 
Rat Rod said:
Friends I know who have been bike dealers for decades don't seem to have a very positive outlook on Electra's fate knowing they have been bought by Trek. They seem to think it will only mean the demise of the brand.

They also say that the theme bikes, while cool, creative and fun, are not the bread and butter for Electra. The $200 cruiser line is what they sell the most of and that was probably what Trek was after. If you want to start a bike company, you really need to produce bikes that you'll sell tens of thousands of. The wild looking bikes and choppers are really cool, but I don't think they sell enough of them to support a business of any decent size.
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You are correct, as much as someone might say that there will be no impact. Trek is not into dumping money into Electra and letting them do what ever they want. Trek will optimize products I would bet money that what Trek wanted is the pedal forward patent that Electra worked so hard at defending.

Electra makes cool looking bikes, but most of the cruiser are rarely ridden. When you get an Electra you buy a paint job, I have done it a lot of times. It's not all that practical to buy a $600+ bike with a fancy paint job when you can get a comparable for $150 at walmart. Proof of this is for the most part when you find a used one on CL most of the damage are dings and scratches from being moved around but the tires still have the flashing from production. I have picked up a few like this too, the majority of the Electra cruiser enthusiast only buy used ones.

From my understanding the money makers at Electra are the Townies, Aluminum frame, upright and in the $400 price range. I think Trek will reduce the cruiser line, get rig of the tecino and versus and come out with other variation of the pedal forward concept that is so popular.
 
WOW, I look forward to seeing what comes of this, I too have always liked Trek quality but not necessarily all their bikes.

I guess the "Original Electra's" can now officially become collectable and more valuable over time....

My concern is that the smaller shops (3 within a 35 mile radius of my house), may loose the Electra line and the big mega store that is the Trek dealer will be the only shop selling Electra's. From what I can see it will hurt the small shops and decrease competition............

Either way I will embrace the change and see what happens.........
 
MIGZ said:
You are correct, as much as someone might say that there will be no impact. Trek is not into dumping money into Electra and letting them do what ever they want. Trek will optimize products I would bet money that what Trek wanted is the pedal forward patent that Electra worked so hard at defending.

Electra makes cool looking bikes, but most of the cruiser are rarely ridden. When you get an Electra you buy a paint job, I have done it a lot of times. It's not all that practical to buy a $600+ bike with a fancy paint job when you can get a comparable for $150 at walmart. Proof of this is for the most part when you find a used one on CL most of the damage are dings and scratches from being moved around but the tires still have the flashing from production. I have picked up a few like this too, the majority of the Electra cruiser enthusiast only buy used ones.

From my understanding the money makers at Electra are the Townies, Aluminum frame, upright and in the $400 price range. I think Trek will reduce the cruiser line, get rig of the tecino and versus and come out with other variation of the pedal forward concept that is so popular.
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Yes, they wanted the patent that's obvious, but they also wanted the brand, they are known as the premiere beach cruiser of today. I bet they will keep the brand in place and utilize it on other bike models to increase sales of urban bikes.

Come on I know they pissed you off but to say that walley world has a comparable bike is wrong and completely inaccurate from many many standpoints.......if you want to argue this, I will give you the details, but man it's probably not worth wasting my time.....

Let's just see how this plays out.....
 
irideiam said:
Yes, they wanted the patent that's obvious, but they also wanted the brand, they are known as the premiere beach cruiser of today. I bet they will keep the brand in place and utilize it on other bike models to increase sales of urban bikes.

Come on I know they pissed you off but to say that walley world has a comparable bike is wrong and completely inaccurate from many many standpoints.......if you want to argue this, I will give you the details, but man it's probably not worth wasting my time.....

Let's just see how this plays out.....
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Not trying to bash Electra I own more than a few of these bikes so that is where I'm coming from. If you look at the bikes for what they are frames and components.

The major difference is frame geometry and paint job. The rest of the components are the normal run of the mill Asian supply chain stuff. Everyone wants to bash walmart bikes, when was the last time you heard of a frame breaking or complete failure that was not the result of poor assembly or complete abuse.

The process and technology in producing these bikes is the same. That is why I say a comparable. There are more than a few people on here who have build up some really nice walmart bikes nothing wrong with walmart bikes.

Walmart get the benefit from economies of scale which is the big driver since they order large volume. They pass the saving onto the buyer. Also remember that walmart makes its money on large volume not large margin.

Below is a bike that is less than half of a woman's Electra Cruiser. Look close and you will see for the most part the big difference is the the frame and paint job. Alot of the components are the same no major difference.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Greenline-Bicycles-Women-s-3-Speed-Beach-Cruiser/28865191

Again not trying to bash, but remove the Electra name brand and your bicycle enthusiast bias. Why would a normal guy that wants to ride the neighborhood with his kids buy a $700+ bike when he goes to walmart and see another nexus 3 speed at less than half the price?

The forum has thousands of member how many of them own electras? Probably not all that many because they are really expensive and most people will not spend that much on a bike. If you look at the other forum how many people buy new Electra's. How many new Electra have you bought, was it more for the paint job and frame? I have bought a lot of paint jobs and that is what I'm paying for not a far superior quality bike with far superior components.

