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Beeline Bikes picks up direct delivery for Raleigh, Diamondback, Redline & IZIP

Written by Tyler Benedict Sep 17, 2016 8:00 a.m. ET

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beeline bikes mobile bicycle repair and delivery — Photo courtesy of Beeline.

In the market for a new bike from Accel Sports Group, parent company of Raleigh, Diamondback, Redline and IZIP? You may just be able to have it professionally assembled and delivered to your door at the time and day of your choosing. The move follows competitor VeloFix’s home delivery of Turner, Van Dessel and others, and shows the continuing shift to online ordering of major brands with a variety of “retail” delivery options. Beeline offers mobile repair and maintenance in several states with 31 franchised trucks on the road. Check out our interview with them here, then order up that new Raleigh ‘cross bike and get it delivered just in time for your first race.

Tyler Benedict

11,186 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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Dave

7 years ago

I’ve seen retailers complain about this and say that is why they are not carrying Raleigh anymore. But this is what happens when brands like Specialized, Trek, Giant try and command 70% to 80% of a retailers floor space. But have not fear as soon as the big three see sales fall further and further they will not only sell thru a service like this but go direct to consumer as well.

Raliegh like so many other brands has to do something to survive so I do not blame them for this at all.

I would like to know though if and when a customer orders the wrong bike, the wrong size bike, or does not like say the color of the bike they ordered how Beeline, Velofix or the manufacture handles this?

chewda

7 years ago

Reply to Dave

Most people within the industry are upset because of what Accel Sports Group has done to 4 good brands (SBS, Redline, Diamondback, Raleigh). Within a year of purchasing these brands one was run so poorly it saw a 70% drop in sales and was closed. The other 3 have lost large amounts of market share and are also on their way out.

Also the customer pays $79 for the assembly and delivery of the bike. Even if the Beeline franchisee gets to keep all that money (which I doubt they will) it is barely enough (and in some markets unsustainable) to receive, build and deliver a bike.

Veganpotter

7 years ago

Reply to Dave

There are plenty of reasons to not carry Raleigh, I’ve worked for two dealers. They don’t have much to pick from in terms of mid-range road and mountain and there’s nothing special about their high end stuff, great commuters but as a dealer, they don’t offer much. You get a lot of support with Trek and Specialized.

If Raleigh wants to survive, they need to make interesting bikes again.

anon

7 years ago

Reply to Veganpotter

Willard, Tamland, and Roker aren’t interesting? Seems like they’ve done a good job of rebuilding their brand on adventure bikes.

Tim Guarente

7 years ago

Reply to anon

Three bikes does not a brand make. Those bikes are nice, their family bikes are okay (usually heavy and their fit is a bit odd), but they don’t do mountain with any seriousness, and their road bikes are ho-hum.

58northkodiak

7 years ago

Reply to Dave

I have worked in the industry most of my life, with every brand you could think of. I also own a bike shop. I think this beeline is a pretty terrible idea. You’re going to have deeply dissatisfied customers across the board. The reason bike shops don’t carry Raleigh and these other brands is because they all make pretty sub par bikes. The only exception being Redline as they still make some pretty great BMX race bikes.

What this does is pulls the consumer away from the brick and mortar bike shop even further. While this bike van may improve the sub par bike companies bottom line, it isn’t going to generate more “actual” riders – it will just help lazy people put a bike in their garage.

There is just nothing like walking into a really good bike shop and being legitimately helped out. Nothing like having a service department with great mechanics that feel a sense of loyalty to you and your bike because it came from their shop. When you bring a quality shop a silly raleigh that you bought online and need help with, there isn’t much of any motivation for them to go out of their way and make sure you have a great experience. There is a disconnect. Anyone who wants to actually enjoy riding their bicycle but may lack some knowledge required to use, maintain, and actually like their bike REALLY ought to shop at their local bike shop. Unless the shop is terrible and you have nowhere else to go. But in that case, you’d best buy yourself some tools.

As far as your claim about all of the big companies commanding a percentage of floor space – I have more experience than most folks in the industry – Trek does try to enforce the percentage policy, I believe Giant does as well but I’m not sure, Cannondale and Specialized do not do this. Specialized is probably the most ethical and friendly company I have ever dealt with. And I think they make badass bikes. You’re certainly not going to hold a Raleigh up to anything in the Specialized lineup

Dave

7 years ago

Reply to 58northkodiak

I do have to laugh about what you are saying when it comes to Specialized. I can think of a few examples were long time Specialized dealers have gotten a raw deal. And when I mean long time dealers I mean ones that have been with Specialized since the company started. Doing seen figures with Specialized and paying on time to only have Specialized open another dealer within walking distance.

