Thoughts on the new Witcomb pricing?

mr_tom In all fairness, if they're selling at that price, then they're obviously priced right. And it's easier for a business to get cheaper than more expensive. (As this thread proves).

Spot on.

We should also remember the point of the Condor discount thread, we may not be their target market. And if they prove to be a more successful business as a result of shifting their prices and products to focus on a more profitable market, then that is just good business sense.

jv
they're not obviously priced right at all. I was quoted £500-£600 for a custom track in september - will they honour that quote? like fuck they will

A quote is a quote. There's no contract when giving one, it's an estimation of the price if you ordered then and there, did you?

When I've given quotes for work I do I always say that the quote is only valid for 30 days. It's the only way to take into account cost fluctuations in time (whether I am over-committed) and resources (in my case software licenses).

jv I hope they go insolvent so i can pick up a few cheap frames.

That's just being mean. I don't wish insolvency upon anyone. Small business are hard to run as it is you know.

kowalski [quote]mr_tom In all fairness, if they're selling at that price, then they're obviously priced right. And it's easier for a business to get cheaper than more expensive. (As this thread proves).

That having been said, they're now at a similar price level to bespoke titanium De Rosa frames and pushing on the 'money is no object' envelope of Serottas and the like.

Barrie's point is that he tought Serotta, so why houldn't he charge Serotta money?[/quote]
It's a tenuous line of thought though isn't it?

A student may well surpass the teacher, it happens all the time.

Perhaps the teacher would do best to recognise his core competences may not be the product he creates but his ability to teach the foundations and inspire creativity in others.

You could easily argue that the student in this case surpassed the teacher by more than a country mile and also acted more wisely in respect of investing in the business infrastructure. It's that investment that allowed the work on titanium, carbon, the mixed material frames. It's also sponsorship of cycling teams and working closely with riders that enabled Serotta to take that knowledge and re-apply it to bikes.

Could Witcomb have been a Serotta? Yes. Just like Fiat could've been a Ferrari. However you can't moan 40 years later and expect to charge the same. You need to apply continuous investment into research and development of new products, materials, techniques.

To argue that Serotta gets away with charging more and that he taught Serotta and therefore he should charge more is a very poor excuse for a lack of investment, marketing, R&D and other failings in the vision and management of the company.

All that said, I like Witcombs. I hope they survive, and I hope they find customers for their bikes that enable them to survive. Nice bikes.