SANTA CRUZ, CA (BRAIN)—BMC executives are making a major push into the mountain bike market with a new model 2012 carbon fiber frame, the first for its Trail Fox series mountain bikes. And they chose an ideal location to show them off.
The Dream Inn in Santa Cruz is an iconic hotel that overlooks the city’s wharf and its main beach. And it’s only a few miles from some of the best mountain bike trails on the California coastline.
Editors from several mountain bike magazines will spend the day testing the new bikes. They hand them off late Tuesday to 15 U.S. retailers and five retailers from Canada who will thrash them Wednesday in the mountains surrounding Santa Cruz.
BMC will also have them on hand at the Sea Otter Classic, which opens Thursday. The two bikes—the TF01-XTR and the TFO1-XO—add a new dimension to the Swiss company’s efforts to build its brand in the North American market.
Karim Pine, BMC’s general manager in the U.S., said the company has been in the mountain bike market for years but that segment has been eclipsed over the last few years as it focused on the road market. But, he pointed out, mountain bikes continue to be popular in the U.S. and BMC wants to build a bigger market among its retail base of about 80 dealers for its mountain bikes.
These models are aimed squarely at the high-end consumer. The XTR equipped bike (25 pounds) will retail for $8,999; the XO will be sold at a slightly lesser price, $6,699. It weighs 25.6 pounds. Both are equipped with 3X10 drive trains, Fox Shox front and rear, Easton Haven carbon rims and adjustable seatposts.
“The high-end market hasn’t suffered as much as others,” Pine said, noting that even in 2008 as the economy tumbled sales remained relatively strong.
—Marc Sani
msani@bicycleretailer.com