So please don't take offense I feel the same about Felt and the other major cruiser companies. That's why for the most part all of my more recent bikes have been builds from frame up so I can add the nicer components.
 
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MIGZ said:
Not trying to bash Electra I own more than a few of these bikes so that is where I'm coming from. If you look at the bikes for what they are frames and components.

The major difference is frame geometry and paint job. The rest of the components are the normal run of the mill Asian supply chain stuff. Everyone wants to bash walmart bikes, when was the last time you heard of a frame breaking or complete failure that was not the result of poor assembly or complete abuse.

The process and technology in producing these bikes is the same. That is why I say a comparable. There are more than a few people on here who have build up some really nice walmart bikes nothing wrong with walmart bikes.

Walmart get the benefit from economies of scale which is the big driver since they order large volume. They pass the saving onto the buyer. Also remember that walmart makes its money on large volume not large margin.

Below is a bike that is less than half of a woman's Electra Cruiser. Look close and you will see for the most part the big difference is the the frame and paint job. Alot of the components are the same no major difference.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Greenline-Bicycles-Women-s-3-Speed-Beach-Cruiser/28865191

Again not trying to bash, but remove the Electra name brand and your bicycle enthusiast bias. Why would a normal guy that wants to ride the neighborhood with his kids buy a $700+ bike when he goes to walmart and see another nexus 3 speed at less than half the price?

The forum has thousands of member how many of them own electras? Probably not all that many because they are really expensive and most people will not spend that much on a bike. If you look at the other forum how many people buy new Electra's. How many new Electra have you bought, was it more for the paint job and frame? I have bought a lot of paint jobs and that is what I'm paying for not a far superior quality bike with far superior components.

So please don't take offense I feel the same about Felt and the other major cruiser companies. That's why for the most part all of my more recent bikes have been builds from frame up so I can add the nicer components.
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Well said. I couldn't agree more.
 
I've got an Electra Straight 8 that I ride every day. And yep - I bought it for the nice frame and paint - and as a starting point for customizing.
I think the componentry is definitely bottom end. Mainly because I've broken nearly everything on it once - including the crank set.
I still really like it though, but it's a bit like owning my old Triumph motorcycle.
 
5speed said:
finally anon negitive realistic posting about walmart bikes!!
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Albeit a $200+ basic cruiser from Walmart.

I wouldn't take it as a blanket defense of things like 99 buck full suspension MTBs....
 
We have 5 electras, 2 were bought new. I tried to buy some wallyworld cruisers and they all had dented fenders torn seats broken pedals missing shifter parts, they rode like crap and were really uncomfortable. At this point I'm happy I bought the 2 new electras, before they became "collectible" like any old cruiser.
 
i think there are alot of people in the bike hobby,and as with other hobbies there are different levels of interest,i am glad there are alot of levels of bikes to chose from,the more people in the hobby the more fun it is
 
I haven't bought a new at retail bike for a long time. I don't buy new cars either. I bought my Basman from a dealer but $850 for a brand new complete bike was still a stretch even though it was 1/3 off. I did just buy an Electra Ghostrider used for less than 1/2 the list price. Changed a couple things on it but yes, I bought it for the paint job and the style and the fact that it's one of the few cruisers I fit. Definitely no Walmart equivalent available. I did buy an unused Walmart Huffy bike last year from someone to swipe the wheels off of it and boy was that bike crummy. Part of it due to Walmart assembly I'm sure but some of the Huffy parts are pretty poorly made. Not a fair comparison against any Electra I've seen and I've seen a lot over the past year riding with the Electra group.

I hope that Electra carries on somewhat independent from Trek. My company got taken over by another company and although we're still somewhat separate, they take our income and then we have to beg to get any back plus they install their people here and they screw up our products and treat us like lower class people. But it's better than the other half of our company that got taken over by a string of private equity companies.

Time will tell.
 
What it does sound like is the perfect opportunity for someone else to get in on the wild paint job business. Might be the right time to bump the king of cruisers off the throne. :showingbiceps:

Either that or we'll all be wrong and the new connection with Trek's finances could create even cooler bikes.........well, I don't know about that one. :whistle:
 
This is the part I was fearing, the dealers that don't want trek telling them what bikes they have to sell in order to get the bikes they want. Says here that "A Trek spokesperson said existing Electra retailers are still working with the Vista, California, company's inside sales staff. But, according to sources close to the matter, independent reps selling the Electra brand were let go during a brief conference call."

My guess is current shops will probably get grandfathered in for a while ... until they change the rules around and you have to be a Trek compliant shop. Bottom line is you probably wont see low pressure, mom and pop bike shops getting these bikes in after a while. It's my guess they will be in the we can't fix that - you should buy another - we have 3 locations in the metro area - shops.

http://www.bicycleretailer.com/nort...ek-announces-acquisition-electra#.UtEGFYuzKpg
 
Get what you want now instead of thinkin' it will 'always be around'; this has been true in the past (think about what is no longer available) and will be true in the future. Thats the thing about truth.......
 

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