TYRES, many years ago..........
Hmm yes ANDY, some of those figures do sound like
speculation,
industry generalisation, or at the least some
very creative accounting!.
I too worked for a large bike shop, the management and head office winged they made very little, and the prices were RRP, unless on sale for a limited period of time, or too match a competitor (Heaven forbid a customer ever mentioned this), and the servicing was competitive considering the time spent on preperation of new bikes, or the servicing and repair of customers bikes. Albeit Halfords, which I know to many local bike shops has been a swear word since Halfords starting introducing quality Carerra's, then selling Raleigh's, then GT's, then KONA's, then VOODOO's, then the introduction of the more premium brand Chris Boardman.
(Note Halfords bike range
GEMINI: BUDGET BRAND (LOW QUALITY)
APOLLO: BUDGET BRAND (MEDIOCRE QUALITY)
CARERRA: PREMIUM BRAND
CHRIS BOARDMAN: SUPER PREMIUM BRAND!
OK lets go to basics on this (Since my CAR TYRE COMPARISON isn't a seasoned favourite here):
~ You buy a quality MTB (Hardtail or Full Sus, whatever like it matters for this example), DEORE groupset equivalent or better.
~ You ride many many miles, and not surprisingly some wear & tear.
On a MTB this commonly first of all is:
~ BRAKE/GEAR INNER STRETCH (Normally within first 15 miles)
~ TYRES
~ BRAKE PADS
~ CHAIN then either CHAINRINGS/CASSETTE
~ then the parts you accidently break, when falling off or replace for something better.
Hence the first ancillaries you're most likely to replace first of all is........
TYRES, that's right! What you going to do ride with badly worn tyres that will keep getting you punctures! NO buy some tyres!
Anyway 20 years ago there was much less choice of MTB TYRES, TIOGA TYRES SMOKE LITES were like £9.95 or you could buy FARMER JOHN for less.
And then MTB TYRE MANUFACTURERS must have thought what will consumers (US the customers) pay for tyres and more choice:
Original example price: £10
1/3rd more: £15
Double: £20
Double & 1/2: £25
Triple: £30
Triple & 1/2: £35
Quadruple: £40
Incidently Halfords cheap tyres are still £17 each, so £34 for both, sounds alot to me.
It's daft that tyre manufacturers RRP force local & national bike shops not to sell a quality pair for £20, apart from over the internet, this is completely absurd.