Comments on: A custom painted Trek

By: James

James — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:12:00 +0000

blue boy, interesting about all the European customers that you are seeing at NYC bike shops. Makes sense though; why would they not want to take advantage of the favorable exchange rate.

By: Yokota Fritz

Yokota Fritz — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:23:00 +0000

Fascinating, Blue Boy. I don’t think I would have expected that, but I guess it makes sense.

By: Blue Boy

Blue Boy — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:43:00 +0000

James, American bicycle brands are increasing quite a bit in popularity in Europe and Asia. In fact Trek has a handful of concept stores in Europe and China and a bunch in Japan. Probably the most noticeable for me though is the number of European visitors who visit bikes shops here in NYC. They usually call about 3 weeks in advance of their trip looking for size, model, and pricing information. Because of the exchange rates a lot of high end bikes meant for the US market are heading overseas.

By: Michael Cody

Michael Cody — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:59:00 +0000

You could always just make a “second chance offer” to the second highest bidder…

By: Fritz

Fritz — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:57:00 +0000

I know, James, I was just being a little snarky.

My parents live in Japan and I ship stuff there semi-regularly. I've never had problems, but then something done routinely does become routine.

By: James

James — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:42:00 +0000

Fritz, I have been to Holland twice, and it has been a long time, so I am certainly not an expert. Even in the early to mid nineties though, I saw a few nice American road bikes over there. I went into one bike shop that sold Cannondale road and mountain bikes and had a big American flag behind them. The guy behind the counter confirmed that the bikes were very popular and that people were willing to pay more for them (compared to the European road bikes that he also carried). I guess it was just about having something exotic (kind of like the Italian bikes that interested me in the US). Of course the majority of the bikes you see are typical Dutch city bikes for basic transportation… and we had a great time riding those all over the place while we were there. Still, I would imagine that serious road bike riders and racers over there use carbon frames. And I bet that you would see bikes from Trek, Cannondale, and Specialized every so often. Maybe someone from Holland can confirm whether or not that is the case.

Surf, The second bidder on my Pinarello was in Vancouver. I checked shipping rates and was surprised at much it cost to ship there (not much less than overseas). I would rather just stick with a US address and not deal with customs form and everything.

By: surf-the-arts

surf-the-arts — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:48:00 +0000

USA, to an international country,postal rates were great 4 years ago for a bike , but now US post rates have gone through the roof to international destinations – mainly because of 911 (customs involvement). Japan post is great and is one of the best to deal with; by Japan EMS I can receive anything from Japan within 3 days to a week at a reasonable rate. Hong Kong is still good now. Now I’m back in Canada (a foreign country eh!), even ordering from the US is now way too costly. It’s really hard for eBay sellers and buyers to do business anymore. Nice bike – it will sell!

By: Fritz

Fritz — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:46:00 +0000

Bummer about your bike auction. I watched the price go up and up!

I’ve been led to believe that nice carbon fiber road bikes are purely an American phenomenon. I can’t imagine a Madone in Holland.