It’s ok if you love Specialized but do not think for a minute they are any different. First and foremost it is growth and profit above anything else which is ok as that is what business is supposed to be about.

What all of these companies do is they believe they can cover each and every category in a bike shop. Shoes, helmets, wheels, saddles, clothing, etc, etc. And then when it is prebook time if you buy into more and more categories you get better pricing, dating, etc on the bikes.

The problem with this is the shops become boring as everything looks the same. And believe it or not customers do like variety and choice. If it is not given to then they will find shops that do or they will buy more and more on-line.

As far as all other companies making sub par bikes except for Redline that is a bit of a stretch. Yes Specialized makes some good bikes but they also make some crap. Just like all companies.

I can go on and on as like you I have been in this industry for a long time and I have learned a thing or two.

myke2241

7 years ago

Reply to Dave

Dave, and if you want to carry other brand gloves, pumps, tubes etc how do you think that works when a brand commands 70% of your floor space? things like boring when you go into a shop. There is a reason why!

Specialized did some really crappy things that were not just isolated to a few shops. Just ask a around and owners will gladly tell you stories. It’s not a myth just ask around.

As far as BeeLine goes. I looked at their site awhile back and was pretty disappointed. There is a pretty high minimum repair cost to get them to your door. Most people I believe would save a lot of money just bring your bike into a LBS. As far bike delivery goes, it’s like Amazon sourcing delivery services to ups or FedEx. Not much special going on and not to write about. Online bike sales are still pretty small in the US.

Dave

7 years ago

Reply to myke2241

I am not saying Beeline is the answer but brands like Raleigh are running out of options. Shops are closing. Customers do look for lower and lower prices which the Internet provide and unless Raliegh will open more and more company stores sort of what ASI has done with Performance which is an entirely different discussion they are not not many new avenues to pursue.

The big brands do not like to share and for the most part many shops do not have the balls to stand up to them. They fear is they piss off the big brands they will go to another shop and without what they consider an anchor brand they cannot survive.

In reality you can survive without the big three in your shop it just takes a little more work and I have to say a good percentage of these shops do not want to put in the time.

Dustytires

7 years ago

great points Dave, my guess is that the big 4 are rich enough that they will buy their own fleet of vans. As you pointed out, when the profits drop thru IBDs even though they have squeezed every sq. ft. out of them possible they will do what is possible to match or beat last years profit #s and bleed anyone in their way to do it. returns will have to be first class, or no one will make it in the next phase of retail. Like Zappo’s with bigger boxes! Pre-sale info sharing and gathering will become a science, and if that don’t work the van will go back and refit/swap/refund the bike. simple. Then it is sold in another channel. They will not loose when making wholesale/retailers margin. And once in the buyers hands, if the thing is close and the van will come back and work with the new owner, most riders will keep it unless it was a train wreck of mis information and lies during the initial conversation. “yeah, I weight about 205 err sometimes a bit more, and about uhhh, 5’11 to 6′ on a good day haha, so I want the medium XC race bike like the XCO guys have, yeah, I like the bike totally nimble and I will easily drop under the weight limits on the seat post, seat, stem,rims and Ti pedals once I have the new bike and it inspires me to ride” The IBD would be able to sort that customer out right there!

Eugene Chan

7 years ago

Reply to Dustytires

Which company rounds out your big four because last I checked, the fourth biggest bike brand in the US was Raleigh.

Hpbiker

7 years ago

Reply to Eugene Chan

Trek/Electra, Specialized, Giant, Dorel (Schwinn-GT-Mongoose-Charge-Cannondale) are the big four in the USA.

Eugene Chan

7 years ago

Reply to Hpbiker

Ah okay, I was assuming we’d be going by brands and not the multinational parent companies since Raleigh was mentioned specifically. For specialty bike brands, Raleigh was ahead of Cannondale last time I checked.

hpbiker

7 years ago

Reply to Eugene Chan

An ex-Raleigh told me just the other day that by just brand sales that the top four are: #1 Trek, #2 Specialized, #3 Giant, #4 Electra. I do believe Raleigh by itself is larger than Cannondale. I would guess that Diamondback is larger than Raleigh in the USA because Diamondbacks are sold everywhere.

hpbiker

7 years ago

I understand that you are buying the bike from Raleigh and not Beeline. Beeline’s only involvement is building the bike at extra cost of $79.99. I would believe a fit will be extra. If you ordered the wrong size I would guess you would have to pay Beeline to rebox the bike. Then you would pay shipping back to Raleigh.

