MoreGolf Group acquires Cycle Lab

Oh wow, that's pretty sweet Do you know how long a trail they get to ride on?

Not sure. The person I spoke to said theirs was like 8 kms round trip?

But I see from other replies that there are much longer ones...

After this thread I feel like such a yuppie...

I enjoy golf quite a bit, and love my cycling too! Haha although maybe I have some reprieve as I'm a roadie... Seems MTB is the golfer sport...

 

Saw his plaque at Rietvlei on Tue...explained to the wife(which was on her first mtb outing who what and where). Feels like yesterday

 

 

Good lad that Mark Stockton fellow. Much missed.

I always say Howzit every time I ride past that plaque!

 

 

I always say Howzit every time I ride past that plaque!

Good Lad he was. Liked a Windhoek.

Most do these days.

At least in jhb

Waterfall estate has 37km either side of the green-belt along the jukskei...

Death to the local independent lbs.

Huge big mega stores with low prices and low info and service.

I have been riding Sun City (Gary Player and Lost City) all week. Nice 18k out and back with enough technical. Another tech climb at the back of Lost City. In total about 35 km in and around. VERY few golfers out on the course. My wife used to book the gholf rounds before the accomodation in earlier years. Now the courses are empty and lots of cycle carriers on the cars. MTB IS the new gholf.

@Morecycling....the heart of a LBS is the workshop imo, any plans ito expansion in this area or info around this? Just this weekend I took my bike into cyclist's workshop(my lbs), top top top class service, great prices and awesome mechanics. Just wanted a wheel trued, ended up buying new extra chunky esi's, new brakepads and bled some brakes while I was there...you see what I did?

 

For me the smaller lbs has more charm and character, like cheers, where everybody knows your name. So for me to consider another lbs, it will have to offer value add somewhere and the workshop is probably the place?

Roux, please private me with the name. Looking for a great tech.

Waterfall estate has 37km either side of the green-belt along the jukskei...

Pity the Jukskei ain't so green, thanks to all the sewerage from blocked mains and dwellings flowing into the storm water system upstream.

Yes, I do try do something about it. But no one at Jhb Water seems to care. Not even the Health Inspectors.

 

 

Pity the Jukskei ain't so green, thanks to all the sewerage from blocked mains and dwellings flowing into the storm water system upstream.

 

Yes, I do try do something about it. But no one at Jhb Water seems to care. Not even the Health Inspectors.

Hello Africa, tell me how you doin'?

Roux, please private me with the name. Looking for a great tech.

Its Josh from cyclist's workshop.

Death to the local independent lbs.

Huge big mega stores with low prices and low info and service.

I don't think so, they have built up a loyal following(smaller independents) and adds value where the bigger stores won't be able to. Like my grandmother, she refuses to go to dischem even though they are halfprice on some of the goodies she buys monthly, why? because oom Kassie always asks about the grandchildren, she gets greeted at the door and if her script runs out for medication oom Kassie sorts it out for her...same model will apply to the lbs

Don't think it will be the death of your LBS.Sure they will have a, lot but not everything.Brands like Scott ot Giant that you can get in ANY shop will be there but I know some brands like Specialized prefer smaller LBS that will concentrate on their brand and not have to compete with 10 other brands instore ,won't be at the megastores.

This would probably only cater for Road and XC only. Look I have no problem with XC but it would be nice to have a good local store that still sells 26" bikes, Enduro/AM gear and parts and some downhill goodies.

So morecycling make this epic. Stock your 29ers HT and dual sus, 26ers HT and dual sus, Long travel bikes, BMX etc

I don't think so, they have built up a loyal following(smaller independents) and adds value where the bigger stores won't be able to. Like my grandmother, she refuses to go to dischem even though they are halfprice on some of the goodies she buys monthly, why? because oom Kassie always asks about the grandchildren, she gets greeted at the door and if her script runs out for medication oom Kassie sorts it out for her...same model will apply to the lbs

My statement is not limited to Cycling, it is the unfortunate way of the world.

We have Makros,Games,Builders warehouses,Fruit and veg citys and Dischems but we are loosing all the corner mom and pop little green grocers chemists and hardwares.

We have a shallowing and widening of services but we are llosing depth.

We have call centers and refrence number but we dont have a relationship with the store owner.

We have relationship managers that has our name in a database to send us a personal sms on our birthdays.

I like to walk to the shop.

Maybe it is just me.

My statement is not limited to Cycling, it is the unfortunate way of the world.

We have Makros,Games,Builders warehouses,Fruit and veg citys and Dischems but we are loosing all the corner mom and pop little green grocers chemists and hardwares.

We have a shallowing and widening of services but we are llosing depth.

We have call centers and refrence number but we dont have a relationship with the store owner.

Adapt or die. Its simple. There is always space in the marketplace if you can add value.

We have relationship managers that has our name in a database to send us a personal sms on our birthdays.

 

I like to walk to the shop.

 

Maybe it is just me.

Adapt or die. Its simple. If you can add value, theres space for you. If Naspers went home and cried about electronic media killing printed media they would have been part of our history by now. Instead they saw the opportunity and is one of the best performing shares on the stock exchange.

Good lad that Mark Stockton fellow. Much missed.

Mark's Meander at Northern Farm is named in honour of him

My statement is not limited to Cycling, it is the unfortunate way of the world.

