Backcountry.com Launches Two Bike Sites: HuckNroll.com and RealCyclist.com
By Rocky Thompson on May 21st, 2009
Local bike shops are great. You get to heft the bikes, go on test rides, and look at a bunch of gleamed out machines you’d never be able to afford. That said, they have some short comings. Local shops won’t have the size you need or the color you want in stock, and you’ll have to wait a month for the warehouse to drop it in the mail. Some of them employ a bunch of assholes who condescend to talk to you about bikes you’re prepared to drop two-month’s salary on and slam the door in your face when you stop back in to buy an $8 spare tube. They’re not open 24 hours, and if you live in a rural area you might not even have a place within hours that stocks high-end bikes.
No worries. Backcountry.com is launching two bike brands today. HuckNroll.com is dedicated to high-end mountain bikes, and RealCyclist.com is for roadies. HuckNroll and RealCyclist not only offer deeper stock, free shipping, and unparalleled customer service-you can also return stuff. They’ll both come with a 30-day Unlimited Return Policy (though I should point out that limiting the return policy to 30 days technically mean’s it’s no longer ‘unlimited’). Try returning a bike you bought two weeks ago to your local shop, they’ll punch you in the face.
Tags: Cycling
I’ve got to say, I’m a little let down. BC’s return policy is awesome and this is turning the BC bike side to a high end nashbar. I would have liked to see BC keep the bikes and all the related gear at the goat, keeping the goat return policy.
Also, does anyone know whether BC will be keeping last year’s bike stuff at the outlet? What about Bonktown and Chainlove?
A GOOD local bike shop offers lots of services that weren’t mentioned here. Personalized service, bike fitting, professional assembly and repairs. Shopping locally will help to build local relationships and will help to develop a community around the sport you love. Backcountry is great for closeout deals, but supporting you local shop is good for you and your community.
Dan – You’re totally right. We won’t hold a candle to a good local bike shop. We may even help them, because it is true that people do research online. I predict that there will be lots of people that research their bikes on Real Cyclist or HuckNroll (for the community’s comments) and then will go local for the purchase.
Good local shops build their community and serve it well. There will be more of this. And because online selling is real and will continue to transform the bike sales scene, the good shops that address it and find a way to adjust will benefit.
For instance, the online move is an opportunity for good local shops to shift their definition of service. Online bike buyers still need service and still are willing to pay for it. What if the local guys have one service fee structure for bikes purchased in-house and one for those purchased elsewhere (no matter where).
The fact is, we hope that the good local shops thrive.
Matamua – Thanks for your note. With bikes, we’re sometimes dealing with a $5,000 – $6,000 price point on items. And the bikes can very well get beat up pretty bad in a short amount of time (like one hard ride). It’s pretty standard in the industry to have a limited return window to prevent the abuse of “the system.” We’ve chosen to go with 30 days. I’m stoked that you like Backcountry’s return policy so much, but it didn’t make sense when it came to bikes.
And yes, there will still be last year’s items on Backcountry Outlet, and Bonktown and Chainlove are still in full force.
Thanks,
Marit Fischer
Communications Manager
Man, what bike shops have you been going to? To be honest, I think a bike is one of the pieces of sports gear you should buy in person, and any local shop I’ve ever dealt with has been nothing but accommodating and helpful. Make some stupid error like letting the disc brakes clamp down and they’re there to fix it–most times for free. What a stupid post, especially since what’s more likely is that people will be going to their local shops to test ride bikes that they plan to buy here. Show the small shops some love!
i feel like you said it backwards Marit. riders will get fitted and do real face to face research/education at a bike shop and then look to the web for deals. it’s funny that this is posted the same day that large corporate ski companies were compared negatively to small co-op owned resorts.
however, getting more people on bicycles is always good. and BC won’t be able to accomodate repairs. i’m just afraid that the QVC affiliate, that Backcountry.com is, will slowly become more and more profit driven.
Internet gear sales are awesome.
