Rossignol Mountain Bikes

[Philpug]

This just in...

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[fatbob]

Lordy please no. LOOK by all means but Rossi - destined to fail without a huge amount of marketing budget or giveaway on build to address the cynicism of a cash- in play.

K2 bikes never really added to the original Proflex brand and became general store specials. Scott are different because they got big in bikes while they weren't doing skis. I've seen Kastle bikes and possibly Head in Austria but they were generic hardtail rental clunkers.

 

[Tom K.]

I am a certifiable mtb nut job, and I never find myself thinking "boy, I wish there were more brands to choose from".

Maybe they've got some plans that make sense for Europe, or a nearly unlimited budget from selling Soul 7s to make a dent here in NA.

Or are they just going to sell rebadged Felts and Times?!

 

[Brian Finch]

An ubiquitous low end bike with a ski co logo, that's destined to crush it.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Yes. I work in a shop that sells Rossi. A shop form may mean I can even think about a new MTB.

 

[crgildart]

What next, Cannondale skis??

 

[Ken_R]

The hardtails in the video look pretty low end. The riders are good but overall the video looks a bit low rent (A black Ford Expedition.. really!?) specially for a market introduction of the brand. C'mon man!

 

[Erik Timmerman]

My first thought was "no", but I see that they have acquired TIME. That gives them instant credibility to me. Might not suck. I'll at least pay attention.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Honestly, when I think about it, they probably have pretty good shot at fleet sales in ski area bike parks just because they will already have that relationship with rent and repair.

 

[Brian Finch]

Honestly, when I think about it, they probably have pretty good shot at fleet sales in ski area bike parks just because they will already have that relationship with rent and repair.

I think you're onto something @Philpug & I were sorta speaking on this. I've dubbed it PugLIFE$tyle - in brief Social Media, followers, likes, online cred has fostered a reality in that YOU only engage with ppl just like YOU. An endless echo chamber of your perspectives.

It's gotten to the point where a majority of skiers geek out on skis & little else.....

Most runners I know could not size a ski. Most bikers can't pick out a kayak. The era of the uber specialist is upon us & this also creates opportunities for brands to help you branch out & for Rossi this may work out well- I hope it's not rebandaged frames.

 

[fatbob]

I get the rental fleet point but I still don't believe the "all mountain sports" brand. I trust Salomon in hiking shoes/boots because they've proved they can do it. Would I buy a Rossi hiking boot? Not a chance until I saw something innovative out of them or they'd stuck around for 5 years and continued to grow.

Bikes - even if I knew nothing 3 seconds with google gets me a wealth of opinion and reviews on just about any bike from enthusiast or specialist sources. I might ask on a site like this where there is clearly a lot of crossover expertise and opinion as well for a "non gear snob" view. But I'd be highly unlikely to take an opinion or logic which ran - these guys make great skis so their bikes must be great too. Consumers are wise to the brand extension guff these days. The story has to make sense. Continuing to brand them Felt ("(up) by Rossignol" as a tagline) makes sense. Rossi itself though - meaningless. In fact creates negative goodwill as my mind has a bunch of suspicion that it'll just be a poorly engineered cash-in.

 

[fatbob]

As a coda. Dunno about eBikes. Seem to be getting big in Europe. Possibly if they were known specifically as an eBike brand where it seems to me the market is still open to a big brand grab then it would make sense. Plus eBike buyers may not be coming with the same brand baggage and open to a different message.

 

[crgildart]

Honestly, when I think about it, they probably have pretty good shot at fleet sales in ski area bike parks just because they will already have that relationship with rent and repair.

Rossignol Cut Mountain Bikes? Sweet!

 

[Philpug]

This is reminding me of when Blizzard announced that they were changing the Bonafide and everyone was condemning it before they even skied it. Lets get these on the ground before the pitchforks and torches come out.

 

[fatbob]

This is reminding me of when Blizzard announced that they were changing the Bonafide and everyone was condemning it before they even skied it. Lets get these on the ground before the pitchforks and torches come out.

Where's the fun if we can't get the bonfire lit?