Tim Guarente

7 years ago

Reply to hpbiker

And in the end you still have a Raleigh.

Robin

7 years ago

Reply to Tim Guarente

And what’s wrong with that? I’d wager there are loads of people happy with their Raleighs, despite your opinion.

Josh

7 years ago

This saddens me as a bicycle retailer. As was stated earlier, before Raleigh was purchased by Accell the brand was on the up and up. We were doing really well with Raleigh. We are also a Trek Dealer. As was stated earlier someone said trek wants all your floor space, that is up to the dealer and your area of Trek saturation. We have been Trek dealers since 84 and were Raleigh dealers from 78-84, when Raleigh sold out to Murray Bicycles, and started selling Raleigh again in 2012. Once Steve Meineke left Raleigh after the sell to Accell Raleigh has been on a downward spiral. Raleigh really complimented our Trek line of bicycles. Raleigh was a real brand. They had good eye catching road bike and competitive mountain bikes. Commuter bikes are never going to carry Raleigh as a great bike brand. We have seen our sales in Raleigh bikes diminish, and it is not because I am not stocking the Raleigh Brand. I have Raleigh Bikes in our shop from 300.00 to 3000 and they are just not selling. In 2012 Raleigh made up 35% of our sell through in bikes now it is maybe 5%. Accell is grasping for sales. Raleigh needs to make a captivating bike that draws attention instead of a ho hum model that has been copied from santa cruz, specialized, fuji, our any other off the shelf Taiwanese frame. We a company goes direct and takes the bicycle retailer out of the sale they are hurting and trying to come up with numbers to keep themselves afloat. The big brands(Trek, Specialized, and Giant) do sell direct but the dealer still gets a cut because the dealer will be the one handling the repairs, service and warranties. Raleigh originally stated that dealers would get a cut of the direct sales but this looks to say otherwise.

Chris

7 years ago

It’s interesting to see this from both sides. Check out the comments here:
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/north-america/2016/09/16/accell-north-america-fulfill-bike-orders-through-beeline-bikes

If you think about it, the reason companies are even exploring this business / delivery / white glove model is because they were not getting commitment from dealers in the first place carrying their brands. And I don’t blame them one bit. I am sick of seeing Trek/Specialized/Cannondale/Giant/ etc. in all the local shops, but guess what those brands are what keep the lights on for dealers. They extend pretty amazing dating, so naturally are requesting more floor space. Nothing is free.

People are simply working more/longer hours, and some consumers simply do not want to even set foot into a bike shop. This is where the online business model dominates, and if you can’t put something together yourself the mobile bike shops that come to you I think are a sounds business model with very low overhead.

WannaBeSTi

7 years ago

The entire bicycle market is down and all the companies are scurrying around trying to make ends meet.

Some brands do care about their IBDs. I sell Fuji bikes and ASI has been great. So far, their model of “direct-to-customer” will still involve us and we’ll get full margin.

God thank you! The local Raleigh rep used us to leverage another to commit more when we showed interest in the line. Bullet dodged.

Raleigh could be a great brand if they focused more on their sub $1000 bikes and made their mtn line more coherent. Once those two areas are stable, build upward.

Seriously, how many Tamland, Stuntman, and Roker bikes are they expecting to sell? Just look at the Fuji Jari bikes…much more reasonable.

Cycle Tech UK

7 years ago

Mobile Bicycle Repair Business has been around for a long time now and make up a good part of the growing market. Like bike shops there is good and bad, but don’t knock it, the mobile guy can offer a service to suit a large amount of customers needs and fit in with busy peoples lifestyles. The customer has more chose then ever, whether it’s buy on line, visit the bike shop or use a mobile guy. All 3 options offer a good amount of advice. People tend to go for the cheapest or most convenient, (Until it go’s wrong then blame the other person/business) this is in all types of business just look at the way we eat compered to years ago, supermarkets and fast food is on every corner. Business owners don’t like change or that we have been conditioned to believe what we think is right. Gone are the days of stocking a wide range of bikes, stop giving discounts offer a good service and give the best advice. Do a good job and customers will come back and tell their friends.
Good luck with BeeLine bikes they are doing a lot for the bike industry
Martin