Many, many outdoor enthusiasts live in towns too small to have a local bike shop.
And unfortunately, as I learned during 13 years in outdoor retail, many so-called ‘specialty outfitters’ don’t live up to their self-described reputation for service. Rocky’s right on in describing the snobbery that permeates many shops and their employee culture. It’s depressingly common.
So, bring on the bikes.
While I’m glad to see BC stick it to those sucky shops that sell a bike, then their 16yr old staff lackeys have a bad pizza that day and forget your name. Capitalism, survival of the fittest.
Sad to see what it might do to real shops like in Fruita, CO where they bust their ass, build trails, offer incredible service fr the phone to repairs. I’d like to see BC recognize great shops, that might be a win win.
What a bunch of hypocrites. You all obviously shop online and now you are gonna call out BC for selling bike stuff (which they have done for quite a while now)? Weak. “Real Shops” like the ones in Fruita make their money from out of towners. You really think someone who just munched their wheel on vacation in Fruita is going to go online and have a new wheel shipped to their campsite? Why is it ok for the “soul police” to buy a ski gear online but ordering a deraileur is a sin? I guess I missed the memo that showed all ski shops owned by The Carlyle Group and Dick Cheney.
Buying bike stuff online was around long before BC got in the game and there are still plenty of great bike shops still in business.
@Art–Hate to break it to you, but most bike shops aren’t located in places that vie for the title of Top Mountain Bike Mecca in the United States. To break that down for ya–they don’t have a whole lot of “out of towners munching their wheels”. So your assesment of shops making all their money from out of towners isn’t particularly accurate outside of the handful of bike tourism towns. Even in places like Fruita and Moab, I’m sure locals provide a lot of business, whether it be for full bikes, or parts, accessories and service. Out of towners sure aren’t flying in to a distant location and buying bikes. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that BC is getting more into the market, I just think the post knocks local shops undeservedly.
[...] Another intriguing aspect to the new sites has to do with community-building. They will permit posting from customers, a la Amazon and Yelp — with the focus on specific gear. There won’t be wide-ranging forums or egroups — you can go to Mtbr.com or Yahoo! for those. But in terms of information-sharing on bike stuff, including customer feedback, Backcountry wants Hucknroll and RealCyclist to be destinations. (For a taste, check out the site’s blog.) [...]
@Marit-
I understand the need to adjust the return policy on high ticket items because there are people who would buy the most expensive bike setup you’ve got, ride it for a season and then return it when the next big thing comes out.
I also understand that is on par with the “industry standard”. The reason I love BC is because they go above and beyond the industry standard. Why not adjust the return policy to 30 days on higher price stuff (say $500 and above) to 30 days and keep lower priced items to the original BC return policy?
QVC..
Thanks for pointing that out Joe. I guess you didn’t read the comment above me that I was responding to.
I am not knocking local shops, far from it. I spent most of my 20′s as a shop rat and I buy 95% of my stuff from that same shop but, when I go there and they don’t have what I need I find it hard to wait a week for them to get an order together when I can get what I want faster and quicker online. Notice I didn’t say cheaper, most of the time the prices are pretty similar I just get it faster.
I liked it much better when everything was at BC… Now you have to split up orders (when shopping at BC if you need bike gear you have to go to the separate site), you can’t use the great BC promotional codes at huck…. it does suck… to quote a line from A Clockwork Orange… “old ways is right ways” Go Back to the umbrella of BC!!
About the original ad…
There is no reason you couldn’t just post a clever ad about your new website. The slander of local bike shops was just unnecessary. There are a lot of great bike shops out there filled with employees that are helpful, polite and knowledgeable that are now suffering as a result of online business. As others have said, competition is good and everyone has a right to enter a market and present why they offer a better product/service. Misrepresentation of the competition’s offering is a low-brow tactic. As usual, the onus is on the consumer to find a shop/website/product that fits their needs. Unfortunately, you just gave me reason not to pick you.