More seriously isn't it relevant for brands to get some honest consumer reaction to their plans? I appreciate that part of your business plan for Pugski might be to develop close relationships with ski cos and be used as a way of soft launching or peer promoting certain products but I'm not aware that you've yet laid down the law that we can't express negative comments. And they are honestly held - do I think better or worse of Rossi on hearing this news? Worse.

They might be the greatest thing since sliced bread but they've created a natural scepticism barrier by choosing to brand them Rossi.

 

[Primoz]

Bikes are getting more popular in ski industry over here. Stoeckli has their line for a while, and they are suppose to be really good, but, as skis, super expensive. Head is now in mtb business for 2 or 3 years too, even though I wouldn't consider getting one, as even their best bike is far from anything decent. One way has some bikes also for years, but their strategy in anything but xc ski poles is completely fu**ked and in my mind it's just a question of time when company goes bankrupt. Swix is starting their line of mtb too, and obviously now Rossi. For Rossi it's kinda strange, considering Look is in bike business and with big name in bike business for ages, and it's under same roof, but who knows what's on mind of some marketing guy in company. I guess years, where you could live easily from 3 or 4 months season are over, and you need to have income all year long, which just with ski products is not possible. Another thing is, most of people who ski, also bike in summer, plus there's few more millions of people who just bike
But then again... frames are made in China or Taiwan, probably in same factory no matter what company you have, equipment is either Shimano or Sram, so I would say with enough money into marketing, you can have competitive bike no matter if you start bike company today, or you are Pinarello or Specialized. Only question is, if you position yourself on right place in market. In my mind, Head strategy, and based on video and few press releases, also Rossi, is in my mind not really right one. More like low end bikes for too much of money. With too much money I mean too expensive for that range and especially for name without any bike history. Stoeckli on the other side went for their name, which in bike industry is not really that big as in skiing, and put out line of top of line super expensive bikes, and as I heard, they are doing pretty good.

 

[Philpug]

Rossignol is capitalizing on it's name and realizes that skiing is not a12 month a year business and also realizes that many of their retailers who are also bike dealers tend to be bike first and ski second. It will be interesting to see the final product make up of the collection, are they goign entry level and plan on moving up or up, then moving down or a full range. Seeing that they mention kids bikes in the release, I am guessing the former. An area that the Rossignol Group is very aware of is market share, this is why they eliminated Rossignol bindings and just went with the Look name, a strategic decision for sure. I am guessing that there will be some initial sharing with frames from Time & Felt, that the Rossignol brand will need to stand on it's own. I am sure that they are not spend this type of money to create a whole new brand where they have brands that they are already established in a very competitive market didn't happen without significant research.

Of all the companies that we communicate with, Rossignol Group is one of the most open and receptive to outside opinions. One of the reasons that they like working with us is that while the community is very opinionated...it is that we are very fair in our opinions. When a member or members believe in something they back it 110% and when they question something, that comes through clearly too and we are surely seeing that in this thread.

 

[fatbob]

I think I'm with primoz at least from a Euro perspective - there are dozens of bike brands out there, some surviving from back in the day when I used to pay attention and countless others e.g. French and German brands hitting the UK. All have a a bigger rep than some ski company. Even on Rossi's home turf I see more Decathlon branded bikes than more or less anything else (& I believe they are starting in California) - you really should look at them as a bencmark for entry level + first upgrade bikes with kerb appeal.

I like to apply the alternate filter - how seriously would we take a Pinarello* ski or Rapha outerwear? One for the gullible cycle geeks we'd probably say. How many of us have skied a Porsche ski or Volkl's Prada collaboration? Yet we instantly buy into a startup ski company that does something cool like Renoun or ON3P etc etc

* I dunno they've probably badged a Blossom in this way some time.

 

[scott43]

I wonder if they wouldn't be better served buying an established brand. They will have to build a brand in bikes..maybe they can..put some money into some Red Bull xtreem stuff and Bob's your uncle?

 

[gwasson]

I wonder if they wouldn't be better served buying an established brand. They will have to build a brand in bikes..maybe they can..put some money into some Red Bull xtreem stuff and Bob's your uncle?

They did buy Felt bicycles earlier this year. I wonder if this is just a rebrand ala K2/Proflex mentioned above.