We have Makros,Games,Builders warehouses,Fruit and veg citys and Dischems but we are loosing all the corner mom and pop little green grocers chemists and hardwares.

We have a shallowing and widening of services but we are llosing depth.

We have call centers and refrence number but we dont have a relationship with the store owner.

We have relationship managers that has our name in a database to send us a personal sms on our birthdays.

 

I like to walk to the shop.

 

Maybe it is just me.

Sure and agree but my point is there will always be a place for the independents(doesnt matter what you trade in), the keyword as GluvsMtb pointed out is value add, now there can come in various forms

A.Relationship with you customers

B.Adding value to sales and service

C.Specialist services

D.Out of the box thinking when it comes to generating sales...become client centric and you will succeed, stay product centric and fail

They will also have to trade smarter..resourcing, stock holding, shop layout, basket analysis....these are all things within the grasp of the independent with minimal capital outlay.

The bad LBS won't make it, the good ones will do better, the way the world "shops" have changed and as people said, adapt or die....harsh but the truth

and because it's been aqcuired by a private buyer we won't see the figures of the deal. Wonder if one of the big retail players would look at getting into the game?

if golf is in a decline, which I'm pretty sure we can agree on,

Dunno about that, maybe a temporary dip. when last did you hear of an actual golf club closing down? Some housing estates might be lying half developed but there was a major bubble in that market.

Death to the local independent lbs.

Huge big mega stores with low prices and low info and service.

Yes and no. I think there's a place for both. I'm no fan of the 'lab and their walmart approach, but they've definitely proved a viable business model. In the same time plenty of standard lbs stores have also opened.

PS...the independent pharmacy is a great example, I used to work for a software house that developed the POS systems for the independent so them staying in business was our bread and butter(I wasn't coding the software though, I was building Business Intelligence models so that they have the tools to be more profitable). With the big players coming into the pharmacy sector(dischem and clicks being able to dispense drugs at the same price as the independent due to legislation), the smaller one man pharmacies started closing down since their frontshop(or retail area) and efficiencies wasnt in order. Went to the retail federation show in NY and brought back heaps of ideas and models for the independents ...Business Intelligence being one of them. We gave them this as a value add proposition from our side, which kept them in business and in turn kept us in business. We managed to up the net profit % of the independent by 8% across hundreds of pharmacies in some cases by as much as 20%.

You take 8% of your gross profit and add it to your bottomline....happy independent pharmacy staying in business...doing better than before and having more control. The same rules apply to upping the bottomline, whether you are selling bikes or pharmaceuticals...retail is retail

This was over and above the value adds I suggested above, this was just by working smarter with their resources and assets.

and because it's been aqcuired by a private buyer we won't see the figures of the deal. Wonder if one of the big retail players would look at getting into the game?

 

 

Dunno about that, maybe a temporary dip. when last did you hear of an actual golf club closing down? Some housing estates might be lying half developed but there was a major bubble in that market.

 

 

Yes and no. I think there's a place for both. I'm no fan of the 'lab and their walmart approach, but they've definitely proved a viable business model. In the same time plenty of standard lbs stores have also opened.

....

Yes and no. I think there's a place for both. I'm no fan of the 'lab and their walmart approach, but they've definitely proved a viable business model. In the same time plenty of standard lbs stores have also opened.

Yes, deffos a place under the sun for both, but like I said, the one man band that isn't prepared to change won't do well, the big outlets have economies of scale going for them, clout with the agents and money behind them, the smaller shops must use these strengths as weaknesses and expose them...they will not only take the business of the other smaller shops but even some of the big shops market.

and because it's been aqcuired by a private buyer we won't see the figures of the deal. Wonder if one of the big retail players would look at getting into the game?

 

 

Dunno about that, maybe a temporary dip. when last did you hear of an actual golf club closing down? Some housing estates might be lying half developed but there was a major bubble in that market.

 

Indeed, dont expect the golf courses to be empty anytime soon, at the club I play at its very much alive and well and even though I am retired I still get umpteen invites from the banks and other relevant companies to golf days, weekends are impossible to get a game unless you book.

The truth is all activities go through phases of growth, maturity and if they are very unlucky, decline, its nothing new, its a perfectly normal cycle.

I am old enough to remember when Wind Surfing was a major activity, today, not so much, 10 years ago Gyms were full of big guys huffing and puffing and moving around huge chunks of iron, today, its petite healthy housewives doing Yoga, Taebo and Pilates, there was a time running was so big you could almost not get into a club, it was that elitist, today its struggling.

I think Mountain biking is just in a nice growth phase, nothing wrong with that, and good luck to More Golf for seeing the opportunity, but nothing lasts forever and in time Mountain biking will reach a level of maturity and then decline as folk move on to the next great adventure, so Yah, I wish More Golf well, but I am pretty sure they will be the first to say golf is hardly dead.

Durban Country Club is one place that is in some serious financial trouble

One mismanagement after another.

What a shame!

so Yah, I wish More Golf well, but I am pretty sure they will be the first to say golf is hardly dead.

We are the first to say this

Word has it that Beachwood Country Club and Royal Durban Golf Course closing down in the very near future.

Beachwood earmarked for housing development. Not sure whats happening with Royal Durban space.

Peter Pan...